Keyword Indigenous

The Kainai First Nation team’s video ‘Kawapaomahkaiksi: Cultural Connection to Animals’ documents how climate change is impacting their community’s relationship with animals in their territory.

The Kainai First Nation team’s video ‘Siksikaitsitapii: Cultural Chaos’ documents how climate change is impacting their community’s cultural practices and traditions.

“The buffalo is the best environmentalist you can have,” Dr. Leroy Little Bear of Kainai First Nation says. In the Prairies, the buffalo is not only a keystone species, but a critical part of Blackfoot culture. A professor at the University of Lethbridge, Dr. Little Bear is a strong advocate for why it’s crucial to include Indigenous worldviews in environmental management. In this video, he discusses the environmental change he’s witnesses, and why buffalo restoration is critical for restoring ecological balance.

The Métis village of Green Lake may seem small, but they have big ambitions. The community started a solar energy project and installed 96 solar panels on their community hall. As Mayor Ric Richardson describes, Métis people have “used the sun for generations,” so the opportunity for renewable energy development was warmly welcomed by community members. Through this Métis leadership, Green Lake generates cheaper and more reliable power, which creates connection to the land, educational opportunities for the community, and is a source of both clean energy and cultural pride.

The Lubicon Cree Nation of northern Alberta are leading the low-carbon energy transition. Community member Melina Laboucan-Massimo witnessed the changing landscape from industrial development in her territory, and she decided to take action. As part of her Masters Thesis, she fundraised and coordinated the construction of 20KW solar energy system. Melina calls the project “a beacon of what is possible in our communities” and her perspective shows how renewable energy aligns with Indigenous philosophies of reciprocity, relationship, and reconnection with the land.

“It’s been nothing but positive,” says Chief Cadmus Delorme about the Cowessess First Nation wind-battery project, located just outside of Regina. In this video, community members describe the project’s significance for environmental responsibility, community pride, and local sustainable economies. The community has now developed a 320KW solar farm on the site, making the first known wind-solar battery storage project in the country, and Chief Delorme says they’re “hungry for more.”

Terry Teegee is Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, Tribal Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, and the former forestry coordinator for Takla Lake First Nation. He's seen first hand how unsustainable forestry practices and disregard for traditional indigenous knowledge about forest ecosystems have worsened the impact of climate change. "We’ve lost that real connection with the land, and I think we’re seeing the result of that," he says. “That's why we’re seeing here, not only in British Columbia but around the world, climate change."

The Meechim project follows the story of Garden Hill First Nation – a northern Manitoba community that is only accessible via air and ice roads – and its journey to build a self-sustaining farm. Through a combination of both Indigenous and farm knowledge, the community’s efforts to attain food sovereignty show that climate resilience can lead to better social, economic, health and environmental outcomes for all.

Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change was co-directed by acclaimed Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat The Fast Runner) and PCC’s Executive Director Dr. Ian Mauro. It’s the world’s first Inuktitut language film on climate change, released in 2010, and takes viewers into the Arctic and the Inuit knowledge that is bearing witness to rapid climate change. This award-winning film has been screened around the world – the Smithsonian Institution, Berlin International Film Festival, ImagineNative, etc – and its findings and the community-based process that created it continue to be discussed.