Parks Canada announces new Indigenous Stewardship Policy
The policy was developed to support Canada’s commitment to UNDRIP
The Indigenous Stewardship Policy came into effect after it was endorsed through a ceremony. (Submitted)
Parks Canada has announced a new Indigenous Stewardship Policy to bring western and Indigenous conservation practices together in support of Canada’s commitment to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
The policy was written in collaboration with the Indigenous Stewardship Circle (the Circle), an advisory body of Indigenous leaders for Parks Canada founded last year. The policy will serve to support Indigenous stewardship efforts at all places managed by Parks Canada.
“It’s really about inclusion, shared decision making, and having the ability to incorporate [Indigenous] traditional use and knowledge into the way that Parks Canada operates,” says Jaime Vienneau, director for the lands and resources sector at the Ktunaxa Nation Council and member of the Circle.
The need for the policy comes from Parks Canada’s history of excluding Indigenous Peoples from land management operations. Parks Canada and the Indigenous Stewardship Circle acknowledge in the document that “Indigenous stewardship is critical for successful conservation outcomes.”
“These lands have been occupied by our people for over 10,000 years, and we know how to manage the resources,” Vienneau says. “[It’s] really tapping into those knowledge keepers and the institutional knowledge we have … to preserve those resources and to protect them for future generations.”
While attempts have been made to introduce Indigenous people into the conversation in recent years, a disconnect still exists. The agency hopes the policy will bridge the gap, Vienneau says.
“What we’re working towards is the ability to do our traditional practices within those areas that have always been gatekept,” Vienneau says, adding Indigenous people have felt a fortress around Parks Canada lands in the name of protection that has alienated Indigenous people from accessing the lands for traditional and cultural practices.
Vienneau finds the policy is a first step. It’s more critical that Indigenous people see the evidence of the policy being implemented as the Circle intended, she says.
In practice, the policy will facilitate shared governance with Indigenous people over the lands and sites Parks Canada is responsible for and build on those relationships, says Richard Dupuis, Indigenous cultural learning and awareness manager with Parks Canada.
“It will look different. It’ll be determined by … Indigenous partners and Parks Canada staff working together side by side and having a say in how the places are administered or managed,” Dupuis says. “We’re hoping that those plans come into play within the next few years.”
Vienneau adds that an exact picture of what the implementation of the policy looks like is still being determined, but some ideas include having Indigenous language represented on signage in parks along with the right for Indigenous people to use the lands for their transitional practices.
“I am constantly hearing from our citizens, from our Elders, from our knowledge holders how important it is that we have the ability to access our traditional lands and our homelands,” she says. “It is really deep into my heart and in my passion for what I want to see.”
For more information about the policy, visit the Government of Canada’s website.
