White House Conference on the Oceans

by Larry Merculieff

As many of you know, this is the UN Year of the Oceans. As a result, the White House sponsored a White House Conference on the Oceans in Monterey, California June 11 and 12. Invitees to the conference included 500 people from scientific, university, environmental, and Native American communities. Of the 500 invitees, thirty or so individuals were selected to make presentations in one of four panels.

Upon completion of the panel presentations, the panelists were invited to participate in a plenary session chaired by Vice-President Al Gore. I was asked to present in a panel on Oceans and Health on the value of traditional knowledge and wisdom to research and management in the oceans.

My panel was chaired by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit. My presentation highlighted the fact that Cartesian based science systems unwittingly disenfranchise Native American ways of knowing because they are simply not equipped to “validate” traditional knowledge and wisdom. I emphasized that, given all the world’s daunting environmental issues, we need other ways of knowing and thinking to come up with better solutions to our global environmental problems; and that the U.S. government must actively seek partnerships with Native Americans when dealing with environmental, fish, and wildlife issues which directly affect them.

I also was one of about nine individuals selected by Vice-President Gore in the plenary session to answer some directed questions. The Vice-President asked me to elaborate on the value of traditional knowledge and wisdom to increasing our understanding of environmental issues. Judging from the overwhelming number of individuals who gave me feedback after the sessions, the presentation was very well received. The White House intends to submit a major budget proposal on stewardship of the Oceans in fiscal year 2000.