Our Work with the TEK Expert Group
Working with experts in traditional environmental practices from across North America has had an invaluable impact on our work. When considered alongside science, traditional knowledge contributes to an improved understanding of ecological processes and ultimately to better results for the environment.
This initiative recognizes the importance of preserving the traditional knowledge and practices of local and indigenous communities in order to help address the effects of climate change. This knowledge also contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and to the protection of biological diversity.
The TEK Expert Group is the first traditional ecological knowledge panel to contribute to an intergovernmental organization like ours. The appointments stem from a commitment made by the Council at the 2014 Council Session in Yellowknife. It aims to work effectively with local and indigenous communities across North America to enhance our shared understanding of the environment and to help us make more effective environmental decisions.
Terms of OperationLatest Advice
Advice from the TEKEG to the CEC's governing Council
North American TEK Guiding Principles 25-01
TEKEG Advice to Council 24-01 — June 26, 2024
Browse all AdvicesMembers
Kathy Hodgson-Smith
Kathy Hodgson-Smith
Kathy L. Hodgson-Smith is a Saskatoon lawyer who practices criminal and Aboriginal law, as well as on behalf of the Métis Legal Research Education Foundation. She has litigated in all levels of court including the Provincial Court and Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatchewan, the Courts of Appeal in Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Federal Court of Appeal, and as co-counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada.
She has worked on various national policy initiatives for the Métis National Council (MNC), including the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement Strategy, Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtables, the Kelowna Accord, and Post-Powley. She has also given evidence at the Canadian Aboriginal Affairs Standing Committee on the effects of McIvor decision on the Métis. She has researched and presented on Métis Aboriginal rights law and traditional knowledge at local, provincial, national, and international forums and conducted research for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Canadian Education Association and the Canada Council on Learning and conducts traditional land-use studies for the Métis.
Internationally, she also represents the MNC on the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Committee on the Protection of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources, and on the Canadian Delegation to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
She has chaired a number of committees, including the MNC National Research Strategy and Urban Aboriginal Strategy committee, National Environment Committee, in addition to the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee, which established a national standard for the operation of Mètis Nation Registries.
María del Pilar García Hernández
María del Pilar García Hernández
With a Bachelor of Law degree from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), María del Pilar García Hernández holds a certification in capacity building from the National Forestry Commission (Comisión Nacional Forestal—Conafor). Previously, she chaired the communal farm board of Tepatlaxco de Hidalgo, Puebla from 2011 to 2014, and from 2008 to 2011 she advised the Puebla State Congress through the Indigenous Affairs Commission.
She currently acts as general manager of Artemali Ocoxal, a communal farm community enterprise that manufactures and markets pine needle crafts. For several years, García Hernández has devoted herself to fostering women’s empowerment through production training, management and development processes. She is also a litigator in agrarian matters and advises communal farms and communities in her region, in addition to her ongoing involvement in forums and seminars on intercultural affairs, rural development financing and woodland ecosystems.
Amelia Reyna Monteros Guijón
Amelia Reyna Monteros Guijón
In addition to her training as a programming analyst and her practice of traditional and herbal medicine in her community, Amelia Reyna Monteros Guijón has a solid career in community organization, leadership, gender issues, human rights and indigenous peoples, as well as the protection of traditional knowledge. She was a founding member of the Original Peoples and Barrios Council in 2007. As a representative of the Advisory Board of the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous (Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas—CDI), in 2013 she was part of the Mexican delegation to the negotiation of the international legal instrument for the protection of traditional knowledge with the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (ICG) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. She is currently an advisor to the Department of Rural Development and Community Equity, representing Nahua migrants in Mexico City, and a CDI advisory board member for the 2015-2018 period. She also chairs the organization Ac-Yacto (“he who helps us”). She speaks Spanish and Nahuatl, and also understands Zapotec and Mazahua.
