The recurring heat wave phenomenon continues to disrupt summer enjoyment in Canada in recent years. The frequency and scale of wildfires predominantly thrust its existential threat in close proximity with Canadians. Air quality has since become a major health concern. Destruction of forest continues to affect wildlife and vegetation. Humanity, as a result, bears the catastrophic brunt of climate change.
Although Canada is one of many countries currently grappling with global warming, every element that contributed to the lamentable state of mother earth needs to be examined. Every smudge of reason must be tackled to minimize the irreversible impact that continues to wreak havoc across the globe.
Since time immemorial, Indigenous communities (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) have been stewards of the land who safely protected and preserved Canadian territory with their lives. Despite the horrendous historical treatment of indigenous peoples by other cultures, their perseverance and commitment to conservation and preservation are highly regarded as phenomenally unsurpassed.
As the original inhabitants of this land, Indigenous peoples are fortified with valuable expertise, bountiful knowledge, sacred practices, and lived experiences that enable them to maintain the delicate balance between quality of water and its resources, food chain, animal habitat, and vegetation. Their efforts magnify the monumental role of Canada as custodian in preserving the world via its massive natural ecosystems while safeguarding 20% of the world’s fresh water and carbon-absorbing boreal trees.
Canada has an enormous stretch of land spanning territories and provinces from coast to coast to coast. Beneath its soil and natural resources hold the dependency of the world to survive. There is a crucial agricultural fertilizer mineral called potash that makes Canada the world’s leading producer and exporter. Its other critical minerals like copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements are deemed essential in supporting green technologies and modern electronics. Above all, Canada is one of the world’s top-five producers of primary aluminum, diamonds, platinum, and uranium.
Over the years, Indigenous communities have witnessed the harrowing repercussions of climate change in their own neighbourhood: burning of carbon-rich peatlands; caribou’s steep decline in numbers; exacerbating levels of mercury found in fish; and the proliferation of unfamiliar pathogens and encroaching species. Consequently, if these trends continue, these can result in the irreparable ruination of their own habitation and subsistence.
Keeping all these in mind, Indigenous peoples assert that the best way of dealing with climate change is to take action in preserving major portions of their land and ocean from resource development. Much of Canada remains unceded territory, meaning that First Nations people never legally signed away their lands to the Crown or Canada. Royal Proclamation of 1763 remains a legally binding statute guaranteeing indigenous designation to all unceded territory.
Approximately 95% of the province of British Columbia are traditional First Nations territories with significant portions found in parts of Quebec and Atlantic Canada. So far, the Indigenous peoples’ relentless motivation has so far succeeded in setting aside vast portions of natural resources for protection.
Current data shows that Indigenous peoples comprise 5% of the Canadian population, translating to almost two million in the last census. According to Statistics Canada, population projections over the next 20 years indicate that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit could potentially reach between 2.5 million and 3.2 million. If this upward trend carries on, optimism intensifies, reassuring a safe and secure preservation of Canada in the years ahead.
It was in 1992 when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was officially signed by 158 states during the Earth Summit in Brazil. Through this collective action, climate change was officially underscored and prioritized as an international policy to be enforced globally.
During that time, environs seemed to offer more serenity and peace of mind. Fresher air, clearer waters, firmer glaciers, greener spaces, and fewer greenhouse gas pollution. Canadian households thrived on simple choices: telephone landlines, writing letters to mail, watching television shows; and enjoying movies in cinemas. The existential threat due to global warming and climate change was not apparent and alarming.
As it stands today, the aftermath brought about by climate change around the world and on Canadian topography has undeniably left congealed footprints for the future generation to deal with. Fortunately, Indigenous peoples remain committed and unwavering in protecting and preserving Canada not just for the benefit of all Canadians but for the rest of the world. For as long as they continue reclaiming vast lands, preservation of Canada stays shielded and unshakeable.
It is never too late to follow the lead of Indigenous peoples. As Canadians, we are duty bound to affix ourselves in the continuous crusade of conservation and preservation. With more than eight million immigrants strong and growing, we can walk side by side with the Indigenous communities across the land in many ways possible. As we tread along with them, we are given the unique opportunity to partake in their sacrosanct stories of strength and commit to memory their resolute will to survive in all of the historical atrocities that they have encountered and overcame.
We, as immigrants in this country, carry and share similar stories of our own indigenous heritage; thus we can build purposeful connections with Canadian Indigenous peoples to better comprehend their past, present, and future that is congruent to Canada’s history. As we celebrate all cultures, we too can immerse in indigenous cultures through their stories, songs and legends that have been passed down orally through generations.
More than ever, we need to step out of our comfort zones in order to explore and experience the wild wonders of Canada. From the prairies to the Arctic tundra, we ought to explore the blessings of nature from the vast seas, colossal mountains, and sweeping rainforests around us. The more we take in the beauty of nature through an Indigenous lens, the more wisdom we acquire about our responsibilities as active co-caretakers to preserve this adoptive country we now call home: Canada. ####