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When the Land Speaks Through Fire: Indigenous Wisdom, Memory, and Stewardship of the Living Landscape

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Across the sprawling landscapes of Turtle Island, from the western mountains through central prairies, over eastern woodlands, to the northern boreal and tundra, the land carries memory. It speaks through ancient fires, through the whispers of returning smoke, through the cycles of regeneration and loss. Fire is not merely a destructive force but a living relative with agency, voice, and purpose embedded in the land’s sacred balance. 

Fire as a Living Relative and Teacher

In Indigenous worldviews across Canada, whether among the Coast Salish, Anishinaabe, Cree, Dene, Mi’kmaq, Inuit, or Métis, fire is understood as more than heat and flame. Fire is a relative: a powerful presence that teaches and transforms. Fire holds knowledge about when and where to flow, how to clear away the old and invite new life, and when to retreat to allow healing. It is a force that must be listened to, respected, and lived with, not tamed or feared. 

The land itself contains this fire knowledge, its patterns and rhythms, held not only in the soil and trees but also in the pulse of the more-than-human relations that weave together plants, animals, insects, and waters. These relationships have been cultivated through generations of ceremony, stewardship, and attentive listening. 

The Memory of Fires Past: Lessons Written in the Land

For millennia, Indigenous peoples have carried the memories of fire’s many faces: the gentle burns that nurtured wild berries and medicines, the larger fires that shaped forests and grasslands, and the fires that carried warnings and renewal. These memories are more than history; they are living teachings embedded in stories, songs, and place. They remind us how fire once danced in balance with water, wind, and seasons, fostering abundance and diversity. 

The land’s hold on this memory reveals how fire traditionally cleared away invasive undergrowth, opened habitats, cycled nutrients, and created mosaic landscapes vital for wildlife. Indigenous fire stewardship was respectful and purposeful, marked by precision, ceremony, and an understanding of fire’s role as a caretaker. 

The Changing Land: Fire’s Agency Amidst Drought and Climate Change

Today, this sacred balance is strained as climate change stirs new challenges. Prolonged drought and rising temperatures dry the land beyond its natural resilience. Fire’s agency, once harmonized with the earth’s rhythms, now pulses with growing intensity and unpredictability. Wildfires rage more frequently, far beyond the historical rhythms of many regions, threatening the very life-systems they once helped sustain. 

In western forests, ancient conifer refugia for caribou and lynx face pervasive mortality. In central prairies, grasses and wildflowers fail to recover, leaving soil exposed. Eastern woodlands lose their understory of medicinal plants and berries, which are relied upon by birds and smaller mammals. Northern boreal and tundra zones are suffering from the collapse of delicate lichen beds and shrinking habitats for migratory birds. 

All the while, fire continues to assert its agency, challenging all beings to remember and adapt. 

Honouring Fire Knowledge: Stewarding Indigenous Wisdom for the Land and All Life

To walk respectfully with fire in this changing world demands more than technology or control; it demands honouring Indigenous fire knowledge systems, which see fire as a living relation, as part of the land’s voice. 

Non-Indigenous peoples and institutions must listen deeply to this wisdom. Stewardship means recognizing the fire’s spiritual, ecological, and cultural roles as encoded in Indigenous laws, ceremonies, and practices, which are calibrated to the land’s signals and cycles. It means supporting Indigenous leadership with sovereignty over how landscapes are cared for and how fire is welcomed, guided, or restrained. 

 This stewardship involves: 

Recognizing the land’s agency, learning from the land where fire is needed and where it is invited to restore life, not simply extinguished as a threat. 

    • Integrating Indigenous fire timing and techniques, such as controlled or “cool” burns guided by ecological indicators and spiritual guidance, which have been practiced for thousands of years. 
    • Respecting the relational web that includes plants, animals, fungi, and waters as kin with roles in fire’s unfolding. 
    • Bridging knowledge systems where Indigenous knowledge co-creates with scientific understanding, enhancing fire forecasting, monitoring, and response rooted in ecological respect.

Fire as a Call to Renew Kinship and Balance

As drought and dry conditions intensify, the urgency of honouring fire’s role becomes increasingly apparent. Fire teaches humility the lesson that we are part of the land’s family, not masters of it. The fate of biodiversity, including berries, pollinators, game, medicinal plants, soil microbes, and waters, echoes the health of the balance of fire. 

