In the Ojibwe world-view, natural resources ARE cultural resources. Seasonal subsistence migration and treaty harvest was and is a way to stay healthy: physically, socially, and spiritually. However, warmer winters, increasing extreme precipitation events, more occurrences of drought, and earlier ice out dates across the 1854 Ceded Territory already are affecting flora and fauna that are imperative to the culture, history, well-being, and life-ways of the Anishinaabeg. 1854 Treaty Authority Climate staff, Hilarie Sorensen and Tyler Kaspar, share some of the documented changes in weather patterns in the region. They will discuss the various monitoring projects that 1854 facilitates to watch over these changes, such as measuring ice thickness and snowpack, recording inland lake temperature and dissolved oxygen levels, and the timing of phenological events like wild rice growth, annual sugar maple sap run, and amphibian spring calling. Watch the recorded program here: https://youtu.be/GqdVL4qoMi4
Seeking more resources about climate change or subsistence seasonal rounds? Check these out:
- SLCHS Learning Guide: Ojibwe Seasonal Rounds
- Book: Cecilia; The Trials of an Amazing Ojibwe Woman 1834-1892
- “Iskigamizigedaa!” (Let’s Boil Maple Sap) (youth coloring storybook)
- Sugarbush 101 (short film)
- Makak and Zhiishiigwaans cut outs
- 1854 Ceded Territory Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan
- “Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad” (A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu)
