Lands, Resources & Treaty Rights
Land Stewardship
Water & Climate Monitoring
Since 2013, FNFN has led water and climate monitoring throughout our territory. All data collected are shared with the governments of the NWT and BC. In 2015, we joined the GNWT Mackenzie DataStream project. In 2020, we signed a data sharing agreement with the Province of BC. Coupled with Environment Canada’s long-term study sites, there is now a large amount of publicly accessible information available to work with when assessing the health of our waterways. To understand the importance of water to FNFN, we invite you to watch a short documentary, Tu Ní Tthé – We Need the Water
Liard Basin Monitoring Initative
The Liard Basin Monitoring Initiative (LBMI) is a three-year $1.6 million pilot initiative funded by Natural Resources Canada’s Cumulative Effects Monitoring Initiative. The LBMI was initiated in 2016 and completed in early 2019. The LBMI is a cumulative effects monitoring program for the Liard River watershed based on FNFN cultural and ecological values. The LBMI allows FNFN to:
1. Better understand the state of the environment in the in FNFN territory using Indigenous knowledge and western scientific methods.
2. Implement a scientific framework to monitor and respond to changes in the environment resulting from industry and climate change.
3. Help make informed decisions about industrial activities and land use in FNFN territory so long-term values of the FNFN are maintained while ensuring an appropriate level of resource use and development.
4. Engage FNFN members, increase capacity, training and employment of members in monitoring our lands and waters.
5. Create accessible information on the state and change over time in FNFN lands and waters.
FNFN proactively launched the LBMI. By developing our own data collection and monitoring systems we are getting in front of industrial development proposals to better protect our cultural and ecological values on the land.
The LBMI Year 1 State of Knowledge Report is a complete summary of the first year of the program, and can be accessed by clicking the Community Summary image.
Featured LBMI Report: Tsà - Amisk State of Knowledge Report
Beaver, known as tsà in Dene and amisk in the Cree language is an important animal for both Dene and Cree cultures. Beaver is a powerful animal and our people thrived for countless generations on their fur and meat. We are grateful to tsà for sharing these gifts with us.
George Blondin, Dene storyteller tells us, “Beavers are very busy animals and smart. Like human beings, they plan far ahead for the future. They know that winter is approaching and that they are going to be frozen over. They also know they can save food and survive under the ice. They start by building a house. They make their house so animals like bears and wolverines cannot break it up and kill them. The beavers pile a lot of mud, stones and dry wood, and then mix this with wet mud. It then freezes, making it hard for any predatory animal to break. The beavers are safe in there and that is where they sleep and eat. They also have a place where they can sit.
The beavers, like humans, will also ration their food if it is going to be a long winter and springtime is far away. The mother beaver will chew off a short length of willow and tell the baby beavers to eat only that for today because they are short of food. Beavers watch carefully over their food to make sure they have enough under the ice until it thaws, and the shores are ice-free.
In 2017, the FNFN, with financial support from Natural Resources Canada, completed Year 1 of the three-year Liard Basin Monitoring Initiative (LBMI). In Year 1 of the LBMI, we did a state of knowledge assessment on beaver. We looked at sources from our own community knowledge (for example, from prior traditional use and knowledge studies) and publicly available scientific information sources. Population health status, distribution and preferred habitat, pressures beavers face, gaps in monitoring information, and management practices were all values we assessed.
In 2018 FNFN released the State of Knowledge Report: Beaver | tsá, amisk to summarize the findings of our work related to management planning and state of knowledge reporting for beaver in the Liard Watershed. The document outlines the cultural and ecological context of beaver and beaver management in FNFN territory.
Climate Change Monitoring: Tłúe ka’ǫdíh - Let’s Go Fishing
This project, funded by the First Peoples’ Culture Council (FPCC) Heritage Grant (2020) and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) Indigenous Climate Health Action Program (2021-2022) brings together Indigenous and western knowledge and science to increase FNFN food security and resilience to climate change effects.
Climate change, food security, and access to traditional foods are pressing issues facing FNFN. In 2011, FNFN conducted a study that showed an alarming decline in our traditional food harvesting and we are now seeing climate change effects that will put additional strain on our ability to provide for ourselves from our own territory. Climate change is expected to make permafrost, snow and ice, and travel conditions less predictable and sometimes unsafe or impossible. Compounding this, there is growing concern about water quality and its effects on fish and wildlife and along with it a growing risk of disconnect between us, our land and culture.
Some climate change impacts we are seeing in the territory include more frequent and intense forest fire seasons, permafrost melting in the northern parts of our territory, we are also noticing unusual precipitation events (rivers were at a 20 year high in 2020), and warmer winters, shorter autumns, and more mosquitoes in the summer. All of this affects the land and the animals and our ability to hunt, fish and harvest our traditional foods. Reduced hunting seasons, warmer winters and an increased “buggy” season reduces hunters’ ability to access healthy, tick-free moose and incidents of fish kill result in families avoiding traditional fishing sites all together.
To address these challenges, we are re-establishing a fish camp and installing water and climate monitoring stations at Tłu Tué (Maxhamish or Fish Lake), the largest source of food fish in our territory and an important area that we have become alienated from since our main Reserve was established in 1960.
A return to Tłu Tué has become an important focal point for FNFN in our efforts to reduce food insecurity and remain active stewards of a healthy territory. The camp will serve to host traditional fish camps for community use and a base camp for water and climate monitoring through our Land Guardian program. Combined, the seasonal fish camps and monitoring stations will get our people on the land, expand our environmental and cultural knowledge base, improve our mental and physical health, and build our resilience and ability to respond to climate change.
For generations, we relied heavily on fish, moose and caribou as a main source of sustenance for our families and fish was a primary source of food harvested in the winter. Revitalizing our traditional fishing practices and monitoring the health of Tłu Tué will provide our members with the skills and confidence to access a healthy, year-round food supply.
Bringing back our traditional fishery and monitoring the health of Tłu Tué will improve access to traditional foods by reducing hunting and fishing costs to individual members, transmitting cultural skills and knowledge to increase chances of successful harvests, and enabling us to understand and possibly address environmental concerns that may be preventing families from harvesting at the lake.
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