[Chris Butler-Minor] Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to tonight's presentation.
I, unfortunately, wanted to show you some pictures, but I'm having some challenges showing
you my screen, so I do apologize for that. So, if you'll bear with me, we'll just talk
through it. So, I'd like to say that we're pleased to
have you join our Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series - The Olympic Coast
as a Sentinel: Resilience Actions for Tribal Community well-being in the face of Ocean
Change with Dr. Melissa Poe from Washington Sea Grant.
I would also like to start with an acknowledgement that we are broadcasting from the traditional
lands of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. And near the site of the historical village,
č̕ixʷícən (Tse-whit-zen), the lower, excuse me, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is a
sovereign, federally recognized, Indian Nation with its own Constitution and Government.
The tribe resides in the Lower Elwha River Valley and adjacent bluffs on the north coast
of the Olympic Peninsula, just west of Port Angeles, Washington.
And as recognized by the United States in 1855, in the Point No Point Treaty,
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has lived in this area since time immemorial.
Tribes current land base was initially acquired by the U S in trust for the tribe in 1935
and those lands were proclaimed as the Lower Elwha Klallam reservation in 1968.
Today, Tribal lands include about one thousand acres on and around the Elwha
River, where they continue to be active in stewardship that protects, enhances, restores
both, excuse me, all of the land, air, and water resources, and environmental health
for generations to come. And I hope you'll join me in supporting their
efforts and successes to meet these goals. So, I'm Chris Butler Minor. I'm the Community
Engagement Specialist for the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Also joining us is Rachele Brown, the Education Manager with Feiro Marine Life Center.
And, this event is co-hosted by the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and Feiro
Marine Life Center as the third installment of our 2022 Climate
Impact and Resilience themed speaker series. Speaker series are events that are brought
to inform you on marine focused topics of interest from subject matter experts.
During the presentation, all of you as attendees will be in listen only mode, but you are welcome
to type questions into the question panel -that's on kind of the lower part of your
right-hand screen. We'll have time to answer questions at the
end of Melissa's presentation. You can also use the question box to let us
know if you're having any technical difficulties and we'll try to talk you through that using
the question box. And then, also, to let you know, we're recording
this session. So registered participants will get a link
to the recorded webinar once it's been closed captioned and posted
onto the, excuse me, the National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series website with closed
captioning. We also greatly appreciate any feedback that
you have for us about these sessions. And so, at the end of our program, there'll be
a short survey presented to you. We hope you will take it and give us some feedback.
OK, so, I'd also like to briefly introduce you to the National Marine Sanctuary System.
It began about 50 years ago, when the US ushered in a new era of ocean conservation.
And this occurred not only with the National Marine, excuse me, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act,
but also the formation of this system. Since then, we have grown into a nationwide
network of 15 National Marine Sanctuaries and two Marine National Monuments that conserve
more than 620,000 acres of spectacular ocean and Great Lake waters in an area that's nearly
the size of Alaska. That's a chunk o' water, so to speak.
Um, I'd love to be able to the map of where our sanctuary is located. So I'll just tell you,
since it's not displaying for me. The sanctuary that I work for, Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary, is located on the outer coast of Washington State. And it's within the usual
and accustomed fishing and hunting areas of the Hoh Tribe, Makah Tribe, Quileute Tribe,
and Quinault Indian Nation also commonly referred to collectively as the Four Coastal Treaty
Tribes. The national sanctuaries themselves are areas
of the marine environment with special conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, cultural,
archeological, and/or esthetic qualities. And this year, the Office of National Marine
Sanctuaries invites you to celebrate, discover, explore, enjoy, and save spectacular, while
celebrating our 50th anniversary year, which will take place in late October of this year.
Now, I would like to turn over the broadcast to Rachele.
[Rachele Brown] Thank you, Chris. And, as Chris said, I am Rachele Brown, the Education
Manager at Feiro Marine Life Center. Feiro is located in Port Angeles on City Pier.
We were founded in 1981 by a community leader Arthur Feiro.
Feiro specializes in marine invertebrates and local fishes.
