Indigenous Peoples have unique strengths for responding to environmental and climate changes

“Over history, we have not had it easy. With colonial pressures from the government and mining companies, the harm done through the [Indian] Residential School System, our forced removal from our traditional communities and Lands, along with many other influences that exist in our lives today, we have an uphill battle. But our Elders fought and died for our Land and we have a duty to continue to protect it. There is strength and resilience in our people and in our community when we come together. We have the wisdom. We are the original land stewards.”
– Excerpt from Ross River Dena Council and Arctic Institute of Community-based Research, 2019, p. 8.

Impacts from the climate crisis are inextricably linked to ongoing processes of colonialism, dispossession and rights violations, but these connections are often overlooked in climate-related analyses such as research, policy and governance. Failing to apply this lens results in an incomplete understanding of the depth, scope and effects of the environmental and climate crisis on Indigenous Peoples (Deranger et al., 2022; Cameron, 2012). Over the past five decades, numerous public commissions and inquiries have documented the impacts faced by Indigenous Peoples due to colonization (e.g., Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2019; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015; Qikiqtani Truth Commission, 2013; Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996; Berger, 1977). In several of these reports, the impacts have been described as genocidal (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015; Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2019) and are inseparable from the lived realities of Indigenous Peoples as well as the impacts of climate change we face today. Historical and ongoing colonial laws, policies and practices have led to significant social, spiritual, cultural, political, economic and environmental changes.

Given this reality, Indigenous Peoples, including Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, have called for a re-evaluation of the framing of climate change towards one focused on how human values are at the root of the climate crisis: a world out of balance (Cameron et al., 2021). These values (e.g., greed, consumerism) have driven a set of destructive human behaviours and activities that disrespect Natural Law and are at the root cause of the climate crisis (for more, refer to Figure 1 in Cameron et al., 2021). This has resulted in a system of knowledge that prioritizes advances in technology, markets and science at the expense of the natural balance of life. Dakota Knowledge Keeper, Katherine Whitecloud, describes this environmental crisis as a human crisis: “People don’t want to acknowledge the state of the Earth, where it’s at right now, because it’s a reflection of themselves. It’s a reflection of their homes, their personal space, where the spirit and the heart reside… And people don’t want to look at that” (Cameron et al., 2021, p. 43).

Addressing this imbalance requires reorienting the climate agenda towards meaningful approaches rooted in an understanding of and relationship with the Land, Water and Ice. Until recently, the influence of these perspectives on local, regional, national and international climate change responses was limited to the participation of Indigenous Peoples in non-Indigenous climate initiatives. However, this is changing as Indigenous Peoples increasingly develop our own climate change strategies, drawing on our knowledge systems, laws, governance and histories. This report draws on these experiences to shift from a deficit framing to an Indigenous-led narrative focused on strengths-based approaches. This shift is summarized in a 2019 report by the Council of Canadian Academies: “Indigenous Peoples have demonstrated a capacity for adaptation, resilience, and survival in the face of pervasive social, cultural, and environmental changes throughout colonial history. The multiplicative effects of climate change, combined with the impacts of colonialism, power differentials in Canadian society, marginalization, and loss of [L]and, may however affect adaptation success” (Council of Canadian Academies, 2019, p. xi).

Relatively new terms, such as “eco-grief” and “solastalgia” describe the loss, grief, and despair caused by unwanted environmental change, such as climate change (e.g., Cunsolo Willox and Ellis, 2018; Cunsolo Willox, 2012). However, these concepts and experiences are not new; they encapsulate the profound challenges, suffering, and trauma Indigenous Peoples have endured due to environmental loss and damage since the onset of colonization (Whyte, 2016). This includes the dispossession of First Nations Lands through the Indian reserve system. Other examples include the imposition of federal and international policies on Inuit, such as relocations to the High Arctic in the 1950s and the international movement preventing sealskin sales (Gombay, 2014; Tester and Kulchyski, 1994; Wenzel, 1991), as well as land scrip allocations for Métis families. In the late 1870s, the Canadian government issued documents (scrip allocations) to Métis people living in the West that were difficult to access and that entitled them to Lands often located hundreds of kilometers away from their homes and communities.

