My starting place
This is the first blog in a three-part series I created as my culminating assignment for a first-year class called “Transformational Change Methodologies” (a required course for the Social Practice and Transformational Change PhD program at the University of Guelph taught by Dr. Carla Rice). I have chosen to share my project publicly in the spirit of co-learning and reciprocity. While it feels vulnerable to do so, I believe we are all always in a state of becoming. With humility, I offer this messy, partial, and in-process piece.
In this blog I share a bit about myself and the broader context of my work. See the second blog for a sense of some of the theory that is guiding my inquiry and the third blog for my early thinking about my methodology and methods.
Where I come from
I am a white settler-Canadian with ancestral ties to England and Scotland. Admittedly, I don’t know much more than that about my ancestors or their relationships to the land they left to settle in what is colonially known as Canada. I was raised in Williams Treaty Territory, in what is now known as Beaverton Ontario, where my maternal family has lived for five generations. Click on the audio clip below to learn more about my childhood, or read the transcript here.
This is a photo of the Speed River, which runs through Guelph Ontario. The Speed joins with the Grand River. Land six-miles deep on either side of the Grand River was promised to the Haudenosaunee by the British after the war of 1812. Since then, most of the land in the area has been settled by non-Indigenous peoples (Hill, 2017).
Today, I am grateful to live, work, and play on the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, in what is known as Guelph, Ontario. These lands and waters have been and continue to be a gathering place for many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. This place is also governed by the Dish with One Spoon Covenant, a treaty to peaceably care and share for the lands and waters in the great lakes basin.
For three and a half years I've had the honour of managing the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP), an Indigenous-led SSHRC Partnership Grant that aims to 1) support the transformation of nature conservation in Canada, and 2) help Indigenous governments with the creation and implementation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Due to the efforts of grassroots Indigenous leaders and the recent national advocacy efforts of the Indigenous Circle of Experts, the policy landscape in Canada is shifting quickly in support of Indigenous-led conservation (Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, 2023a). It has been incredible to witness this change in the past few years. Increasingly, local, regional, and national scale conservation organizations are approaching the CRP seeking guidance on how they can transform their practices to better support Indigenous-led conservation. In trying to help our partners I've have found that there are not many publicly available resources that show how people and organizations are attempting to change to better partner with Indigenous governments and organizations.
I am a first-year PhD student in the Social Practice and Transformational Change program at the University of Guelph. As a non-Indigenous practitioner, the PhD process is an opportunity for me to respond to this gap and to think critically about some of the big questions and entanglements that are emerging through the work of the CRP. This is also an opportunity to focus on my responsibilities and the responsibilities of other non-Indigenous practitioners in the conservation space. My personal commitments are aligned with the decolonial project as described by Tuck and Yang (2018): the “rematriation of Indigenous land and life” (pg. 9). I see this as a life-long responsibility which I strive to approach with humility. I have stumbled and will continue to make mistakes along the way. I am deeply complicit in the systems I am seeking to change. But I take comfort in Tuck & Yang’s (2018) invitation to think about the “inner angles” in our work. Small shifts in practice and perspective that can make a big difference in where we end up down stream.
Context
Colonial Conservation
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A reading list of scholarly articles about colonial conservation and topics related to Indigenous-led conservation. The reading list is evergreen and is an extremely helpful resource. It is compiled and managed by Megan Youdelis, Kim Tran, and Elizabeth Lunstrum.
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This article by Robert Jago (Kwantlen First Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe) explains how places like Vancouver’s Stanley Park are tied to colonial concepts like ‘wilderness’, and how these parks and protected areas have displaced Indigenous Peoples, like the Squamish, in the name of settler settlement and conservation.
This article reminds me of how the wilderness myth contributes to the national myth of Canada. It is a reminder of the stories the settler-state tells to legitimize violence against Indigenous Peoples.
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This podcast, published by Jesse Brown (Canadaland) and featuring Brandi Morin (Cree/Iroquois/French), tells the story of the Dene, the Cree, and the land they were expelled from to make way for Wood Buffalo National Park .
This powerful resource centers the place-based stories and voices of Dene and Cree peoples, highlighting the ways in which the imposition of Wood Buffalo has impacted families across generations.
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Colonial conservation does not only happen in Turtle Island/Canada. This video, published by Survival International, features Odette, a member of the Baka tribe in what is colonially known as the Congo Basin. Odette describes the human rights abuses she and other community members have experienced through the creation of the Messok Dja National Park.
The video shows the violence (physical and emotional) that park boarders can impose on Indigenous bodies. Odette’s pain and anger are palpable.
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This article by Arno Kopecky explores the white supremacist roots of some of the West’s foundational environmentalists, and how this past complicates partnerships with Indigenous governments, communities, and organizations.
