Northeast

Northeast

North Atlantic Coast
Tribal-Focused Participatory Research That Accentuates Environmental Justice and Food Security Burdens Impacting the Penobscot Nation Tribal Community
By: Michael A. Stover, Daniel H. Kusnierz, Lisa Jo Melnyk, James M. Lazorchak, Gary D. Perlman, and John Lin
June 26, 2024
Mary Ann Liebert Inc. Publishers
Key Words: Penobscot Indian Nation, Environmental Protection Agency, Indigenous foods, food insecurity, contamination, fish, turtles, consumption quotas
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/env.2024.0034
Penobscot Indian Nation Department of Natural Resources partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency to test the flesh of fish and turtles, traditional foods, to determine contamination and safe consumption limits. They identified the contaminants and possible sources of contamination.

The Original Long Islanders Fight to Save Their Land From a Rising Sea
By: Somini Sengupta and Shola Lawal
March 5, 2020
New York Times
Keywords: Shinnecock Nation, climate change, adaptation, sea level rise, nature-based solutions
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/climate/shinnecock-long-island-climate.html
Members of the Shinnecock Nation are facing rising sea level on their Long Island lands. The tribe are using nature-based solutions including sand, boulders, beach grasses, sea grasses and oyster shells to reduce erosion. Hurricane Sandy in 2012 brought massive flooding and showed residents what future climate change effects may look like.

Wabanaki Basketmakers want to show that harvesting sweetgrass can be sustainable
By: Jennifer Mitchell
Maine Public
Aug. 23, 2018
Key words: Passamaquoddy, sweetgrass, basketmakers, craft, harvest, sustainability, Acadia National Park, traditional gathering, natural resource protection
https://www.mainepublic.org/post/wabanaki-basketmakers-want-show-harvesting-sweetgrass-can-be-sustainable
After a 20-year discussion, Wabanaki basketmakers and the park service have formulated a test harvest of sweetgrass to determine sustainability and the effects to the environment. The Wabanaki people have sustainably harvested sweetgrass for thousands of years and for this project, they explain every action and decision to researchers which include Suzanne Greenlaw, a member of the Maliseet tribe and doctoral student at the University of Maine. Her role as scientist and community member is important to bridge divides in worldview or understanding. Initial results indicate that harvested grasses grow back with even increased yields. This and other projects around the country are seeking to reconnect tribes to the environmental resources that development and the National Park Service’s strict conservation policies have severed.

Every Swamp is a Castle: Navigating Native Spaces in the Connecticut River Valley Winter 1675-1677 and 2005-2015
by: Lisa Brooks
Winter Ecology: Insights from Biology and History Northeastern Naturalist (2017) 24(Special Issue): H45-H80.
Key words: Kwinitekw, Place-Based, Wampanoag, ArcGIS
https://doi.org/10.1656/045.024.s701
This essay focuses on the historical and ecological landscape of King Philip’s War (1675–1678), highlighting 2 spaces in Kwinitekw, the Western Abenaki term for the Connecticut River Valley, during the harsh winter of 1675–1676. This paper highlights an indigenous studies methodology of place-based, experiential research in the land and waterways, in combination with more traditional historical and literary methodologies.