Great Lakes Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadomi peoples) maintain long-standing and dynamic relationships with forest relations: plants, animals, and other beings. Gikinawaabiwag and the practice of learning through observation is foundational in phenology and in Anishinaabe life and science. As elders and teachers, forest plants and animal nations provide the means and the way of a good life, as well as the basis of Anishinaabe ecological knowledge. Recent and projected future climate-driven changes present challenges for plant and animal relatives and the maintenance of adaptive Anishinaabe-forest relations. Understanding and addressing current and future forest ecologies necessitates integrated use of Western and Indigenous sciences and tools in efforts led by Indigenous peoples. The Inter-Tribal Forest Understory Adaptation Project engaged four Michigan Tribes and partners in collaborative adaptation planning with five food- and medicine-bearing plant relatives: Allium tricoccum, Apios americana, Ledum groenlandicum, Panax quinquefolius, and Vaccinium myrtilloides. This project explored individual plant and forest community dynamics through iterative processes of tribal community engagement (interviews, community gatherings, and workshops with Anishinaabe elders, harvesters, and community members), vulnerability assessment, and cross-jurisdictional adaptation planning.
Results/Conclusions
Anishinaabe elders, harvesters, and tribal members identified current changes in plant phenology, fruit-to-flower ratios, and abundance in focal plants and associates across local and regional geographies. Observed changes in focal plant health, behavior, and abundance were considered alongside changes in climate, Anishinaabe forestland access and management authorities, and socio-cultural practices in species-specific vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning processes. Cross-jurisdictional management recommendations were developed and shared with federal land managers, which initiated collaborative A. tricoccum monitoring and P. quinquefolius restoration planning on tribal and federal forest lands in Michigan. This work also informed a parallel process of developing Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad: A Tribal Adaptation Menu. Designed by a team of Anishinaabe, Menominee, and non-Indigenous partners, the Menu has been used by Indigenous and non-Indigenous land managers for culturally-adapted climate adaptation planning. The resources developed through these efforts can inform collaborative climate adaptation and forest management across jurisdictions, guide holistic research in forest ecology, and support restorative management through adaptive engagement of Anishinaabe and Western sciences.