Sara Ayers-Rigsby, director of the southeast and southwest regions of the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), says, “Oftentimes, native communities get overlooked in these discussions... which
The Tidally United Summit, which is hosted by the chairman,

A Heritage Monitoring Scout (HMS) documents well after Hurricane Matthew.
Courtesy of FPAN Northeast
“Climate issue is a huge issue for us here [in South Florida]," Ayers-Rigsby says. "After Hurricane Matthew, I went to document archaeological sites impacted by the hurricane. It was eye-opening. There was a shipwreck that had moved a thousand feet and an early Spanish colonial well that had sunk into a shell midden, which was completely eroded after the storm. [We have to stress] the immediacy of these issues. These are not problems that will happen in 50 years; these are problems that exist now.”
She emphasizes that important pieces of history are at stake with the effects of climate change. Paul Backhouse, a Seminole tribal historic preservation officer and the director of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki, is one of the archaeologists working on Egmont Key, a site that is at risk from shoreline erosion. The site is documented in historical records as a location where the Seminole were forcibly relocated by government authorities. Backhouse elaborates that after the Third Seminole War from 1855 to 1858, the Seminole people were taken to Egmont Key to be deported to Oklahoma. “What happened

HMS Scouts at Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area. The mangrove line marks the shoreline prior to Hurricane Matthew.
Photo by Sara Ayers-Rigsby
“This information that can shed a lot of light on this brutal situation, a very dark period in our nation’s history, is at risk of being lost," Ayers-Risby says. "[With climate change], we are losing critical historical information... With three feet of sea-level rise, we will lose over 16,000 archaeological and cultural sites... When we lose a site, we lose an opportunity to learn about the past.”
So what can citizens do to fight the effects of climate change? Both Backhouse and Ayers-Rigsby cite education, which includes events such as Tidally United that bring together leaders in the field who are taking action with a sense of urgency and immediacy. Backhouse calls citizens to action: “Become knowledgeable and become involved.”
Tidally United Summit. Friday, August 4, and Saturday, August 5, at the Native Learning Center, 6363 Taft St., #101, Hollywood; 954-254-9657; nativelearningcenter.com. Tickets cost $40 for the general public at fpan.us/projects/tidally.php and are free for tribe members with registration at eventbrite.com.