 

In listening to fire’s voice, remembering its cycles, and walking with Indigenous stewardship, humans reclaim responsibility. Fire need not be a force of devastation alone but can become a renewing presence that heals scars, encourages diversity, and sustains future generations of life. 

This is not only a strategy for wildfire management, but a sacred path forward, one where agency, memory, and respect guide us toward living in a reciprocal relationship with the land, honouring fire’s place as a vital and sacred relative. 

Blog by Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock

(Image Credit: Jan Kopřiva, Unsplash)

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The Earth Remembers: Soil, Seeds, and the Future of Indigenous Plant Life

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When we lay our feet upon the ground whether walking through forests, fields, or city streets we often walk unaware of the stories held beneath us. The soil is not lifeless dirt but a vibrant archive, holding millennia of memory. Within its dark layers lie the echoes of fire, flood, frost, and footsteps, stories imprinted by plants that once flourished, medicines that healed, and foods that sustained entire communities. This earth remembers, and if we pause to listen, it will teach us how to heal and regenerate what has been lost. 

The Responsibility of Humanity: Healing Takes Time 

Healing the earth is no simple task. The scars of human impact from industrial extraction to sprawling urban growth are deep and lasting. These wounds are not mended within a single lifetime but unfold across generations, measured in ecological cycles far older than our own. The process of bio-regeneration, the natural ability of ecosystems to renew, repair, and restore themselves, depends on intricate relationships between soil nutrients, native plants, and healthy water systems. It is a slow, fragile, and profoundly relational dance, reminding us that human urgency must make room for earth’s rhythms. 

The Knowledge Beneath Our Feet: Roots, Networks, Life

Indigenous Peoples have long understood that beneath the surface lies a hidden world of interconnected roots, intertwined fungi networks, and microorganisms working unseen yet essential to the health of all life. These subterranean relationships weave resilience and communication, binding ecosystems together. When native plants vanish or are displaced, these lifelines weaken, unravelling the fabric that sustains water retention, nutrient cycling, and soil fertility. 

Restoration is not merely about planting seeds above ground; it is about rekindling these ancient, living connections below the surface. This is where true regeneration begins, life branching out in all its richness, supporting the ecosystem in ways both visible and hidden. 

Plant Foods and the Sacred Return to Place 

The resurgence of Indigenous plant foods, including ancestral varieties of corn, beans, squash, wild rice, and berries, as well as traditional medicines, embodies a sacred act of returning. It is not just about food security; it is about restoring memory, balance, and a sense of belonging. These plants are not strangers but kin, evolved alongside the waters, soils, pollinators, and seasons of their birthplaces. Their reintroduction reignites that timeless conversation between earth below and sky above, between roots and leaves, a reciprocal renewal of biodiversity and cultural survival. 

This symbiotic dance reconnects us to place and each other, reminding us that healing the land means healing the relationships we hold with all living beings around us.  

Plant Memory and Indigenous Worldview: Teachers and Relatives  

In Indigenous worldviews, plants are not mere objects; they are teachers, relatives, and keepers of knowledge. Their memory is holistic, carried in seeds, genetic code, and the stories they bear. These plants remember the pollinators that visit them, the soils that nourish them, and the people who have harvested and cared for them through generations. 

When invasive species erase native plants from a landscape, entire ecosystems lose their stories and identities. Returning to Indigenous plants means reclaiming cultural memory and restoring the deep reciprocity between people, plants, insects, animals, and the earth, a tapestry vital to resilience. 

The Challenge of Invasive Species: Disrupting Balance, Disrupting Culture

Across regions like the Great Lakes, invasive species garlic mustard, phragmites, and buckthorn disrupt soil chemistry, shade out seedlings, and monopolize resources crucial to native biodiversity. Aquatic invaders, such as zebra mussels, choke lakes and rivers, threatening native plants and fish that are central to Indigenous lifeways. 

These invasives are not just ecological invaders; they fracture cultural relationships cherished for generations. Healing the land thus calls for revitalizing native populations, respecting cultural ties, and reclaiming places from disruption. 

