NE CASC Participates in Mashpee Wampanoag Youth Camp Visit

Earlier this month, NE CASC team members Jenica Allen, Thomas Nuhfer and Jon Woodruff helped welcome a group of 30 middle school students from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Nation to UMass Amherst for a two-day visit that focused on integrating Tribal culture, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Western science. Sponsored by the UMass Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Sciences (CBIKS), the visit brought together a group of university scientists, Indigenous cultural educators, Native American and Indigenous Studies scholars, university librarians, and other university representatives to help illustrate connections between the environmental history of Western Massachusetts, Mashpee Wampanoag cultural identity, and fundamental methods and concepts in environmental sciences. The visit was part of a month-long “Preserving Our Homelands” youth camp that facilitates an understanding of Mashpee Wampanoag cultural and scientific ties to the land among camp participants while also communicating their sacred obligation to protect the environment. 

The visit commenced with a session led by Woodruff, NE CASC University Codirector and a CBIKS principal investigator, who met campers at the summit of Mt. Sugarloaf near the UMass campus to discuss the geology of the region. Woodruff used 3D maps and a local core sample to discuss geological evidence for dramatic changes in the environment of the Connecticut River Valley beginning during the last glaciation. Woodruff’s presentation was followed by a presentation from an Abenaki educator, who told the Pocumtuck story of the Great Beaver and connected Indigenous perspectives of the land to the geological history discussed by Woodruff. Ultimately, the combined talks highlighted the many ways oral histories and Indigenous science intersect, complement, and enhance Western scientific understandings of the land. 

For their part of the student visit, Allen, an NE CASC affiliated investigator, and Nuhfer, an NE CASC graduate fellow, led campers on walking tours of the UMass Amherst pond where they discussed key topics related to native, introduced, and invasive plants, including:

• How concepts of native and invasive species fit within the context of evolutionary history
• Potential impacts of invasive plants on native plants
• The concept of food webs and the importance of native species within them
• The role of native plants in mitigating climate change impacts
• How native plants support wildlife and provide other ecological benefits

Ultimately, Allen and Nuhfer emphasized the importance of understanding how human choices shape the ecological future along with the need to align our choices with land management values. 

“I was thrilled that NE CASC was able to contribute to the highly successful ‘Preserving Our Homelands’ Tribal youth camp visit,” Woodruff said.  “This event offered an example of how Tribal Knowledges and stories can be effectively linked or braided with Western science to offer a holistic framework for helping students understand and advance climate adaptation. I hope that NE CASC will contribute to similar events in the future so that we can continue assisting Tribal Nations in achieving their educational and climate adaptation goals as we strive to strengthen our relationships with them.”