So, if you haven't visited Feiro, I highly recommend the next time you're visiting the
Olympic Peninsula to check us out in Port Angeles, as you hopefully get to go out to
the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. And I'm going to turn it back over to Chris,
to introduce our wonderful speaker for tonight. [Chris Butler-Minor] Thank you, Rachele.
So! It's my pleasure to be able to introduce you
to tonight's speaker, Dr. Melissa Poe, who leads the Social Science program at Washington
Sea Grant, where she works to identify, define, and incorporate measures of human well-being
and cultural practices, into marine planning and ecosystem-based management.
She is involved in Washington Sea Grant's and NOAA’s ocean acidification and climate change
programs studying how our changing seas might impact
the social and cultural values of West Coast coastal and fishing communities.
Melissa serves as a social science advisor to regional bodies such as the Puget Sound
Partnership. And she also advisers and mentors undergraduate
and graduate students who are interested in human nature and interactions and earning
degrees in programs, ranging from human geography, public health, anthropology to environmental
studies. She’s also active in diversity, equity,
and inclusion efforts. So, without further ado, I ask you to please
welcome Doctor Melissa Poe.
And I will make you a presenter. There you are, wonderful.
[Dr. Melissa Poe] Thank you so much for that introduction.
I wanted to confirm that you can see my opening slide.
[Chris Butler-Minor] Yes, we can. [Rachele Brown] We can see. [Dr. Melissa Poe] Great. Thank you.
OK. So, let me clear a few things out here. Yes,
it's really nice to join you all this evening. And I also share the gratitude that has been
expressed in honoring the important relationships between people in places where we meet. Where
I work, at the University of Washington, we acknowledge Coast Salish peoples and the shared
waters of all tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip, and
Muckleshoot Nations. As we gather virtually, each one of us sits
in different places. And you're encouraged to reflect on the First
Stewards in the place where you are. If you're unsure, a good resource to begin your learning
journey, is at the link in the lower left of this slide (https://native-land.ca).
A deeper understanding of the long-term caretakers in your places is the basis for building action
plans for honoring Tribal Sovereignty. And, in my specific situation, I hold responsibility
to the Duwamish peoples and this small piece of land where I live in West Seattle.
Our house is located in the Longfellow Creek watershed.
The Duwamish call Longfellow creek t7áWee (pronounced to-AH-wee), meaning "Smelt" in
their Lushootseed language, and it’s one of four waterways in Seattle that is salmon-bearing.
The watershed here drains to Elliott Bay, the body of water immediately fronting downtown Seattle.
Here, depicted by this picture of the Salmon Bone Sculpture Bridge, Coho salmon have recently
returned after being absent for 60 or so years owing to toxic runoff.
In this territory, Tribal fishing rights are protected through the 1855 Point Elliott Treaty.
The Suquamish and and Muckleshoot Tribes exercise their fishing
rights and care for the resources in Elliott Bay today, just as they have for thousands
of years in their usual and accustomed areas. Nearby public fishing piers and beaches are
places where settlers (like my family), and new immigrant communities also fish for squid,
salmon and other resources.
The place in focus for today's presentation is the Olympic Coast, located on the north-west
corner of Washington state. It’s a region known for its high marine
biological productivity, dynamic ocean environment, rugged coastline, and geographic remoteness
that is home since time immemorial to four coastal treaty tribes,
the ones that Chris introduced us to, as well as other small resource dependent communities.
The Makah, Quileute, and Hoh tribes and the Quinault Indian Nation co-manage the Olympic
Coast National Marine Sanctuary, with the Sanctuary Program and also with
the Olympic National Park.
The tribes are highly dependent upon fish, shellfish, and other natural resources for
their way of life. And their continued well-being depends upon
access to healthy marine resources that the United States government is obligated by treaty
to protect. Together with the Tribes and their collaborators,
I co-lead a project to assess the regional, social-ecological vulnerability to ocean acidification
and ocean change. We seek to understand and anticipate the unique vulnerabilities and
strengths of Olympic Coast Tribes, particularly how changes in the ocean may impact well-being
and to identify priority actions determined by the communities for how they might respond
and adapt. These tribes: “are literally on the frontline
of ocean acidification impacts,” is how our project partner, Joe Schumacker with the
Quinault Indian Nation, worded it; adding, quote “we have a responsibility
to know so we can plan for an uncertain future” end quote. I am grateful to the First Stewards
of Olympic Coast and all of my project partners for the opportunity to do this important work
together. I'm going to change slides, but I also wanted
to invite others on the call to mute themselves. There's a little bit of background noise.
