The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) is honored to announce the inaugural Tribal Advisory Group of California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment. The inaugural Tribal Advisory Group is diverse, passionate, and experienced and will play a critical role in California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment, a multi-year research effort to identify ways climate change is impacting California’s diverse communities and ways to adapt to those impacts. The Tribal Advisory Group will guide the Assessment’s Tribal Research Program and other components of the Assessment and help ensure the Assessment will be meaningful to tribal communities and support their work for climate resilience.
OPR recognizes that while there are similarities amongst tribal communities, California Native American Tribes are not monolithic; rather, each tribal nation has a unique history as well as distinct cultural, spiritual, and political structures. OPR staff intend for the members of the Group to represent diversity in age, culture, and geographic region, to be affiliated with federally- and non federally-recognized tribes, and to collectively hold expertise on a variety of Fifth Assessment topics. Each member is a member at large and does not represent a specific Tribe. We continue to accept nominations and aspire for the Tribal Advisory Group to be reflective of the diverse tribal communities in California. Please contact Patricia Kennedy at patricia.kennedy@opr.ca.gov for more information.
We are thrilled to welcome the following members to the inaugural Tribal Advisory Group of California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment.
Raymond Gutteriez
Eco-Cultural Ecologist
Tribal Affiliation: Wuksachi Indian Tribe
Nominating Tribe: Wuksachi Indian Tribe
Connor Magee
Research and Data Application Manager, Climate Science Alliance
Tribal Affiliation: Pala Band of Mission Indians (Payomkawichum/Cahuilla)
Nominating Tribe: Pala Band of Mission Indians
Christina McDonald
North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians Vice Chairperson
Tribal Affiliation: North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians
Nominating Tribe: North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians
William “Yaan Yaan Eesh” Micklin
Chief Executive Office, Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians
Tribal Affiliation: Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Cangukeidi (Wolf moiety), Teikweidi Clan, Kaats Hit (House of Kaats the man who married the bear), Tantakwaan (Tongass Tribe)
Nominating Tribe: Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians
Michael Shaver
Water Resources Manager
Nominating Tribe: Potter Valley Tribe
Dean Tonenna
Vice President, Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Indian Community Cultural Preservation Association, Botanist/Ethnobotanist/Tribal Elder and Kootzaduka’a Traditionalist
Tribal Affiliation: Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a
Nominating Tribe: Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a
While the Tribal Advisory Group will chart the course of the Tribal Research Program, OPR’s Fifth Assessment team will also continue with other tribal engagement such as Consultations and listening sessions. Learn more about California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment and its Tribal Research Program on the OPR website.