by Chelsea Stein
From extreme weather events and record-breaking temperatures to shrinking ice sheets and out-of-season plant blooms, our climate is changing. And the impact of these changes affects groups and communities differently, including millions of Indigenous people in the U.S.
Here in Michigan, 12 federally recognized tribes have a unique connection to the environment, relying on the Great Lakes and other natural resources for their way of life. A team of experts from Michigan State University has received funding from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center to better understand the specific challenges such tribes face in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering, as well as design technological solutions to address them.
The MSU faculty and students hail from various disciplines including law, engineering, bioethics and environmental science. With a $35,000-grant from GLISA, awarded in 2024, the team has hosted a series of workshops in collaboration with the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, which has over 4,700 citizens total. More than 25% of the citizens reside in northern Michigan’s Charlevoix, Emmet and Cheboygan Counties.
Fighting climate change through connection and collaboration
The project was inspired through a conversation between Daniel Uyeh, assistant professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, and Justin Simard, associate professor of law in the College of Law. They connected at a grant writing workshop and bonded over a shared interest in helping marginalized communities.
“I knew when I joined MSU in 2023 that I wanted to support both underrepresented people and work in the area of climate smart technologies,” Uyeh explained. “I want to get those technologies to people who need them, people on the frontline of climate change. Here in the Great Lakes region, Native Americans are the ones on the frontlines.”
Simard directs the Kelley Institute for Ethics and the Legal Profession and has founded and directs the Citing Slavery Project, which works to reveal the legal profession’s complicity in slavery. With this project, he and Uyeh are driven to mitigate the unequal effects of climate change.
“What we’ve learned from history is that when technological change happens, especially in farming, oftentimes underrepresented groups get left behind,” Simard explained. “The classic example is in the early 20th century when the transition to mechanized agriculture and advanced fertilizers was taking place. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was providing grants to farmers during this time but didn’t provide them to Black farmers. So, the goal of this project is to discover how we can leverage technology to help Indigenous people in Michigan to ensure they aren’t left behind.”
Alongside Uyeh and Simard, the project team also includes Ike Iyioke, research administrator for MSU’s Alliance for African Partnerships, Lifeng Luo, professor in the College of Social Science’s Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Pang-Ning Tan, professor in the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Wenona Singel, associate professor of law in the College of Law. In addition, two third-year law students are involved: Destiny McEntyre and Tori Bonn.
“This collaboration could only happen in a few places—MSU is one of them,” Simard said. “People want to work together here and bring their unique strengths to find solutions to today’s most pressing issues.”
As one of the nation’s only colleges to offer an Indigenous Law certificate, MSU is recognized as a leader in Indigenous law. Singel is director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center—which oversees the certificate program—and an enrolled member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. Her connection has enabled the project team to foster relationships and collaborate with tribal members.
“This work is deeply personal for me,” Singel shared. “As an Odawa woman and a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands, it’s an honor to bring the resources of MSU to support my own community’s efforts to adapt to climate change. Our traditions teach us that knowledge is reciprocal; what we learn through this collaboration strengthens both our communities and the land we share.”
“Combating climate change is community-driven work,” McEntyre added. “How to best address climate change depends upon not only the environment but the people who reside in it.”
Since the project began, the team has been welcomed to attend traditional events like the Odawa Homecoming Pow Wow and a Ghost Supper, a traditional Odawa feast held in the fall to honor ancestors and loved ones who have passed on. “Our goal has been to establish trust and connections, working hand-in-hand with the Little Traverse Bay Bands, so we can develop the most effective tools,” Simard added.
Bonn, who plans to continue working with Indigenous communities after graduating in the spring, shared, “Any agro-tech project like this is going to be community specific, but I’m immensely grateful to be involved on a team that addresses climate change in such a forward-thinking way, considering participants with respect and meeting their needs.”
Workshops, presentations, insights—and what’s next.
Since Fall 2024, the project team has held multiple workshops and informal interviews to meet directly with tribal members and learn about their unique adaptation challenges to climate change. A key part of the effort has been administering surveys to capture responses and findings about what’s most important to tribal members.
“We want to get a sense of what this community is seeing and experiencing to determine what we can help them with,” Simard said. “As a result, the research team has really expanded our ideas of the kinds of problems they’re facing. We have a lot of expertise on the team about climate change challenges, but what we heard from tribal members is more about cultural impacts and how climate change is actually impacting their way of life.”
Water has been one of the biggest concerns, as tribal members have noticed irregular rain patterns, a lack of snow and less water in northern Michigan’s lakes. Animal and fish populations have decreased which is disrupting everyday activities like fishing, hunting, gathering, and other traditions—not only farming food, which was what the research team initially set out to support.
“I’ve learned that gathering and fishing are ways of life for the tribal members,” Uyeh added. “For example, we learned that finding wild strawberries has become harder for [the tribal members] and this is a problem because it’s a ritual for when girls become women; It’s something they’ve done for centuries.”
Another element of the sessions has been focused on sharing information with the tribal members about climate change. Omar Gates, a climatologist and tribal liaison for GLISA, gave a presentation at one of the workshops about how climate change is shaping the Great Lakes region. He shared effects on precipitation, storms, ecosystems and more. While Tan, from the MSU research team shared how smart technologies and artificial intelligence can address climate changes.
With the workshops wrapped up, the work continues. Simard says that means compiling findings, developing tech-based recommendations and seeking additional grant funding—with input from the tribal members every step of the way.
“We plan to write two articles,” he explained. “First, will be an article for a peer-reviewed scholarship journal that will describe our engagement and the benefits of one-on-one interactions through the survey responses and workshops. Second, will be an article for smart technology researchers in agricultural science to hopefully inform their work and how to best partner with underrepresented communities to create solutions in this field.”
Uyeh added that the team will also be searching for additional funding resources to create the right technological solutions for the Little Traverse Bay Bands. “We want to use technology to solve both specific problems and multifaceted challenges,” he said. “We want to integrate artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics to create a support system, helping tribal members make decisions and stay informed whether they are farming, hunting, gathering or fishing.”
Currently, Uyeh is bringing such technological solutions to farmers across more than 10 projects spanning 16 countries. His approach is all about building resilience and giving people the tools to fight climate change and mitigate emissions—which can help Michigan’s tribes too.
With the connections formed during this project, the MSU team plans to continue engaging with the Little Traverse Bay Bands, furthering partnerships and deepening collaboration. One area of opportunity is through a local high school robotics team and sustainability club, uplifting the voices and concerns of young tribal members.
“In every proposal, we want to bring a representative from the Indigenous people to co-develop the content,” he continued. “We can bring about more innovation in what we are trying to do by having them involved and co-creating with us.”