READ:

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s collection of reports to learn about the residential school system, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Written by Indigenous peoples over a 20-year period, this Declaration is a comprehensive framework for the rights and protection of Indigenous Peoples worldwide and offers a roadmap for reconciliation.

• • Learn about Free, Prior and Informed Consent as good practice for Indigenous engagement.

Land Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper. A report about land dispossession, Indigenous consent, and land reclamation in Canada.

• • Cash Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper. The follow-up report to Land Back, which examines the financial and economic facets of colonialism, the value of Indigenous lands, and the restitution of Indigenous economies.

Browse through the Indigenous-led Conservation Reading List compiled and managed by Megan Youdelis, Kim Tran, and Elizabeth Lunstrum of Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership.

Explore Sara Canon’s growing Decolonizing Conservation Reading List on Zenodo.

Check out Indigenous Corporate Training’s free e-books for resources on what to say and do when working with Indigenous peoples, common myths about Indigenous peoples, and a guide to terminology.

Whose Land is it Anyway? A Manual for Decolonization by Peter McFarlane & Nicole Schabus

Indigenous Perspectives on Protected Areas: Setting the Table for Transformation. A report reflecting discussions on how to establish protected areas in a way that honours Indigenous rights, responsibilities, and interests.

Find out more about Indigenous-led conservation initiatives, including Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, in the IPCA Knowledge Basket Resource Database.

Explore Wolastoqey Nation’s Ally Toolkit and Land Needs Guardians’ How to Be an Ally of Indigenous-led Conservation.

Unpack the invisible knapsack of white privilege through Peggy McIntosh’s 1988 paper entitled White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies.

Indigenous Land Trusts and Land Back. Ian Attridge, ACLT Indigenous Relations Facilitator, October  2024

WATCH:

Land Governance: Past, Present, and Future. A three-part video series that explores the Indigenous-led Land Back movement.

Treaty Promises: Rekindling Treaty-Crown Relationships in Canada. A five-part video series that delves into the purpose, interpretation, and implementation of treaties across Canada.

Dive into past webinars and virtual dialogues from Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership’s Virtual Campfire Series. Featured recordings include Building Ethical Partnerships for Indigenous-led Conservation, Indigenous Rights and Private Conservation: Creating Pathways for Respect and Responsibility, Indigenous Women’s Leadership Series, Land Back: Governance for a Just World, and more.

Explore the National Film Board of Canada’s database of films featuring First Nation, Inuit, and Métis culture, stories, and perspectives.

• • Check out Alanis Obomsawin’s extraordinary body of work, which features stories of Indigenous sovereignty and resistance, including:
    • Is the Crown at war with us? A documentary exploring the historical context at the root of the conflict that took place between the Canadian government and Mi’kmaq fishermen in Burnt Church, New Brunswick in the summer of 2000.
    • Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance. A landmark documentary on the Oka Crisis, a story of land encroachment and Indigenous resistance leading to the historic standoff between Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) protestors, the Quebec police, and the Canadian Army,
    • Trick or Treaty? A documentary that presents the complex and often conflicting interpretations of treaties between Indigenous Nations and the Crown.

Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall’s talk on the concept of Etuaptumumk/Two-Eyed Seeing, a concept recognizing the strength and encouraging the use of both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing in tandem.

LISTEN:

Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership’s Community Connections podcast series showcasing the relationships they have fostered to support and advance Indigenous-led conservation.  

All My Relations: a podcast hosted by Matika Wilbur and Adrienne Keene where they dive into various topics facing Indigenous peoples today.

The Secret Life of Canada: a CBC Radio podcast on some of the hidden stories of Canada’s complicated history.

TAKE ACTION, ENGAGE, AND COLLABORATE:

Consult Native Land Digital’s map to familiarize yourself with local nation(s), language(s), and treaties.

Check out Whose Land to learn about the treaties and agreements across Canada.

Dive into First Nations Health Authority’s Territory Acknowledgements Information Booklet to learn why and how to do a territory acknowledgement.

Beyond Conservation: A Toolkit for Respectful Collaboration with Indigenous Peoples. Use this toolkit created by the Indigenous Knowledge Circle of the National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium to learn how to advance meaningful relationships.

Read through Protected Areas and Climate Action in Ontario: A Cross-Cultural Dialogue to inform dialogue, strengthen collaboration, and take action with Indigenous peoples in conservation.

Draw from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s article on Best Practices for Indigenous Engagement when beginning discussions with local communities to help establish meaningful partnerships.

Explore training options for your board, staff, and volunteers to learn about why and how to be an ally:

• • Indigenous Corporate training Inc.
  • Free University of Alberta Indigenous Canada course
  • Indigenous Works training program by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion

Add your voice to the Land Needs Guardians campaign for Indigenous leadership on the land.

Participate in important Indigenous awareness days and events, including:

• • September 30th: Orange Shirt Day / National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
  • June 21st: National Indigenous Peoples Day
  • June: National Indigenous History Month

Decolonized Glossary

Language is a rich, powerful tool. It shapes our cultures, worldviews, understandings, and intentions. Historically, the Western conservation model has been rooted in European legal systems of exclusive private property ownership. It also has reflected colonial ideals of pristine wilderness to be left untouched, with limited or no human interaction and relationship, effectively excluding Indigenous knowledge and legal frameworks, and systematically restricting Indigenous peoples’ access and traditional use of their ancestral territories. Subsequently, some of the terms we use in the land conservation movement reflect a deeply colonial system and perspective. In our efforts to decolonize and reconcile Indigenous and settler relations and systems, we suggest thinking carefully about the language and terms we use.

Below, we propose some alternative wording for certain conservation terminology and have compiled various resources on key concepts and style guides for you to consider and implement as needed.

Key concepts and terms:

Check out SURJ Toronto’s resources for concise definitions and a better understanding of concepts such as whiteness, white supremacy, decolonization, and more.

Explore Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s Glossary of Terms for some definitions of key concepts and terms used in anti-racist discourse.

Read through Yellowhead Institute’s glossary of key terms and definitions from Land Back.

Trent University’s Guide on Terminology.

Learn the difference between Stakeholders vs. Rights Holders in Canada in Building Sustainable Communities: The Impact of Engagement. Indigenous peoples are rights and title holders.

Avoid words such as wilderness, pristine, untouched, intact nature – see Survival International’s guide to decolonize language in conservation for more.

Recommended Indigenous-related style guides for your consideration:

Gregory Younging’s Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples (2018);

Government of British Columbia, Writing Guide for Indigenous Content;

Journalists for Human Rights, Style Guide for Reporting on Indigenous Peoples 2017;

Lorisia MacLeod, More than Personal Communication: Templates for Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers (2021); or

University of Alberta, Indigenous Research Guide, Citing Indigenous Elders.