Brian McInnes speaks on Objibwe teachings and climate change

Brian McInnes, an Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and a member of the Wasauksing First Nation, presented on indigenous cultures on Feb. 5 at the UW-River Falls campus. In his presentation, titled “Talk on Local Indigenous Lands and Cultures and How Local Tribes are Working to Restore Each,” he discussed how moon phases offer a unique perspective on the changing climate.

Seasonal patterns have changed from 10,000 years of traditional Ojibwe teachings. According to the National Park Service at nps.gov, Ojibwe culture identifies 13 moon phases to track significant changes in the seasons and the environment. For example, the “Ode’imini-giizis,” or the “Strawberry Moon” marks when strawberries should start to bear fruit. 

In an interview, McInnes said, “We see through even just the moons, the moon phases, [that] the regular expected things that have regularly happened for 10,000 years are suddenly off-kilter now. That’s one important indication that something is awry. Something is amiss when these things that have predicted these activities or happenings suddenly are no longer happening in their expected time frames or in their expected parameters.”

An article published by the United States Department of Agriculture said that Indigenous Americans have been physically impacted by the effects of rising sea levels due to climate change. According to the article, “For tribes in coastal areas, erosion and sea-level rise threaten vital community infrastructure and are leading to forced displacement and relocation.”

Climate change has caused both physical and cultural changes that have negatively impacted Indigenous American communities. 

McInnes said, “[Winter] allowed for people to have that time and that space to not only talk about life, teachings of life, but also the story I told, (of Nanabozho, an Ojibwe folk hero). It was a traditional legend, and those kinds of stories can only be told in the wintertime when there’s snow on the ground…. If we had none, I couldn’t have actually told that story….”

“My point is, what would happen if winters didn’t have snow or not enough snow, and we couldn’t go over these sacred stories? That they couldn’t be told anymore?.. It enhances this culture, this practice, this legacy of Indigenous dispossession, with the land and rights, but also the knowledge and ability to continue culture and language.”

This winter has been unusually warm for Wisconsin. Some have denied the effects of climate change and blamed it on it being an El Niño year. McInnes said, “Is this just El Niño, or is this a trend we will see for maybe decades to come, and what will that trend mean for the first 

peoples and cultures of this place? That’s the big axial question.”