American Indian Responses to Environmental Challenges
Authors
National Museum of the American Indian
Keywords
environment, adaptation, Akwesasne Mohawk, Campo Kumeyaay Nation, Leech Lake Ojibwe, Lummi Nation, Native Americans, environmental Stewards
Date_Pub
Pages
URL
http://www.americanindian.si.edu/environment/
DocumentLocation
http://www.americanindian.si.edu/environment/
Description
Working in partnership with four Indian tribes, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian launched a website that demonstrates how tribes use traditional culture, values, and indigenous knowledge in combination with science and technology to tackle environmental issues. The site is designed to educate middle school and high school students and teachers. Visitors to the website can watch up to 20 different videos, explore images and objects from the museum’s collection, learn Native terms, and test their knowledge by taking quizzes. In addition, the site has an interactive element that enables students to document environmental issues of their own and upload their work to the website. Environmental stewardship is a deeply held Native cultural value that remains important to many American Indians to this day. The website shows visitors how American Indian communities are dealing with contemporary environmental and cultural issues. The partnering tribes that assisted with this website are the Akwesasne Mohawk of New York, the Campo Kumeyaay Nation of California, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe of Minnesota, and the Lummi Nation of Washington.
