The issue I’m focusing on is the is the First Nations/Indigenous response to climate change, more specifically I’ll be looking at lesser known steps they are taking from education to small on-going protests to using the government to voice opinions in and how they compare to more well-known efforts like the protests at Stand Rock over the Dakota Access Pipeline. From universities like the Dechinta Bush University in the Northwest Territories which is using ecological studies and interweaving Indigenous relations to the environment into the course. First Nations have also gained the ability to voice their opinions on climate change and what can be done to combat it because they have been given a seat at the climate change conference. Lesser known protesters are ones like the Klabona Keepers which have stopped many oil company from damaging their land. A well-known protest in Standing Rock is one that failed even with massive support from all around the world. Looking at the article “Coming Full Circle: Indigenous Knowledge, Environment, and Our Future” shows the importance of First Nations knowledge in saving our environment and affecting the ecology of our world. Lesser-known and less used step that are being taken are ones similar to the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council who have created an extended policy of the current provincial one over all mining operations in their traditional land.
The first steps that I’m looking at are those that are being taken by First Nations are their methods of education at Universities. I’ll be using Dechinta Bush University as my example as they are a University that focuses on environmental education; their program incorporates a choice of five courses from eleven different courses from boreal ecology to Indigenous law and legal traditions with others focusing on education about the environment like their boreal field study which takes you into the forest. The school has a very strong focus on First Nations relationship to the environment from their history and past to current times and looking forward to how their relationships will change. They combine education of academic studies with traditional knowledge and teach from a land-based ideology, therefore, they incorporate the effect on the land in every facet of their teachings.
One of the other big development for First Nation’s relations with environmental change is that the Assembly of First Nations have been given a seat at the table at the international climate change conference.This will mean First Nations of Canada will have a vote and be able to speak out for their opinion on issues around the world and voice their concerns for different steps being taken by other countries and Canada. One of their goals is to take government strategies on climate change and to connect it with Indigenous knowledge. Due to First Nations reliance on the environment through having access to traditional medicine, foods, and territories the issue of climate change is incredibly important to them as they want to avoid it getting any worse than it already is.
One of the lesser known protesting groups are the Klabona Keepers which are protesters from an area of Northern British Columbia known as the Klappan Area. They have been incredibly successful in their efforts to combat big oil companies putting different methods of obtaining gas and oil in their sacred headwaters which will directly affect their inter-generational teaching, food sustenance, and traditions. They have blocked companies like Shell from fracking in their area which has saved their water sources. The methods they are using are extremely successful as they constantly are dealing with attempts of companies to invade their sacred land to rob it of the natural resources from open-pit coal mines to government approval of the LNG pipeline.
The documentary “Awake, a Dream from Standing Rock looks at the events that took place in Standing Rock, North Dakota with the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their huge efforts and protests were widely spread online and on TV within the news gaining huge support all around the world, having people show up to partake in the protests. Police and army were sent to keep them at bay yet their protests were mostly peaceful; they would be pepper sprayed for no apparent reason other than to attempt to make them leave. Even after their protesting and blocking of the pipeline it eventually went through to their disappointment and a recent development has occurred where there has been a leak in the pipe, thus causing a minor spill affecting part of South Dakota which is the exact problem they wished to avoid.
Another method of showcasing Aboriginal knowledge of the environment is the Traditional Ecological Knowledge which is an ever-growing movement of using the developed sustainable environment methods and knowledge which can be used to address current global environmental issues and crises. It has been recognized around the world that Indigenous ecological knowledge and development are essential to solving our possible disasters from people like David Suzuki “My experience with Aboriginal people convinced me … of the power and relevance of their knowledge and worldview in a time of imminent global eco-catastrophe.” to the UN’s Conference on Environment and Development’s Convention on Biodiversity which enforced their importance in saving our environment. Traditional Ecological Knowledge is beginning to be being used here in Canada with environmental management, yet these methods have always been used in First Nation communities. Due to these developments Indigenous people have been given an incredibly important role in the development in a sustainable world to attempt to save our damaged environment.
A different method of approaching the issue of environmental sustainability is the method that has been taken by a group of First Nations in Williams Lake, B.C. called the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council. The council have detailed a very deep mining policy due to the affect the tailing ponds of Mount Polley has had on their community with the spill of mining water shutting down multiple mines and ruining the surrounding environment. The goal of the new policy is to make sure that the steps being taken by the mining operations are safe for the environment and sustainable not to shut them down. The policy on affects the area of their traditional territory and will require the companies to deal with clean-up processes properly and ensure the utmost safety in the first place.
Looking at the methods used at Standing Rock show that even though you might get coverage from the media and international recognition and support it does not necessarily mean it is the most effective use energy. People have put their efforts into different ways to protect their lands or spread awareness of what they are fighting for. It is all dependent on what scenario they are facing to see how their efforts will fair, what they are fighting against and who they are fighting against can drastically affect the outcome of the protest. If you do not have the support of the government it can make efforts to cease whatever project nearly impossible. Therefore the most vocal, emotionally driven methods of environmental sustainability are not necessarily the most effective as they tend not to be rules that companies most abide to. The most effective method for environmental protection that has been taken by First Nation groups are those that are preemptive and attempt to prevent anything from happening in the first place; they look forward as to what can be done to ensure nothing will happen, not at the present to see how to fix the issues that have arisen.
Work Cited
- Dechinta University, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning, dechinta.ca/programs/semester-course/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2017.
- Morin, Brandi. “Assembly of First Nations to have seat at international climate change conference for first time.” CBC News, 4 Nov. 2017, www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/afn-climate-change-germany-1.4387206. Accessed 1 Dec. 2017.
- Schreader, Cheryl, and Houglum, Brook. “Indigenous Knowledge.” Vancouver Accessed 2 Dec. 2017.
- Dewey, Myron, and Josh Fox, Director. Awake, a Dream from Standing Rock. Josh Fox and Floris Ptesan Hunka, Writers. Performance by Autumn DePoe-Hughes 2017. Netflix. Accessed 1 Dec 2017.
- McGregor, Deborah. “Coming Full Circle: Indigenous Knowledge, Environment, and Our Future.” The American Indian Quarterly, vol. 28, 2004, pp. 385-410. Google Scholar. Accessed 1 Dec. 2017.
- Meissner, Dirk. “Aboriginal Group Sets Rules for Mining.” The Globe and Mail Dec 02 2014. ProQuest. Web. 4 Dec. 2017 .