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Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada — and the first day of summer. Here’s a useful phrase in Cree: kisâstew [kih-SAS-tee-you], which means “it’s hot out!”
It’s a day for celebrating — and we have plenty of hopeful, resilient stories of Indigenous people caring for the natural world you might want to check out. Take a look at Zoë Yunker’s breathtaking aerial survey of Tla-o-qui-aht territory, as the First Nation fights a potential gold mine that could imperil their watersheds and old-growth forests.
Or last month’s story by Indigenous journalism fellow Santana Dreaver, about the collaborative efforts of the Katzie First Nation and partners to restore an ecologically and culturally critical marsh in their B.C. territory.
These are efforts worth recognizing, and celebrating. National Indigenous Peoples Day is, at its core, a day that honours resilience and survival. Indigenous nations, cultures and languages are still here because Indigenous people have fought to keep them alive, just as they fight for their lands and waters. All those elements are braided together; in Cree, wâhkôhtowin [wah-KOH-toe-win] refers to kinship not only between people, but also between places and nations. It’s not just relatedness, but responsibility.
Last week, we published a photo essay by Mi’kmaw storyteller Kayla Lambert-MacDonald in partnership with our friends at IndigiNews, documenting a 300-year anniversary celebration of the Peace and Friendship Treaty in Mi’kma’ki. As some chiefs pointed out, the relationship between Nova Scotia and First Nations has become strained over the last year. But as retired senator Daniel Christmas of Membertou First Nation told Kayla, the anniversary celebration “demonstrates the timeliness, the enduring nature of the treaty relationship.”
The relationships between the Crown and Indigenous nations are the foundation of Canada, both historically and legally. They can be frayed or neglected, but they’re not optional.
Lately, though, it feels as though some Canadians wish they were. In Ontario, reporters Carl Meyer and Fatima Syed reported on the Carney government’s long-awaited bill in response to the ongoing drinking water crisis in many First Nations. The bill stops short of recognizing that clean water is a fundamental human right. In B.C., the fear-mongering continues over the Cowichan decision, and Premier David Eby has flip-flopped on whether to unravel, amend or as some critics would say, just undermine his government’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Act.
But no matter what responsibilities the government may neglect or bemoan at times, Indigenous Peoples are here to stay. They’ll keep fighting — for their rights, for their land, for all of our futures. It may not always be easy, but the only way forward is together. That’s something worth celebrating, today and every day.
Take care and mwêstas [✌️],
Michelle Cyca
Bureau chief, conservation and fellowships