Thank you. So, I'm here solo today, but I really should
be sharing the floor with our team- since we are very highly collaborative.
We're led by Dr. Jan Newton and myself in this project;
and our team includes staff and community members from the Four Coastal Treaty Tribes
as well as the Sanctuary, the Park, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and government
and university scientists and outreach staff. Most, but not all are pictured here. I want
to give a shout out to Meg Chadsey, who put together this “family photo wall” of collaborators.
As you might imagine, our work is very transdisciplinary. And I present here the approach we use. First,
it's rooted in place and considers the interconnected social and ecological systems, beginning within
the scope of the local environment and priority needs.
And it's iterative - building and growing as we go along.
We bring together social science. Those are the steps in blue, which I will say more about
today. Also, oceanography (steps in orange) and all
working together towards Participatory Action, which are the steps in green.
Our guiding principles are communicated in the outermost ring and informs all of our objectives
based on a commitment to respect and meaningful engagement.
So, in addition to its biological diversity and high productivity, we know the marine
ecosystem of the Olympic Coast is naturally predisposed to corrosive conditions, linked
to natural processes and seasonal upwelling, which would have existed to some extent prior
to the industrial era. The chemistry of the Olympic Coast waters
(pH, oxygen, calcium aragonite and such) is among the most seasonally variable of the
global ocean. We have a growing breadth of oceanographic
data to help monitor the changes in these patterns.
Troubling, the acidified conditions, that is the lowering pH, are now more severe due to
human generated carbon dioxide emissions that have been absorbed into the ocean, a process
called ocean acidification or sometimes "OA" and these changing conditions are
increasing the length and timing of exposure of the harsh conditions to marine life
from about 10% of the time to now more like 30% of the time. Acidification events also
happen earlier in the year. And they last longer now than they did before.
They occur more frequently when many sensitive life stages of species that we care about
are in the water, and they happen alongside other changes in the ocean, such as warming
seas, low oxygen conditions, harmful algal blooms, and other stressors that have resulted
in major die offs of shellfish, fish, marine, mammals, and seabirds.
These have led to closures or delays to the annual crab and razor clam fisheries.
Similarly, we know that commercial, commercially and ceremonially important, salmon species
are vulnerable to ocean acidification, as well as low oxygen and temperature stress,
in addition to changing river flows. So, one way to think about this is that acidification
can make marine animals, more vulnerable to heat waves, and vice versa.
Just as asthma can make humans more vulnerable to wildfires and COVID-19.
And we know that ocean acidification is already having biological effects.
For example, shelled plankton from the Olympic Coast are thinner than those found in other
parts of the world's oceans such as the case with pteropods, a pelagic zooplankton, which
is a type of marine snail found in the oceans of the world that are an important part of
the food web for fish, whales, and seabirds. And laboratory experiments show us that ocean
acidification has effects on salmon, making them more susceptible to predators,
and while experiments on razor clams are difficult to do, tribal elders have noted that shells
are thinner these days. These marine species play important roles
in ecological food webs, and they are also directly and indirectly feed, in a holistic
sense of the word, local coastal communities. The Olympic Coast can best be understood as
a social-ecological system with interconnections between the ocean and people. And as a social
scientist, I spend my time trying to understand this relationship and to support the coupled
health of people and the environment. Using a variety of social science tools, including
weaving together indigenous knowledge, oral history, and archeological records, as well
as new ethnographic surveying information produced together with tribal communities
of the Olympic Coast in this project, we're clarifying the human dimensions of the ocean,
including the ways that sense of place and the fish, shellfish, plants, birds, and mammals
are all important to communities. For community fishing, including subsistence
for traditional and ceremonial foods; all which are practices that ensure the continuation
of intergenerational knowledge transfer; and strengthen social and community cohesion;
while bringing many values and benefits, such as supporting local livelihoods and economic
vitality through commercial fishing, commercial, clam digs, and tourism.
