Reno, Nev (July 27) - The Native Resilience project at DRI is pleased to announce the release of a new eBook, Holding the World in Balance: Indigenous stories of climate, care and continuance . This open-access publication is a collection of journalism, poetry, fiction, and artwork produced by Indigenous writers, artists and storytellers on the topic of climate change. The book includes prompts for creative activities to invite engagement from readers, and a teacher’s guide to provide guidance in how to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and ways of thinking into K-12 classrooms.
Through the stories in this book, learn about climate change through Indigenous eyes as you paddle down the San Juan River in a photo essay with tylee nez (Diné/Hopi). Contemplate the impacts of microplastics on and in Hawaiian lands and waters with poet Gina McGuire (ʻŌiwi, Native Hawaiian). Learn how we can heal broken relationships with the natural world as you read about the importance of the hímu (willow) plant to the Wašiw people with Robin Smuda (Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California).
With each story or creative activity, readers will gain familiarity with an Indigenous way of thinking known as the relational worldview – the idea that everything impacts everything else. The stories bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives in an approach sometimes described as Etuaptmumk (the Mi’kmaq word for “the gift of multiple perspectives”), or two-eyed seeing.
“Two-Eyed Seeing enables us to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing and learning for the good of everyone,” said book co-editor Mary Cathleen Wilson (Tohono O’odham), a resilience reporter for Native Resilience/DRI and contributing author.
The stories were written by members of the Native Resilience project’s Resilience Reporter program during 2022-2026, and by Indigenous students from a project called All Climate is Local that took place during 2022-2023. Participants were provided with training and guidance in multimedia storytelling and asked to combine Western-style climate data with stories from their own lives, cultures, and communities.
“Climate data and projections are important tools for sharing information around climate change, but graphs and scientific reports can be hard for many people to understand and feel connected to; these stories provide vivid examples of the on-the-ground impacts that climate change is having on Indigenous communities, cultures and lands across North America, how people are adapting and responding, and the many different ways that climate stories can be told,” said book co-editor Kelsey Fitzgerald, communication coordinator for Native Resilience and lead for the Resilience Reporter program.
Chapters are organized by themes that help build connections between the different stories and pieces of artwork. Creative prompts and activities at the end of each section invite readers to tell their own stories and experience the relational worldview for themselves. The book also includes a teacher’s guide with framing to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators integrate themes and concepts like interconnectedness and two-eyed seeing into their teaching.
“This approach is not about blending knowledge until it loses its identity,” says Michael Durglo Jr, Climate Change Coordinator for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, in the book’s foreword. “It is about respect. It is about allowing each way of knowing to stand with integrity. It is about understanding that climate models and elder stories can speak to one another, and that when they do, our understanding becomes stronger.”
The book includes work by Cherish Grassrope (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe), Derrick Gonzales (Tohono O’odham), Andra Hawk-Valdez (Hunkpapa Lakota; Standing Rock Sioux), Gina McGuire (ʻŌiwi - Native Hawaiian), Shecota Rae Nalwood Nez (Diné), tylee nez (Diné/Hopi), Robin Smuda (Wašiw - Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California), Mary Cathleen Wilson (Tohono O’odham), Crystal Miller (Walker River Paiute Tribe), and Ileah Kirchoff. The book was edited by Mary Cathleen Wilson and Kelsey Fitzgerald. The All Climate is Local project was led by Rene Dubay (Salish Kootenai College) and Kyle Bocinsky (Montana Climate Office).
“This book captures the impacts of environmental change through the eyes of many Indigenous storytellers and the lens of western science,” said DRI’s Maureen McCarthy, Program Director for Native Resilience. “We are grateful to all our Native and non-native partners for sharing powerful examples of resilience and hope in a changing world.”
The ebook is free to read and available now from PressBooks, an open-access book publisher: https://pressbooks.pub/holdingtheworldinbalance/ . A print version of the book will be available in late summer or early fall. To sign up for updates, please visit: https://native-resilience.com/book .
Media contact:
Kelsey Fitzgerald
Communication coordinator, Native Resilience
Kelsey.fitzgerald@dri.edu
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About Native Resilience
The Native Resilience project supports agricultural adaptation efforts in Native American communities of the Southwest and Northern Plains regions by building new connections between Native wisdom and western scientific data. Through two-way information-sharing and relationship-building, our project team aims to make agricultural and environmental data more accessible and useful to Tribes in Northern Plains and Southwest Hub regions, and to build awareness nationally about adaptation options and resilience on Native lands.
The project is led by the Desert Research Institute in partnership with the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP), University of Nevada, Reno Tribal Extension, University of Montana, Montana State University, University of Arizona Extension, and the USDA Climate Hubs. The project team works closely with Native American natural resource, agriculture, and climate leaders; Tribal Extension personnel (FRTEP and Tribal Colleges and Universities); the research community working in Indian Country; Climate services (USDA, USGS, NOAA, State Climatologists); and Native American advisors.
This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and builds on the work of the Native Waters on Arid Lands project (2015-2022).
About DRI
We are Nevada’s non-profit research institute, founded in 1959 to empower experts to focus on science that matters. We work with communities across the state — and the world — to address their most pressing scientific questions. We’re proud that our scientists continuously produce solutions that better human and environmental health.
Scientists at DRI are encouraged to follow their research interests across the traditional boundaries of scientific fields, collaborating across DRI and with scientists worldwide. All faculty support their own research through grants, bringing in nearly $5 to the Nevada economy for every $1 of state funds received. With more than 600 scientists, engineers, students, and staff across our Reno and Las Vegas campuses, we conducted more than $59 million in sponsored research focused on improving peoples’ lives in 2025 alone.
At DRI, science isn’t merely academic — it’s the key to future-proofing our communities and building a better world. For more information, please visit www.dri.edu .