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Sharing Indigenous Wisdom, An International Dialogue on Sustainable Development

Who We Are

Sustainable Development Institute - Background

The Menominee origin story relates the significance of its relationship to the land. Over 8 millennia Awaesah (bear), the first Menominee, stepped out of the river. Today, the Menominee remain dependent on this land and water as they continue to engage in sustainability practices to protect their resources for future generations.

The Menominee are renowned internationally for their model of sustainable forestry management. Hence, the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) was organized in 1993 by the leadership of the Menominee Nation representing a broad spectrum of institutional interests including governance, commerce, education, and natural resourced management. At the creation of the SDI it was placed under the umbrella of College of Menominee Nation (CMN) located in Keshena, Wisconsin. CMN is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium that represents 32 tribal colleges in the United States and Canada.

SDI's mission is two-fold: to reflect upon and disseminate Menominee achievements and expertise in sustainable forestry, and to advance the tenets of sustainability to other economic and social sectors. Menominee expertise in forest management has gained widespread attention, receiving commendation by the United Nations in 1995, and designation as the first awardee of the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development in 1996. The Institute fulfills its mission through scholarship, research and demonstration projects, policy recommendations, and academic preparation in sustainable development and timber harvesting.

The Menominee model of sustainable development is unique in that it views development as a continual process by which Menominee affinity to place balances six dimensions of community life. These dimensions are: Land and Sovereignty, Natural Environment, Institutions, Technology, Economics, Human Perception, Activity and Behavior. Each dimension is understood to be dynamic, both in respect to its internal organization, and in relationship to each of the other five dimensions of the sustainable development process.

For more information on the Sustainable Development Institute visit our home page at College of Menominee Nation.

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LAND & SOVEREIGNTY

Are integral to the process of sustainable development. The Menominee Nation has a firm experiential basis for their understanding of this process. They know first hand the horror of termination, and the struggle for restoration of their status as a federally recognized Indian tribe. While political restoration has been accomplished, other aspects of restoration are yet unattended. Central to our research and extension mission is the commitment to those topics and activities that re-affirm tribal sovereignty and preserves the tribal estate.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

The long and successful Menominee experience in sustained yield forestry is the cornerstone of its community's sustainable development. SDI has prioritized forest products, forest ecology, enhanced commerce of timber products, and value added forest products as immediate topics relevant to its scholarship and research and extension mission.

INSTITUTIONS

In aiding in the development and maturation of the institutional life of the rural and reservation communities which we serve, we ensure the longevity of our efforts, maximize the impact of our initiatives, and position our own institution firmly within the community context which has chartered our mission.

TECHNOLOGY

SDI works collaboratively with the Menominee Telecommunications Design Team to enable a multi-media telecommunications infrastructure capable of serving our rural and reservation community institutions. The Design Team includes the College, the Tribal and County governments, and the Menominee Tribal Enterprises. We believe rural and reservation communities are dependent on the foresight of their institutions to assure access to the new wave of information technology. We are committed to forwarding the development of information infrastructure. We are attuned to the potential of electronic commerce, medicine, and judicial practice, advancing local access to technological innovations, and complementing our academic goal of advancing technological literacy.

ECONOMY

Initial entry into extension services to forward this dimension are in nascent development, with an initial emphasis on cooperating with the local business incubator, offering workshops for potential entrepreneurs and service as a research resource for tribal enterprise. We anticipate the local regions designation as an enterprise community will provide additional training opportunities.

HUMAN PERCEPTION, ACTIVITY & BEHAVIOR

A priority for research lies in projects which assure access to safe and reliable food and water resources. To that end, we anticipate complimenting research efforts in sustainable forestry with new initiatives in permaculture, ethnobotany, and preliminary investigation of the feasibility of aquaculture and hydroponics production.

Decision Making

Today we remain dependent on this land and water to sustain us. Therefore, we must make the necessary decisions to sustain it for future generations. We believe Menominee Autochthony is the centerpiece by which decision making must take place for successful sustenance of this nation and land.

AUTOCHTHONY - n. from the land itself; nativeness by virtue or originating or occurring naturally as in a particular place. (Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913).

Land and Sovereignty Natural Environment Institutions Technoloty Economy Human Perception, Activity and Behavior Decision Making