4 signs Indigenous knowledge is finally being woven into environmental policies
A look at how far we’ve come, and how much further there is to go, during National Indigenous History Month.
Indigenous people in Canada have been the caretakers and protectors of the environment for thousands of years, but oftentimes their voices are not heard by those shaping the very climate policies that affect them.
Here are four ways that’s slowly starting to change.
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New partnerships
Not only are there many Indigenous-led environmental groups working hard on the climate crisis, but many well-established organizations are also realizing that not implementing Indigenous knowledge would be a mistake.
One example would be the Indigenous Knowledges component of the Climate Atlas of Canada, which launched in 2022, that looks to bridge the gap between Indigenous knowledge and western science. Another is the Canadian Climate Institute’s partnership with the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources for its Indigenous Perspectives series.
“It came to be when recognizing that there’s a gap in Indigenous-led research in Canada,” said Rick Smith, the president of the policy research organization, in a recent Indigenous leadership panel.
The storytelling series was conducted by First Nation community members and knowledge holders that look at areas hard hit by the impacts of human-caused climate change.
Themes included dealing with the aftereffects of the 2021 heat dome, how to protect water, the impact of dwindling salmon populations, and wildfires. The case studies identified issues that should be tackled as climate policies are put together, and solutions that help. One example is the fact that First Nation communities in B.C. have to ask permission for controlled burns on their land despite the fact they have been a useful tool in their culture for thousands of years, and they are often disproportionately affected by the fires due to their remote areas.
“We shouldn’t have to ask permission to protect our own land,” said Sheri Lysons, the former fire chief for the Adams Lake Indian Band near Kamloops, B.C.
Former Kanaka Bar chief Patrick Mitchell — who also took part in the series — said despite many levels of bureaucracy, he has hope that meaningful solutions can bring hope to future generations, like his grandson. He says plans need to be coordinated not only in First Nation communities, starting with individual households, but surrounding municipalities and at the provincial and federal level too.
Former Kanaka Bar chief Patrick Michelle points to an area that has been thinned of trees and ground brush to help stop fires. (Power to the People)
“How do you bring five governments together? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. You put up a buffet, or you have rice for door prizes,” he joked while presenting his case study.
Launching new programs
Another way to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into environmental policies is to teach it to the next generation of researchers.
Dr. Susan Chiblow is an Anishinaabe assistant professor for the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Sciences at the Ontario Agricultural College. Originally from Grand River First Nation, she was told by her grandmother from a young age that her gift for learning would lead to pursuing a Western education in order to better help her people. Her father also took her out on the land harvesting as she grew up.
“So being on the land has always been my first love,” Chiblow told The Weather Network.
Now she’s spreading her knowledge to students from all backgrounds in what she says is the first Bachelors of Science in Indigenous knowledge and practice, which has more of a land-based approach as opposed to just a classroom setting.
“I tell them that when they do graduate, they're not going to be knowledge holders, but they're going to know how to work with Indigenous peoples and their knowledge,” she said, adding that many non-Indigenous students of hers are often shocked by what they learn about Canada’s colonial past.
As a water expert, with concerns about nuclear reactors on water bodies and building dams that could have environmental impacts, she also took part in a COP27 panel in Egypt held at the Canadian pavilion.
“If water was taken away from the earth, everything would die, including humans,” she said. “So I think we need to understand that we are part of the cycle and we're not above it. We're not outside of it. And we cannot manage it if it actually manages us.”
But Chiblow has hope there will be more room at the table for Indigenous perspectives, especially given how passionate young people are being more inclusive when it comes to solutions.
Youth empowerment
That’s the mission behind SevenGen Indigenous youth council, which envisions a future where our kin seven generations ahead are able to live harmoniously while protecting the stewardship of the Earth. The group is empowering Indigenous youth across Canada with the ability to make genuine change in their communities for the better.
Mihskakwan James Harper, a proud citizen of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and the organization's vice chair sponsorship, says their goal is to build strong partnerships with industry, government, and other allied organizations to help us progress on our mission.
SevenGen's mission is to "create a space where Indigenous youth and communities are mobilized to advance in the energy and sustainability sector," according to their website. (Submitted by Mihskakwan James Harper)
“Indigenous people hold very special and valuable knowledge that, you know, has existed since time immemorial, on how to peacefully and and sustainably coexist with the natural world around us,” he told The Weather Network after attending COP27 in Egypt last year.
He says there is little chance to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels — a benchmark of the Paris Agreement to keep our world livable — without including Indigenous peoples.
Watch the video above to hear more about why he is a climate advocate
Jordyn Burnouf, a SevenGen co-chair and advisor to the vice president of the Métis Nation in Saskatchewan, agrees. She was also able to attend COP27 and take part in the negotiation process.
“So that was like a whole different world for me. And to be able to experience like, ‘OK, we have a place here, and we have a voice here.’” she told The Weather Network last November.
“I want to be able to go into [COP28] next year like full steam ahead and us to have a team that can actually come into these spaces and bring some of that perspective that otherwise might not be included.”
Four conservation areas
Another key component to climate policy is designing programs that have Indigenous input at the top.
Last December, as climate advocates from around the world gathered in Montreal for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Trudeau government announced $800 million in funding over seven years to establish four large Indigenous-led conservation projects covering almost a million square kilometres of land.
"Communities have been clear — safeguarding lands and waters will help build a strong future for generations to come," Trudeau said at the time. "As a government, our role is to listen and support that vision.”
Those areas include B.C.'s Northern Shelf Bioregion, N.W.T.'s tundra and taiga-boreal forest, the northernmost region of Nunavut known as Qikiqtani, and the Hudson Bay lowlands in western James Bay — which have been termed the “breathing lands” by elders that live there.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the push to mine Ontario’s Ring of Fire
“We are pleased that our on-going stewardship of our globally significant lands and waters is being recognized by Canada, and international, and Canadian philanthropic partners of Project Finance for Permanence,” says Mushkegowuk council Grand Chief Linklater, the first woman to be elected to the position, said in a press release.
Thumbnail image: An Indigenous band performs during an event marking National Indigenous Peoples Day in Mississauga, Ont., on June 21, 2023. (Zou Zheng/Xinhua/Getty Images)
