Wampanoag people are taught growing up that they are not separate from the natural world, and the health of the land and sea impacts them as equally as they impact the environment.

A panel discussion at Stillpoint in West Tisbury on Sunday aimed to consider this perspective and look at the climate change crisis from a Wampanoag lens. 

“We feel the spirit of the Wampanoags every time we walk on the beach, every time we walk on these lands, because the land is with us,” said Carole Vandal, a Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) educator. 

The panel was moderated by Liz Durkee, the climate change coordinator for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, in collaboration with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) natural resources department. 

It featured Jen Randolph, the executive director of Kinship Heals, a Native-run nonprofit domestic violence relief program, and her daughter Jada Randolph, the nonprofit’s youth and adult advocate. Other panelists included Jannette Vanderhoop, an Aquinnah tribal council member, and Alexis Moreis, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Wampanoag Tribe of Chappaquiddick.

During the discussion, the panelists said that while climate change is threatening people throughout the world, Native people are disproportionately suffering.

“These communities face the most impact to their physical health, to their mental health and to the damage done to their Indigenous homelands,” Ms. Moreis said. “These are facts, and that is why it’s very important when we’re looking at climate change, that we’re looking at how it’s impacted different communities.”

Jen Randolph said that it’s a heavy burden for Indigenous youth to carry the weight of the climate crisis when the support they need is often lacking.

“When we ask our young people ‘what is your responsibility’ and ‘what is your part,’ I think it’s really unfair...that we even ask them that question, because they’re just trying to survive and we’re not doing anything to help,” Jen Randolph said.

Her daughter Jada Randolph, 23, said her generation is taking action to address climate change on the Vineyard by practicing sustainable shellfishing and cleaning the beaches, but there is only so much they can do to help.

“I see a lot of people my age going homeless,” Jada Randolph said. “They’re living in tents. They’re living in the woods.”

She said it is frustrating seeing wealthy people, many who have multiple houses and several cars, use tribal homelands as a playground.

Ms. Moreis added that both the Chappaquiddick and Aquinnah tribes are legally allowed to access their usual and accustomed land, even if privately owned, for activities such as fishing, hunting and foraging. Every day, and not just in the summer, she said those rights are infringed upon.

“We need community members to uphold [these rights]... so when a person that’s Wampanoag is practicing their rights, they don’t have to deal with brutality, an uncomfortable situation, violence and death,” Ms. Moreis said. “I say ‘death’ because we have that in our history.”

Jen Randolph also spoke about how climate issues can be linked to other problems in society. She said throughout history when resources are scarce there is a spike in violence, particularly against women. Her nonprofit, Kinship Heals, is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault within the Wampanoag community.

“When people think that they can control Mother Earth and they think that they have the right and the entitlement to control the natural resources… those are the same people that believe that they can control women,” Jen Randolph said. 

The Island community is not absolved, she stressed. In 2013, Kinship Heals conducted an Island-wide assessment and found the Island’s numbers were on par with the national statistics: 56 per cent of Native women in the U.S. experience sexual violence, about twice the average rate for the general population.

The panelists all emphasized that for Island governments to better include tribal members in climate decision-making, they should begin by building relationships with the Tribe and actively seek their input early in the process. Residents can help by reviewing their town’s bylaws and voting in ways that protect Wampanoag people, the panelists said. 

Ms. Vanderhoop acknowledged the organizations that do invite Wampanoag people to the table, and explained that sometimes they are too stretched thin to help, especially when many of the positions aren’t paid.

“Sometimes there’s a seat being offered and, unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of us,” Ms. Vanderhoop said. 

Ms. Vanderhoop used herself as an example and the many hats she wears. She said she sits on the MVC and the tribal council, is a commissioner for the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank, is on the board for the Aquinnah Cultural Center, is involved in Aquinnah town center projects and runs a gardening and jewelry business while taking care of her daughter.

But Ms. Vanderhoop emphasized that caring for the environment doesn’t always require grand gestures. 

“When you go to the grocery store and you remember your reusable bags, you just feel like a hero, right?” Ms. Vanderhoop joked. 

At home Ms. Vanderhoop recycles and composts, and saves paper bags she’s given to use instead of buying rolls of plastic garbage bags. All her Tupperware is reusable and she never buys paper towels, using rags or sponges instead. She also doesn’t purchase new clothing, and opts to thrift her clothes instead.

As a landscaper, Ms. Vanderhoop uses horticulture vinegar instead of Roundup and focuses on amending the soil on the properties she works on, in part by using fallen leaves that she blows off of lawns as mulch for gardens.

“Being outside for me settles my nervous system,” Ms. Vanderhoop said. “People ask me ‘do you listen to music or podcasts?’ And I’m like ‘no, I listen to the birds and the bees and I’m just in stillness.’”

The panelists stressed that the human connection to the Earth is something all people would benefit from, and nurturing that relationship will help ensure it will remain a healthy and sustainable home. 

“We are part of the natural world, ourselves, all of us, people,” Jada Randolph said.