What Not to Do when Working with a Tribe: Lessons from Ground Zero of Climate Change

Shishmaref, Alaska is one of the friendliest communities in Alaska and there has been tremendous forgiveness of outsiders who make mistakes when trying to "help" the community deal with extreme climate change outcomes. However, there have been repetitive mistakes by media and researchers that have caused and continue to cause harm in the community and to individuals. This paper compiles and gives some examples of these basic mistakes. Included in this is list are the lessons: 1) Return phone calls and emails; 2) Don't take credit for a local person's work; 3) Respect the authority of elders; 4) Make it clear how you plan to give back. Generally this paper will discuss how these issues affect local leaders in Shishmaref, who are trying to keep people safe from extreme flooding and risks associated with climate change.

* Note that Annie Weyiouanna is first author on this paper, but because of AGU restrictions on submitting and author-order we were unable to make Annie Weyiouanna's name appear as first author.