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This article, by Megan Youdelis, Roberta Nakoochee, Colin O'Neil, Elizabeth Lunstrum, and Robin Roth, interrogates the ways in which the concept of wilderness is being employed, resisted, and transformed by a multitude of actors in three parks and conservation areas across Canada.
It is no secret that environmentalism, and by extension conservation, is a white, settler movement (Curnow & Helferty, 2018; Scott, 2023). Conservation discourse stems from dualistic and human-centered logics of separation, which seek to save the last of nature from an inherently destructive humanity (Braidotti, 2020; Hutton et al., 2005). These logics are tied to a ‘wilderness ethic’, closely associated with Terra Nullius, which constructs an imaginary of pristine landscapes untouched by people (Jago, 2020; Youdelis et al., 2022). Mainstream conservation practices have a history of reinforcing settler-colonialism by dispossessing and marginalizing Indigenous peoples from their territories; disrupting Indigenous governance, legal orders, and complex relational systems; and privileging positivist scientific knowledge (Carroll, 2014; Moola & Roth, 2019).
Not only has mainstream conservation contributed to negative social outcomes, including human rights abuses (see the example to the left called “We’ve had enough of this talk of boundaries in the forest”), these approaches are also proving to be ineffective. It is now indisputable that we are living through the dual mass extinction and climate crises (Braidotti, 2020). Clearly, mainstream conservation’s attempts to protect nature are not working. At the same time, there is increased recognition among scholars and conservation practitioners of the efficacy of Indigenous approaches to caring for lands and waters. An often-quoted statistic shows that while Indigenous peoples comprise about 6% of the world’s population, Indigenous territories account for 80% of the world’s biodiversity (Garnett, et al., 2019). We are in a moment of shift with the potential for transforming the conservation sector. Within this context, my work is interested in how settler conservationists are navigating this shift and is framed within the broader decolonial project.
Changing tides: ICE and ‘we rise together’
This video summarizes the work of the Indigenous Circle of Experts. It was produced by River Voices Productions. In the video, Danika Littlechild (Cree), co-chair of ICE, emphasizes the transformational intent of the ICE members. This is a call for radical change.
In March, 2019, the Indigenous Circle of Experts (ICE), a national advisory body and part of the Pathway to Canada Target 1 federal policy initiative, released the We Rise Together (2018) report. The report articulated how Indigenous-led conservation can help achieve national conservation goals while advancing reconciliation in Canada. ICE advocated for the advancement of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), which are “lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in protecting and conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge systems” (ICE, 2018, pg. 35). IPCAs, therefore, are both a conservation mechanism and a tool to advance self-determination and sovereignty for Indigenous Nations.
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The Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC) website says “ [NCC] envisions building meaningful relationships that are grounded in mutual respect and the desire to achieve significant and lasting conservation outcomes. NCC will use our capacity, expertise and influence to act as an ally in support of Indigenous-led conservation projects and as a partner in joint initiatives….”
This website provides insights into how NCC understands its role and relationship to supporting Indigenous-led conservation.
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Nature United’s website says the organization believes that “the increased authority and capacity of Indigenous Peoples to steward their lands and waters is critical for the future of healthy ecosystems and communities”.
Nature United emphasizes the importance of Indigenous governance and authority explicitly on its website.
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WWF Canada’s website acknowledges the organization has been working towards more inclusive and collaborative engagement with Indigenous Peoples. It says “our work has become more inclusive over time, and we commit to collaborating with Indigenous partners, where and when requested, as we pursue the goals of Regenerate Canada, our 10-year plan to fight the biodiversity and climate crises”.
Each of these three websites provide important information about how the large-scale conservation organizations are orienting themselves to Indigenous-led conservation and the role the organizations see themselves playing: as allies, political advocates, and/or collaborators.
ICE called upon environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to partner with Indigenous governments in the design, implementation, and management of IPCAs (ICE, 2018, pg.61). Since then, many ENGOs have expressed support for Indigenous-led conservation as a central part of their mandates (Nature Conservancy of Canada, 2022; Nature United, 2022; WWF Canada, 2022).
This video provides an overview of IPCAs and their critical role in achieving biodiversity targets and fighting climate change. It was produced by River Voices Productions.
In 2019, the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP) was launched to continue the momentum of the Indigenous Circle of Experts. An Indigenous-led network, the CRP seeks to investigate, inform, and transform conservation strategy and practice by centering Indigenous leadership, rights, responsibilities, and knowledge. Several large ENGOs, including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), the David Suzuki Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Nature United, the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada, and World Wildlife Fund Canada are active partners in the CRP (Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, 2023b). There are also a number of smaller conservation organizations that engage with CRP resources and attend CRP learning events, such as our popular virtual campfire webinar series. As the manager of the CRP, one question I receive consistently from non-Indigenous conservation organizations is “how can we help support Indigenous-led conservation?”. I’ve been sitting with this question and all of its complexity. In many ways, this question is a motivator for my doctoral work.
