Indigenous resource management guarantees cultural survival, with the benefits passed on to everyone
In Northern Ontario, a more complex scenario is unfolding. The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is engaging in a significant transformation of fauna in the region, reducing theby issuing more hunting tags for female moose and by moving caribou back into the area. These developments may, in the long run, be good for the environment and even for regional residents.
The continuing struggle with salmon stocks, herring and other marine species on the West Coast highlights the intensity of these issues. Each year seems to bring more closings of fisheries and additional evidence of the inability of the Western scientific tradition to sustain well-managed fishery populations. And so, First Nations have stepped forward.
The Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw First Nation on Vancouver Island recently declared control over fishing in their traditional waters. Their rejection of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was starklyformer chief Paddy Walkus at a ceremony in March: “We need to take back the control, take back what was rightfully ours, because at no time did we give any kind of okay to anyone to do the management or caretaking of our resources, in particular the fisheries resource.
Comparable steps have been taken by First Nations eager to assert a greater role in the management of the forest industries. Indigenous assertiveness has grown apace. For the most part, resource developers understand the new realities. Mining and oil and gas companies active in Canada have embraced their obligations to involve Indigenous peoples in environmental management.
Indigenous involvement in ecological affairs must be embraced, not rejected. Indigenous engagement provides a valuable counterbalance to traditional ecological management by governments. First Nations, Métis and Inuit people have a massive stake in the protection and enhancement of their natural surroundings. Cultural survival requires it, but the assertion of Indigenous rights is also in the collective interests of the environment and all Canadians.
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