Working with the Indigenous Populations

“The wanton destruction of traditional homelands of indigenous people and the extinction of their people by climate change does constitute cultural genocide and amounts to one of the most serious crimes in our human history” - Jay Williams

“Due to drastic changes in the natural environment, Indigenous Peoples are faced with adaptations that may alter their fundamental understandings of being indigenous.” – Hilary Weaver

“Indigenous understanding of the world is holistic. All parts of the natural habitat are considered ‘sacred’ and to be preserved for future generations.” – Sven Hessle

As social workers, we often end up working with individuals or groups from Indigenous populations. It is our ethical duty to be aware of their cultural heritage, histories, values, beliefs and practices. One of the biggest influences for Indigenous populations is the environment. They have lived off the land for centuries and through cultural practices have developed a spiritual connection to the land and everything it holds. Indigenous populations throughout the world have suffered profound and disproportionate adverse impacts to their cultures, human and environmental health, human rights, well-being, traditional livelihoods, food systems and food sovereignty, local infrastructure, and economic viability.

Social workers can no longer ignore the significant impacts that climate change has had for Indigenous populations, and so we are tasked with developing partnerships to address these issues. We need to educate ourselves on the current issues and pass on this knowledge to others. We believe that Western social workers have much to learn from Indigenous social workers and Indigenous ways of knowing. As “Indigenous beliefs and values have gained recognition and credibility among the worldviews that provide a reconceptualization of the universe and humanity’s relationship to it”, avenues of acceptance of Indigenous approaches to helping have been broached within social work itself.   

Source: Gray, M., Coates, J., & Hetherington, T. (2007). Hearing indigenous voices in mainstream socialwork. Families in Society, 88(1), 55-66.

The Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Peoples

According to Hilary Weaver, the following are just some of the impacts of climate change:

Climate change alters ecosystems that are the economic, cultural, and dietary cornerstones of indigenous existence.

Changes to subsistence lifestyles including cultural and economic. Indigenous Peoples have developed subsistence economies based on hunting, fishing, gathering and other aspects of their natural environment. Rapid transformations mean that generations-old knowledge about when and how to conduct subsistence activities no longer reflect current realities. Colonization has led to some Indigenous populations having to go to court and fight for their rights to continue in these subsistence activities, many of which were supposed to have been guaranteed by the treaties they signed.  

Climate change has implications for food security and nutrition. Many Indigenous people live off the land, therefore a lot their diet comes from their natural surroundings. Changes to the land has led to scarcity of plants and animals. Natural migration patterns of animals’ Indigenous people have lived off for years, have changed due to the deterioration of the animals’ natural environments, creating a scarcity of traditional meats.

The health of the Indigenous populations has been affected by climate change. Climate change has led to changes throughout the world, including:

- More biting insects with the potential to spread disease.

- Increases in water borne and vector borne illnesses.

- Water resources have been compromised, affecting the supply of safe drinking water for both people and animals.

- Additionally, there are questions about the impact that climate change will have on the mental health of Indigenous Peoples. A lot of Indigenous populations are already socially disadvantaged, which may increase their risk of developing mental health disorders.

Source: Weaver, H. (2014). Indigenous understanding of environmental change and its social consequences. In Hessle, S. (2014). Environmental change and sustainable social development (pp. 65-70). Farnham, GB: Ashgate