Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN)

Mikisew Cree First Nation‘s Traditional
Environmental Knowledge (TEK) and
Traditional Land Use(TLU) Based Approach to
Environmental Stewardship
Overview
1. MCFN and Government Industry Relations
2. MCFN Environmental Stewardship
3. MCFN TEK and TLU
4. Integrating TEK into a Community Based
Monitoring (CBM) program
5. Review of the Lower Athabasca Water
Management Framework from a MCFN TEK
and TLU Perspective
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN)
•Signatory to Treaty 8 on July 13,1899
•Largest First Nation in Regional Municipality of
Wood Buffalo
•55% of First Nation population in the region
•Traditional lands encompass the entire
Athabasca Tar Sands Region
•Majority of MCFN members eat a traditional diet
on a regular basis.
Mikisew Cree First Nation
MCFN Government and Industry Relations
(GIR)
•MCFN department manages consultation on behalf of MCFN
•Directed by the MCFN leadership, GIR acts as a liaison between resource
developers, government agencies, and the MCFN community
•GIR assists the MCFN to be an equal participant in regional resource
development. This process is intended to allow MCFN to participate in a
meaningful manner
•To carry out due diligence on all consultation matters that are in the interest
of the of the MCFN
Mikisew Cree First Nation
MCFN Traditional Knowledge (TEK)
and Traditional Land Use (TLU)
Application of TEK/TLU will only be effective when MCFN;
1. Has equal participation in research design and methodology
including the work of government and industry scientists
2. Controls the collection and management of MCFN TEK/TLU
3. Maintains ownership of MCFN Intellectual Property
4. Has equal participation in decision-making regarding the
interpretation of research results
Mikisew Cree First Nation
MCFN Environmental Stewardship
Information flow Diagram for Environmental
Stewardship
TLU studies
TEK
Committee
MCFN
Environment
Stewardship
TEK
Knowledge
holders
TEK studies
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MCFN planning and decision making
Land use planning
IFN
LARP
Mikisew V. Minister of Heritage
EIA’s
Resource management
Regulatory processes
Biodiversity management plans
Facilitates and promotes meaningful
consultation
Monitoring Programs
Sustainable development
ERCB Hearings
Transfer and Retention of TEK
Mikisew Cree First Nation
MCFN TEK & TLU
•TEK and Use and TLU are a crucial component of the First Nation‟s environmental
stewardship
•TEK & TLU enhances western science in further understanding biodiversity and the
cumulative impacts that industrial development has had, and will have on our
traditional lands
•TEK, culture, language, livelihood, and spirituality form the basis of our identity and
nationhood. Our knowledge is valuable as we hold it in trust for future generations
•Occupancy: Knowledge of habitation, burial, and spiritual sites. Place based stories
and legends, indigenous toponyms, and local ecology (Tobias, 2009)
•Use: Activities like fishing, hunting, trapping, gathering plant and wood resources,
mining earth materials and travelling to engage in these activities (Tobias, 2009)
Mikisew Cree First Nation
MCFN TEK Study
Presents knowledge about the system of use and
occupancy behind the facts
• What does TEK and culture mean to MCFN members?
• The quality and quantity (current and previous state) of important
resources identified by MCFN members;
• Will identify how the resources are shared within the MCFN community;
• Will identify other concerns for the resources raised by MCFN members;
• What are the MCFN TEK indicators for assessing the state of the
environment?
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Benefits of MCFN TEK & TLU Data in
Environmental Stewardship
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Identifies and clarifies MCFN interests, issues, and concerns pertaining to the
environment
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Understand potential threats to MCFN culture, values, and livelihood
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Allows Intergenerational transfer of TEK
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Helps to understand current and future Cumulative Impacts to MCFN exercise of
Aboriginal & Treaty Rights
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Assists MCFN in selecting and protecting areas because of their significant
ecological, traditional and cultural values
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Assists MCFN in consulting with proponents on project regulatory applications,
land use planning, environmental monitoring, and other relevant regulatory and
natural resource management processes
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Determine appropriate mitigation measures and monitoring methods
Mikisew Cree First Nation
MCFN Traditional Land Use Studies
Pictorial and spatial distribution of Use-and-Occupancy Informationf
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To date we have completed five TLU studies
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Spatial information of MCFN current and historical traditional land uses
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Cultural, livelihood, spiritual, and hunting and gathering activities within the
Alberta Athabasca Tar Sands Region
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This includes but is not limited to: hunting, fishing, trapping, spiritual,
gathering, and other relevant cultural activities
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A standard TEK/TLU methodology template is developed to assist MCFN for
future TEK/TLU studies
****Please note, the information displayed on the following Maps does not illustrate all
MCFN use or occupancy or the entire MCFN traditional territory
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Mikisew Cree First Nation Plant and Animal
Guidebook: Plants and Wildlife for Food,
Medicine, Craft and Tools
•Intergenerational transfer of TEK of culturally significant plants and animals
•Cree Glossary for flora and fauna significant to MCFN culture
•Habitat for above flora and fauna
•Field trips with elders to verify taxonomy and identification of flora
•Preparation of flora and fauna
•What parts of plants to use
•Time of year when flora or fauna is ready for gathering/harvesting
•How to identify flora and fauna
•Protocols for preparing, collecting, and harvesting flora and fauna
•Animal behaviour and phenomena
•Why flora and fauna important to MCFN members
•Values and stories about culturally significant flora and fauna
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Âmiskowêhkask (Woodland Cree)
Wild Mint (English)
Mentha arvensis (Latin)
Where Âmiskowêhkask Grows
Wild mint can be found along shorelines of rivers or lakes. MCFN
members have expressed the need for pristine rivers and lakes to
ensure the health of culturally important plants, such as mint, that
depend on these environments.
