The Quinault Indian Nation’s effort to combat the local impacts of climate change recently received a boost.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Wednesday a $10 million investment in tribal communities across Washington to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on those communities. The investment will send $150,000 to the Quinault Indian Nation for the hire of an emergency management administrative coordinator, according to a summary from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“Sea level change from climate change stands to affect the Quinault quality of life, through changes in the landscape and waters that influence changes in cultural practices, and impact the economy of natural resource industries, infrastructure and the subsistence way of life,” the summary reads. “The most pressing concern seems to be the threat of coastal flooding to Quinault Indian Nation’s main villages of Taholah and Queets.”
For over a decade, the Quinault tribe has planned to relocate the village of Taholah — home to roughly 650 residents — beyond tsunami zone and flooding inundation areas. The Nugguam, a newspaper produced by the tribe, reported in September that the tribe broke ground on the Northeast Neighborhood, an initial phase of relocation.
The money is part of a $45 million dollar climate change investment to tribes across the country, supported by $20 million dollars from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $25 million in fiscal year 2022 annual appropriations.
Over $1 million is distributed between projects — the Quinault’s and nine others — “designed to support the relocation, managed retreat, or protect-in-place coordinator.” Tribes can request a maximum of $150,000 per year for three years for that purpose, according to the bureau.
Over the next five years, the infrastructure bill will provide a total of $466 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for climate resilience, $130 million of which will go towards community relocation.
“Indigenous communities are facing unique and intensifying climate-related challenges that pose an existential threat to Tribal economies, infrastructure, lives and livelihoods,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a press release.
Since 2011, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded over $120 million to Tribes and intertribal organizations for climate adaptation, ocean and coastal management, and community-driven relocation efforts, according to the press release.
