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Interior acting deputy secretary Laura Daniel-Davis moderated a panel at the United Nations' COP29 conference in Azerbaijan about the department's efforts during the Biden administration to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and practices into climate resilience efforts. Panel participants included leaders from the International Indian Treaty Council, the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington state, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, we have leveraged the influence and decision making of the department to really chart a new course for climate action, and one that is deeply rooted in Indigenous knowledge that Tribes have garnered over millennia,” Daniel-Davis said. The accumulated knowledge of Native Americans is being incorporated into Interior department efforts to help Tribes respond to climate change, including updates to department manuals and a voluntary relocation program for Tribal members whose homes are threatened by climate change.
In a news release about the COP29 panel, the Interior department said that the agency is planning Tribal consultations next month for the release of a draft handbook on best practices to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and to engage with Indigenous communities on applying such knowledge. “Indigenous knowledge simply must play a guiding role for us in the decision making of government,” Daniel-Davis said.
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If [North Dakota governor and Interior secretary nominee] Doug Burgum tries to turn America’s public lands into an even bigger cash cow for the oil and gas industry, or tries to shrink America’s parks and national monuments, he’ll quickly discover he’s on the wrong side of history.”