Harvesting Âmiskowêhkask
Wild mint can be picked anytime during the summer. You can find
wild mint easily because you will smell it before you see it! It has a
strong smell, but it smells good.
Photo credit: A. Karst
Uses of Âmiskowêhkask
Wild mint is an important medicinal and food
plant. All parts of the plant (flowers, leaves, and
stem) can be used, although usually the root is
not used. Hot water can be poured over wild mint
to make mint tea; that is used as a beverage like
regular tea. Photo credit: A. Karst
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Mōswa (Woodland Cree)
Moose (English)
Alces alces (Latin)
Description of Moose-wa
Moose live in dense bush, mainly near lakes, streams,
and bogs. They eat woody plants, leaves, and shoots.
A moose can be up to 6 feet tall and weigh a thousand
pounds! (Runtz, 1991).
Rule of Conduct for Moose Hunting:
Moose can be hunted anytime, year round.
It's not that we are not allowed to, but we
don't kill a cow and a calf- when the calf is
small. We don't shoot any kind of animal
that is a female with its young, unless you
are starving (MCFN member).
Importance of Moose-wa to MCFN
Just about every part of the moose is eaten; nothing is
wasted. The meat is used for dry meat or raw meat to
put in the deep freeze. The bones can be boiled to
make lard. That's what you mix with pemmican.
From the inside of the moose, the heart and the
kidneys are eaten, but the lungs are not. One of the
parts that isn‟t eaten is the moose brain; it is useful for
treating moosehide.
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Integration of MCFN TEK into Community Based
Monitoring (CBM )Project
• 2008: Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER) assists MCFN in
designing an environmental monitoring project utilizing TEK
•Identification of environmental priorities (whole community);
•MCFN members identified fish health and water quality and quantity as
environmental priorities
• Development of TEK indicators : Community-defined cultural specialists
[elders / resource users] from Mikisew Cree First Nation);
• Teaching Environmental Guardians (also community members) about appropriate
TEK methods to watch the environment (elders/ resource users);
• Allows Intergenerational transfer of TEK to Environmental Guardians
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Indigenous Indicators for Fish Health
Examples include:
• Lesions, tumours
• Bulging eyes, pustules,
discoloured scales
• Missing or additional fins
• Crooked spine
• Other visible abnormalities
• Taste and texture
Photo credit: Linda Aidnell
Mikisew Cree First Nation
BACKGROUND ON THE LOWER ATHABASCA WATER
MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
• In 2003 MCFN intervened in two major tarsands hearings (CNRL & Shell)
asking “when is enough, enough?” in terms of issuing water licenses
without knowing the „threshold‟ of flow needed for the ecological integrity of
the Athabasca River
• ERCB Panel recommendations then tasked CEMA to develop a “Instream
flow needs” (IFN) for the Athabasca River by the end of 2005
• If CEMA was unable to develop IFN then DFO and AENV would do so
• CEMA did not deliver in 2005
• AENV and DFO released an interim framework in 2006, MCFN rejected it
since it failed to protect the Athabasca River (no threshold established)
• A Phase Two Framework Committee (P2FC) was developed (funded by
CEMA) to provide a recommendation to DFO and AENV for the final
LAWMF
• We have just reviewed this recommendation and....
MCFN GIR
ISSUES WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE LOWER ATHABASCA
WATER MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK (LAWMF)
• The Athabasca River Plays A Critical Role In Defining The Cultural
Identity, Traditional Practices, & Livelihood Of The Mikisew Cree First
Nation (MFCN).
• Concerns About the Ecological Degradation of Athabasca River &
Exercising Treaty 8 Rights.
• Athabasca River Declining Water Quality, Quantity, Contamination &
Pollution.
• Concerns About Habitat Loss & Fragmentation, Reduction In & Species
Viability.
MCFN GIR
ISSUES WITH THE RECOMENDATIONS FOR The LAWMF
(Cont’d)
• Athabasca River Transportation and Decreasing Water Levels, Loss of
Tributaries, and Boreal Forests.
• Independent Scientific Oversight and Review Agency.
• Faulty Climate Change Analysis & Modelling.
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Athabasca Watershed Analysis & Monitoring By A Credible and Qualified
Team Of Experts.
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Adopting The Precautionary Principle.
• Failure Of Federal Agencies To Intervene.
• Infringement Of Treaty 8 Rights.
• Air Pollution Issues: Wet & Dry Acid Deposition, Eutrophication, Heavy Metals.
MCFN GIR
MCFN TEK/TLU APPROACH to IFN
Athabasca River hydrograph : Approximate Aboriginal
Base Flow (ABF) and Aboriginal Extreme Flow (AXF)
thresholds.
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Defining an ABF and AXF.
Thresholds were derived from comparing
results of TEK interviews to the LAR
hydrograph
Utilizing MCFN TEK AND TLU we have
identified ABF as 1,600 M3/S this reflects a
safe passage depth of approximately 1.2
m of water.
Flow rates of approx. 400 m3/s (AXF) will
result in widespread and extreme
disruption of Treaty and Aboriginal rights
in the delta
The levels currently set for both ABF and
AXF are preliminary thresholds and may be
refined through additional work.
Mikisew Cree First NATION (MCFN)
Vs.
Questions?
Mikisew Cree First Nation