Keyword Indigenous

In the Heiltsuk (Haíɫzaqv) Nation, community-led infrastructure projects such as clam gardens and the Big House enhance community resilience. This film explores how values, traditions, and the principle of “Looking Back to Look Forward” guide the creation of climate-resilient, culturally relevant infrastructure. It shares the intergenerational wisdom of the Haíɫzaqv Nation on climate change and community infrastructure.

Northwest Angle #33 is a remote community in the southwest corner of Ontario that is only accessible by ice road in winter and boat in the summer. Confronted with climate change, the community is looking at how a less cold winter, shortening season, and erratic weather will affect their ice road. With a feasibility study on the table, the possibility of an alternate road is contingent on many factors lining up. Their dream is bringing their children back to their home to continue their culture and traditions.

The North Shore Tribal Council, together with Sagamok Anishinawbek, Batchawana First Nation, and OFNTSC, is preparing infrastructure for climate impacts using the First Nations Infrastructure Resilience Toolkit (FN-IRT). This approach combines technical expertise with community knowledge to support adaptation planning for infrastructure and cultural resilience.

Shawn Bailey and Lancelot Coar are trying to change the way architecture students think about the connection between climate change, Indigenous Knowledges, and design. Associate Professors in the Department of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, Bailey and Coar guide students on their journey to becoming practicing architects. Every year Coar and Bailey teach a design course for 4th year architecture students and, increasingly, they are trying to break the mold of what and how students are learning.

Infrastructure is often thought of as physical objects built from concrete, steel, and timber, like roads, buildings, water treatment plants or energy networks. These are the physical systems, buildings, structures, and facilities that help people carry out daily activities. They are designed and developed by humans to make lives easier, more efficient, and generally to improve quality of life. [1]

“We want to take a look at how we can build better information for First Nations.” Climate change planning needs to be done by community, for community. That’s what Elmer Lickers believes is the key to success. Elmer Lickers is Mohawk, a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation. He is also a senior advisor at the Ontario First Nations Technical Service Corporation (OFNTSC). Lickers and his team work with communities on a program called the First Nations Infrastructure Resilience Toolkit (FN-IRT), a First Nations specific approach to climate change risk assessment for infrastructure and asset management. (Learn more about the Basics of Climate Risk Assessment

With “boots on the ground” along the Seine River that flows through Winnipeg, the Manitoba Métis Federation’s water quality program supports Métis citizen scientists to conduct research and monitoring related to climate change and pollution. As the “eyes and ears of the environment,” Métis citizens are collecting data, documenting change, and spreading the word around the importance of preparing for the future.

In 2022, the Climate Atlas of Canada team -- in partnership with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Métis National Council (MNC), and numerous Indigenous collaborators -- launched Indigenous-focused data, knowledge, and resources developed by, with, and for Métis, First Nations, and Inuit communities. This launch made public climate data for all 634 First Nations communities, all 53 Inuit communities, and projects across the Métis homeland as well as new videos and resources to support Indigenous-led climate solutions. To celebrate this accomplishment and collaboration, the following Indigenous leaders share their perspectives and insights regarding Indigenous knowledges and climate change:

The First Nations “climate lens” seeks to disrupt mainstream thinking -- that characterizes First Nations as vulnerable and passive to climate impacts -- and positions First Nations as leaders that are cultivating and scaling up urgent and transformative climate action within communities and across territories. Through interconnectivity and collaboration, a holistic approach to First Nations climate action emerges that redefines what solutions look like, and are grounded in knowledge and teachings that have been passed on for generations.

This video documents the impacts of climate change from an Inuvialuit perspective. On Banks Island in Canada's High Arctic, the residents of Sachs Harbour have witnessed dramatic changes to their landscape and their way of life. Exotic insects, fish and birds have arrived; the sea ice is thnner and farther from the community, carrying with it the seals upon which the people depend for food; the permafrost is melting, causing the foundations of the community's buildings to shift and an inland lake to drain into the ocean. In the fall, storms have become frequent and severe, making boating difficult. Thunder and lightning have been seen for the first time.