Indigenous Rights and Effective Climate Resilience
Indigenous Rights and Effective Climate Resilience: A Case Study of the Federally “Terminated” Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe and Effective Management of Climate Vulnerabilities in Northern California, USA
The study is part of a larger applied participatory research project that investigates the environment-fragility-peace nexus through fifteen comparative global case studies conducted by CDA Collaborative Learning Projects in partnership with local and international organizations. The NCRNT case study was developed in collaboration with the NCRNT’s non-profit arm, the California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), and members of the local community of Nevada County, CA. Findings are in part based on oral history interviews conducted by the lead researchers with members of the NCRNT and non-native community members. Findings are also informed by data that emerged from a day-long workshop with Tribe members and elders, community members, researchers, and local civil society to define and elaborate on the links between climate impacts, conflict, capacities for social cohesion, and climate resilience. This report also engages with existing secondary literature on the Tribe and climate vulnerabilities, as well as key literature regarding political ecology and Indigenous people, climate change and indigeneity, Indigenous forest management and burning practices, peacebuilding and Indigenous people, and more specifically Indigenous environmental peacebuilding.
Suggested citation:
Campos, Diana and Renoir, Megan. Indigenous Rights and Effective Climate Resilience: A Case Study of the Federally “Terminated” Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe and Effective Management of Climate Vulnerabilities in Northern California, USA. Cambridge, MA: CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. 2023.
Download the case study brief.
Send questions or comments to Diana Campos, [email protected].
To learn more about CDA’s Environment-Fragility-Peace Nexus project or to get involved, contact the project team at [email protected]
Related Staff
Siad Darwish, Ph.D
Senior Associate, Culture, Conflict, and the Environment