The environment, both climate and the landscape, provides an important sense of place for Native peoples, both for historical and cultural reasons. As the climate changes and vegetation patterns and the presence of wildlife and migrating species shift, the cultural context of Native peoples, who view themselves as tightly coupled with and integral to the natural environment, will be disrupted. Shifts in climate and consequent shifts in the timing or the distributions of wildlife species are therefore likely to have profound impacts on their cultural and religious lives.

Changes in climate and in ecosystems in the decades ahead are likely to have consequences and influences that are both practical and that affect deeper life experiences. A variety of indigenous plants and animals, including migrating fish and waterfowl, provide many tribes with sustenance, as indicated in the previous section, and essential components of many cultural traditions. As climate shifts, the optimal habitats for various plants (including medicinal plants), animals, and fish are likely to shift. These changes are, in turn, likely to lead to a declining presence of some plants while other plants become more abundant, altering the resource base and cultural experience for many tribal communities. At deeper levels, humans' whole experience of their environment is likely to change from what has been sustained through many generations via historical and religious traditions. For Native peoples, climate change is likely to disrupt the long history of intimate partnership with the environment.

Climate change will transform the landscapes and wildlife that are important to Native peoples, changing the surroundings in ways that will make human experiences different. Mountain environments, edges of ecosystems, and bird populations will be especially vulnerable. For example, the “Sky Islands -- in the mountainous west and where the prairies and forests meet between the Great Plains and Great Lakes will be places where significant changes seem likely. Wildlife, which is central to the cultural life of many tribes, is likely to be significantly affected over coming decades. For example, under the conditions of the Canadian climate scenario, models of bird distributions project a gross loss of up to 27% of the neotropical migratory birds, 32% of the short-distance migratory birds, and 40% of the resident bird species in Arizona. Because some extirpations (local extinctions) are likely to be offset by immigrations, this study suggests that the net changes (6% loss of neotropical migrants, 15% loss of short-distance migrants and 30% gain in resident species) are not likely to be as severe as the gross losses. Whether colonizing species can “replace -- extirpated species in an ecological sense is unknown at this time. It is also unknown what the overall rates of change are likely to be. From the point-of-view of Native peoples, what can be as important as the subsistence changes is the degree to which any of these changes will impact their cultures or religions.

Evidence of significant patterns of change over the past 10,000 years confirms that substantial ecosystem changes can occur as a result of changes in climate. Presuming future changes occur to the same extent as past changes, tribes that trace their ancestry to the wooded regions will slowly become overtaken by grasslands, such that the entire ‘nature of place' for many Native peoples is likely to change.

Central to the worldviews of Native peoples is an acknowledgement of kinship with all of creation. Through honoring and paying close attention to their “relatives, -- no matter how those relationships are defined, Native peoples have acquired and continue to draw strength from unique insights about the interactions of climate and the environmental health of their homelands. These insights can have very practical significance. For example, in the 1970s and 80s, elders on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota raised many questions about the potential implications of proposed efforts to exterminate prairie dogs in the sparsely settled western portions of their reservation. The elders expressed their objections in the language of Lakota spirituality, that values balance in nature and emphasizes the importance of each part of creation. The wildlife biologists have since come to recognize that prairie dogs are a “keystone species -- that plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of ecosystems on the Great Plains. Additional examples of the value of this close local knowledge are abundant. Two examples are: the exceptionally successful forestry management of the Menominee Nation; and the care of Cree bands in harvesting animals to ensure that all generations of game and fish survive in sufficient quantities to ensure the continuity of all species.

Among the various Pueblo peoples (e.g., Hopi, Zuni, Keres, Tewas, Tiwas, and Towas), religious ceremonies are the center of their cultural lives. Birds are seen as spiritual messengers and are completely integrated into the traditions of these Native American communities. More than 200 species of birds have unique Native names, and more than 100 are essential to parts of the Pueblo culture. Birds mark the passing of the seasons and are considered to have valuable spiritual properties needed by members of these Pueblos. Among both the Hopi and the Zuni, bluebirds are associated with puberty rituals surrounding the passage from girlhood into womanhood. Also among the Zuni, prayer sticks are used as offerings to the spirit realm. Each prayer stick, depending on its purpose, requires a particular combination of feathers drawn from among 72 different species of birds. Prayer sticks serve many of the same spiritual purposes in the Zuni religion that rosary beads serve to the Catholic religion.

Ceremonial and historic sites, graves and archeological locations, special mountain and riverine environments, and seasonal cycles and migrations are central parts of the cultural traditions and traditional indigenous knowledge to Native peoples. Taken together, atmospheric conditions and the character of local landscapes -- both the vegetation cover and the wildlife -- help to shape people's sense of place and how they relate to what surrounds them. While Native peoples have no monopoly among Americans on love of land, water, wildlife, and the sea, their interests start from different premises and have developed over thousands of years of living on this continent. As a result, the connections of Native peoples to their homelands differ, at fundamental levels, from the kinds of relationships developed in densely populated suburban and urban environments. These differences are frequently explained in spiritual terms, although the differences also include traditional ecological and intellectual knowledge and historical familiarities. These understandings and relationships have been, and continue to be, transmitted orally and through ceremonial forms that carry the interconnections of nature and histories forward to future generations.

Adapting to changing wildlife and land cover on tribal lands will be challenging because options for continued access by Native peoples to traditional ecosystem resources on neighboring lands could be limited. Where climatic and ecosystem shifts are significant, new approaches will be needed.

• In some cases, improved or altered land management practices (e.g., fire management) might be able to sustain the presence of particular types of useful plants or animals for at least a while longer.
• Where ecosystems shift from Native land holdings to nearby non-Native lands, new areas might need to be developed or acquired to allow access to traditional food sources. Increased involvement of Native experts in resource management, particularly of public lands, could improve the quality of the new environments as well as help to sustain traditional plants.
• Because land use decisions on reservations will have influences on, and be influenced by, the health and services provided by wider regional ecosystems, it will be essential for Indian and non-Indian people to work together. It is important to understand each others' perspectives and choices about climate change, its implications, and how best to adapt.