Tribes manage over 56 million acres and are a part of well over 200 formal co-stewardship agreements. DOI and USDA oversee over half a billion acres of lands and waters that were traditionally stewarded by Tribes. In recent years, policy and scientific support for integrating, or re-integrating, Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into the stewardship of these lands has surged. However, providing high-quality scientific products and services to Tribes—and effectively integrating IK from Tribes into mainstream environmental science—requires a broad suite of highly specialized skills. Key competencies include partnership development, ensuring data sovereignty, implementing co-production research methods, facilitating structured decision making, navigating Federal-Tribal funding structures, bridging ontologies, and more. This presentation offers a primer on these core elements of effective ‘Tribal Partnership Science,’ giving federal employees insight into the unique considerations involved in conducting actionable science in Indian Country. By fostering science that honors Tribal sovereignty and aligns with federal missions, we can strengthen partnerships and advance stewardship objectives through collaborative, rigorous work.
This United States Geological Survey news article "USGS Friday's Findings - November 22, 2024" was originally found on https://www.usgs.gov/news