While not exhaustive, this combination of laws, policies and actions further impacts Indigenous Peoples’ adaptive capacity, limiting our governance, cultural and language practices, and restricting our movements, thereby affecting hunting, fishing and gathering practices (Menzies et al., 2022). The climate-related changes occurring now represent cultural threats similar to those experienced during the start of European settlement in the Americas (Whyte, 2017a; 2016). Therefore, for Indigenous Peoples, who often disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change impacts, these changes are not new but rather seen as “déjà vu” (Whyte, 2016).

Until recently, the most common approach to addressing climate change impacts for the lives of Indigenous Peoples involved our participation in the development of local, regional, national and international responses (e.g., accords, plans, research programs, policies and strategies).

However, more recently, Indigenous Peoples have been asserting our own climate change strategies and developing approaches to address climate change based on our own knowledge systems, governance structures and histories. For example, the National Inuit Climate Change Strategy (ITK, 2019a) illustrates how Inuit are tackling climate change issues on their terms, from local to global scales, and creating effective adaptation initiatives. These initiatives include supporting harvesting and sharing economies tailored to the needs and priorities of their communities (ITK, 2019a). Another instance is the British Columbia First Nations Climate Strategy and Action Plan (British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, 2022), co-developed and launched in 2021 by the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs and the First Nations Summit. At a national scale, the launch of the Indigenous Knowledges content on the Climate Atlas of Canada (see Case Story 1 and Figure 3) demonstrates an active Two-Eyed Seeing approach. This approach honours the diverse wisdom of Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community leaders and other experts from coast to coast to coast through videos, articles and climate maps at local, regional and national scales. During the final stages of this report, the Assembly of First Nations released their National Climate Strategy, identifying seven priority areas with over 100 strategies and actions (see Figure 1; Assembly of First Nations, 2023).

Other examples of First Nations, Inuit and Métis-led initiatives responding to climate impacts often focus on engaging in land-based activities. These activities aim to decolonize climate change approaches and centre our own traditions and knowledge systems. This includes involving youth in multi-generational cultural and land camps to reconnect with the Land (e.g., McDonald, 2023; Lines et al., 2019) and taking action to limit climate change impacts through land defense action (e.g., Pasternak, 2020). Examples of such initiatives are Indigenous resistance to carbon-intensive or environmentally unsustainable projects on Indigenous Lands. Community-based research and action-oriented initiatives continue to grow and highlight the strengths and advantages of Indigenous Knowledge and leadership. Inuit hunters, for example, lead research in Nunavut communities by documenting and monitoring environmental changes, thereby enhancing knowledge and safety. The Smart Ice Program (see Figure 2) and Ittaq Heritage and Research Centre are notable examples. First Nations, such as the Anishinaabe have utilized seasonal mobility (Whyte et al., 2019), and coastal First Nations have employed clam gardens to maintain biodiversity (Holmes et al., 2022), along with many other strategies to center approaches to addressing climate change in our traditions and practices.

Local, regional, national and international bodies, governments and civil society are beginning to recognize that approaches like the Indigenous Climate Atlas are central to addressing the impacts of the climate crisis. For instance, both the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (IPCC, 2022) and Canada’s Climate Science 2050 report (Government of Canada, 2020a) specifically recognize the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ involvement in climate change dialogues, decision making and research (see Box 3). Despite this recognition, there often continues to be a lack of support for Indigenous-led, self-determined climate research, planning and policy in Canada (Deranger et al., 2022; Latulippe and Klenk, 2020; Huntington et al., 2019). The laudable development of an Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda, funded through the Government of Canada Budget 2022, in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis, began during the writing of this report, though the outcomes are not yet finalized.

Without robust financial and technical support to access, shape and guide climate change policymaking and decision making (Chisholm Hatfield et al., 2018), Indigenous Peoples are often left to defend our Lands, Waters and communities through court battles and/or direct action (Gobby et al., 2021). For example, a report by the Indigenous Environment Network and Oil Change International (2021) noted that Indigenous resistance has stopped or delayed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to at least one-quarter of annual emissions produced in the U.S. and Canada. Other examples of direct action include the Land Defenders at Wet’suwet’en, 1492 Land Back Lane in Caledonia and the Nuluujaat Land Guardians in Nunavut. These movements focus not only on returning [L]and under Indigenous authority and jurisdiction but also embody the concept: “for the [L]and to be alive so that it can perpetuate itself, and perpetuate us as an extension of itself. That’s what we want back: our place in keeping [L]and alive and spiritually connected” (Longman et al., 2020). This concept is captured in the framing of “Land Back”, a concept that has been growing in prominence (Reed and Gobby, 2021; Longman et al., 2020; Pasternak et al., 2019).