And a healthy ocean is important for many additional social dimensions, such as its
role and cultural heritage, and a sense of identity, spiritual values, and unique governance.
This more comprehensive view of the local social-ecological system can reveal how exposure
to ocean changes, like the ones we just discussed, impact communities in unique ways, by virtue
of both their cultural ties to sensitive ocean species, as well as underlying socioeconomic
conditions that may create disparities such as / that some individuals and communities
are more vulnerable than others, or some have access to services and capacity not available
to everyone. This helps us better understand equity and
environmental justice by looking at the structural conditions in the region and the distribution
of resources, services, and hazards. In this research activity, we synthesized
existing socioeconomic data (drawn from the U.S. Census, state public health records,
and the like). We focused on those indicators that local decision-makers and planners told
us through surveys would be their priority information needs. And then we assessed these
changes over time and across space from community, to regional, to state level aggregations.
I want to give a shout out to my colleague, Mel Schutten, who led this component.
So, take these two domains as examples. Looking at both food security and education,
we can see differences in the conditions across social groups and geographic units, like tribal
areas, county, region, and state. This analysis reveals that vulnerability and
adaptive capacity are uneven, where some communities, particularly those most dependent on the ocean,
face greater risks than others. This deeper understanding of the complexity
of the ties and varied capacities among coastal communities, enables us to better anticipate
the human risks from biological changes, and to target better tailored responses so that
communities have greater capacity to cope and adapt.
Using participatory tools, we've also identified aspects of health most relevant to local communities.
Drawing from interview results, we've been able to inform indigenous definitions of health
and well-being. This is a methodology developed by Dr Jamie
Donatuto and Elder Larry Campbell of the Swinomish Tribe, with whom I've worked for
many years. And we piloted these Indigenous Health Indicator
tools in a Puget Sound assessment of ocean acidification.
For the work on the Olympic Coast, tribal communities identified eight components of
how local people consider what it means to be healthy and well.
The quote on the screen from one of the tribal participants in our interviews, captures the
holistic perspectives of indigenous health. Quote, “health is all encompassing in a
balanced way with all these different things that comprise
our human existence -mind, body, soul, spirit. That's how our [tribal] worldview would define
it… We're a place-based people. The health of
our land and our people that are connected to it,
those things go hand in hand.” From this indigenous well-being framework,
we can assess risks in people's own terms. This helps us get right to the heart of what
matters most, and where best to put attention when planning for adaptation and resilience.
So, working within this framework, we surveyed participants in workshops to determine the
expected impacts from ocean change to each dimension of well-being.
And displayed here on the screen are results from two communities. Now, you don't need
to take in all of the information in the table. What's useful to note is that: First, the
status of some well-being dimensions is expected to decline more than others.
For example, cultural practices and physical health are the dimensions most sensitive to
ocean change, followed by community connections. Whereas, some dimensions, such as knowledge
transfer and self-determination, may be more resilient.
Second, impacts are not uniform across communities, which may reflect varied dependence on marine
resources, as well as existing community strengths. This reinforces the value of place-based research.
And third, understanding the sensitivity of different well-being dimensions to ocean change
can help to focus priority responses, planning, and investments.
So, one noteworthy outcome of this project is the identification of community-prioritized
resilience actions to prepare for ocean change. From dozens of viable solutions identified
by over 70 community participants, two to mention are: investing and culturally appropriate
science, technology, engineering, arts, and math education, "STEM" or “STEAM” for the
tribal kids who are the future leaders as well as increasing community access to
diverse traditional foods through community foods' programs.
An example of current activities includes informal, ocean education supported by the
sanctuary and partners, through a creative suite of activities, some of which have been
implemented with tribes, and others that are in design stages, driven by indigenous
knowledge systems of the ocean using traditional observation and practices.
A second example is the Makah First Foods Sovereignty program, a community vision that
was catalyzed/ crystalized during our participatory workshops. In this project, the Tribe is expanding
and reactivating their cultural methods for harvesting and preparing traditional foods,
such as preserved clams and smoking fish. We've also created a Seafood Preservation
Toolkit that helps to build household-scale capacity to process, store, and distribute
traditional subsistence foods to seniors and other community members.
