Resources
Though we take great pains to research and educate ourselves in matters of sustainability, one community cannot have all the answers. Below, you'll find other useful resources from around the Internet, including recent news articles, research papers, and reports related to climate change, sustainable development, and the SDI Blog itself.
Publications
Sustainable development education, practice, and research: an indigenous model of sustainable development at the College of Menominee NationBy Michael J. Dockry, Katherine Hall, ABSTRACT: The College of Menominee Nation Sustainable Development Institute’s theoretical model (SDI model) conceptualizes sustainable development as the process of maintaining the balance and reconciling the inherent tensions among six dimensions of sustainability: land and sovereignty; natural environment (including human beings); institutions; technology; economy; and human perception, activity, and behavior. Each dimension is understood to be dynamic, both internally and in relationship to each of the other five dimensions. Change within one dimension will impact other dimensions in a continual process of change. Change can be externally driven or inherent to the dynamic nature of any of the six dimensions. Sustainable development is a continual and iterative process. A central concept of the model is based on the experience of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and their profound sense of place and relationship with the land that has allowed their community to recognize and balance the tensions among model dimensions through time. This paper provides a detailed description of the SDI model and its development and concludes with short examples illustrating how the model has been used for course design and delivery in higher education, interdisciplinary community planning, and participatory research. |
Techniques for Regenerating Old SeedsBy Frank Kutka, Sheila Blackman, Elizabeth Hoover, Sara Alavi, Kathleen Wu, and Rowen White.Written in collaboration with CMN and SDI’s Sustainable Agriculture faculty member, Dr. Frank Kutka, this article showcases the research he and his colleagues conducted to regerminate old seeds in both traditional and non-traditional manners to reintegrate them into modern growing cycles. ABSTRACT: Food sovereignty is both the right of peoples to healthy food produced sustainably and to define their own food production systems. As the food sovereignty movement continues to evolve, more Indigenous people are searching for the seeds Native ancestors used to grow traditional crops. Sometimes gardeners have viable seeds of traditional varieties in abundance, and sometimes the only seeds still in existence have not been grown out for a long time and are now very old. Others have been collected decades ago and stored in museums for display. Age eventually leads to the death of seeds, and some of the old seeds will never germinate. However, sometimes old seeds are still alive but very weak, too weak to germinate on their own. Here we review the literature about the various ways in which gardeners and scientists have helped or may help to grow healthy plants from old, weak seeds that are still alive. Some of the methods are not traditional. Each person or group involved will have to make choices among the methods based on the likelihood of success, cultural norms, and other considerations. If successful, regenerated plants can become the basis for new stocks of healthy, vigorous seeds with which relationships can be rebuilt to help meet current and future food sovereignty goals. |
Articles
Climate change impacts on Menominee nation’s
By Matthew Carroll, Penn State News
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Strong, Resilient, and Female: Women’s Empowerment Summit and TrainingBy Nicholas Schwitzer - SDI Media Specialist, Mohican NewsWritten for the Mohican news, this article recaps the first ever Women’s Empowerment Summit and Training (W.E.S.T.) put on by SDI. |
Podcasts
| SLC 2020 Podcast | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | Google Podcasts |
Apple Podcasts |
| Camp 8 podcast - Episode 7: mike dockry | ||
| Spotify | Stitcher Podcasts |
Apple Podcasts |
Videos
- POSOH Project
- Sustainable Leadership Cohort
- Visualizing Forest Futures Vlogs
- Dr. Frank's Sustainable Ag Tutorials
- Adam's Corn(er)
POSOH Project
Created in partnership with UW-Madison, the POSOH (Place-based Opportunities for Sustainable Outcomes and High Hopes) Project, was built on the SDI theoretical model of sustainability and designed to develop approaches to blend Scientific Ecological Knowledge (SEK) with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into science education teaching and learning.
Sustainable Leadership Cohort
Visualizing Forest Futures Vlogs
Dr. Frank's Sustainable Ag Tutorials
Adam's Corn(er)
Workshops
Shifting Seasons Summit 3
C.O.M.I.C.S.
With Collaborating Our Model In Contemporary Sequential-arts, or C.O.M.I.C.S, writer Justin Eagle Gauthier and SDI Media Specialist/Artist Nicholas Schwitzer hold sessions to teach the ins and outs of how to make a comic from their experiences working on adapting the Menominee Theoretical Model of Sustainability in a graphic sequential format.
C.O.M.I.C.S. Presents: Recessive
"RECESSIVE: Part 1" is a comic book created by Justin "Jud" Gauthier and Nicholas Schwitzer that explores the Sustainable Development Institute's Menominee Theoretical Model of Sustainability in a new medium. The book follows members of the Menominee community as they deal with the fallout of an ancient recessive plant returning to the plant communities of the Menominee Forest. Comic funded by the American Indian College Fund through their Community Based Native Arts Learning and Sharing Grant as part of SDI's "Collaborating Our Model in Contemporary Sequential-arts" (C.O.M.I.C.S.) and "C.O.M.I.C.S. II: The Adventure of Ink" Projects. Project supported by the Sustainable Development Institute's Staff and Alumni, the College of Menominee Nation, Native Realities, the S. Verna Fowler Academic/Menominee Public Library, the Menominee Community, and the creators family and friends.
Partnered Websites
- Center for First Americans Forestlands
- Tribal Climate Change Database
- Northeast Indigenous Climate Resilience Network (NICRN)
Center for First Americans Forestlands
The Center for First Americans Forestlands is a collaboration between the USDA Forest Service and the College of Menominee Nation Sustainable Development Institute. Here, we promote sustainable forestry on public and private forests, sustainable utilization best practices, and sustainable rural development on native timberlands.
Tribal Climate Change Database
The Tribal Climate Change Database is a searchable database, compiled as part of a collaboration between Michigan State University and College of Menominee Nation.
Designed by CMN student Jasmine Neosh.
Northeast Indigenous Climate Resilience Network (NICRN)
The Northeast Indigenous Climate Resilience Network (NICRN) seeks to convene Indigenous peoples to identify threats to Indigenous self-determination and ways of life and to formulate adaptation and mitigation strategies, dialogues, and educational programs that build Indigenous capacities to address climate-related issues.