The Science of Soil in a Changing Climate: Living Systems Under Siege 

Beneath what many call “dirt” lies a living, breathing community of minerals, fungi, and microbes, all orchestrating fertility and resilience. Climate change, however, exerts a significant impact on soil systems. More frequent droughts, harsh floods, and unchecked erosion strip away nutrients and vitality. 

Without healthy soil, plants falter, medicines become scarce, and entire livelihoods falter. The foundation of plant-based economies, from Indigenous harvests to broader food systems, wavers as soil health declines. 

Indigenous Stewardship: Seeds, Sanctuaries, and Sovereignty 

Across Turtle Island, Indigenous communities answer this call with fierce care. Community seed banks protect ancestral varieties, not merely genetic stock, but living relatives that hold stories, teachings, and ecological memory. Each seed is sovereignty in waiting. 

Restoration efforts abound: the Haudenosaunee nurture seed libraries that preserve heirloom plants, while the Anishinaabe work tirelessly to heal wild rice beds ravaged by industry. These projects are ecological and profoundly cultural, reinforcing responsibilities that begin beneath our feet. 

Returning the Mind to the Earth: Reciprocal Healing

The soil is a patient teacher, reminding us that life thrives on reciprocity and balance. When humans take without giving back, the earth remembers. To restore ecosystems, revive plant medicines and foods, and safeguard biodiversity, we must ground our minds and spirits in the wisdom of the earth itself. 

Healing is a long journey, a patient’s work of bio-regeneration and restoration. Returning Indigenous plants to their homes and honouring their relationships is a practice of humility. It calls us to be kin, caretakers, and students of the land’s memory. 

Only then can we fully step into our role as stewards of the soil, the plants, and the possibilities for generations yet to come. 

 

Blog by Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock

(Image Credit: Erone Stuff, Unsplash)

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Land Back Means Climate Action: Connecting Land Reclamation with Ecological Restoration

The Land Back movement is more than a political demand—it is a climate imperative rooted in local and regional ancestral knowledge, relationship, and responsibility. Across Turtle Island, returning land to Indigenous stewardship has shown tangible ecological benefits, helping restore biodiversity, increase climate resilience, and revitalize sacred relationships between peoples and place. Land Back is not solely a political movement—it is fundamentally about and the inherent right to care for the land through Indigenous laws, governance systems, and lifeways rooted in sustainability, reciprocity, and long-term balance. 

 Why Land Back is a Climate Solution 

 For generations, Indigenous Nations have safeguarded the natural world by managing ecosystems in accordance with natural law, ensuring the continuity and balance of all life. Today, a growing body of research confirms what many Indigenous Peoples have always known: lands under Indigenous stewardship often outperform state-managed lands in terms of biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and resilience to climate stressors. 

A landmark report by the United Nations highlights that Indigenous-managed lands hold as much or more biodiversity than formally protected areas (UNEP-WCMC, 2021). This is not coincidental. Indigenous stewardship is built upon place-based knowledge systems emphasizing interdependence, seasonal cycles, and respect for non-human relatives. 

Real-World Examples of Land Back as Ecological Restoration 

Across Canada, Indigenous Nations are leading land reclamation and stewardship efforts that serve as powerful models for climate action: 

  • Syilx Okanagan Nation (British Columbia): Through salmon reintroduction projects in the Columbia River system, the Syilx people have revived an essential species with deep cultural and ecological significance. These efforts are rebuilding food sovereignty, restoring riparian ecosystems, and improving watershed health. The Syilx Nation’s work with the Okanagan Nation Alliance demonstrates how climate action and cultural resurgence go hand-in-hand (Syilx.org). 
  • Mississaugas of Alderville First Nation (Ontario): The Alderville Black Oak Savannah is one of the best-preserved examples of native grassland ecosystems in Ontario. Using cultural burning and traditional land management techniques, the community has restored a once-fragmented landscape, supporting pollinators, rare plants, and diverse wildlife. These actions have increased carbon storage, soil health, and ecosystem connectivity (Alderville.ca).
  • Haida Gwaii (British Columbia): The Haida Nation’s co-governance model with the Government of Canada in the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site demonstrates what respectful partnership and Indigenous leadership can achieve. Through this model, logging was halted, marine protection zones were expanded, and Haida ecological knowledge was embedded in park management strategies. 