And this kind of action not only makes use of the diverse foods from the ocean, but importantly,
is a way to share knowledge and language across generations, supporting opportunities for
community connections and continuing local observations of environmental changes among
a host of other social benefits. So, why is it important to focus on resilience
actions when talking about climate vulnerability and ocean change?
We covered information related to the ways that changes in the oceans affect human well-being
and create risks to human health. We also considered how change doesn't happen
in a vacuum, but as part of a system, with multiple sources of stressors, both environmental
and social, and cascading effects creating ever more challenges.
However, by focusing on strengths, assets, and resilience, we are empowered with hope
for taking actions to respond and remain strong and healthy in the face of change. This isn't
just a “Pollyanna cult of optimism”, but it's a historically grounded understanding
of human resilience, and in particular, indigenous peoples’ persistence, adaptiveness, and
ingenuity. Indigenous people have lived interconnected
with these coastal ecosystems for more than 10,000 years,
during which time, they have monitored and studied the changing environment, which includes
retreating ice sheets, changes to the sea levels, and shifting shorelines.
And so, over these millennia, tribes have adapted new ocean technologies as these conditions
have changed, and they've stewarded resources with a long-term perspective of sustainability-
as they often say, “for the next seven generations.” Indigenous communities have also endured multiple
threats to their well-being over the past 170 or so years, not just through the losses
in the oceans, but, importantly, to their cultural ways of life through colonialists
impacts and government assimilation policies. Yet, still, they remain strong and self-determined.
Their songs, dances, languages, and canoe journeys are evidence of this resilience;
and they offer the promise of leadership through current and future crises.
So, focusing on strengths and assets can help amplify and bolster community resilience for
us all. As we begin to wrap up, I wanted to think
together about what actions you can take and what you can do.
And so, thinking about that: First, it's important to recognize this, that knowledge is power,
and begin by trying to better understand the people and environments associated with your
regional coasts and oceans; Learn about the treaties and history of the
First People in your area, and the lands, and waters they steward today, or stewarded
in the past. Seek to better understand root causes of vulnerability-
social and environmental ones; and consider the collective possibility of
small acts, as well as community organized steps that you can take to address causes
of climate vulnerability- whether it's lowering your own carbon footprint
or participating in community resilience actions, like food access projects.
For many additional ideas, see the International Alliance for Ocean Acidification Action Plan
and resource guide (https://www.oaalliance.org/action-plans) that's in your information packet,
you can download. So, some final take home messages to leave
you with: First, vulnerability to ocean change isn't
confined to the sea, but it also impacts people in ways that go beyond immediate economic
impacts to include health and well-being. These impacts vary, and some people face unique
concerns. So, examining patterns and unique sensitivities
at various scales can reveal hotspots of impact and equity in this social-ecological vulnerability,
but they also reveal refugia which may help direct areas for future monitoring and interventions.
Cumulative stressors, both ecological and social, exacerbate vulnerabilities and thus
require integration of multiple ways of knowing, including oceanographic and ecological understanding
with social sciences and indigenous knowledge in order to better prepare and adapt.
And there is great hope in community resilience based on local and indigenous wisdom, and
we have this opportunity to invest in diverse resilient strategies rooted in local priorities.
This calls us to build and maintain meaningful and respectful partnerships with communities
and local stewards to amplify effective solutions. To learn more about our project, check out
the video we put together. A link to this and other resources are in
your supplemental packet that you can get from joining today.
So, there are many people and entities who have contributed to this product over the
project over the past five years. And my sincere thanks go to them.
And, I also want to thank you for listening in today.
Here's my contact information (Melissa Poe, mpoe@uw.edu) and I believe we do have some time for questions and discussion.
Thank you.
[Chris Butler-Minor] Yes.
We actually do. Thank you, Melissa. Thanks for sharing this important information:
for the ideas that you've offered and also the resources.
Like Melissa said, there is section of your control panel that's called handouts. If you
download the PDF, all the resources she's referenced in her talk are available to you,
so I hope you'll do that. And also, to say thank you for joining the webinar.
so, what we’ll do, Melissa is (excuse me, and I have a little bit of cold), Rachele
and I will take turns asking you questions that have been put into the chat box, since
we don't have the ability to let everybody unmute themselves.
