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Past Activities

TEK Section Activities at Past ESA Meetings

2023 Annual Meeting in Portland

Field Trip Indigenous Knowledge and Stewardship of Portland’s Urban Forests: What All Ecologists Can Learn Internationally to Locally for Developing Partnerships 

Special Session – Headwaters of the Columbia – Smelqmix Protected Area – Threats and Opportunities

Special Session  – Decolonizing Ecology Starts with You: Working Within Knowledge Systems to Incorporate Indigenous Data Governance into Ecology Data Landscapes

Special Session – Elevating & Implementing Indigenous TEK in Community, Higher Education, and Government 

Symposium:  Sacred Elements of Life: Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Contemporary Applications 

Inspire Session:  Traditional Ecological Knowledge – Indigenous Ecologists Share Their Work in the Intersection of Indigenous and Western Understandings of the Natural World

OOS – Melissa K. Nelson:  Guardians of the future: Honoring indigenous ecologies of inclusion 

OOS – Danielle Ignace:  Developing TEK Partnerships for Enhancing ESA Diversity and Ecological Research

COS contributed paper – Joseph Gazing Wolf:  Elevating Indigenous Knowledges in Ecology and Beyond 

Workshop – Deeper Dive into Guidelines for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge, for Indigenous Science and Scholarship 

Workshop – Ancient Texts from the Land – Indigenous Story-works 

Social Event TEK Cultural Evening  

2022 ESA Annual Conference in Montreal

Opening Plenary      Dr. Leroy Little Bear  “Then Humans Arrived on The Scene… Causing A Disturbance”

Panel Discussion following Plenary 
  • Panel Moderator: James Rattling Leaf – University of Colorado – Boulder
  • Panelist: The Hon. Senator Rosa Galvez – Parliament of Canada
  • Panelist: Gwen Bridge – Gwen Bridge Consulting Ltd

Workshop (TEK):  TEK in ESA: A Change is Going to Come in the Relationship Between Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledges and Ecological Science

Oral Session (EFI + TEK): “Planning Resilient Ecological Futures with Indigenous Communities”
     1. Ryan Emanuel and Jocelyn Painter, “Evaluating the impacts of climate and land use change on Indigenous communities, territories, and cultures in eastern North Carolina.”
     2. Georgia Smies, “Helping Indigenous communities interpret water quality data”
     3. Jason McLachlan, “Challenges and opportunities for ecological forecasting with Indigenous communities”
     4. Kyle Bobiwash, “Building equitable ecological science systems”
     5. Dominique David-Chavez, “Enhancing ecological forecasting through Indigenous research and data governance”

Symposium (TEK): “Intentional Relationality: Braiding Knowledge Systems for Ecological Restoration, Climate Adaptation, and Environmental Justice”
     1. Trudy Ecoffey “The Great Return: Buffalo restoration and the livelihoods of Tribal ranchers”
     2. Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills “Maa adu nudi iiwashi ahuc: Food is valued”
     3. Deondre Smiles “Paul Bunyan and the settler colonial ‘greenwashing’ of Indigenous environments”
     4. Ellen Simmons “Why the postage stamp approach to conservation is not working: Lessons from Indigenous science and complex systems science and the imperative for change.”

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Mixer and Cultural Night

TEK section chair James Rattling Leaf (Rosebud) receiving a gift of a squash grown from an 800 year old seed from Haudenosaunee elder Otsi’tsaken:ra

ESA 2021 Virtual

  • Symposium 1: “Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Connecting Past and Future, People and Place, and Ways of Knowing”
    Presenters / Panelists:  Dr. Frank Lake, Dr. Melissa Nelson, Dr. Ron Trosper, Gwen Bridge, Moderator:  James Rattling Leaf
  • Special Session 5: “Sense of Place – Vital Connections Tribal Culture & Ecology”
    Organizers:  Frank Lake, James Rattling Leaf; Featuring: Angela Mooney D’Arcy and Teresa Romero
  • Workshop 1: “Reciprocity of Indigenous Knowledge in Ecology Education: Towards a More Inclusive Ecology”
    Workshop leader: Dr. Michelle Montgomery
  • Roundtable: “TEK for A More Inclusive Ecology”  Featuring: Jessa Calderon, SacredPlacesInstitute.org. Moderator: James Rattling Leaf
  • We also made the arrangements for a Land Acknowledgement and opening prayer offered by Tina Calderon, Gabrielino Tongva and Ventuereño Chumash

ESA 2020 Virtual

  • Symposium: “Honoring the Power of Indigenous Science Data to Revitalize Ecosystems, Communities, and Cultures”  Presenters/panelists: James Rattling Leaf, Sr., Dr. Frank Lake, Dr. Clint Carroll
  • Workshop: “Working Together For A Better Future: How to Establish and Maintain Successful and Durable Partnerships between Indigenous Communities and Non-Indigenous Collaborators”: Panelists: Dr. Julie Thorstenson (NAFWS), Kim Greenwood (NPS), Dr. Serra Hoagland (USFS)
  • Networking Event: “Engaging with Indigenous People” co-moderated by past-president Dr. Laura Huenneke, James Rattling Leaf, and Robert Newman.

ESA 2009:  Albuquerque

Sense of Place: Honoring the Ecological Knowledge of New Mexico Indigenous Communities. (Special Session 4).

Symposium 3: Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities, Locally and Globally.
TEK Section Business Meeting:

Workshop 22: – Environmental Justice in Ecology Curricula and Community Engagement.

Field Trip 12: Field Trip to Jemez Pueblo to Observe Corn Dances.

Field Trip 6: Ecology in Agriculture of Pueblo and Acequia communities.

Field Trip 13: Songs Sustaining Seeds – Santo Domingo Pueblo, Harvest Dance.

ESA 2008: Milwaukee, WI
Special Session #6: Sense of Place
Special Session #11: Wild Rice Roundtable Discussion
ESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Business Mtg
OOS 14 – Ecological Education Furthering Environmental Justice
Poster 87-151 – Native Wild Rice Coalition�s cultural and ecological restoration

ESA 2007: San Jose, CA
Special Session #15: Sense of Place
Special Session #23: Bridging Western Science and Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge Ethically: What Works and What Doesn�t
Special Session #28: Restoration to Sustainable Landscapes: Building a Partnership Between Scientific, Traditional, and Local Ecological Knowledge
ESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Meeting

ESA 2006: Memphis, Tennessee
Special Session #5: Sense of place
ESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Brown-Bag Lunch

ESA 2005: Montreal, Canada
Special Session #2: Sense of Place: Indigenous homelands of eastern Canada
Contributed Oral Session 2: Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Brown – Bag Lunch Business Meeting

2004 TEK Section News

ESA 2004: Portland, Oregon
Special Session #4: Sense of Place: Indigenous Homelands of the Pacific Northwest
Oral Session 17: Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Brown – Bag Lunch Business Meeting

ESA 2003: Savannah, Georgia
Special Session #6: A Sense of Place – Traditional Ecological Knowledge Among Southeastern Native American Tribes
ESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section Brown Bag Lunch

ESA 2002: Tucson, Arizona
Oral Session #50: Traditional Ecological Knowledge

ESA 2001: Madison, Wisconsin
Workshop #18: Traditional Ecological Knowledge.