Indigenous climate action
Indigenous climate action is well underway in Quebec and Canada. Several communities have embarked on small- and large-scale climate plans. The following section presents some of the many solutions put forward by Indigenous communities.
Community and regional adaptation projects in Quebec
Ensuring safe travel and access to land
In regions where travel is becoming less safe, particularly on ice roads, Indigenous communities are using their traditional knowledge as well as innovative strategies to adapt to these new realities. This knowledge plays an especially crucial role in northern areas, where observation, preparation, communication and general skills are essential in coping with environmental challenges such as variations in the weather and the snow and ice conditions.
Climate change adaptation action plan
Cree Nation of Mistissini
In response to these challenges, the Eeyou/Eenou (Cree) community of Mistissini has incorporated various measures into its climate change adaptation plan to reduce travel safety risks. These include ice monitoring programs, training to assess risks when travelling on frozen lakes, improvements to land routes, and social media awareness campaigns for snowmobilers. Indigenous hunters, fishers and trappers use modern tools such as GPS, satellite telephones, rescue equipment and community radio to plan their trips, thereby reducing safety risks.
VHF communication network in Nunavik
Kativik Regional Government and Parks Canada
In several Nunavik communities, a joint project between hunters, Parks Canada and the Kativik Regional Government has set up a VHF (very high frequency) communications network. This initiative helps community members exchange information on environmental conditions and make inter-community travel plans.
Forestry collaboration agreement
Abitibiwinni First Nation
In 2022, a historic collaboration agreement was signed between the Abitibiwinni First Nation and a forestry company. The Abitibiwinni First Nation received support from the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Sustainable Development Institute (FNQLSDI) for this negotiation. This was the first forestry agreement of its kind in Quebec, and it encompasses measures to protect sites of interest and mechanisms to boost employment and business opportunities for members of the Abitibiwinni First Nation. The ongoing objective of the agreement is to ensure the sound management of the land’s natural resources.
Protecting wildlife and biodiversity
To cope with the effects of climate change on wildlife and biodiversity, several Indigenous communities have undertaken initiatives to improve the management of certain species.
Ungava Peninsula Caribou Aboriginal Round Table
Various Indigenous communities in Quebec and Labrador
Migratory caribou, which are vital to the culture, spirituality and identity of the Inuit, Naskapi, Innuat and Eeyou/Eenou (Cree), are in dramatic decline due to rising temperatures, predators, disease and loss of lichen. The Ungava Peninsula Aboriginal Caribou Round Table was created in 2013 and brings together seven of the region’s Indigenous communities. The organization has reached an agreement on joint wildlife management, including a long-term strategy for caribou, based on Indigenous and scientific knowledge.
Making infrastructure last
The effects of climate change on built infrastructure are common to us all. The key is to find solutions that suit the conditions and needs of each community.
Duplex pilot project in Nunavik
Société d’habitation du Québec, Makivvik Corporation, Kativik Regional Government, Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau
In 2012, the Société d’habitation du Québec, in partnership with the Makivvik Corporation, the Kativik Regional Government and the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau, designed and built a pilot project on adapted housing for Nunavimmiut families in Nunavik. A duplex was designed as a prototype for sustainable housing that meets the cultural and climate needs of the inhabitants while aiming for energy efficiency approaching Passive House standards.
Adapted infrastructure assessment protocol
Akwesasne First Nation, Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation and Engineers Canada
In 2015, Engineers Canada collaborated with the Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation to assess the impacts of climate change on infrastructure in Indigenous communities. The Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) protocol was adapted for First Nations communities and used to assess climate risks in the Kanien’kehà:ka (Mohawk) territory of Akwesasne, which spans parts of Ontario, Quebec and New York.
Improving food safety
Due to the impacts that climate change can have on the food security of Indigenous communities, many of them have undertaken initiatives based on their traditional and cultural knowledge to adapt to these changes.
Monitoring of berries in the Nitassinan
Ekuanitshit First Nation and First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Sustainable Development Institute
Since 2021, the Innu communities of Ekuanitshit, Nutashkuan, Unamen Shipu and Pakua Shipu have been conducting a project to monitor berries in the Nitassinan (Innu traditional territory), including blueberries, cloudberries and lingonberries. The project has shown the effects of climate change on the health, flowering and productivity of these berries, as well as documenting the numbers of pollinating insects. The aim of the project is to develop solutions to ensure a sustainable harvest. This monitoring program is being carried out in collaboration with the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Sustainable Development Institute (FNQLSDI), supported by the Mamit Innuat Tribal Council, McGill University and the Centre d’expérimentation et de développement en forêt boréale (CEDFOB).
Restigouche River fishing management
Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government
In 1993, the Mi’gmaq First Nation of Listuguj regained control over the management of the Restigouche River salmon fishery in the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. Fishing has been practiced by this community for generations, and the Mi’gmaq First Nation of Listuguj has established its own legislation to govern this activity, asserting its right to manage its lands and waters in accordance with its traditions. Since then, this local law has enabled them to regulate salmon fishing on the Restigouche River under a sustainable approach that considers the salmon stocks for future generations, replacing the authority of the provincial and federal governments.
Community freezers in Nunavik
Kativik Regional Government
The Kativik Regional Government has set up community freezers and funded catch exchange programs for people who fish. These giant freezers located in Nunavik’s Inuit municipalities draw on the Inuit’s community spirit to ensure food security, particularly for homes without such appliances. The combination of freezers and exchange programs ensures that traditional food is more readily available to these communities.
Promoting and protecting traditional knowledge
Due to changing lifestyles, many Indigenous communities have seen their traditional practices change or even disappear. This decline has had the effect of hindering the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Despite this, solutions are emerging in various Indigenous communities to adapt to this reality and continue passing down ancestral knowledge.
