Book and Publications – Climate Change and Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Project

Asserting Native Resilience: Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Face the Climate Crisis

Asserting Native Resilience: Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Face the Climate Crisis, was edited by Zoltán Grossman and Alan Parker, with the Foreword by Billy Frank, Jr. The anthology was published by the Oregon State University Press in 2012, as part of the First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies collaboration of four university presses. See the Contents and Order pages, conversation with the editors, TEDx talk, and a book review.

“Indigenous nations are on the frontline of the current climate crisis. With cultures and economies among the most vulnerable to climate-related catastrophes, Native peoples are developing responses to climate change that serve as a model for Native and non-Native communities alike.

Native American nations in the Pacific Northwest, First Nations in Canada, and Indigenous peoples around the Pacific Rim have already been deeply affected by droughts, flooding, reduced glaciers and snowmelts, seasonal shifts in winds and storms, and changes in species on the land and in the ocean. Having survived the historical and ecological wounds inflicted by colonization, industrialization, and urbanization, Indigenous peoples are using tools of resilience that have enabled them to respond to sudden environmental changes and protect the habitat of salmon and other culturally vital species. They are creating defenses to strengthen their communities, mitigate losses, and adapt where possible.

Asserting Native Resilience presents a rich variety of perspectives on Indigenous responses to the climate crisis, reflecting the voices of more than twenty contributors, including Indigenous leaders and Native and non-Native scientists, scholars, and activists from the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Alaska, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Also included are a resource directory of Indigenous governments, non-governmental organizations, and communities that are researching and responding to climate change and a community organizing booklet for use by Northwest tribes.”

We are all dependent on the health of our ecosystem, whoever we are and whatever we do.”

— Billy Frank, Jr., from the Foreword

“In the times of the unraveling of our world, it is essential to stand against the combustion, mining and disregard for life. Life is in water, air, and relatives who have wings, fins, roots, and paws, and all of them are threatened by climate change–as are people themselves. Grossman and Parker have done an excellent job in telling the stories of climate change, and the people who are standing to make a difference for all of us. Change is indeed made by people, and climate change must be addressed by a movement, strong, strident, and courageous.”

—Winona La Duke, executive director of Honor The Earth and White Earth Land Recovery Project

“Evergreen State College Professors Zoltan Grossman and Alan Parker have done the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Rim, including our Tribal nations in the Northwest, a great service by assembling this book. Asserting Native Resilience speaks for the Native people who are the most directly impacted by climate change. We see the glaciers in our beautiful Olympic Mountains disappearing and our salmon and shellfish already hanging by a thread on the edge of extinction. It is past time that our fellow Americans wake up to the reality of climate change, heed the lessons from our sacred teachings, and stop listening to self-serving politicians, scientists, and corporations who want us to continue in a state of denial.”
—Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Northwest Tribes: Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change

Northwest Tribes: Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change, edited by Debra McNutt, was published by the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute in 2010. The 16-page illustrated booklet translated complex technical concepts of climate change adaptation into accessible language and graphics for a tribal community readership, so they could start discussions on their own community responses. It has been distributed by tribes to their members, youth conferences, classes, and more. The publication was supported by a grant from the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians. Download a PDF here.

Climate Change and Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations: A Report to the Leadership of Indigenous Nations

Climate Change and Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations: A Report to the Leadership of Indigenous Nations was edited in 2006 by Evergreen faculty Alan Parker (then Director of the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute) and Zoltán Grossman with support from graduate students in their Master of Public Administration-Tribal Governance class. They were joined by Tulalip Tribes natural resource staff Terry Williams and Preston Hardison, Maori environmental scientist Brett Stephenson (faculty at the Maori university Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi), and others. In the 81-page report, Dr. Parker offered key recommendations to Indigenous nation leadership on possible strategies to confront, mitigate or adapt to the impacts of climate change (see History of the Project). Download the report here.