Leydy Pech
Leydy Pech
Muuch Kambal, A.C./Koolel Kab
A Mayan woman called Leydy Aracely Pech Martín, born in 1965 in Ich-Ek, Hopelchén, Campeche, joined other women and men from her community to launch a collective social project with the aim of generating change from within the communities and, thus, contributing to the urgent transformation of the situation in the ancestral Mayan territory. This project was formalized in 2000, with the creation of the Muuch Kambal, A.C organization.
The community work carried out over nearly three decades across different locations in the municipality of Hopelchén has focused primarily on supporting and engaging with Mayan people of all ages, specifically those who share the Muuch Kambal goals and seek to transform their communities. By mapping the various problems and needs, priority issues have been addressed in the areas of health, agroecology, youth, communication, organization, and medicinal plants, among many others.
Likewise, along with five other Mayan women, Leydy Pech is part of the Koolel Kab collective which, in addition to the group’s self-management, seeks to rescue and protect the biocultural heritage of the Mayan people - including native bees. In 2014, Koolel Kab won the Equator Prize, awarded annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to recognize innovative solutions led by indigenous people.
Leydy Pech also participates in the Chenes Mayan Communities Collective, a regional organization that includes Mayan leaders from more than 25 communities that make up the Chenes' ancestral territory in Campeche. Since 2012, they have been waging a legal battle against agribusiness, GMOs, and their impact on natural resources, communities, health, and traditional livelihoods. In 2015, the Mexican Supreme Court issued a favorable ruling to provide the Collective with greater support and recognition, including internationally.
Thanks to the joint efforts of all the individuals and organizations that make up the Chenes Mayan Communities Collective, and as a member of Muuch Kambal, Leydy Pech was awarded the Goldman Prize for North America in 2020. She was chosen due to her long-standing commitment (over 25 years) to community work and organizational support, and also in recognition of the collective process of environmental struggle and defense of Mayan territory in the municipality of Hopelchén and surrounding areas.
Kara Berst
Kara Berst
Kara Berst is a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation; a federally recognized tribe located in south-central Oklahoma with a membership of over 80,000. Since 2003, she has dedicated her career to serving the Chickasaw Nation, and she currently holds the position of Deputy Secretary of Outreach and Services for the Chickasaw Nation Department of Commerce. In this role, Kara oversees a broad range of teams and initiatives, including the Office of Natural Resources, the Office of Land Sustainability and Services, Environmental Health and Safety, Chickasaw Nation Fish and Wildlife Services, and various business support services, such as the Business Center for Creative Collaboration, Risk Management and Insurance Operations, Employee Engagement, and Procurement.
Kara earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from East Central University in 2003, followed by a Master of Business Administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2012. In 2025, she completed the Leading People and Investing to Build Sustainable Communities executive program at Harvard Business School.
She is an active leader within her community, serving as a board member for the Ada Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma Recycling Association and Chickasaw Community Bank, as well as for Sovereign Native Hold Co., Sovereign Programs LLC, Sovereign Investments LLC, and Sovereign Properties LLC.
In addition to her board responsibilities, Kara is a graduate of the Nature Conservancy Oklahoma Leadership Academy. She is also a member of the NRCS Central Region Tribal Advisory Council, the Oklahoma Academy, and a fellow with 1050 Forward. Her experience in environmental stewardship and business underscores her commitment to advancing the Chickasaw Nation's mission of enhancing the lives of Chickasaw people.
Gary Morishima
Gary Morishima
Gary Morishima was born in a U.S. internment camp for Japanese Americans at Tulelake, California. He grew up in Seattle, graduated from Cleveland High School in 1962, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Washington, holding a PhD in Quantitative Science and Environmental Management. In 1969, he founded his own company— MORI-ko LLC— which provides consulting services to Indian tribes, government agencies, and private industry, in areas pertaining to computer simulation of natural resource management systems, statistical analysis, forestry and fisheries management, workshop organization and conflict resolution.
