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Before the arrival of European settlers to Canada, Alberta’s
First Peoples lived in close harmony with nature. Clean water,
plentiful herds of buffalo or caribou, and miles of
forest formed the basis of traditional Aboriginal life. When the
federal and provincial governments began to promote the
development of the land, this pristine wilderness came under
threat. Over the years, the development of land has continued to
cause significant strain to the environment and to the
traditional Aboriginal way of life.
In some cases, the development of land has been beneficial to
national economy and has been executed with minimal damage to
surrounding communities or resources. In most cases, however,
forestry, hydro-development, mining, logging, and large-scale
oil and gas exploration have placed undue pressures on Alberta’s
land. Moreover, environmental development has negatively
impacted many of Alberta’s isolated Aboriginal communities,
whose voices are too often drowned out in the name of economic
development. Traditional hunting, trapping, and fishing
practices have been disrupted and small-scale economies have
collapsed. In many cases, Aboriginal Peoples have stood by
helplessly, watching the land that has been their peoples’ home
for hundreds of generations taken away as large companies move
in and destroy their way of life forever.
Such is the case for northern Alberta’s Lubicon Cree First
Nation, a community of 500 peoples nestled east of the Peace
River and north of Lesser Slave Lake. The Lubicon Cree Peoples’
plight began in 1970 with the initiation of a large
government-sponsored oil extraction program. Since then, the
traditional way of life of the Lubicon Peoples has been lost.
Continual logging and oil and gas exploration have caused the
destruction of many acres of forest land, killing much of the
wildlife and making it impossible for the peoples to continue
the way of life they once led. The annual trapping income
decreased by 90% in the span of four years, causing the local
economy to collapse. Since then, a devastating 90% of peoples
have turned to welfare in order to make ends meet. The plight of
the Lubicon Peoples has been documented by Amnesty
International, and in 1990, the United Nations Human Rights
Commission recognized that the actions of the Canadian
government were violating the basic human rights of the Lubicon
First Nation community. Although some progress has been made in
recent years, a settlement has yet to be reached. In the
meantime, the Lubicon Cree have united to protest the continual
degradation of their land. In 2005 alone, six wells and four
pipelines have been built on Lubicon territory.1
The good news is that in recent years, there has been a
wide-scale effort on the part of governments to be more
responsible for their actions when it comes to the environment
or the welfare of Aboriginal cultures. The Canadian
Environmental Assessment Act recognizes the importance of
traditional Aboriginal knowledge when it comes to matters of the
land. Efforts are being made to involve Elders and other members
of Aboriginal communities in the planning, management, and
assessment of environment-related actions. Canada’s First
Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples possess a unique knowledge
about the environment because their Peoples have lived in close
contact with nature for hundreds of generations. They may
provide important historical information or help identify
potential effects of an operation on the environment. Their
input is integral and long overdue – and might be the saving
grace when it comes to stopping the destruction of precious
land.
Sources:
http://www.lubiconsolidarity.ca
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca |
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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