Meeting new people has been a rare occurrence since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. So, when given the opportunity to attend the Voigt Inter-Tribal Task Force Committee meeting in Mashkiiziibii (Bad River), Wisconsin, I jumped at the chance to get out of Madison and meet the people that I would be working with over the summer. However, I forgot what it was like to meet new people and need to relearn how to say ‘boozhoo’ which will definitely be incorporated into my summer project!
Voigt Inter-Tribal Taskforce Meeting
The Voigt Inter-Tribal Task Force Committee is a standing committee within the The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) which consists of 11 member tribes spread across northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Among these tribes, actions to research, mitigate, and adapt to climate change are different given the different threats climate change presents to each tribe. However, given the climate similarities and the immense amounts of indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) between all the member tribes, the actions by one tribe will most likely help other tribes, as well as other communities, overcome the challenges of climate change. As part of my summer project I will be helping GLIFWC create a Climate Change Action Report to document all the climate change focused actions in place, planned, or needed by the GLIFWC member tribes. This final report will be shared with the member tribes of GLIFWC as well as other organizations to provide yet another resource to solve our climate crisis. To help me build a connection with the tribes and tribal representatives I will be working with, I attended the Voigt Inter-Tribal Task Force meeting in early May, 2021.
The meeting was a great experience and good exposure to the inter-workings of GLIFWC. Taking place in the Bad River Casino, the meeting was the first in person Voigt Inter-Tribal Task Force meeting since the start of the pandemic. I was met with the comforting smell of burning Sage which is used to drive away evil spirits along negative thoughts and feelings. The Sage, slowly smoking throughout the entire meeting, created a very peaceful, soothing ambiance to the meeting which at times was very emotional and covered some fairly heated topics. Friendly smiles behind masks from people who seemed to be as lost with in-person interactions as I was was also very welcoming and continued throughout the meeting. The tribal elders and representatives were seated in a half circle and each one had their one microphone in front of them to talk into. The stories and insight the tribal elders shared was a never-ending fountain of knowledge that greatly helped me, and I am sure others, understand the position of the GLIFWC member tribes on issues from deer hunting and permits, water quality regulations, and other species monitoring programs among other activities. I feel fortunate to have heard them speak and directly hear their perspectives and insights on many different environmental matters. There were many people that remotely joined the meeting through Zoom as well. Despite the new hybrid format of having both in person and online components, I thought the meeting was well run and created a space for people, both in person and online, to pose questions and comments.
Takeaways from the Meeting
One thing that I feel very fortunate to have experienced being physically present at the meeting rather than attending online was seeing the cultural practices. The drumming and singing before and after the meeting made me realize how alive Ojibwe culture is and the passion the people who were at the meeting have for continuing the culture. I was moved by the dedication of the performers and the way they incorporated the cultural rituals into the Voigt meeting; the meeting was more based around the Ojibwe culture rather than the cultural practices being based around the meeting. Experiencing this prioritization of Ojibwe culture was very helpful for my understanding of how to construct my summer project.
One tribal elder spoke directly to myself and the other students that are working with GLIFWC this summer and helped cement the idea that our deliverables are telling the GLIFWC member tribes’ story. For my coagulation of climate change related actions from the GLIFWC member tribes, to me this means that the I am not writing simply about climate change related actions. It means I am writing about the tribe’s experience with climate change, what their needs are, and how their intimate knowledge of the natural world can be used to combat climate change as well. This framing puts a face, or better communities, at the forefront of climate change rather than placing them as an afterthought overshadowed by climate science, politics, and litigation. When framed in this manner, my summer project gains much more meaning while at the same time more pressure to do the tribes justice in my interpretation of their stories.
Moving Foreword
To ensure that my project is the best representation of the tribes’ story and perspectives, I need to consider how to best interpret their stories for myself. How will I do this and how does my background limit my ability to best showcase the tribes’ story? What are the best means of communication between myself and the tribes? How can I represent their climate actions while representing the history and stories behind the climate actions? What is the best way to incorporate environmental justice into the Climate Change Action Report? These are all questions that I developed after the Voigt Inter-Tribal Task Force meeting and questions I need to seriously consider before moving too far along with my project. One key aspect of my project overall, and a personal improvement goal for myself is communication. Determining the best methods and frequency of communication between tribes and project advisors will be an iterative process throughout this project. This project is shaping up to be an amazing experience and I am very fortunate to be given this opportunity to work with GLIFWC.
The Nelson Institute: Environmental Professional Programs 2021 Leadership Projects 