For the past 50 years, Gary Morishima has been the Technical Advisor for Natural Resources and Environment at the Quinault Indian Nation. He helped found the Intertribal Timber Council, served on the Salmon Technical Team of the Pacific Fishery Management Council for over 20 years and on numerous Technical Committees of the Pacific Salmon Commission for 40 years. He has also served on numerous advisory committees for the U.S. Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce. With over five decades of expertise, Dr. Morishima has navigated the complex interplay of human systems and natural resources with a rare and comprehensive skillset. His career blends rigorous scientific analysis and computer simulation with on-the ground natural resources management, from Indigenous forestry and fisheries management to environmental change. His long-standing commitment to sustainability underpinned by a deep respect for traditional and local knowledge systems has been consistently championed in academic, governmental, and Indigenous contexts.
A seasoned analyst and a veteran of legislative, judicial, and administrative processes, Dr. Morishima has been a key participant in the development of domestic and international policies, which have been evident in his expert testimonies on Indigenous forestry and fisheries management, tribal self-determination and self-governance, and shaped policy discussions in the United States and internationally. He has counselled federal and state agencies and academic institutions on best practices in natural resources management, with a particular focus on Indigenous peoples, traditional knowledge systems, and effective consultation policies.
Jason S. Walker
Jason S. Walker
Jason S. Walker has been on the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation Tribal Council for the past 20 years and is the current Chairman. Walker is also the Director of the Tribal Environmental Protection Office, overseeing Air, Water Consortia and Climate Change Departments. He has worked in the air quality field for 25 years, including serving as a US EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee member (2010–2016), and also owns a consulting firm that mentors other tribes’ air quality programs. He also manages the Tribal Transportation Office, responsible for the roads in tribal lands. Mr. Walker has been the Chairman of the Utah Tribal Leader’s (UTL) which consists of the eight federally recognized tribes of Utah. He is also the current Chairman of the Regional Tribal Operations Committee (RTOC) Region 8 which consists of 28 federally recognized tribes in MT, ND, SD, UT, CO and WY. Mr. Walker is also the alternate for Region 8 on the National Tribal Caucus (NTC) which works with the EPA American Indian Environment Office (AIEO) and the Office of International Affairs (OITA) offices in Headquarters.
Walker earned his associate’s degree in natural resources from Haskell Indian Nations University and a BBA in Business Management with an emphasis in Native American Business from Idaho State University. He is married to wife Corinne and has two daughters, Tiauna, Carlise and son Jace.
TEKEG-led Projects
As an Expert Group, the TEKEG’s formal functions include providing advice and guidance to the Council on opportunities to apply Traditional Ecological Knowledge to the CEC’s operations and policy recommendations. The TEKEG begins this multi-step process by discussing ideas for initiatives based on Indigenous Peoples’ priorities, as well as their vast expertise and lived experience, working together to align and reach consensus around a project proposal which goes to the Parties for approval. Once the project proposal is endorsed, a concept note is drafted, followed by the development of a project description, which includes an implementation plan and a scoping approach, for review and final approval by the Parties. To date, the Indigenous Approaches to Freshwater Management in North America project has been completed, while the Resilience of Indigenous Peoples’ Traditional Food Systems is actively underway.
Indigenous Approaches to Freshwater Management in North America (2021–2024)
For many Indigenous Peoples across North America water is sacred. Water is also at the core of the six pillars under CEC’s Strategic Plan: water management, water cleanliness, ecosystem health, marine pollution, and supporting economic sectors heavily reliant on the sustainable management of water.
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Indigenous Affairs at the CEC
Through ongoing collaboration with the TEKEG and other Indigenous Peoples of North America, the CEC seeks to include Indigenous Peoples’ voices, uphold rights, and apply TEK in its activities and decisions. By weaving Indigenous perspectives into our work, we strive to advance a shared understanding of North America’s environment, recognizing how TEK provides unique insights, data, and perspectives for informed decision-making and enhances our collective ability to address environmental challenges.
Contact
Kakwiranó:ron Cook
Officer, Indigenous Affairs