Weather Modification and Indigenous "Ways of Knowing"

Abstract

The AAG 2023 Plenary Session “Global Geographies of Weather Modification in an Era of Climate Change” discussed the utilizations and impacts of weather modification focusing on rural populations in China. I would like to extend this notion globally, and apply it locally by asking “How are Indigenous “ways of knowing” affected by weather modification?” Are Hawaiian Kanaka, who have used wave-reading, ocean current readings, and other Indigenous “ways of knowing” affected by a shift in Global or Regional weather patterns? Looking at Indigenous futurisms, how can the concept of Kuleana, or responsibility, be presented in a manner to foster judicial, legislation, and social justice options that are available to Indigenous populations, that want or need a voice in how weather modification affects their communities? I aim to expand the discussion beyond rural China to consider the impacts of weather modification on indigenous communities and their traditional ways of knowing.