The idea behind the movement is to maintain “eyes on the land.” Indigenous communities send teams out to monitor and respond to emergencies, ensure laws are followed and collect data on the local effects of climate change. It was Coastal First Nations guardians who were first on-scene when a tugboat sunk off Heiltsuk Nation territory in 2016. We’re talking about a lot more than a technical training program, though. Indigenous Leadership Institute director Valerie Courtois, who is Innu from Mashteuiatsh First Nation in Quebec, attends the second National Indigenous Guardians Network conference in Vancouver on Tuesday. Another successful training program that has been running for several years brought leaders from the north down to Vancouver for the national conference.

Source: thestar March 13, 2019 02:03 UTC