Sparks of Wisdom: Indigenous Conservation Campfire Conversations Are a Space of Learning

By Niabi Kapoor

My name is Niabi Kapoor and I recently joined the Biosphere’s staff as the Content Creator. Attending this Campfire Conversation was the first part of my journey in learning first-hand about the type of work the Biosphere is engaged in. The chance to participate in an engaging, live conversation, has proven to be valuable beyond estimation.

To sit around a campfire is to be surrounded by warmth, comfort and most importantly, a strong sense of community. That is how I felt when attending my first Indigenous Conservation Campfire Conversation on July 30. Before joining the virtual session, I was unsure of what to expect, but any anticipatory nerves quickly subsided when the Biosphere’s Indigenous Engagement Coordinator Bob Montgomery started the session with a warm and heartfelt welcome to all of us attending. With Bob’s words of welcome, and the friendly voices that resonated in response, it quickly became evident that this was a space for learning, open conversation and professional curiosity.  

July’s conversation focused on an episode by Porcupine Podcast about Reconciliation Through Conservation, exploring Mining, the Environment and Development that Conflicts with the Rights and Values of Indigenous People. The episode features an interview with Steven Nitah, a Dene from Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories who negotiated a protected area five times the size of Prince Edward Island in the middle of diamond mining county and his traditional territories. Nitah and his team successfully negotiated establishment agreements with the federal government and the Government of Northwest Territories, creating the Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area, National Park and Territorial Protected Area in August 2019. Nitah continues to play a vital role in Indigenous land conservation and preservation today. 

Throughout our conversation, there was a collective sense of admiration for Nitah’s tactful approach to his discussions with the Government of Northwest Territories. He described Canada’s negotiation approach as confrontational by design, reflecting on its likeness to negotiating a divorce agreement rather than a relationship agreement. Nitah’s words made me reflect on how Canada’s approach to negotiation has constantly forced Indigenous communities into a divisive you versus me, yours versus mine dynamic, one that completely contradicts the Indigenous spirit of agreements and subverts any possibility of harmony or collaboration between equals in a Treaty relationship. 

Nitah elaborated by saying that the Indigenous intent of a land negotiation sees it as a relationship agreement where the roles and responsibilities of all parties are outlined and where the focus is on protecting and conserving the land. Reconciliation (both with Indigenous communities and Earth relations) can be achieved only through acceptance and respect of each other’s authority, by agreeing to move forward in collaboration with intention to respect and honor the land. 

While listening to the podcast, I felt a great appreciation for Nitah and Indigenous Peoples, as I cannot fathom the level of resolve needed to negotiate with a colonial entity that has a reputation for circumventing agreements and looking for loopholes. I am continually struck by how settlers overlook the profound generosity and spirit of harmony that Indigenous communities extend, despite the unimaginable horrors inflicted upon them by the colonial state. 

One of Nitah’s points that also resonated with me and the rest of this session’s participants was that creating a conservation environment means more than conserving the natural elements of that environment. It also means creating certainty for future generations to continue to be who they are as Indigenous people, to use the land how they have for a millennium. I realized that conservation has more than just an environmental significance. It has a cultural significance and generational significance as well. 

The Biosphere recognizes land management as a vital part of environmental conservation. As Nitah emphasized, land management has always been a part of Indigenous culture and knowledge, and our collective recommitment to it is essential. I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between Indigenous commitment to conservation and what the Biosphere stands for, that is, harmony between the land and the people. As occupiers of the land, we share the collective responsibility of maintaining and caring for it under the guidance of those who have always respected the land.  

It was refreshing to hear Nitah mention that Indigenous negotiations with the Government of Canada have evolved over the last 120 years, that there has been a positive shift in the conversation. For me, his optimism inspired hope and reiterated the importance of working towards a future where, what he references as, “reconciliation exist[ing] through co-management and protection of ecologically and culturally significant lands.”

Nitah’s words and the campfire conversation inspired and highlighted my responsibility as someone who is not native to the land to support Indigenous-led conservation practices in the communities closest to me and beyond. Whether that encompasses supporting Indigenous-led policies and advocating for legal frameworks that protect Indigenous territories from encroachment, exploitation and degradation, engaging in Indigenous-led conservation initiatives or implementing Indigenous conservation knowledge into the natural spaces closest to me, this Indigenous Conservation Campfire Conversation gave me a space from which to start.  

Nitah feels hopeful about the future and says that the present Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas stand as an example of what can and will be. We must continue to hold the Government of Canada accountable and push for the honor and respect of Indigenous Rights and Treaties. If there is a continued focus on establishing relationship agreements that foster harmony, collective conservation efforts, and Indigenous preservation, I wonder what Canada will look like in the next 50 years, or in the next 100. 

This Indigenous Conservation Campfire Conversation gave me the space to bring inner thoughts to the surface and reiterated our collective responsibility to conserve the land and its people. As someone living in Canada, acknowledging my connection to the land and its people is the first step in bringing Indigenous Conservation to the forefront of my life, both in the Biosphere and beyond.

Start your own journey and join the next Indigenous Conservation Campfire Conversation on September 3, 2024: An Indigenous Vision for Our Collective Future: Becoming Earth’s Stewards Again. Register today.