Cultural Change and Climate Change

Washington state Nisqually indigenous people are described as people of the river and grass. Nisqually original homeland consisted of nearly 2 million acres encompassing present-day towns of Olympia, Tenino, and Dupont, including a reach as far as Mount Rainier. Nisqually life in the Puget Sound watershed has existed for the past 10,000 years. However, drastic changes for the tribe occurred 150+ years ago with the arrival of Euro-Americans. Many current families live along the Nisqually River 14 miles east of Olympia on a reservation of approximately 5000 acres with tribal land holdings nearby of 1000 acres (which only were reacquired in the past 25 years).

Fort Nisqually was established in 1833 as the first white settlement on Puget Sound. Shifting land allotments for the peaceful Nisqually people are painful reminders of shifting movement of the Nisqually Glacier and Nisqually River on Mount Rainier. Shifting names accompany this impressive mountain: Tahoma, Lushootseed, Cowlitz, Klallam, Upper Chehalis, Twana, and Chinook Wawa preceded Mount Rainier, named for Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. Renaming a mountain is symbolic for relocating communities. Relocation is challenging; forced relocation is traumatic.

Both steep topography and roaring rivers characterize Mount Rainier. When developers situated roads and buildings alongside the grade of a river, they did not anticipate shifting climate changes. Repeat flooding severely damaged the Carbon River Road, taking away car access to some northwestern parts of Mount Rainier National Park. On the western edge, the Longmire development sits adjacent to Nisqually River. The river is “up” 30 feet in elevation higher than park buildings and roads which rely on a levee for protection. In 2006 one storm dumped 17.9 inches of rain over a 36-hour period on Mount Rainier, causing the park to close for 6 months.

Nisqually Glacier is losing land mass and retreating at a more rapid pace in the past century due to rising temperatures. When the summer melt period exceeds winter snow accumulation, receding glaciers pick up their melt pace. At one point Nisqually Glacier was recorded as moving as quickly as 29 inches per day! Glaciers are Nature’s laboratories for climate change. Unless there is some global stabilization of temperatures, the projection is for increased glacial retreats which in turn lead to dangerous debris flows into Mount Rainier’s rivers.

Cultural changes as well as climate changes can impact local ecosystems in some drastic ways. We often do not address the long view on a consistent basis. The concept of “7 generations ahead,” an ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) credo, needs to be everyone’s credo.

 Oh, I did not mention yet that Mount Rainier is an active volcano. A cousin active volcano, Mount St. Helens, blew its lid in 1980, changing the topography in the surrounding valleys. Layers of mud and debris were sent flowing for 17 miles, while ash fell all the way east to Montana. Yikes!

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

419. When you think of climate change, what are your first thoughts?

420. How are today’s U. S. cultural changes affecting you?