The Challenges and Necessity of Tribal and Non-Tribal Collaborations
for Watershed Regeneration
Dr. Z. Grabowski
Associate Director, Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed
The first conversation circle our day focused on the topic of cultural competency and the challenges and blessings of participating in non-Tribal and Tribal collaborations to regenerate our watershed. While the Alliance is quickly being recognized as a unique and leading organization demonstrating Tribal co-leadership of a watershed organization, it continues to be a learning journey on how to collaborate internally and with our swiftly growing community of allies.
It’s worth the time we spend learning together. Real relationship building stands as a countermeasure to the kind of extractive dynamics Tribal leaders and citizens find frustrating, including tokenism ("in order to get this grant we’ll need Tribal representation"), a persistent urge for non-Tribal physical and social scientists and planners to fit tribal knowledge and governance within their own frameworks and processes rather than respect Indigenous self determination, and a feeling that folks often only reach out to Natives and Native Nations when they ‘want something from them.’
Building relationships mutually, taking the time to get to know one another and learn how we operate, including our values, intentions, practices, and senses of humor are all vital for building trust, dignity, and a sense that genuine cultural change is possible. Showing up for each other is essential.
With many attendees from state agencies, federal programs, municipalities, and other “settler colonial” institutions, the air was ripe with a creative and productive tension as participants reflected upon their own experiences and confronted the larger and persistent systemic injustices and inequalities that we must all deal with when accessing funding systems, interfacing with state bureaucracies, and producing ‘legitimate scientific knowledge’ (the dreaded Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) featured prominently here). It was pointed out that these prejudices and power dynamics are actually very well understood and extensively studied by both Native and non-Native scholars, like Gregory Cajete, Leanne Betasamosake-Simpson, Audra Simpson, Vine Deloria Jr. and his son Phillip Deloria, Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Robin Wall-Kimmerer, Kelsey Leonard, and many, many others.
There is also a long tradition in Political Ecology and in Science and Technology Studies examining the unstable power dynamics of “knowledge production” and centralized state management of ‘the environment.’ We wonder, too, seeing the effects of this tension, should an abstract entity (the government) or similar agency make decisions on behalf of people and life when far removed from the actual socio-ecological relationships essential to the place? We believe that the experiences and expertise that comes from being part of a community qualifies us to participate in decision-making about us. This is why we are going to play a significant role in developing our own Watershed Resilience Action Plan.
In order to deepen our relationships with our whole Watershed Family while we do this work amidst the complexity of our regulatory state and competitive grant-making poses two major challenges:
Building trusting relationships amongst ourselves and our more than human kin through genuine heart, mind, and spirit alignment and attunement - i.e. having the right foundation for actions, and
Translating these foundational relationships and understandings into a framework for watershed regeneration. This framework will enable us to productively grapple with current federal, state, and local regulations, policies and procedures - like the designation of intended uses for waterbodies, determinations of navigability, local zoning regulations and building codes, and design criteria for housing, septic, sewer, and stormwater systems.
Navigating these two worlds, or taking up both of these strands and weaving them together is what the Alliance has been set up to do, but to implement this vision we need your help! It is through the continued support of our allies and our members that we will be able to continue on our bold journey of healing and regeneration.
To learn more about Alliance conversations on collaboration, join Alliance Director Rahiem Eleazer (Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation) and Tobias Glaza (Avalonia Dir. of Stewardship) addressing the issues at the CT Land Conservation Council’s Conference last spring.
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