2019 Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples Lecture

The 2019 Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples Lecture took place on Friday, November 8th, 2019 as part of the 2019 Western Humanities Alliance conference.

Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples Lecture – Keynote Speakers:

Dr. Clarita Lefthand-Begay, University of Washington. Dr. Clarita Lefthand-Begay is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Tribal Water Security Project at the Information School, University of Washington. Clarita Lefthand-Begay is a citizen of the Navajo Nation. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the protection of indigenous knowledge in the United States, tribal water security, and climate health and resiliency. Indigenous knowledge systems are foundational to each of her projects. She is currently the Director of the Tribal Water Security Project, which examines the water insecurity challenges faced by tribes in the United States and around the globe. As a researcher and tribal community member, Clarita supports efforts to strengthen tribal wellbeing while respecting and honoring self-determination and cultural revitalization.

Fawn R. Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation. President Fawn Sharp is an attorney with an academic background in criminal justice. She holds an advanced certificate in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University. President Sharp formerly served as Managing Attorney/Lead Counsel/and Associate Judge for the Quinault Indian Nation government. She also served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Washington State Department of Revenue Tax Appeals Division. While president of the Quinault Indian Nation, Fawn Sharp was elected as President of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI 2001-2017); Vice President for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), an organization established in 1944 representing 566 Tribal Nations (2016-2017); We Are Still In Leader Circle (WASI) member (2018-present). She completed two years of service as Chairman of the United States Department of the Interior Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform that issued its final report in December 2013.

Respondents:

The lecture will feature four respondents to the Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples keynote speakers. Three are University of Oregon students, all of whom are recipients of the Ecotrust Native American Scholarship Fund. The fourth is a recent University of Oregon alum working with the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project. Respondents are:

• Haley Case-Scott, USDA Forest Service Resource Assistant Program Intern with the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project
• Kaylee Jenness-Ardt, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Graduate Student, Public Policy
• Violet Johnson, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Undergraduate Student, Native Studies (Minor)
• Genevieve Middleton, Navajo Nation, Graduate Student, Community and Regional Planning

Sponsors: This lecture is co-sponsored by the UO Center for Environmental Futures, as well as the Oregon Humanities Center, the UO Environmental Studies Program, the UO Native American Student Union, the UO Office of the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, the UO Robert D. Clark Honors College, the UO Climate Change Research Group, Ecotrust, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. This event is also part of the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project.

For More Information:
Kathy Lynn, UO Environmental Studies, 541-346-5777, kathy@uoregon.edu
Mark Carey, UO Clark Honors College, 541-346-8077, carey@uoregon.edu

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The University of Oregon and the City of Eugene are situated on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional homelands and political territories of the Kalapuya peoples, whose descendants are now citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.