Witness, Acknowledge, Mend, Protect, Unite, Move (WAMPUM)

The WAMPUM framework incorporates an Indigenous worldview into coastal climate adaptation to address the unique political context and challenges of Atlantic Coast Tribal nations (Leonard, 2021). The framework, developed by Kelsey Leonard, a water scientist, legal scholar, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, supports adaptation to the impacts of sea level rise (SLR) for Tribal nations located along the Atlantic Coast within a broader framework of Indigenous water and climate justice.

 

The components of the WAMPUM framework are:

  • Witness: Witness warnings from human and non-human relations and follow the patterns of the natural world

  • Acknowledge: Acknowledge traditional teaching and restore cultural stewardship practices

  • Mend: Mend the shoreline and practice healing for coastal and environmental sovereignty

  • Protect: Protect future generations by protecting cultural sites and ancestors

  • Unite: Unite with other communities to build capacity, plan relocation

  • Move: Move to new places with cultural connections and rebuild

 

This framework can help state agencies reflect and assess if they are undertaking adaptation actions that could be implemented in collaboration with Indigenous communities. For example, the WAMPUM framework details how non-human relations play an important role as beings that can communicate warnings, such as unusual whale mortality events (Leonard, 2021). In this example, state agencies could partner with Tribal nations to provide data, collect data, or support Tribal nations in collecting their own data to witness these warnings. Additionally, this framework can help state agencies reflect and assess if they are undertaking adaptation actions that might unintentionally harm Indigenous communities. For example, developing a voluntary buyout system that scatters a community rather than relocating it as a whole may disrupt cultural and social connections (Leonard, 2021; Marino, 2018). While this framework does not replace formal collaboration with Tribal nations, it can offer a supplemental pathway for guidance and reflection.

 

References
Adapted from

Staudinger, M.D., A.V. Karmalkar, K. Terwilliger, K. Burgio, A. Lubeck, H. Higgins, T. Rice, T.L. Morelli, A. D'Amato. 2024. A regional synthesis of climate data to inform the 2025 State Wildlife Action Plans in the Northeast U.S. DOI Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Cooperator Report. 406 p. https://doi.org/10.21429/t352-9q86

The Final Report, Appendix, and Webinar can be found here