Tribal Liaison Meets With Indigenous Delegates in Finland

Oct. 5, 2018
Collage of 4 photos in clockwise order from top left: Houses with rods mounted to their roofs, people presenting in front of a podium, a hand pulling a berry off of a bush, fish being cooked near an open flame.

Althea Walker, SW CASC Tribal Climate Adaptation Science Liaison came on board in July of 2018 through a collaborative agreement with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). Since then, she has hit the ground running. As a steering committee member of the Indigenous Foods & Knowledges Network (IFKN), Ms. Walker (Akimel O’otham) was asked to represent the IFKN at the Northern Fishing Traditions Festival in Tornio, Finland, where her and other steering committee members were on a mission to bring together Indigenous peoples from the US Southwest and Arctic. There she engaged with Indigenous delegates from around the world, including Western Siberia, Greenland, British Columbia, and New Zealand regarding cultural heritage, climate change, ecological restoration, and issues related to traditional foods.

The most influential part of this journey for Ms. Walker was the opportunity to spend time with the Indigenous Sami people from Finland, Russia, and Sweden, in which they shared cultures, struggles, food, and prayers with one another. Ms. Walker says she is truly thankful for this opportunity to represent the US Southwest, to bring together Indigenous peoples of the US Southwest and Arctic, and she looks forward to the journey ahead as the SW CASC/AIHEC Tribal Climate Adaptation Science Liaison.

You can contact Althea Walker at awalker@aihec.org.