So, Rachele, would you like to start off with a question?
I will try clearing my throat. [Rachele Brown] Yes, I can do that.
So, the first question is from Jonathan. In your experience, how have federal and state
governing agencies reacted to issues of sharing / transferring decision-making powers and land
title to native communities in order to achieve self-determination?
[Melissa Poe] Thank you, Jonathan. That is a very important question.
Well, I'm going to do my best to answer that respectfully and, honestly.
You ask how, what, what kind of a job they've done in transferring that power and title.
So, in the United States context, there's a varied history and some of it is a sad and
troubled history of/ with broken promises. And, but some of it is also an important part
of our history in the north-west region and in Washington state that we also celebrate
and uplift. There, today, we're talking a little bit more specifically
about natural resource natural resources, particularly the ocean and marine resources.
But, there are also all kinds of legal issues within the whole context of self-determination
for indigenous communities in the United States history and Indian law. And there's no way
I can cover all that for all places with all the history
in my brief remarks. And so I do encourage you to continue exploring this question because
it is essential in having a greater understanding of what our histories together are and the
important path for reconciliation. And so, I would like to give you one example
relative to marine resources. And, and so the, in the Olympic Coast area,
because that's where we're talking about today, we have referenced the Four Coastal Treaty
Tribes and the Coastal Treaty Tribes. I don't speak on behalf of any of them. They are collaborators
and partners in the project with us. When we say The Treaty Tribes, that means
they have treaty, which is the highest law of the land in the United States Constitution,
which flows rights from tribes to the United States as recognized in treaties.
These treaties were signed in the mid 1850s. And so, a while back. In the Olympic Coast,
we have the Treaty of Olympia and we have the Treaty of Neah Bay.
And those are the two key treaties covering the region.
The while many decades passed and promises made in the treaties were not always kept.
There were legal, there were lawsuits upheld in the United States
Supreme Court. United States versus the State of Washington,
is one more well-known lawsuit, also known as the Judge Bolt Decision.
And I bring this up because it was in 1974, through this legal decision that the treaties
that were signed and entered in the 1850s, 1855, '54, '55, around then -
sometimes, these are called the Stevens Treaty's, they, the 1974 Judge Bolt decision, recognized
that the treaties reserve, that the tribes reserved for themselves the right to all of
the resources in their usual and accustomed hunting and fishing grounds.
And what this effectively has resulted in is a co-management of the marine resources
of the Olympic Coast. And many other tribes in Washington State
who have similar treaties are part of our also co-managers. And so, the Four coastal
Treaty Tribes of the Olympic Coast and another 25 tribes in Washington State
are part of the NorthWest Indian Fisheries Commission, and each are represented and negotiate
and manage together the resources in their usual and accustomed areas.
So, this is different than transferring power and title, although, self-determination is
protected through all kinds of bodies of law - from spiritual practice, cultural practice,
heritage, history, health determination, as well as natural resources. And so, I hope
I've given you the beginning of an answer. And again, I encourage you and other members
of our audience, to really dig deeper into this important question.
Thank you. [Chris Butler-Minor] Thank you, Melissa. We
have a question from Colin.
And he asks, last year, there was a conflict in the Faroe Islands between traditional hunting
of dolphins and western ideology of conservation.
Are there any examples in your area between traditional and modern values, where the traditional
values are less conservative?
[Melissa Poe] When you say less Conservative, can you clarify? Because it's a written question
I'm interpreting that to mean, are not sharing the same conservation objectives.
Chris. Do you think that's the intent of the question?
Anyways, I'm not sure I fully understand the question.
[Chris Butler-Minor] Yeah I think so. He says yes, OK, yeah.
[Melissa Poe] OK, so, I want to first start by a caveat
that conservation goals are values based, and those values are culturally rooted whether
your culture is from a Western trained science or if your culture is from a traditional hunting
perspective. The management of resources, the conservation
of resources, are both goals and how you do conservation may look different in place to
place. You know, one example is, a hands off,
No Take Zone is one form of conservation or a sustainable harvested area is another form
of conservation. I needed to create that caveat before I could
answer. Embedded in my response, though Colin, is
the recognition that there is conflict in values around what it means to conserve, to
use, to manage resources. And so, the short answer is yes, similar to Faroe Islands
and your example of dolphins and conservation and hunting, there are values conservation
in the Olympic Coast region. We've had some conflicts that have emerged
as the Makah Tribe began to exercise its treaty reserved rights to hunt a gray whale.
