By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
Following Puyallup Tribal Council’s 2019 Climate Emergency Resolution, the Puyallup Tribe developed a Sustainability Program to ensure proper measures were being taken to ensure correct climate action was established.
Along with the department, a sustainability manager role was added, now filled by Puyallup Tribal Member Kalicia Bean. She engages members of the Tribe, along with the community, to think actively about sustainability, whether it’s at work or at home.
While Bean is the only full-time employee within the Sustainability Department, she is supported by a working group of 10-15 other people who meet once a month to discuss and advocate for climate action within Tribal spaces.
The program hosts a variety of community resources, whether it’s clean-ups, plantings or other volunteering opportunities. Historically, the department has partnered with other local green organizations such as Tacoma Tree Foundation and the Pierce County Sustainability Division to help aid their events and ensure Tribal Members have access to ecological materials.
“All of those folks have been great partners and resources for our programming. They’ve been helpful around guidance as I develop the program, and they’ve also provided us with plant resources and volunteer engagement to make our events a lot larger,” Bean said. “Given that our Native people are traditional stewards of the land, a lot of them are wanting to give more plant resources to us however they can just to be able to further our programming.”
While organization and setting up educational programs is integral to the department, hands-on activity is just as important. Grant-based projects like the planting event to restore a vegetative buffer at dxʷłalilali — a place to come ashore — in September 2022 allowed the department to make a direct impact with the Tribal community. Bean hopes the Sustainability Department can continue to find a blend between traditional learning and in-person community activity.
“I’m a really huge advocate for getting your hands on the ground and being around folks and creating that connection, that interpersonal learning,” Bean said.
The department is also working on more long-term goals, with one particular focus on the development of what Bean calls a “food sovereignty hub.” This future project will fill out a 1-1 ½ acre section of land near the Tribe’s Hunting Department on 66th Ave. East in Puyallup.
“This will be a space to really get our hands on the ground in terms of engaging in food sovereignty while also promoting proper land stewardship,” Bean said. “We’re calling it a food sovereignty hub because it will be a farm/education hub. We’ll have a lot of different volunteer opportunities there. I can imagine over the next year we’ll have some classes and opportunities to be involved on a smaller scale. We’ll also be developing a barn structure, greenhouse infrastructure and plant preparation. This space will also provide classrooms, and that’s all later within the next two years.”
The Sustainability Department is continuing to recruit members for its working group, with full eligibility requirements listed on its department homepage. If you have interest in getting involved with the department, the working group, the food sovereignty hub or any other future projects, you can reach out to kalicia.bean@puyalluptribe-nsn.gov or sustainability@puyalluptribe-nsn.gov to learn more.
