First Nations are managing their coastal territories in response to colonization. A Tyee list of stories from 10 news outlets explains how.
Pippa Norman is a journalist based in Vancouver, whose work has been nominated for a National Newspaper Award and a Canadian Association of Journalists award.
The following stories by 10 news outlets were funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Grants were awarded by the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.
The Tyee: For time immemorial, Indigenous Peoples have stewarded what’s now called “Canada,” living off of and caring for its lands and waters. When settlers arrived, they introduced commercial fishing, shipping and industrialization, which have come to endanger the aquatic ecosystems critical to our survival.
Now, Indigenous-led conservation areas are being established across the country to combat the impact colonization has had on oceans, lakes and rivers, and return these critical habitats to their original caretakers. While some First Nations are declaring these marine conservation areas in partnership with the federal government — there are five such Marine Conservation Areas so far — other First Nations are forging ahead on their own while they await settlers’ bureaucratic processes to catch up.
These efforts can support jobs, conserve and restore aquatic habitats, and increase food security, as the reporting gathered here documents.
This collection of stories produced by 10 news outlets, which can be used as an educational tool, is organized by water bodies. By clicking on the area you’d like to explore, you’ll be taken to the stories that detail the Indigenous-led conservation work being done to protect waters in that region. Clicking on a story headline will take you to the site of its original publication.
Click on the following link to read the original article in the Tyee with links to each if the featured articles:
- Dixon Entrance (Haida Gwaii) – 1 story
- Pacific Ocean (Haida Gwaii) – 3 stories
- Hecate Straight (Haida Gwaii) – 2 stories
- Nootka Sound (Mowachaht Muchalaht territory) – 3 stories
- Gitdisdzu Lugyeks (Kitasu Bay,Klemtu) – 3 stories
- Kɬúsx̌nítkʷ (Okanagan Lake), syilx homelands – 3 stories
- Athabaska River (Fort Chipewyan) – 2 stories
- Okanagan River (Oliver) – 1 story
- Nk’mip (Osoyoos Lake, Osoyoos) – 1 story
- kłlilx’w (Spotted Lake, Osoyoos – 1 story
- Hudson Bay (Arviat) – 1 story
- Labrador Sea (Torngat Mountains National Park)
- Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala (Lull Bay/Hoeya Sound)Mamalilikulla territory – 1 story
- Clayoquot Sound (Tla-o-qui-aht territory) – 1 story
- Owossitsa Creek (Nootka Island) – 1 story
- Courtenay River (K’ómoks territory) – 1 story
- Elliott Bay (Muckleshoot territories) – 1 story
- sn̓x̌ʷn̓tkʷítkʷ (Columbia River), sx̌ʷnítkʷ (Kettle Falls)
- Skeena and Bulkley rivers (Gitxsan territory) – 1 story
Pippa Norman, The Tyee
Pippa Norman is a journalist based in Vancouver, whose work has been nominated for a National Newspaper Award and a Canadian Association of Journalists award.