Gray whales are animals that are traditionally important, they are spiritual guides to the
Makah Tribe. And their numbers had recovered in coastal waters. And the Makah
were permitted through special arrangements with the NOAA managers to take a whale.
And there weren't there are well, documented histories of the kinds of conflicts based
in the values around conserving whales, hunting whales, and how to manage whales.
And so that resulted in some on the ground conflicts. This one, you know, a case that took
place you know, was the late nineties, I believe.
And you can find some of that information. And that's, that's probably a pretty close
example to the one you gave, but there are also all kinds of other examples about environmental
conflicts and different environmental values and also in the Washington region, but
not, specifically the Olympic Coast. In Puget Sound
there have been conflicts related to managing salmon and the some of the land owners who
are communities of European heritage who have settled
in the area and have farmed in the area. There have been some conflicts between farmers,
fishers, tribal fishing rights, and conservation, salmon conservation groups.
So, this, you know, is something, I think that, does play out
but, I think, increasingly there is a greater understanding and respect for the coupled
nature of social-ecological systems that people are part of the environment, and that we also
have examples that are, and we have lots of documentation from both a western scientific
perspective and also environmental indigenous observations, that have shown the kinds of
practices that harvesting and cultivating and tending environments have yielded biologically
diverse marine and coastal ecosystems. And so, that increased and greater awareness,
I think, is helping to reduce values conflict in marine conservation.
[Melissa Poe] So, thank you. [Rachele Brown] Thank you.
Another question we have is from Kara. I hope I'm saying that correctly.
What are some ways to some support indigenous food programs, locally, in our region, both
land and sea? [Melissa Poe] Hi. Thank you.
I would say, you know, fundamentally, one
way is to say two key fundamental responses. And one is to also be a champion of treaty
rights because indigenous food systems are also supported by strong treaty rights.
And so, to the extent that you know and understand, support, and advocate treaty rights, that is
a mechanism for securing the support for indigenous food systems.
I think a second really important and fundamental, a way that you can be a supporter is by
working to ensure environmental health and quality.
So, you know - abundant resources: this includes habitat protection, increased urbanization,
the loss of healthy streams,
the habitat changes, including climate impacts to habitats are all threats to indigenous
food sovereignty. And there's a good document provided by the
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission which explores treaty rights at risk. And at the
at the core, these treaty-protected resources that are
that are the resources in the usual and accustomed fishing and harvesting and hunting areas are
harvesting for foods: foods, as well as cultural and spiritual uses, and relationships for caretaking
those. And so healthy habitats and environments and
supporting treaty rights are two key ways that you can be involved. And then, in your
local area, wherever you are, there, may be very specific ways you can get involved.
And it's important to build your relationships with local tribes, and follow their guidance
in and how they would like to invite your involvement.
Thank you. [Chris Butler-Minor] OK, so we have a question
from Tom. Can you say more about the measurements of
the several dimensions of vulnerability, for example, how you calculated the 42%, 7%, et
cetera? [Melissa Poe] Hi, Tom, thanks for being interested
in the wonkiness. OK, so I'm gonna send up, spend a moment and think here with you.
And so those percentages, we were evaluating percent change, where we used digital polling
devices with participants in our workshop, who in, each individual, scored on a Likert
Scale from, let's say it was 5 to 1, where five is very, where very healthy, and one
would be not very healthy. We asked people to score each of the well-being conditions
as they are today. And so, we, we have a baseline for each one.
And we aggregated the responses from all of our responses, all of the respondents.
And then we shared anticipated information about ocean acidification and ocean changes.
And we asked participants to score again, on that same scale for each of those same
well-being indicators, how they anticipated the impact to that well-being indicator would
be in two generations, so thinking about their grandchildren or 50 years into the future,
more or less.
