Climate Change, Archaeology, and Native Expertise: an Ice Patch Success Story

Archaeologists are in two positions to tackle issues of climate change and the human past: first as stewards of archaeological sites and cultural heritage values, and second, as scientists curious about the interrelationship between human communities, habitats, and climates. The rate of discoveries of cultural heritage remains is accelerating due to climate change phenomena, landscape changes and human activity. Importantly, Native Americans, First Nations, Native Hawaiians, and other indigenous descendant communities are at the front lines of climate change and have a major stake in informing archaeologists about traditional ecological knowledge impacts, and how best to steward and learn from cultural heritage in the face of unavoidable climate change. I will use the Ice Patch Archaeology and Paleoecology Project in Glacier National Park as an example.