Aanji bimaadiziimagak o'ow aki - 2023 WI Lakes & Rivers Convention

Aanji-bimaadiziimagak o'ow aki
Loose translation: The World is Changing
Convention Title: Climate Change, Culturally Important Species, and Indigenous Focused Climate Adaptation
Topic: Wildlife/Fisheries/Natural History
Climate change is affecting the ability of the Ojibwe member tribes of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission to continue exercising their off-reservation treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather. We assessed the climate change vulnerability of 66 beings of tribal interest by integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Scientific Ecological Knowledge (SEK). Climate change impacts on culturally important beings were reported by TEK interviewees across the Ceded Territories, and Ojibwe people are so intertwined with some of these beings that they fear a loss of identity as they disappear from the landscape. The combination of TEK and SEK broadened our understanding of climate change impacts on these beings. We would like to share some of the vulnerability assessment that has been completed.
Presenters: Rob Croll, Climate Change Coordinator, and Hannah Panci, Climate Change Scientist, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC)