"Integrating Crow Environmental Knowledge and Science to Better Understand Climate Change Impacts" presented by John Doyle and Christine Martin

1. Integrating Crow Environmental Knowledge and Science
to Better Understand Climate Change Impacts
John Doyle, Christine Martin, JoRee LaFrance, Margaret Eggers, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, Crow
Environmental Health Steering Committee, Anne K. Camper

2. • Crow Tribal knowledge of climate
and ecological changes
• Western science data on historical
and projected climate changes
• How do these knowledge sources
compare?
• These knowledge sources are
complementary and both are
essential to addressing
environmental health issues in our
community.
Researching our collective community expertise
to understand and address impacts of climate change

3. Traditional Ecological Knowledge
(TEK):
Qualitative Research design
In depth interviews with tribal members
Content Analysis of interviews
Collection of themes revealed by interviews
Finding correlations with western data
Western Science (WS):
Historical data
Climate projections
Quantitative observations
Finding correlations with Traditional Ecological
Knowledge data
Methodology

4. Qualitative Interviews
Harvesting a medicinal plant with ancient spiritual importance to the Tribe.
• Interviews w/Tribal members (n=26), men (n=14) and women (n=12).
• Interviews were transcribed and a content analysis was done by Crow
Environmental Health Steering Committee, following standard practice in
qualitative research.

5. “When I was a child back in the ‘70s the snow was very deep every year to where I
remember there was snow drifts every year and they were at least 3-6 feet high. We
used to build tunnels in them every year when we were kids. Nowadays, in the
winter, we don’t see that drift that high. Nowadays, the snow drifts are about 6
inches to a foot high.”
TEK: Winter snowfall is declining

6. WS: Total Annual Snowfall
Annual snowfall in millimeters from Hardin MT (1912-2012) and Crow Agency MT (1895-
1990) observation sites, calculated in water years. (Data source: National Climate Data
Center).

7. “I think that the winters are different. There’s fewer days that are subzero that I
would observe. It seems to me that I used to count on a month of subzero weather
maybe 6-weeks especially in January and February. And not before Christmas or not
before the holiday or the new year. I remember a lot more snow but maybe it’s just
because of the hard work that you have to do when there’s snow.”
TEK: Winter Temperatures Are Milder

8. TEK: Spring ice break-up has become ice melt
“Ice break-up is a rare commodity. I recall a time when they would float down
the river on ice chunks that were about 9-inches thick and the size of a car hood.
Ice jams haven’t occurred for years. The ice break-ups don’t happen like they
used to and if they do, the timing is off..”

9. “Winter is coming later. Snowfall is coming later in the fall. The freezing period for
the fall is coming later so the leaves are falling later as well. Warmer temperatures
in the fall. Decrease in precipitation for the spring indicated by the amount of mud
outside. Snowpack in the mountains is melting sooner so you are able to go into
the mountains in June when they would usually go up in July.”
TEK: Winter Weather Patterns are Changing

10. WS: Increasing average annual temperature
• Hardin, MT 1948-2007 (solid triangles)
• Crow Agency, MT 1948-1991 (hollow diamonds)
Showing the increase in average temperatures from a mean of 45.6oF in the 1950s
to 50.1oF since 2000 (Data source: National Climate Data Center)

11. TEK: Longer, Hotter Summers
“We have a few days of hot weather in March, then some in April but the hot
weather comes in June and lasts until September, it’s longer, the heat, it appears
to me to be longer and hotter real or more uncomfortable.”

12. WS: Days Exceeding 90° F are Increasing
• The red line indicates a linear trend of increasing high temperatures.

13. WS: Increased Average Annual Temperature (historical
and projected)
Source: U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

14. “We’re losing the annual precipitation that we enjoyed in the years that
have gone by. All we can do is just have memories and hope that
eventually the cycle will come back to that time when we had ample
moisture and we were at leisure with plant life, berry picking, root
gathering and other ceremonial activities that go on here year after year.”
TEK: Less rainfall

15. WS: Declining annual precipitation
The decline in winter
snowpack is not being
made up during other
seasons; average annual
precipitation in MT CD5
has been declining by
0.11” per decade.