These are not isolated success stories—they are evidence of what becomes possible when Indigenous Peoples are given the authority and support to govern their territories. 

What Land Back Looks Like in Practice 

Land Back can take many forms: co-governance agreements, the return of Crown or park lands, support for Indigenous land trusts, and legal recognition of Indigenous land title. In all these models, ecological outcomes improve when Indigenous values and protocols shape land management. 

For example: 

  • Controlled burns restore grassland health. 
  • Seasonal harvesting prevents overuse. 
  • Watershed monitoring improves water quality. 
  • Language and ceremony are woven into stewardship practices that care not just for the land but also for the relational responsibilities associated with it.  

These approaches move beyond conservation as enclosure and towards regenerative guardianship. 

Recommendations for Readers 

  1. Learn More: Explore the research and advocacy work of Indigenous-led organizations like the Yellowhead Institute. 
  1. Support Indigenous Stewardship: Donate to or volunteer with Indigenous land trusts, guardianship programs, or Nations actively engaged in ecological restoration. 
  1. Advocate for Policy Change: Push for co-governance agreements, the return of protected parklands, and meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in environmental decision-making. 
  1. Listen and Follow: Center Indigenous leadership, particularly local nations whose territories you reside in. Support their calls to action and respect their governance systems. 

Reference Points and Additional Reading 

 

Blog by Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock

(Image Credit: Michael Hamments, Unsplash)

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Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Help Fight Climate Change Through Indigenous Stewardship

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Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) are crucial to fighting climate change and to mitigating losses in global biodiversity. Drawing from geospatial data, potential areas for IPCA designation cover approximately, “38 million km2 in 87 countries” around the world. Although IPCAs are varied, they share common characteristics, including enhancing Indigenous rights and responsibilities and a commitment to Indigenous stewardship.

As noted in the 2018 report We Rise by the Indigenous Circle of Experts: “IPCAs are lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in protecting and conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge systems. Culture and language are the heart and soul of an IPCA.”

In 2017, Mary Simon, Canada’s Special Representative of Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada indicated in the report A New Shared Leadership Model that there is strong link between Arctic conservation and healthy community building, with a crucial role for Inuit environmental stewardship programs to uphold “an Indigenous vision of a working landscape.” The notion of a “working landscape” shows how IPCAs can also be recognized as having a crucial role in sustaining Indigenous local economies. The Arqvilliit Indigenous Protected Area, which includes the Inuit community of Inukjuak on Hudson Bay, relies on Indigenous-led monitoring and conservation efforts to address climate change impacts such as melting sea ice, the decline of polar bear and seal populations, and reduced access to country food.

More recently, the Kaska Nation has proposed the Dene K’éh Kusān, otherwise known as the Kaska Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (KIPCA) which would further support Kaska Dena stewardship practices based on “honouring cultural responsibility to care for the land.” Dene K’éh Kusān means “Always Will Be There” in Dene language. Indigenous stewardship draws from Traditional Indigenous Knowledge in environmental conservation. The Dane Nan Yḗ Dāh Network, which is the Kaska Land Guardian network, plays a key role in sustaining Indigenous stewardship and co-management practices from one generation to the next, and is rooted in Kaska cultural and value systems.

In another example, the Australian Government has given Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) a “specific designation” within the country’s legal framework for conservation management, where cultural values are recognized as integral to long -term conservation planning practices. IPAs are also recognized as Indigenous country,  whereby “country” refers to “land and waters that have enduring cultural, social, and economic linkages for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (TSI) peoples.” Indigenous governance by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is also a crucial component to Australian Indigenous Protected Areas. Enhancing and supporting the network of Indigenous Rangers through ‘Country Needs People’ is also vital to sustaining cultural and ecological Indigenous-led conservation practices in Australia. Aboriginal title, as proof of land “ownership,” is a crucial requirement for inclusion in Australia’s Indigenous Protected Area system.

Despite these encouraging developments, there is so much yet to learn about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas from the standpoint of Indigenous knowledge keepers around the world.

 

By Leela Viswanathan

 

(Image Credit: Kalen Emsley, Unsplash)

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