Keyword Community

In March 2020, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) held its first National Climate Gathering on the traditional territory of the Ta’an Kwächän and the Kwanlin Dün in Whitehorse, YK. Over 300 First Nations experts, leaders, youth, women, knowledge keepers, and professionals gathered to discuss the urgent crisis of climate change. In 2019, the AFN passed a resolution declaring a First Nations Climate Emergency, and this Gathering was designed to bring together First Nations’ perspectives on climate impacts, risks, and opportunities.

For decades Inuit have been leading the conversation on climate change in Canada. Inuit writer and advocate Siila Watt-Cloutier has been at the helm of this work. “As Inuit, we rely on the cold, the ice, the snow. That is our life force,” she says. For her people, the cold and sea ice are at the center of culture, transportation, safety, health, and education. Climate change is impacting the Inuit way of life.

“Tariuq Takujannik - The Ocean From My Eye” explores youth perspectives of climate change through the lens of pinhole photography and participatory video. Students from Attagoyuk High School in Pangnirtung, Nunavut participated in a weeklong workshop about oceans, climate change, and photography. Building cameras from recycled materials, students took to the shoreline to create photographs, guided by the question: why are imaq (sea water) and siku (sea ice) important to youth? By engaging youth in creative, hands-on processes, we can share knowledge and find solutions for complex issues like climate change.

Joanasie Karpik is one of Nunavut’s most respected Elders on climate change. In 2017, youth and Elders gathered together at Sannirut, a popular camping spot near the community of Pangnirtung, for a video and storytelling workshop. Joanasie shares, “I’ve lived two worlds now”, speaking to the changes he has seen to the weather pattern over nearly 80 years of observation in Cumberland Sound. These unprecedented changes are outside of local knowledges of Elders and Joanasie shares, “today, because of climate change, we can’t use their knowledge in the same way.” We must work together to rise to the challenge of this new weather system.

Montana First Nation is located in what was once rich oil and gas country in central Alberta. But as the oil wells began to dry up, the small community was faced with the enormous challenge of finding new employment for many of their members who landed out of work.

The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people who have deep connections with the land, rivers, and lakes across the northern plains – now the area of western Canada – where the Métis Nation began to flourish in the 19th century. Beginning with their involvement in the fur trade and buffalo economy, the Métis Nation has long-term cultural and environmental knowledge regarding the changes taking place across their homeland.[1]

The unique and rich knowledge of Métis people is linked to their history, homeland, and holistic experience and understanding of the environment. With intergenerational insights regarding resilience and adaptability, Métis people are sharing these teachings and thereby contributing meaningful solutions and hope in a warming world.

Métis people have a deep connection to the ecosystems within their homeland that endures. With climate change, the Métis are seeing impacts on animals, medicines, water, and extreme events that affect the health and wellness of communities. Conserving and sustaining species and territories in an era of climate change is a responsibility that is critically important to Métis citizens. From renewable projects and land-based education to Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), Métis are leading the way on climate action.

Climate change is a daunting and complex threat that can lead to distressing emotions, such as anxiety, depression, grief and hopelessness. Since climate change is a long-term threat, we must learn to cope with the potentially difficult emotions that it may cause to ensure our well-being over time. If we learn to manage these feelings, we can recognize them as signs of our compassion and connection to the world around us, and harness them as important motivators for taking action on climate change.