Indigenous Nations’ Access to Geospatial Climate Change Data: The case of the Lummi Nation

Abstract

This thesis examines the availability and necessity of climate change data to Indigenous communities, using the Lummi Nation as a case study. The research centers on three main impacts to Lummi waters: sea surface warming, flood vulnerability, and shoreline erosion, which are likely to disproportionately impact Indigenous communities. To analyze these changes, I use a combination of ArcGIS Pro and Google Earth Pro with satellite, aerial, and state and federal GIS data. I then explore the changing water characteristics with what they mean to the Lummi Nation’s way of life, and Tribal treaty rights, and the tribe’s 2016 climate change report. I find that current public climate data is lacking in a variety of factors and will require more work by state and federal scientific agencies to ensure its usability in Indigenous communities. The analysis utilizes a critical physical geography perspective and Indigenous methodologies explain the need for accessible climate change data from local, state and federal agencies without demands of reciprocity as a way of honoring the Treaty of Point Elliot and demonstrating a contemporary approach to data sovereignty.