American Indian Alaska Native Climate Change Working Group 2012 Spring Meeting

Welcome to the spring 2012 meeting of the American Indian Alaska Native (AI/AN) Climate Change Working Group hosted by Tohono O'odham Community College.  The Working Group is a TCU-centered network of tribal colleges & universities, tribal and intertribal organizations, federal agencies, scientific research organizations and NGOs that address the impacts of climate change on humankind, but especially on Indigenous peoples.   The purpose of our meeting is to bring together our Working Group community to address the current state of the science regarding climate change and the progress the Working Group has made toward our goals of:

1. Preparing future generations of AI/AN geoscience professionals and educators.
2. Ensuring that our Indigenous tribal knowledge of landscapes and climates are valued and used in education and research.
3. Establishing a collaborative effort between federal agencies, tribes and tribal colleges in order to ensure geoscience education and research opportunities for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
4. Advancing all of the above in our own “backyard” using the latest information technologies in communities and on Native lands.

The importance of meeting these goals and our recognition that the life-ways of Indigenous people hold tremendous lessons for all of humankind to consider, the Working Group will continue toward ensuring tribal Peoples have the expertise within their own communities to make good policy decisions.