In the Northwest Territories, we are forging a way forward in the spirit of reconciliation and putting words and intentions into meaningful action. We hope our collaboration will provide a model for the whole of Canada on how to address the pressing challenges of our time, strengthen Indigenous cultures, and demonstrate how UNDRIP can be meaningfully implemented on the ground.

From the community level to the national stage, Indigenous Nations offered solutions for caring for lands and waters. Canadians welcomed these contributions: a national poll found 75% of Canadians support the Guardians programs, for instance. Here are some 2023 highlights ILI is proud to be a part of.

The abundance of salmon was not by accident but by design. Our people cultivated ecosystem services through the strong relationship with Salmon. Heiltsuk laws, governance, and stewardship systems are based on millennia of observation and accumulated intergenerational knowledge transfer.

ILI is taking the helm of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign and absorbing IBCC’s remaining staff, assets, and relationships with funders. This milestone marks one of the first times a longstanding, successful environmental campaign has been transferred to Indigenous leadership.

Reverence and respect for water is one of the most profound lessons the Indigenous worldview can share with a westernized society distracted by materialism. This knowledge is more important now than ever, as the planet faces the dual challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity.

The exponential growth of Guardians programs in recent years has been inspiring to witness. It has also unleashed a host of benefits for lands, communities, and the country as a whole.

The Guardians and Stewardship Training Initiative will be codeveloped this year by First Nations and the province, and we look forward to its launch and expansion. It will help prepare more Guardians to look after lands and waters we all rely on.

“Hawaiians have canoes. Māori have canoes. First Nations have canoes. We all have the value that we are one with the water, so why don’t we use our power, our voice, our chanting, our stories to paddle together.”

As the international community gathers in Montreal, they will see that sustaining biodiversity—and healthy communities—is already underway, and they will see that Indigenous Nations are blazing the trail.

As Indigenous place-based peoples, we live in these landscapes 365 days a year. We look not only at the ecological integrity of land and seas, but also the social and economic sustainability. Conservation-based activities like ecotourism provide economic opportunities that reflect Indigenous stewardship.

Now a new national strategy outlines how First Nations Guardians could play an expanded role in wildfire management and response, helping to manage the risk of climate change and shield communities from unchecked fires.

There are now 120 First Nations Guardians programs across the country! This means almost 20 percent of all First Nation communities have Guardians—bringing us closer to the goal of ensuring every First Nation that wants a Guardians program has the support to launch one.

Environment and Climate Change Canada Minister Steven Guilbeault interviewed Valérie Courtois and Dahti Tsetso on National Indigenous Peoples Day. “We are facing climate change and loss in biodiversity. The solutions Guardians and Indigenous knowledge systems offer are needed now more than ever,” said Tsetso.

The ILI team is grateful for Steven’s leadership over the past several years, and we are pleased he will continue to be a partner in the shared work of enabling Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship in his new role at Nature for Justice.

Indigenous women have been caring for our people, lands, and waters for millennia. That tradition continues in the modern guardianship movement. Of the 23 proposed Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas that ILI partners on, two-thirds are led by women. Nearly half of the over 80 existing Indigenous Guardians programs in the country are led by women.

The Cree and Innu have been friends since time immemorial. This agreement is us taking responsibility for our shared relationship with the caribou. When we take care of each other’s hunger, it is a show of respect. When we share in a good way, the Caribou Master will provide.

The Indigenous Leadership Initiative is proud to announce a partnership with the Royal Canadian Geographic Society to produce a documentary series about Indigenous Guardians. The series will be led by Indigenous creatives and build on the important work underway in the Indigenous filmmaking community around protocols and pathways.

Indigenous Peoples have a relationship to the land that can help rebalance the world in the midst of climate chaos. Our stewardship is proven to reduce carbon emissions by sustaining the lands and waters we all depend on.

As I look back on the 2021 fire season, I will remember how each member embodied the ethics I grew up with and carried out their obligation to steward the land every day. With more investment, more First Nations will take the lead on managing and responding to fire.

Indigenous Peoples have been in relationship with the plants and animals of the Boreal Forest in Canada for thousands of years – since before time was recorded, as is often said. These relationships are at the center of Indigenous stewardship and the reason the boreal remains the largest intact forest left on the planet.