British Columbia Premier David Eby shares a laugh with Hereditary Chief Gitkun, centre, and others following an event to recognize the Haida Nation’s Aboriginal title throughout Haida Gwaii during a ceremony at the provincial legislature in Victoria in April 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
The recent title lands agreement between British Columbia and the Haida Nation is historic and inspiring, but also long overdue in light of decades of rulings by international human rights bodies.
In the aftermath of a disappointing Voice referendum, Indigenous politicians are looking to the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a potential way forward.
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina. Indigenous leaders have criticized the province’s updated consultation framework saying it excludes Indigenous nations.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor
Saskatchewan’s provincial government must work with Indigenous nations on a shared vision for the future that is more likely to withstand the tests of time and litigation.
Indigenous communities can be involved in renewable energy projects in a number of ways. The benefits of revenues to communities can be important to improving their self-determination and economic reconciliation.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Indigenous economic development corporations can generate income for communities and support the transition to clean energy.
Blueberry River First Nation Chief Judy Desjarlais (middle) called her nation’s agreement with the province a “historic moment.”
(Flickr/Province of British Columbia)
New agreements in B.C. provide economic compensation for land restoration activities to several First Nations and limit new oil and gas development projects.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Squamish Nation councillor Khelsilem hold a ceremonial paddle after a groundbreaking ceremony at the First Nation’s Sen̓áḵw housing development site in Vancouver in September 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
By starting their own entrepreneurial and developmental projects, First Nations are working toward economic prosperity for their communities and furthering reconciliation.
The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted their new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework on Dec.19, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
As protected and conserved areas increase, an equity-based approach that respects Indigenous rights can help bring the transformative changes we need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
An Indigenous flag flies in front of Parliament during the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sept. 30, 2021. To live up to the intentions of UNDRIP, Canada must work with Indigenous communities to change harmful laws.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
To fully understand what led to the stabbings in James Smith Cree Nation, we need to look at how the legacy of settler colonial violence impacts Indigenous communities.
A bus blocks Argyle Street South in Caledonia, Ont., as a group of labour councils and unions delivered food and support to land defenders at a land reclamation camp known as 1492 Land Back Lane in October 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carlos Osorio
Settler Canadians have a responsibility to build respectful, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous nations on our shared geographic space. This relationship starts with land restitution.
‘Stories Are In Our Bones’ sees filmmaker Janine Windolph take her young sons fishing with their kokum, a residential school survivor who retains a deep knowledge and memory of the land.
(Stories Are In Our Bones/National Film Board)
Indigenous filmmakers are changing the world by telling their own stories in their own ways.
Mary Simon, Canada’s first Inuit governor-general and a native Inuktitut speaker, inspects the honour guard as she arrives at Rideau Hall in July 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Reconciliation can help address the interrelated global problems of climate crisis, interspecies displacement, gendered and racialized violence and white supremacist structures.
Grey Owl was an original ‘pretendian,’ portraying himself as the the son of a Scottish man and Apache woman after moving to Canada in the early 1900s.
(Canadian National Railways/Library and Archives Canada, e010861684)
Those quick to call-out are often not clamouring for Indigenous nations’ jurisdiction over citizenship, nor are they demanding “pretendians” be held accountable to Indigenous nations.
Indigenous leadership, community members and allies of Treaty 8 territory of northeast B.C. converge on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to protest Site C hydroelectric dam projecton in 2016. The dam is located on BlueBerry First Nation territory.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Is this decision a real ‘bombshell,’ as it has been depicted? Or does it represent an important step towards the implementation of UNDRIP within provincial and federal legal framework?
Supporters of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline set up a support station at kilometre 39, just outside of Gidimt'en checkpoint near Houston B.C., on January 8, 2020. The Wet'suwet'en peoples are occupying their land and trying to prevent a pipeline from going through it.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Indigenous land defenders: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 6 transcript.
Supporters of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs perform a round dance at a blockade at a CN Rail line just west of Edmonton on Feb. 19, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
In this episode of our podcast, we take a look at Indigenous land rights and the people on the frontlines of these battles.
A man carries an eagle feather as police prepare to enforce an injunction against protesters who were blocking a road used to access to the Port of Vancouver during a demonstration in support of Wet'suwet'en Nation hereditary chiefs on Feb. 25, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Indigenous land stewardship, resource extraction and corporate interests remain critical issues to addressing large-scale environmental concerns such as pollinator loss in Canada and beyond.
Regional Chief Terry Teegee speaks to the press n Victoria on Oct. 24, 2019 after Premier John Horgan announced Indigenous human rights will be recognized in B.C. with new legislation .
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolit
British Columbia recently introduced groundbreaking legislation to implement the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this historic achievement.
Chair and Member from North America of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) and Professor in Political Science, Public Policy and Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia
Professor; Director, Indigenous Rights and Resource Governance Research Group; Faculty at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University