Indigenous Kinship Circle for Climate Futures

Hi, I’m Micah Cook! I’m an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and grew up in Anadarko, Oklahoma. I am a senior at the University of New Mexico, studying Journalism & Mass Communications, while minoring in Native American Studies. I joined the program wanting to focus on implementing pollinators back into native Oklahoman ecosystems through the reintroduction of native plants and wildflowers. Pollinators are critical to our environment, yet are often overlooked for their importance. I hope that my project will support existing food sovereignty initiatives and reinforce climate resilience by increasing ecological diversity. Ultimately, I hope my pollinator project allows my community to strengthen their reclamation of Indigenous food systems and protect their future food sovereignty initiatives. So far, this internship has been a wonderful opportunity to reconnect and collaborate with my community. I look forward to seeing our projects grow!

My name is Chaz Meadows. I am coming from the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. I am a second-year Graduate student in the Native American Studies program here at OU. My focus for my two-year summer project will be based around native plants and the persistence they have had around climate change. I believe native plants such as ‘dogwood’ and ‘Willow’ are very fundamental to Cheyenne ceremonies such as Sundance, arrow worship, and pipe fasting. I am also writing my master’s thesis around how food sovereignty is beneficial for tribal members located in urban areas such as Oklahoma City. Both projects intertwine with each other and build upon one another. Without discussing climate change, we cannot discuss the importance of growing food and revitalizing culture. hena’háanéhe

My name is Timberlee Castillo, I am a Junior in the Environmental Science program, while minoring in Sustainability studies at the University of New Mexico. What I hope to do for the project is bring attention to oil and gas drilling on the Eastern Navajo Nation and how it affects communities in the area. As well as give the community members perspectives of what is happening near their homes and how it has affected them. We want to show these representation through a storymap site and have credible sources to support perspectives. 

Name: Melanie A. Frye, MA

Nation: Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Tribal Town: Yofaluce (Eufaula-Canadian)

Clan: Fuswvlke (Bird clan)

Program: 2^nd Year PhD student in Anthropology (Sociocultural-Linguistics)

Project: I plan to work with my father’s home community of Yardeka (Yvtēkv), located in Southeastern Oklahoma. Their project focuses on restoring possum grapes into the community. It focuses on growing seedlings to distribute to community members, while also tracking and observing the natural relationship between possum grapes and their environment.

Codie Horse-Topetchy, [Gú[dòhìñ Mà (Eagle Woman) is a Kiowa, Comanche, Otoe-Missouria, and Pawnee student at the University of Oklahoma. She is majoring in Native American studies with a minor in linguistics.  

Codie is currently a researcher in the Native Studies department and working on projects regarding the ecological knowledges of the Otoe-Missouria and the historical experiences of her Kiowa ancestors. She was selected as a Young Climate Leader of Color and UNITY Earth Ambassador for her work. She is also an apprentice in Intertribal Buffalo Council.

Codie’s passions are cultural preservation, language, & bison restoration. In her research project for the Indigenous Kinship Circle for Climate Futures, Codie plans to fulfill a study around bison and their role in regenerating grasslands in Oklahoma. 

I’m Kellie Jo Lewis. I am a Citizen of the Kit’ke’hahki Band of the Pawnee Nation, a proud Kiowa and Wichita, and a doctoral student in the political science department at the University of Oklahoma. My project centers on rematriating traditional and medicinal culturally relevant plants to revive pollinator populations in Southwest Oklahoma. 

Cameron Conners is part of the Ohkay Owingeh, Diné, and Mohawk tribal communities and a junior at the University of New Mexico studying Environmental Science.

Davian Thompson is part of the Chahta and Diné tribal communities and a Graduate student at the University of New Mexico studying Geography and Environmental Studies.

Jamie Crowe is part of the Pueblo of Tesuque tribal communities and a senior at the University of New Mexico studying Population Health with a minor in Maternal and Child Health.