Uapishka Station: ecotourism, research and conservation
Conseil des Innus de Pessamit and Manicouagan-Uapishka World Biosphere Reserve
The Uapishka Station, located on the shores of Lake Manicouagan in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, is a convincing example of how traditional Indigenous knowledge can be put to good use in regional development that supports adaptation to climate change. The Uapishka Station is an ecotourism venue providing Innu jobs, as well as a research project aimed at discovering and protecting the back country of Manicouagan, in the Pessamit traditional territory. This project was developed under the collaborative management of the Uapishka Biodiversity Reserve.
Intergenerational meetings
Cree communities of Mistissini and Waswanipi
The Eeyou/Eenou (Cree) communities of Mistissini and Waswanipi have also launched an initiative to improve the transmission of traditional Indigenous knowledge and practices. These communities have established regular intergenerational gatherings that include activities such as preparing traditional foods, learning to use medicinal plants, making snowshoes and moccasins, tanning hides and more.
Adaptation in the healthcare sector
Few studies focus specifically on the use of Indigenous traditional knowledge in adapting to the impacts of climate change on the physical health of the FNI in Quebec. However, looking at it from the point of view that there are no real separations between the different spheres of life, what is good for health is also good for the environment, for culture, and for all facets of daily life. The notion of adaptation must therefore be integrated into all these different spheres in order to offer a broader perspective.
Innu-Natukuna: an Innu pharmacy
Innu community of Ekuanitshit
The Innu community of Ekuanitshit in Mingan set up a community herbal pharmacy in 2003. Mentors teach apprentices how to find and gather traditional medicinal plants. Health education and capacity-building strengthen cultural ties with nature and with past generations, while supporting preservation efforts.
Small and large-scale initiatives elsewhere in Canada
Other Indigenous groups, organizations and initiatives exist in Canada outside Quebec to support and enhance the adaptation efforts of the FNI in terms of research, project planning and execution, the development of methods, and knowledge mobilization.
Indigenous Stewardship Circle
Canada
The Indigenous Stewardship Circle is an advisory body of self-identified Métis, Inuit and First Nations people who work to guide Parks Canada’s work on Indigenous stewardship. The group helps amplify Indigenous voices, guides consultations with Indigenous partners and supports the re-establishment of ties to the land, water and ice. It also contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Indigenous Advisory Committee
Canada
This committee is made up of First Nations, Inuit and Métis members who provide expert advice for the development of key policy and guidance on the environmental and impact assessments carried out for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.
“Indigenous Knowledges” content and interactive map in the Climate Atlas of Canada
Canada
This section of the atlas provides information, resources and Indigenous testimonials. The interactive map shows climate data for 634 First Nations communities and 53 Inuit villages, and highlights adaptation and climate impact reduction projects in Métis territories.
Dene Kede and Innuqatigiit: school curricula
Northwest Territories
The Government of the Northwest Territories has created two curricula, Dene Kede and Innuqatigiit, that respect the worldviews and languages of the region’s Indigenous communities. These curricula are informed by a number of philosophical perspectives that shape understanding of Dene and Inuit core concepts. The aim of these programs is to introduce children to experiences, knowledge, skills and attitudes that will guide them throughout their lives.
Indigenous Climate Action
Canada
Indigenous Climate Action is an Indigenous-led organization working on connecting and supporting Indigenous communities to reinforce their place as leaders in driving solutions to climate change, based on systems of consent and self-determination, with a focus on Indigenous rights and cultures.
Indigenous Climate Hub
Canada
The Indigenous Climate Hub is an Indigenous initiative that provides resources and information on climate change while offering a platform for sharing high-impact climate-related stories from an Indigenous point of view.
Indigenous Leadership Initiative
Canada
The initiative’s mission is to strengthen the ability of Indigenous people to assert their leadership and fulfill their cultural responsibility toward the land. This is undertaken through the designation of protected areas, the training of guardians to manage protected areas, land use planning of Indigenous lands, and the strengthening of Indigenous communities’ governance capacities.
FireSmart
Canada
The Government of Canada’s FireSmart program integrates both scientific data and Indigenous knowledge. This program invites members of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities to share information on various aspects of forest fires, including vegetation, ecosystem management, traditional burning practices, prevention and protection strategies for homes and community infrastructure, and emergency responses.
Inuit Qaujisarnirmut Pilirijjutit, formerly the Inuit Nunangat Research Program
Northern Canada
In collaboration with ArcticNet, Inuit Qaujisarnirmut Pilirijjutit is an initiative led by Canada’s four Inuit regions to study the impacts of climate change and modernization in the Canadian North.
OCAP®
Canada
To assert First Nations control over the data collection process and its use, the First Nations Information Governance Centre has developed the principles of OCAP: ownership, control, access and possession. These establish an Indigenous data governance standard for the collection, protection, use and sharing of First Nations data and information.
Reconnection Vision
Yukon
First Nations in the Yukon have created the Canada-wide Reconnection Vision, a guide and toolbox designed to foster societal change. This project aims to reframe and deepen understanding of the climate and mental health crisis as a crisis of disconnection within these communities.
SmartICE
Northern Canada
SmartICE is a community-based social enterprise offering climate change adaptation tools to integrate Indigenous knowledge of the ice with advanced data acquisition, remote monitoring and satellite mapping for safe travel on ice.
Engaged communities
These various initiatives are just a few examples of the solutions implemented by Indigenous communities across Quebec and Canada. Indigenous climate action is already well advanced, and should be further included with Western science to maximize the adaptation benefits.
