LAND USE CHANGE IMPACTS ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA (Invited Presentation)

Indigenous peoples are especially vulnerable to environmental changes to their homelands. The impacts of environmental change on Indigenous Peoples in the Southeastern United States is particularly understudied. We share two case studies from eastern North Carolina related to the homelands of Lumbee and Coharie peoples. Both studies aim to understand how impacts to wetlands can disrupt communities’ relationship to their namesake rivers. In the Lumbee River Watershed, we used SWAT to develop a watershed scale hydrological model driven by climate and land cover projections for the region. We analyzed the results for streamflow characteristics and floodplain inundation characteristics. On the Great Coharie River, we study how unintended consequences of wetland conservation may disposes Indigenous Peoples. Both cases reveal various ways that Indigenous connections to place and collective identity can be disrupted through human activities that occur, notably, without meaningful Indigenous consultation or consent. The approach to each of these case studies is a unique example of using quantitative geoscience and policy analysis as tools to approach community-driven concerns in partnership with those who know the lands and histories intimately.