“How can we help?” Towards transforming the conservation sector
The question of how conservation organizations can support Indigenous-led conservation efforts has many different entry points. CRP Leadership Circle member Steven Nitah (Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation) recently shared during a webinar that one way the conservation sector can support Indigenous-led conservation is by lending their skills, knowledge, and capacity to support Indigenous goals (Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, 2022). However, collaborations between conservation organizations and Indigenous governments, communities and organizations comes with risks, including (but not limited to):
State and elite capture of Indigenous movements (Roth & Bishop, 2021);
The instrumentalization of Indigenous peoples by conservation organizations to achieve their goals; and
Inclusion-based models of collaboration that prioritize mainstream conservation logics and practices.
In my time with the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, I have noticed an unevenness within the sector. Some ENGOs have individuals who are very active partners in the network who are deeply committed to transformative change within the sector. And, at the same time, the same organization is using language in campaigns e.g. (‘wilderness’, ‘pristine’, etc.), is announcing programs, or is engaged in financial practices, that may undermine Indigenous approaches to conservation and foreclose possibilities of meaningful transformation.
The images above are from a webinar hosted by the Sustainability Network and the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. The images were created by Elena McCullough.
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This resource, created by the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, shares some key principles for non-Indigenous supporters of Indigenous-led conservation.
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This resource, created by Indigenous Climate Action, illustrates the ways in which allyship is performed by non-Indigenous peoples in ways that can reinforce power dynamics while doing little to change the structures of settler-colonialism.
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This article, by Kyle Powis Whyte (citizen of the Potawatomi Nation), problematizes two common approaches to solidarity with Indigenous peoples taken up by settlers within the environmental movement: romanticism and the ‘same boat’ approach. Whyte explains how both of these approaches foreclose decolonial futures.
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This resource, produced by the Indigenous Knowledge Circle of the National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium, provides non-Indigenous practitioners and organizations with advice for engaging respectfully and equitably across difference.
I have tried to find publicly available resources that can support conservation organizations in transforming their practice. In doing so, I’ve noticed that these resources are limited. Those that are available typically provide a list of principles to guide engagement with Indigenous peoples and provide high-level advice about the kinds of behaviours are helpful or helpful. It is also common to find lists of additional sources for learning about settler-colonialism more broadly. Increasingly (and encouragingly), it is becoming easier to find content that showcases Indigenous voices and their visions for lands and waters in their territories.
As a settler who has been doing this work, I found myself unsatisfied with many of the resources I was able to find. Having navigated many contradictions, tensions and challenges in my own praxis, I was looking for something more nuanced. I wanted a resource that would take the reader/user on a journey of what it feels like as a settler to commit to cultivating a decolonial conservation practice, weaving in critical theory and perspectives. Settler feelings of discomfort, fear, anger, shame, love, and hope all have a tremendous influence on the potential to achieve transformational change. I know this because I have felt my own body respond to uncomfortable and painful truths about settler-colonialism and my own complicity. I’ve felt my cheeks burn and my heart race with shame when my practices were challenged. I have felt myself shrink away from the pain of having been shown that the central narratives and beliefs I held true about my identity and community were false. But my body also remembers what it feels like to be connected and grounded in ethics of love and mutual respect, and move towards positive change.
How are settlers navigating complex entanglements of power, racism, and settler-colonial structures?
What are they learning from these encounters?
How are settlers feeling their way through social change?
Where do settler emotions help with social change and where are they getting stuck?
These are some of the questions I am interested in as part of the broader decolonial project.
Works Cited
*Braidotti, R. (2020) “We” are in this together, but we are not one and the same. Bioethical Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-020-10017-8
Brown, J. (Executive Producer). (2022, December 12). Canadaland #840 The Taking of Wood Buffalo. [Audio Podcast]. Canadaland. https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/840-the-taking-of-wood-buffalo/
Carroll, C. (2014). Native enclosures: Tribal national parks and the progressive politics of environmental stewardship in Indian Country. Geoforum, 53, 31-40. http://doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.02.003
Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2021, June 21). What are Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas? [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR1EeEB2t2I
Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2022, November 8). Building Ethical Partnerships for Indigenous-led Conservation [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi6qX5UKFw&t=620s
Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2023, January 24). Organizational Change and Reconciliation within ENGOs [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/GsI6Ie4NdFg
Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2023, 03, 25a). About Us. Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. https://conservation-reconciliation.ca/about-us-1
Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2023, 03, 25a). Our Partners. Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. https://conservation-reconciliation.ca/our-partners
Curnow, J., & Helferty, A. (2018). Contradictions of Solidarity: Whiteness, settler coloniality, and the mainstream environmental movement. Environment and Society, 9(1), 145–163. https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2018.090110
Garnett, S.T., Burgess, N.D., Fa, J.E., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Molnár, Z., Robinson, C.J., Watson, J.E.M., Zander, K.K., Austin, B., Brondizio, E.S., Collier, N.F., Duncan, T., Ellis, E., Geyle, H., Jackson, M.V., Jonas, H., Malmer, P., McGowan, B., Sivongxay, A. & Leiper, I. (2018). A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation. Nature Sustainability, 1, 369–374. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0100-6
Hill, S. (2017). The clay we are made of: Haudenosaunee land tenure on the Grand River. University of Manitoba Press.
