YCEJ’s Indigenous programs span four key areas
Tribal Co-Management –
Motivated by increased sovereignty held by tribes under Secretary of Interior’s Deb Haaland’s leadership, YCEJ’s clinic on Tribal Co-Management pairs students with tribes to grow collaborative management practices that put indigenous knowledge and well-being at the center of resource and community management.
Indigenous Knowledge –
YCEJ works to re-center Indigenous knowledge in decision-making and in how people understand nature. This work and wisdom is vital to solving our environmental and climate crises and to reuniting humans with nature as living partners in Earth care..
Together with Salish Koutenay College and Yale’s Forest School, Yale convened a 12-week, online seminar on Indigenous knowledge that was attended by over 3,700 practitioners from around the world. The community spawned by this course is staying connected and growing. Stay tuned for its online launch later this year!
Clean Energy in Indian Country
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and President Biden’s Justice40 executive order offer tribes an unprecedented opportunity to invest in clean energy and to reap its rewards. The new Certificate in Clean and Equitable Energy Development is gearing up to train tribal leaders, housing developers and renewable energy contractors to meet the challenge.
Teaching
YCEJ’s faculty leader Gerald Torres developed Yale Law School’s earliest classes on Indian law. Today, YLS offers five classes.