Gail SmallHead Chief Woman.

Indigenous Land, Culture & Environment.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

Integrated Research Approach that Elevates

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Native

Languages to Support an Emerging

International Doctrine of Indigenous

Self-determination.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge is a multi-disciplinary paradigm that

offers new understandingsbased upon Indigenous

epistemologies.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Can Enhance Scientific Knowledge and Influence Policy through Cooperative Management Systems.

Matika Wilbur photo credit

Indigenous People are Especially Vulnerable to Climate Change Impacts Due to Resource-BasedCultures and Economies that are Integral to their Environmental Homelands.

Matika Wilbur Photo Credit

Indian Tribes have Complex World-Views that Reflect the Inter-relationships and ResponsibilitiesAmong Species and the Environment.

The Domestic Tribal Sovereignty Model of the United StatesIs Insufficient To Addressthe Climate Change Impacts to Native Peoples.

A New Paradigm is Emerging.

Power Dynamics:

Who Regulates Our Environment?

Countries, States, Indian Tribes,

Corporations, Citizens?

International Treaties & Conventions are Necessary for Nation States to Consent To These Jurisdictional Frameworks.

How Do We Define Indigenous Cultural, Environmental and Human ValuesAs International Rights That Accord Protection?

Collective or Communal Rights that Indigenous People have to their Traditional Homelands and Environments Must Be Defined and Incorporated into International Climate Treaties.

Matika WilburPhoto Credit

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007.

President Obama in 2010 declared that the United States would Endorse the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People….“it advances a new and distinct international concept of self-determination specific to indigenous peoples. “

Indian Tribes are using International Human Rights as a Basisfor an Indigenous Right to Environmental Self-Determination.

The Current Strategy of Adaptation for Climate Change Mitigation will Displace Entire Indian Tribes From Their Ancestral Homelands.

Matika Wilbur Photo Credit

How do you compensate indigenous people for the loss of their ancestral homelands, the loss of their culture? Is money adequate compensation?

Western Anglo-American concepts of individual property rights, religious rights, and environmental rights often conflict with the Cultural World-Views of Indigenous Peoples.

A Foundational Basis for a New Right to Indigenous Self-Determination is premised on Culture. Using TEK and Native Languages to expand Indigenous Epistemologies for Territorial Sovereignty.

Matika WilburPhoto Credit

Time is Now. International Climate Treaty Negotiations are in Paris, Dec. 2015.