Our squirrels will have elephant ears : indigenous perspectives on climate change in the south central United States

Abstract

As climate change impacts areas around the world Indigenous communities are being impacted disproportionately. In the US a number of tribes are in differing levels of response and adaptation. In the south central U.S. there has been little research done and this study attempts to fill that gap and looks at how Native Americans in the SC region are identifying climate change. Through a series of workshops that collaborated with the South-Central Climate Science Center (SC-CSC) and other agencies to facilitate discussions with Native participants on their perspectives of climate change and variability, a space was created for indigenous peoples to communicate their stories of place in their own words in relation to climate change. Participants identified not only climate change mechanics but also the impacts that come from these and also shared varying levels of adaptation and preparedness.