Wahkohtowin is a Cree word meaning kinship and interconnectedness among people, animals, lands, air, and waters. The Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree, and Brunswick House First Nations communities in northern Ontario live wahkohtowin every day. Through Wahkohtowin Development GP Inc., a social enterprise, these three First Nations collectively strive to advance sovereignty, well-being, and jurisdiction over their shared territory.
“Protecting land is a way to live wahkohtowin, but it is also an act of sovereignty,” explains Isabelle Allen, project forester with Wahkohtowin Development.
In the fall of 2023 and winter of 2024, Wahkohtowin Development facilitated Conservation Days within its three First Nation communities. Ecotrust Canada’s Climate Innovation Team attended these sessions. Having a lifelong interest in the protection of biodiversity, I was honoured to have been invited to participate.
Since 2012, Ecotrust Canada has collaborated with Northeast Superior’s Chiefs, Elders, mayors, industry, and community representatives to explore an alternative economy beyond resource extraction. This led to the creation of Wahkohtowin Development. Since then, the work with our partner is constantly evolving based on Wahkohtowin’s needs. Lately, those needs have been supporting their goals around land management for biodiversity and climate change mitigation. Ecotrust Canada is adding capacity to drive this work forward and to help find financing to lift these projects up.
The pressure is on. Wahkohtowin must identify conservation lands before the Ontario government resumes planning for forest licences for the 2025 to 2030 period, which will affect about 7 million hectares of Wahkohtowin homelands. Indigenous-led conservation of natural ecosystems absorbs and stores carbon in plant tissues and soils. Maintaining these ecosystems when the alternative is to log them is one of the most effective ways of addressing climate change. Some people refer to these as natural climate solutions.
Conservation Days aimed to develop a conservation vision for culture and biodiversity, and to continue the millennia-long connection between communities and the forests in their traditional territory. This vision will also assist in protecting 30% of the forests in the Northeast Superior Ontario region by 2030.
I have observed over the years how the conversations around goals for land management differ between the colonial and traditional approach, and it’s an important distinction. On the one hand, colonial governments, when discussing the land with First Nations, often talk about ‘values’ (an abstraction) instead of places (material reality) when they try and capture the priorities of communities. This tends to distance the effects some modern activities have on the land from first peoples and their kinship connections with other species.
On the other hand, the communities of Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree, and Brunswick House First Nations take a traditional approach. They discuss specific places on the land, the physical needs of wildlife, and the direct importance of intact natural communities for the maintenance and strengthening of their culture. This subtle but significant difference in land management enables a more interconnected relationship between people and the places they call home.
Wahkohtowin’s approach manifests in identifying and mapping special areas in forests within the Northeast Superior region, for fasting, spiritual renewal, and appreciation for the sacred rhythms of the forest. Conversely, these areas should remain free of mining, poaching, or industrial forest harvest so that cultural activities can take place as they have for generations.
As Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree, and Brunswick House First Nations embark on the nation-building work of establishing areas they want to protect from industrial activity, the rest of society can look forward to the climate benefits of this effort. According to Isabelle Allen: “Our communities maintained a sacred balance for generations, now our decisions on the land demonstrate to others what a strong way forward looks like.”
Read more on this subject
Wahkohtowin Development’s website
Wahkohtowin Development balances economy and sustainability – The Timmins Daily Press
Land conservation discussions to lead four-day Indigenous forestry event – Northern Ontario Business