Hutton, J., Adams, W. M., & Murombedzi, J. (2005). Back to the barriers? Changing narratives in biodiversity conservation. Forum for Development Studies, 32(2), 341-370. http://doi:10.1080/08039410.2005.9666319
Indigenous Circle of Experts. (2018). We rise together: Achieving Pathway to Canada Target 1 through the creation of indigenous protected areas in the spirit and practice of reconciliation. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e007452e69cf9a7af0a033/t/5ab94aca6d2a7338ecb1d05e/1522092766605/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf.
Indigenous Climate Action. (2014, May 4). Accomplices not allies: Abolishing the ally industrial complex, an Indigenous perspective. https://www.indigenousaction.org/accomplices-not-allies-abolishing-the-ally-industrial-complex/accomplices-not-allies-print/
Indigenous Leadership Initiative. (n.d.). How to be an ally of Indigenous-led conservation. https://www.ilinationhood.ca/publications/how-to-be-an-ally-of-indigenous-led-conservation
Jago, R. (2020, June). Canada’s national parks are a colonial crime scene. The Walrus, https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-national-parks-are-colonial-crime-scenes/.
Kopecky, A. (2021, October). How environmentalism’s white supremacist roots branch into today’s struggles. The Tyee, https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/10/13/How-White-Supremacist-Roots-Environmentalism-Branch-Today/
Moola, F., & Roth, R. (2019). Moving beyond colonial conservation models: Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas offer hope for biodiversity and advancing reconciliation in the Canadian boreal forest, Environmental Reviews, 27(2), 200-201. http://doi:10.1139/er-2018-0091
Nature Conservancy of Canada. (2023, March 5). Indigenous conservation. Nature Conservancy of Canada. https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/what-we-do/indigenous-conservation/
Nature United. (2023, March 5). Our priorities: Indigenous-led conservation. Nature United. https://www.natureunited.ca/what-we-do/our-priorities/indigenous-led-conservation/
River Voices. (2018, March 28). ICE summary and recommendations [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THFAJS-XgVM
Roth, R. & Bishop, A. (2021). Conservation through Reconciliation in Canada: Cultivating a decolonial conservation practice. [Through an interrogation of the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership, this paper outlines what a decolonial conservation practice might look like and their potential for transformation]. American Association of Geographers. Seattle (virtual) April 10.
Scott, J.L. (2023, January 6). A demand for diversity in the environmental sector. Black Outdoors. https://blackoutdoors.wordpress.com/2023/01/06/a-demand-for-diversity-in-the-environmental-sector/.
Survival International. (249, January 4). “We’ve had enough of this talk of ‘boundaries in the forest [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD3Hpf2nv4U
Tuck, E. & Yang, W. (2018). Born under the rising sun of social justice. In E. Tuck & W. Yang (Eds.), Toward what justice? Describing diverse dreams of justice in education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351240932.
Whyte, K.P. (2018, April 3). White allies, let’s be honest about decolonization. Yes! Magazine, https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/decolonize/2018/04/03/white-allies-lets-be-honest-about-decolonization
World Wildlife Fund Canada. (2023, March 5). Indigenous-led conservation. World Wildlife Fund Canada. https://wwf.ca/about-us/indigenous-led-conservation/
Youdelis, M., Nakoochee, R., O'Neil, C., Lunstrum, E., & Roth, R. (2020). "Wilderness" revisited: Is Canadian park management moving beyond the "wilderness" ethic? Canadian Geographer-Geographe Canadien, 64(2), 232-249. http://doi:10.1111/cag.12600
Youdelis, M., Tran, K., and Lunstrum, E. (2021). Indigenous-Led Conservation Reading List. Conservation Through Reconciliation Publication.
Note: Sources with an asterisk * were listed as mandatory or recommended from the Transformational Methodologies Lab course taught by Dr. Carla Rice (SOPR PhD program, University of Guelph).