Mercury Tribal Health Program

As the inspiration for the creation of CIEA, our first program area is in response to Mercury contamination in California. This toxin is a critical widespread environmental health threat, affecting all fish- consuming communities in California. California tribal members are at an increased risk because fish are an important traditional subsistence food and are fundamental to their spiritual, ceremonial, and cultural identity. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children experience an even greater health risk through fish consumption, which further threatens each tribes’ cultural and physical survival.

CIEA further recognizes the integral connection between California Indian cultures, traditional knowledge, the resulting health of future generations, and our interdependence on the health of California’s lands, water, and sky. To successful in cleanup, restoration and “risk reduction,” local tribes, elders and cultural experts must lead. As in all our efforts, CIEA further advocates for and supports tribes in fully exercising their sovereign powers, including the development of tribal institutions and environmental programs to establish water quality standards for their people based on historical and traditional uses.