The diversity, abundance, and trajectories of LTER ecosystems are built on millennia of stewardship and science by Indigenous People. LTER sites occupying Indigenous homelands have a responsibility to 1) acknowledge the Indigenous stewardship that shaped the ecosystems they study, and 2) support the ongoing, vital role of Indigenous communities in shaping these ecosystems into the future.
Relationships, representation, and reciprocity are keys to establishing collaborations with Indigenous communities. This workshop includes a panel to share site-level examples of strategies, and small-group opportunities to discuss concrete examples for how your site might move forward in this work.
Please come with an understanding of which Indigenous community or communities whose homelands your LTER site and/or institution occupies (one option is to explore this
admittedly imperfect map), and if possible, some sense of the leadership and community of those tribe(s) today.
SESSION AGENDA:
- Welcome
- Presentations (~30 minutes):
Presentation 1:
Kari O'Connell (Andrews Forest LTER): Relationships: Acknowledging the Past while Building a Collaborative Future The Importance of Indigenous land acknowledgment as a forward-looking, action-oriented framework
Presentation 2:
Elena Sparrow (Bonanza Creek LTER): Reciprocity: Collaborative & Respectful STEM Knowledge Sharing
Non-extractive collaboration with traditional ecological knowledges and ways of knowing
Presentation 3:
Clarisse Hart (Harvard Forest LTER): Representation: Welcoming Indigenous Scientists and Stewards into Site Leadership & Planning
Readying sites for recruitment (based in relationships & reciprocity)
Centering self-determined Indigenous needs and goals on site land
- Indivdual and Group Reflection and Goal-Setting (~60 minutes)