And so, we calculated the difference between the conditions as they are today and the
anticipated future conditions. And that difference was the percentage that we included in that
table. And so, then the color scheme:
and there is also a representation of how / whether or not those conditions are
considered healthy today or less healthy today. So, so we're looking at percent change and
we're also looking at where they are in their health rankings for today - health
rating for today. So hopefully that gives you enough information.
If you want more details, please reach out to me by e-mail, and I can give you some additional
calculation information. [Rachele Brown] Thank you.
Chris, do we have time for one last question? [Chris Butler-Minor] Yes, let's have one last question.
[Rachele Brown] Alright. This question comes from Mike.
Please give a few more examples of local resilience actions, like the Household First Food Enablement
Program you mentioned under STEAM education and First Fruits -
Foods. [Melissa Poe] Thank you, Mike.
So, another example is the Canoe Journey. And Canoe Journey has been identified as a
resilience action in part because this is a revitalized historic traditional expedition
that each tribal government, each tribal community and tribal nation, is in the north-west region
including California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, and also some
Polynesian Voyaging communities have participated in for the last
couple of decades. And one of the things that has happened as
a resilience action is that it is a time, a period of clean living, where tribes are:
reconnecting with their cultural practices, reconnecting with other tribal families, and
communities in the whole region, coming together to restore and revitalize some of the traditional
songs and dances and share them from community to community.
And so, as a result, the network of relationships from tribe to tribe the inter intertribal
relationships has continued to strengthen and renew. These networks have always been
there: they are families that, that are part of, you know, from community to community.
But also, they've been important trade networks. And so, imagine, for example, in one area
you may - a community is rich and abundant in clams and in another area there's a healthy
run of salmon. And then another area there's really good
access to halibut fishing grounds. And so, these trade networks ensure the possibility
that communities that may need resources that don't grow or aren't growing as abundantly
in their current, in their area today can do trade as they always have traded historically
in this regional context. And so that's one example.
That's not even to mention all the ways in which canoe journeys,
Tribal Canoe Journeys, also are part of a spiritual practice - and a mental and emotional well-being
for the individuals and communities who participate. So, so that's a really important part of resilience.
And that's an example. And I would say a second example, is in the
context of ocean, informal ocean education. There are examples in British Columbia, that
are also attractive to tribes of the Olympic Coast such as the Ocean Guardian's
the First Guardian's programs. And these traditional guardians are looking
after the resources. There are individuals who hold responsibilities:
elders or people in the community who've been appointed to hold this responsibility;
to observe the activities in the water; to look after the changes; and to be present
in a role as a guardian for upholding the responsibilities of stewardship and relationships
to the ocean. And so, this is an example that could also
potentially be part of the resilience action in the Olympic Coast.
So, imagine, for example participating where tribal youth or tribal elders are also part
of some of the research activities sponsored by the Sanctuary or the National Park, or
some of the university partners. And by having a guardian on board or present
in these activities such as the expedition - the E/V Nautilus, or other research vessels,
there is an observer. There's also a person with roots to the local
tribal community who can be present to provide the context for changes in the marine ecosystem,
and why these changes are important to local communities.
There are lots of other benefits of a guardian type of program, but I just wanted to highlight
a few and hopefully, that gives you an idea of some of the other resilient sections that
are possible. [Chris Butler-Minor] Great. Thank you, Melissa,
Really appreciate you taking the time to answer those questions. We answered, most of them,
but there's a couple that are outstanding that we'll send on to you.
Hopefully, you'll have a chance to give us some responses, like you did for the ones that
you answered on the recording. And just to all the rest of you that are left,
again, thank you so much for joining us.
You will be receiving, a Certificate of Attendance, gives you evidence of one contact hour of
professional development. We hope that you'll take a quick look in the
chat for that URL to where this recording will be available in about three weeks and a half weeks, after it's
closed caption, and that sort of thing. Then, again, just a quick reminder to please
take the survey: Give us some feedback, so that we can continue to give you awesome programming,
like Dr. Poe. And with that, we'll ask you to join us the
next time. We are working on setting up a Shellfish Discussion panel for mid-May, but more to
come on that, and thanks again. [Melissa Poe] Thanks for having me. Really
nice to meet everyone. Take care. [Rachele Brown] Thank you, everyone.