Resilient California Summit: “What If We’re Successful?” – Sara Dutschke, Ione Band of Miwok Indians

VX News here features excerpted remarks by Sara Dutschke, Chairwoman of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians and partner at Kaplan Kirsch, where she leads the firm’s tribal practice, delivered at the inaugural Resilient California Summit hosted by the Indigenous Futures Society. Taking up the summit’s theme, “Imagine what’s possible: What if we’re successful?”, Dutschke argues that traditional ecological knowledge should help shape the direction of California’s climate, land-stewardship and resilience work, not simply be added to efforts already underway. Read the remarks below.

“Native perspectives must inform the questions we ask, the priorities we pursue and the knowledge we draw upon to navigate the complex challenges facing our communities—particularly the changes in climate and policy we will discuss this week.

Sara Dutschke: Good morning. I'm Sara Dutschke, Chairwoman of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians. Our ancestral home is in Amador County, not far from here, where we have been for thousands and thousands of years. After more than 100 years of work, our people were restored to our land in 2020. That is significant, and it is a fitting backdrop as we think today about climate change, land stewardship, resilience and Native ways of caring for the land. Our land is in Plymouth, California, about 35 miles from here, and it is truly beautiful if any of you ever want to make the trip.

In addition to serving as Tribal Chairwoman, I am a lawyer and a partner at Kaplan Kirsch in San Francisco, where I lead the firm's tribal practice. I'm excited to be here at the inaugural Resilient California Summit, and I want to thank Ryan and his team at Indigenous Futures Society, along with all of the organizers, for including me in this event.

Today's theme is "Imagine what's possible: What if we're successful?" I gave a lot of thought to what that might look like. I usually speak off the cuff, but today I prepared my remarks because there were things I wanted to be sure to say.

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As I reflected on the focus of this conference, and today's sessions in particular, it occurred to me that resilience, leadership and success take many forms. Sometimes they look like what we are doing here today: networking, collaborating, exchanging ideas and addressing the many issues that affect our communities… I hope we can all approach these days with open minds, respect for one another and a shared commitment to the issues facing our local communities as we move forward.

Returning to the theme—what's possible, and what if we're successful—Ryan's team asked me to address how Native leaders and Indigenous ways of thinking can inform that success.

So let's take a moment to consider the question: What would happen if the work we do together exceeds our expectations? What if the relationships we build here and beyond, the lessons we learn from one another, and the decisions we make as leaders and professionals truly create a future that is more inclusive, more sustainable and deeply connected to the land we all call home?

What would that future look like, and how would we measure it? By the projects we complete? Many of you are working on projects in your communities to address the issues being discussed at this summit. By the discoveries we make? Science is a big part of this conference, and much of science is discovering how things work. By the challenges we overcome, as teams and as individuals? Or do we measure it by the trust we build, the knowledge we share, the voices we elevate this week and in the future, and the opportunities we create for future generations?

As we consider those questions and navigate our path forward, Native leaders—spiritual and political—have an important role to play. Native American people have long held deep, meaningful relationships with their traditional lands, waters and communities. Those relationships carry critical knowledge and the history of our people from generation to generation, and they shape our understanding of the world. That understanding is vital to broader discussions about science, stewardship, climate change and our collective future.

It has been gratifying in recent years to watch Native lifeways, Native worldviews and traditional ecological knowledge gain widespread attention and respect. These are things I grew up with, and for a long time they were discussed mostly within the Indian community, because we did not have the respect of the broader community when it came to how we see the world. It is exciting to see that change, particularly for younger generations who do not have to feel the way we once did. They can be proud to be Native and share their knowledge with the world, not just among ourselves.

But this is only the beginning. We have an opportunity not just to bring Native perspectives into work already underway, but to recognize the role Native leaders can play in shaping the direction of all our work going forward. Native perspectives must inform the questions we ask, the priorities we pursue and the knowledge we draw upon to navigate the complex challenges facing our communities—particularly the changes in climate and policy we will discuss this week.

That requires us to approach the integration of Native peoples, their traditional knowledge and their lifeways with more than good intentions. Sometimes we simply need to slow down and take time to listen, so we can build trust and unity through understanding, action and mutual respect.

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Understanding traditional ways of thinking and incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into modern efforts also allows us to look at science through a broader lens. Many brilliant scientific minds agree that our societies have often treated science as separate from people, culture, tradition and religion. I think we all now recognize that is not really the case. Even as a lawyer trained to think analytically, some of my deepest insights into how the world works—how we are interconnected and how everything flows—have come from my grandmother and spiritual leaders like her.

The traditional knowledge that lives and thrives in Native communities reflects lived experience and many generations of careful observation of land, water, animals, plants and ecosystems. Those perspectives can deepen our collective understanding of environmental change and of the tools we already have to respond to it.

I have focused on traditional Native ways of thinking and traditional ecological knowledge, but I am not suggesting that we elevate one way of thinking over others. If we are going to succeed, we must remain open to learning from different experiences, perspectives and sources of knowledge. The more willing we are to learn from one another, the deeper our understanding becomes and the better prepared we are to make good decisions for ourselves and our communities.

In that sense, success would mean that future generations inherit not only scientific discoveries and solutions that positively shape their future, but also stronger relationships between communities and institutions, greater respect for a variety of lifeways—including Native traditions, culture and ecological knowledge—and a more informed approach to caring for the places that sustain us.

Success would mean the next generation no longer asks whether Native ways of thinking and living belong in conversations about science and sustainability. Instead, that knowledge will simply be part of the foundation of those conversations—naturally included. And we will acknowledge that some of the foundations of science as we understand it today actually come from studying tribal lifeways: ways of sustaining the Earth and our communities by taking only what we need, and nothing more.

As we begin our time together—with sessions on climate change, collaboration, community partnership and innovative solutions—let's hold on to the question driving today: What if we're successful? To get there, we need to challenge our assumptions and listen with humility, purpose and mutual respect.

When I had a hard time understanding something, my grandmother would tell me—and others—that we have to expand our minds. If we stay open, together we can do truly amazing things.

We have some incredible panels coming up for the rest of the plenary, so I will close there. Thank you again for allowing me to speak with you today.