'We have an extraordinary ability to adapt and survive': Sarika Cullis-Suzuki
We’ve survived climate changes in the past. Will we rise to the challenge again?
Why are we so fascinated with the idea of survival? From news stories to survival camps to TV shows, it's clear just how obsessed we are. Reality shows like Naked and Afraid, Man vs. Wild, Survivorman, Alone, and Extreme Survival all speak to a primal question: do we have what it takes to survive alone in the elements?
True Survivors, a documentary for The Nature of Things, began with this question. But it quickly morphed into something bigger and more pertinent: a quest to find out if humans can survive the greatest threat today — climate change.
As a kid, "survival" was my favourite game to play. My dad would take my sister and me down to the beach near our home in Vancouver, and say, "OK you have nothing, but you have to survive out here. Where will you find food? Water? Shelter? Fire?" It was up to us to figure it out. I loved this challenge: it required imagination, resourcefulness and determination. But mostly, it was just fun.
I have always been excited to learn the science behind survival. But as I was writing the pitch for this documentary, the pandemic hit. The world was suddenly thrown into a state of uncertainty; but the effects of climate change ticked on.
When schools reopened in the fall of 2020, the smoke from raging forest fires south of the border was so thick that Vancouver made international news with the worst air quality in the world. We were advised to stay inside; my son's school shut all windows and doors; and my twins' daycare was temporarily closed.
The following summer, an unprecedented heat wave hit the province, breaking records and setting the stage for the wildfires that burned Lytton to the ground. 2021 ended with a catastrophic atmospheric river in B.C. that caused fatal mudslides, changed the course of rivers, and washed away homes, livestock and highways.
The world was changing before my eyes. The idea of "survival" took on a whole new meaning, and I couldn't look away.
This documentary came from the very real reckoning I was going through as a mother coming to terms with how we were going to survive this current era of climate change.
Humans have an extraordinary ability to adapt
Growing up, my family always discussed the failing state of the world at the dinner table: biodiversity loss, species extinction, the changing chemistry of the planet. My dad would invariably say, "We're headed off a cliff!" And my mum would always respond by rolling up her sleeves and saying, "Well then, how are we going to turn ourselves around?"
My sister and I knew from a young age that the world was out of balance, and that climate change would define our generation.
So I went into this project worried. How could I make an uplifting film about a topic so discouraging? Then something happened.
While on this journey, I came to the realization that I didn't have to despise my own species. I learned that, contrary to what many books and cultural doctrines would have us think, to be human is not to be selfish, dominant, autonomous. Truly, to be human means to work together, to be interdependent, to live with and within nature — not above it. And it is precisely these things that make us resilient.
Time and time again, throughout history, we have seen humans adapt to what nature has given us. We have survived through ice, through heat, through enormous climatic shifts and landscape changes. Indeed, before Homo sapiens, our early hominin ancestors evolved over three million years of staggering climate fluctuation. In other words: we are wired to survive.
PHEWWWW. So we have what it takes!
But the pace of current climate change — there's the rub. Natural shifts in climate generally happen over much longer timespans, but we've really ramped things up with our soaring greenhouse gas emissions, and now we're up against the clock.
Indigenous world views will prepare us for the future
I get the most courage from the Indigenous people I meet. They are the true survivors, having accumulated hard-earned knowledge over thousands of years. They reflect this understanding in their stories, in their ceremonies, in how they live. They show us that we can survive, and thrive, but only when we live within nature's boundaries and reflect our true place in the natural world — which is not at the top of a pyramid.
Speaking with Chief Patrick Michell of the T'eqt''aqtn'mux in Kanaka Bar, B.C., left a deep imprint on me. Michell said that how we're acting today in modern society is a learned behaviour, and it is not his people's natural way.
The T'eqt''aqtn'mux are a force. They've been galvanized to tackle the changes ahead because, as Michell told me, they know what to do — they've been doing it for 8,000 years. Together, they now maintain a self-sustaining community with renewable energy; farms with fresh fruit, vegetables and livestock; affordable housing; and secure fresh water.
They're using modern scientific tools — temperature loggers, solar panels, hydropower technology — within their traditional knowledge paradigm to help prepare for what's to come. Their community now meets the needs of the future, instead of working within an outdated system that serves only yesterday. I can't imagine anything more empowering.
On this True Survivors journey, I didn't find a miraculous solution that will end climate change tomorrow. But I came away with a profound shift in how I viewed my own species, and in turn, how I viewed myself. I came away empowered by the Indigenous people who are leading the way, armed with the generational knowledge and world views needed to tackle climate change head on.
It may sound simple, but knowing that we are not inherently evil or selfish — and that our hominin roots lie in community and cooperation — really helped me believe in what we are capable of. And I've heard that when you believe in yourself, you can do truly powerful things.