First Nations, Inuit and Métis have raised concerns with the framing of climate change responses that focus exclusively on one question: “How do humans achieve a reduction in their emissions of greenhouse gases in the coming few decades?” (Chakrabarty, 2019). Instead, Indigenous Peoples have been calling for a climate agenda that recognizes meaningful approaches stem from understanding and addressing the foundational question of Land holistically (Behn and Baker, 2019). Deranger et al. (2022) operationalize this call by stating, “…seeing the real inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and the respecting of our rights as not just a matter of justice and equity (though of course that is crucial), but also as a matter of designing solutions actually capable of addressing the climate crisis” (p. 19).

The artificial separation between humans and nature has contributed to the paradigm of “progress,” and the pursuit of economic growth has resulted in the failure of the last thirty years of climate policy (Stoddard et al., 2021). To understand Indigenous-led contemporary responses to the climate crisis, understanding this difference in worldviews is essential (Godwell and Nooh, 2022; Swiderska, 2021).

Indigenous Peoples have often been portrayed as passive victims or harbingers of climate change impacts in domestic and international dialogues (Indigenous Climate Action, 2021a; Belfer et al., 2017; Bunce et al., 2016; Cameron, 2012). However, this portrayal often overlooks the ways Indigenous Peoples have been observing, adapting and living reciprocally with our Lands, Waters and Ice for millennia (McGregor et al., 2020; McGregor, 2019). Cultural, spiritual and social connections of our Peoples to the Land, Water and Ice may increase our exposure and sensitivity to climate change impacts, but they also provide unique sources of strength, knowledge, understanding and resilience (Deranger et al., 2022; Hernandez et al., 2022; Reed et al., 2022; Galway et al., 2021).

Canada’s approach to including Indigenous Peoples in climate change discussions has evolved over the past seven years, largely due to constructive relationships built with First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations through senior-level bilateral tables created in the wake of the Pan-Canadian Framework, as well as through Indigenous advocacy (e.g., emergency declarations, the Indigenous Guardians Program, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas) (Reed et al., 2022; Gobby et al., 2021). This evolution has led to progressive commitments to an Indigenous climate leadership agenda. This agenda focuses on “…investing in the agency of Indigenous peoples and communities, supporting Indigenous-led and delivered solutions, equipping Indigenous peoples with equitable resources, and ensuring appropriate access to funding to implement self-determined climate action” (Government of Canada, 2020b, p. 69).

5.4.1 Indigenous climate emergency declarations and “All My Relations”

First Nations, Inuit and Métis have been actively leading and engaging in a wide range of activities to address climate change. These activities include education, land-based learning and healing (e.g., Ljubicic et al., 2021; McClain, 2021; Morales et al., 2021; Ward et al., 2021; Donatuto et al., 2020; Métisse Redvers, 2020; Mearns, 2017), Indigenous clean energy development (e.g., L’Hommecourt et al., 2022; Paquet et al., 2021; Indigenous Clean Energy, 2020), development of Indigenous Knowledge and science strategies (e.g., Huntington et al., 2021a; Sawatzky et al., 2021; Assembly of First Nations, 2020; Ferguson and Weaselboy, 2020; ITK 2019a, 2018; Jones et al., 2018), co-production of knowledge (e.g., Fox et al., 2020), adaptation planning and implementation (e.g., Galway et al., 2022) and political action and diplomacy, including treaty-based diplomacy (e.g., Callison, 2021, 2014; Kronk Warner and Abate, 2013; Grossman, 2008). A growing number of Indigenous Peoples have also released climate emergency declarations, calling for rapid de-carbonization to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. For example, the declaration of the Vuntut Gwitch’in First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon, titled Yeendoo Diinehdoo Ji’heezrit Nits’oo Ts’o’ Nan He’ aa (After Our Time, How Will the World Be?), laid the foundation for First Nation Chiefs across Canada to declare a national climate emergency in 2019.

