Merging TEK and Green Infrastructure with Coastal Tribal Communities
In this project, Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP) and three Tribal communities in the Upper Peninsula—Keweenaw Bay, Bay Mills, and Hannahville—will design and install culturally informed green infrastructure that improves water quality and protects vulnerable coastal habitats. The project combines Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), youth conservation corps labor, and before/after ecological monitoring to restore habitat, reduce stormwater impacts, and build long-term community stewardship. The project aligns closely with Americana’s Natural Resources priority by delivering tangible, place-based restoration in high-risk Great Lakes watersheds while centering community leadership, Indigenous knowledge, and intergenerational engagement. SWP may replicate the project across additional Tribal and coastal communities.