| The Tangier Watermen’s
Stewardship for the Chesapeake (TaSC) is a non-profit
organization
established in 1998 to implement a biblically-based
sustainability plan, “Stewardship 2020 Vision,” that
is rooted in the Christian worldview of the Tangier
islanders. A small island in the Chesapeake Bay,
Tangier Island is home to a predominately-Christian
community of approximately 700 people that make
their living by harvesting shellfish, especially
the
blue crab,
whose population is on the decline because of urban
pollution and agricultural run-off from the mainland.
A collaborative effort between the island’s
two churches, community, environmental groups,
and various individuals, the stewardship initiative
was launched to protect the fragile ecosystems
of the Chesapeake Bay and Tangier Island’s
fishery culture. Both TaSC and the sustainability
plan it seeks to implement (“Stewardship
2020 Vision”) are based on a Christian ethic
of stewardship that is derived from the evangelical
Christian worldview shared by the majority of island
dwellers. Guiding the initiative, and formative
in the development of the “Stewardship 2020
Vision” sustainability plan, are biblically-based
environmental stewardship principles, including
care-taking (faithful stewardship of God’s
creation), reconciliation (between people and between
people and nature), gratitude, love, and obedience
(to divine and civil laws). Three TaSC subcommittees
(Caring for Creation, Sustainable Economic Development
and Preserving Tangier Watermen Culture, and Fishery
Stewardship) have been formed to implement the
sustainability plan. Under the leadership of Charlene
Shores, women from the community organized an advocacy
group called Families Actively Involved
in Improving Tangier’s Heritage (FAIITH)
to collaborate with governmental, scientific, and
environmental
advocacy groups to carry out the aims of “Stewardship
2020 Vision.” Through these bodies, the
Tangier islanders have implemented clean-up, recycling,
and waste-reduction efforts; political advocacy
campaigns around fishery legislation; environmental
education programs; an experimental oyster aquaculture
program; and a Coastal America Project for shoreline
and wetland restoration. |
| Christianity |
United States of America
(Tangier Island, Virginia) |
| 1998–Present |
The impetus behind
the Tangier Watermen’s
Stewardship of the Chesapeake initiative can
be traced back to 1995, when tensions between “Save
the Bay” environmentalists and Tangier “watermen” (those
who earn their livelihoods from water-related
industries, such as crabbing) rose to a breaking
point over
the issue of state regulations set on oyster
and blue crab harvesting. In 1997, Susan Drake
Emmerich,
a graduate student from the University of Wisconsin,
went to Tangier Island to study the conflict
and to explore the process of social change.
After
a few months of ethnographic research, Emmerich
found that eighty-four percent of Tangier islanders
identified themselves as conservative, evangelical
Christians,
and that the island’s two churches were
the most powerful forces of change in the community.
She also found that the governmental and advocacy
groups in favor of stricter fishing regulations
did not acknowledge the Christian worldview of
the Tangier islanders, while the islanders considered
the scientists, environmentalists, and government
administrators to be disrespectful outsiders,
whose
actions on behalf of Chesapeake Bay threatened
their livelihood and culture. After Emmerich
presented her findings to Tangier community leaders,
a citizen’s
group was formed. In 1998 she was invited back
to the island to help develop a stewardship initiative
in which environmental and economic development
issues were placed in the context of the Christian
worldview of the Tangier islanders. With Emmerich’s
help, the islanders experienced a shift in attitude,
began taking more of an interest in taking care
of their environment, and adopted a “Transformative
Approach” to conflict resolution that helped
them work collaboratively with “outsiders” (governmental,
scientific, and environmental groups) toward
the common goal of sustainability. At a joint-church
meeting, fifty-six watermen participated in a
Watermen’s
Stewardship Covenant, where they promised
to become better caretakers of God’s creation.
Later, Tangier women made their own version of
the covenant, called the Women’s Stewardship
Covenant, which bound them to curb consumerism
and obey civil laws regarding the environment.
In 1998, the “Tangier Watermen’s
Stewardship Vision 2020” sustainability
plan was created and presented to environmental
and governmental
organizations. FAIITH and TaSC were established
to implement the plan, and various ecological
and cultural restoration projects were initiated.
|
| Rooted in a biblically-based Christian worldview,
the Tangier Waterman’s Stewardship for the
Chesapeake initiative seeks to create an ecologically
sustainable fishery, environment, and culture on
and around Tangier Island. |
Families Actively Involved
in Improving Tangier’s
Heritage (FAIITH)
New Testament Church
United
Methodist Church |
| None Listed |
| None Listed
|
| None Listed |
Tangier Waterman’s
Stewardship for the Chesapeake
Susan Parks, Director
Ph: 757.891.2329
Email: s_parks@yahoo.com
Additional Information Contact
Susan Drake Emmerich
Ph: 847.223.7646
Email: sdemmerich@yahoo.com |