With support from the Vuntut Gwitch’in leadership, the First Nations-in-Assembly declared a First Nations Climate Emergency at the 2019 Assembly of First Nations, stating that “…climate change constitutes a state of emergency for our Lands, Waters, animals, and peoples” (Assembly of First Nations, 2019). The inclusion of more-than-humans in this declaration is emblematic of the relational approach that Indigenous Peoples have developed over millennia, also known as an ethic of “responsibility-based thinking” (Sioui and McLeman, 2014), which is broadly captured by the concept of “All My Relations” (or “sustainable relations” according to Ferguson and Weaselboy, 2020). This concept informs how Indigenous Peoples experience and understand the impacts of and approaches for adapting to climate change. Galway et al. (2022), in collaboration with Fort William First Nation Knowledge Holders, describe five sub-themes of their experiences with climate change organized using the “All My Relations” concept: 1) lack of care and respect for Mother Earth as a root cause; 2) (re)-connecting with Land and culture; 3) observations and experience of changes on the Land; 4) healthy Land, healthy people; and 5) Youth and future generations (see Case Story 2).  The concept of “All My Relations” (see Figure 4) also acknowledges that Indigenous Peoples benefit from the strengths of all members, including the vital and unique contributions of our women, men, youth, Elders and 2SLGBTQQIA+¹ (see Box 4; Longman et al., 2020; Viscogliosi et al., 2020; Women’s Earth Alliance and Native Youth Sexual Health Network, 2016).

5.4.2 Indigenous rights and responsibilities

Central to strengths-based approaches is the recognition of the distinct status, roles and rights of Indigenous Peoples, affirmed in significant national and international human rights instruments, notably section 35 of the Canadian Constitution Act. Other instruments, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) and its subsequent adoption in provincial (British Columbia in 2019) and federal jurisdictions (Canada in 2021), affirm the rights of self-determination for Indigenous Peoples (Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The concept of rights also considers the responsibilities that Indigenous Peoples carry when interacting with the more-than-human world. These responsibilities, as underlined by the human values that inform them, are one of the many contributions that Indigenous Peoples bring to the rest of humanity (IPCC, 2022; Cameron et al., 2021; Townsend et al., 2021; Salmón, 2000). Such a perspective stems from an understanding that human beings must learn to live with the Land, Water and Ice (McGregor, 2014; McGregor et al., 2010; Cajete, 1999).

These rights—and those affirmed in Treaties, land claims, agreements and other constructive arrangements (see Box 1)—have enabled Indigenous Peoples to take our rightful leadership roles in environmental governance, thereby advancing co-management arrangements and other stewardship activities (Cadman et al., 2022; Qikiqtani Inuit Association, 2021; Peacock et al., 2020; Snook et al., 2018a; Armitage et al., 2011). As a result, many Indigenous territories retain high levels of biodiversity and intact, critical and globally significant ecosystems (Schuster et al., 2019). Examples such as Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) (see Case Story 5.4 in NIR‑5) and Indigenous Marine Protected Areas (Imappivut Nunatsiavut Marine Plan, 2022) demonstrate how Indigenous Peoples are increasingly assuming leadership positions in governance and climate change action, as stewards of our traditional territories since time immemorial (McDonald, 2023; Reed et al., 2021b). Indigenous “resurgence” paradigms—where Indigenous Peoples are reclaiming our languages, ceremonies, teachings, governance and decision-making (Corntassel and Bryce, 2012)—draw on the strengths of traditional land-based culture and knowledge with regard to Indigenous leadership in land governance and stewardship (Alfred et al., 2015; Coulthard, 2014; Corntassel and Bryce, 2012; Simpson, 2011; Alfred, 2009; Alfred and Corntassel, 2005). Indigenous leadership in climate change policy, therefore, can ensure that the Indigenous right to self-determination is respected and upheld, allowing Indigenous Peoples to continue to carry out our cultural responsibilities to the Land for the benefit of all humanity (see Section 9.0; Powless, 2012).