16. TEK: Severe spring floods are more frequent
“… that floodwater came through their houses, and that house is condemned. For
people that is such a hardship because we just don’t have to money to relocate. So
they just had to let their house dry out and move back in, even with the same
carpet. So that was a community health concern.”

17. Little Bighorn River flood History
Little Bighorn River, Crow Reservation,
Montana. Major floods in 1978, 2007,
and 2011 were unprecedented and
cause concern about future flooding.
(Data source: USGS 2012)
2007
2011

18. TEK: Increasing Wildfires
2012 fires just east of Crow Agency.
“There are more fires now days and they’re more severe and more
widespread and they do more damage. To me it’s all obvious and apparent
that we in fact are in global warming… When it rains, the mudslides washes
away everything…”
2015 fires just east of Crow Agency.

19. WS: Montana Drought Monitor
Montana drought index
recorded September 26,
2017.

20. TEK: Loss of Bird Species
“One big thing I noticed is that the dove that
we used to have here it had its own song
and I always really liked that song. I could
hear it and other birds in the morning… their
different sounds all blended together in one
big ol’ symphony. It was just a great thing to
me. But that dove is no longer here…”
“Prairie chickens [sage grouse] used to
be more plentiful. I remember when I
was a little guy we used to cruise around
and see them all the time… they would
be just right alongside of the road, eating
or doing their thing. I don’t see them
around much anymore the way we used
to.”

21. TEK: Loss of Plants
“I think when my family was younger we did a lot of just
going around in the mountains, hunting and camping. When
I get next to the rivers, what I am doing is usually searching
for things. Like I am looking for mint or I am picking berries
of different kinds. Or maybe I am looking for wild onions and
carrots and things. And those things changed, they’ve
changed a lot. I feel like I can hardly ever find mint where I
would use to find it a lot. And that is really usually along
waterways. So there is a difference in growth. Why? I don’t
know. But why plants move around so much, I just don’t
know. But I do think that it probably has to do with water
and the season of time when the water is available. There
are places where I used to constantly go for certain things
that I have had to look for new places because things just
aren’t growing where they [used to be].”

22. TEK: Loss of Amphibians
“When we were little we used to catch and release frogs and that was part of our
activity at the river… there would just be tons of frogs in those little water holes
next to the river, and turtles and salamanders… We used to see who could find the
most… there was about 5 or 6 of us playing that game where we could each
collect our own frogs… But now when I go over there, the frogs are still there but
they’re not all along the river like they used to be… you kind of have to hunt them
out.”

23. TEK: Loss of Berry Resources
“There used to be a bunch of patches of raspberries and now they only know of
one or two patches. And now they won’t tell me where they’re at. They said,
‘They’re rare and I’m not going to tell you, they’re mine.’ The chokecherries
weren’t as delicious, they weren’t as sweet. None of them are as sweet as they
used to be. That might have something to do with the decrease in bees… or the
frost and thawing period, or it could be the late precipitation. Because if you are
not getting the water then you are not growing as early in the season…”

24. “Maybe I’m an old timer. Maybe older generations before have said this about the
younger generations. Our younger people are addicted to video, audio, cell phones.
They don’t sit down and eat breakfast and dinner together… that real strong
element of our tradition and culture – I see it kind of going away… We’re losing all
of the good stuff that we think about with culture, society, family and tribe – a lot of
that is being lost.”
• Some ceremonies and personal conscience are being lost.
• Plants and animals are disappearing.
• We are slowly losing our knowledge that needs to be passed down.
Loss

25. Traditional Ecological Knowledge and
Western Science concurrences:
Western science provides quantifiable
observations/results
Milder winters & Decreasing in winter snowfall
Increasing temperatures in the summer
Decrease in precipitation
Increasing frequency of spring flooding
Increase in frequency of summer wildfires
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Exclusiveness:
Traditional Ecological Knowledge provides
qualitative observations
Decline/loss of spring ice break-up in the
rivers
Mid-winter thaws are impacting timing of
trees and shrubs
Reductions in grass & cattail height
Declining frog and bird populations in
their abundance and health
How does TEK compare to Western Science?

