The KU School of Law is joining a research hub based at Haskell for a joint symposium examining tribal sovereignty and the effects of climate change on children’s health.
The two-day event will run from Thursday, Nov. 12 to Friday, Nov. 13. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required by Friday, Oct. 30. Sign up at this link.
Rising Voices, Changing Coasts, based at Haskell Indian Nations University, a partner on the symposium, is wrapping up a $20 million federal grant, pairing university-trained scientists with Indigenous knowledge-holders to address climate change on the coasts.
The symposium will include their annual event looking at the intersections of children’s health and climate change.
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Alex Kimball Williams, Alaskan Native (Aleut tribe) and project manager of the research hub, said in a news release that colonialism is a public health crisis.
“COVID was not the first health apocalypse for our Native communities: We navigate metabolic disorders, boarding schools, detention centers, climate change and more,” she said. “Indigenous communities impacted by colonialism have the lowest life expectancies in the world, regardless of symbolic independence or sovereignty. We need material repair. Mitigating climate change is the most universally relevant approach to this problem.”
Haskell will host the first day of the symposium — Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Haskell auditorium, 155 E. Indian Ave.
Likewise, the University of Kansas School of Law hosts an annual Tribal Law & Government Conference.
“Tribal sovereignty has always been crucial to the health of tribal nations,” said Shawn Watts, citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
Watts is a lecturer and the director of the Tribal Judicial Support Clinic at KU.
“As the federal government has begun to intentionally default on its trust and treaty obligations to tribes, sovereignty is more important to the health of tribal nations than ever before,” he said.
KU will host Friday, Nov. 13 events in Green Hall room 104, 1535 W. 15th St.
See the full symposium schedule and contacts for accessibility requests at this link.
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