Vernon Smith, 240-638-6447 NOAA, Partners, Meet to Explore
Climate Change and Coastal Tribes How climate change affects
U.S. indigenous coastal cultures is the focus of the First
Stewards symposium starting today at the Smithsonian National
Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The coastal
treaty tribes of Washington state - the Hoh, Makah, Quileute
tribes and the Quinault Indian Nation - are hosting the event
and collaborating with NOAA and other partners. Native leaders,
including American Indians, Alaska Natives and Pacific
Islanders, will join climate scientists, policy-makers, and
representatives of non-government organizations to discuss ways
indigenous peoples and cultures may be able to increase their
ability to adapt to predicted climate change. Participants also
will discuss how to include indigenous traditional knowledge in
U.S. climate change science, education, and governance. "Coastal
indigenous people have thousands of years of rich, place-based
knowledge of climate change and its e