26. Two Ways of Knowing
Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee
Traditional Ecological Knowledge:
There is an energy and a power and we are
a part of that energy.
We are born into this way of knowing.
Spiritual growth
Oral history
Western Science:
Data

27. Conclusions
• We have lived and survived in the same place for many generations – so we see
and experience climate change impacts that go beyond what science is currently
monitoring.
• Our Tribal and other communities with
substantial subsistence activities and
traditional uses of water are at
particular risk from climate change, and
have greater adaptation challenges.
• Both sources of knowledge are essential
to understanding, anticipating and
planning.

28. It takes a whole community
Our thanks and appreciation to the many dedicated community members and student
interns who have participated or are participating in this project, and to our colleagues
with the Crow Tribe, Crow School, Navajo Nation, Cheyenne River Sioux, University of
New Mexico, IHS, EPA Region 8, USGS, Chief Plenty Coup State Park, U of Wyoming,
Cold Spring Harbor Lab, J. Craig Ventre Institute & HHMI.

29. It takes all of us to work on change
Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee
John Doyle – PI & Apsaalooke Water & Wastewater Authority
Myra Lefthand – Crow Judicial Branch
Sara Young – Retired educator
Eric Bird In Ground – Crow Tribe Legislator
Christine Martin – Little Big Horn College, Project staff
Emery Three Irons – Student member
Roberta Other Medicine – Indian Health Service hospital
Dionne Pretty On Top – Indian Health Service hospital
Non-voting academic partners: Drs. Anne Camper & Mari Eggers
Little Big Horn College
Dr. David Yarlott , Dean Lefthand, Dean Small, and many
dedicated business office staff
Principal Investigators
John Doyle, PI LBHC
Dr. Margaret Eggers, PI MSU
Dr. Anne K. Camper, PI MSU
Dr. Deborah Keil, PI MSU
Dr. Johnnye Lewis, PI UNM
Dr. Melissa Gonzales, CoPI UNM
Dr. Stephanie Ewing, PI MSU
MSU Bozeman - Current and past student contributors: Keenan Brame,
Eric Dietrich, Candy Felicia, Jonah Morsette, Varsha Rao, Chris Allen & ~ 10
Engineers Without Borders volunteers
MSU Collaborators
Dr. Vanessa Simonds
Dr. Jane Klassen
Dr. Brian Bothner
Dr. Ellen Lauchnor
Dr. Tim McDermott
Dr. Anita Moore-Nall
Dr. Al Parker
Dr. Lillian Lin
Bighorn Valley Health Center
Dr. David Mark & colleagues
& out of state collaborators

30. Thank you to our funders
• RD83559401-0 (NCER STAR; PIs Doyle, Camper) from the Environmental
Protection Agency; EPA STAR Fellowships Research Assistance Agreements
#FP91674401 and #FP91693601 (Eggers; Richards); Awards #RD83370601-0
(NCER STAR; PIs: Ford, Camper), #EPA-OECA-OEJ-13-01(Environmental Justice;
PI: Doyle)
• Center for Native Environmental Health Equity Research, 1P50ES026102-01 NIH
Center of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research, National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH & EPA (PIs: Lewis & Gonzales),
Subawards to MSU Bozeman (PIs: Keil, Eggers, Doyle)
• National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes
of Health (NIH), Grant #P20MD002317 (PI: Christopher; Sub-award: Camper)
• INBRE, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH. Grants #P20 RR-
16455-04 Subaward, Little Big Horn College (PI: Eggers); #P20GM103474 (PI: Keil)
• National Science Foundation funding for student interns (EPSCoR, REU & more)
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors; it has not been formally reviewed by any of the
funders and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or of
the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA does not endorse any of the products mentioned.

31. Questions?