Comment on this Story
Email This Story
Traditional Knowledge Key in Planning for the Future
May 27th, 2010By Erika Blackie
When the cold weather comes and the boggy surface of the muskeg solidifies, the boreal region of Northeastern British Columbia becomes littered with a network of temporary roads. Searching for oil and gas, multinational companies place down kilometers of matting roads along the floor of the boreal forest. Matting roads are an expandable structure of steel and laminated wood which vehicles then use to enter the boreal in search of prospective natural resource extraction sites. Currently, one site of particular interest is the Horn River Basin. The Horn River Basin is a natural gas shale field found within Fort Nelson First Nation traditional territory. It is believed to be the largest shale gas field in Canada, which explains why multinational companies are mapping this otherwise isolated region of British Columbia. The interest in developing the Horn River Basin is no surprise to Fort Nelson First Nation resident Wesley Behn.
Wesley was born in Whitehorse, Yukon. His Mother’s family is from the Tagish Marsh Lake area in the Yukon and his Father of the Eh-Cho Dene, meaning people among the big animals, from Fort Nelson First Nation, British Columbia. Wesley grew up in Calgary and describes that as a child living in a bustling urban setting, he lived “as much of a traditional lifestyle as could be in modern society”. Spending his summers with his Grandparents in the Yukon, he traveled with them all over the territories stopping at lakes, rivers and creeks to fish and hunt. “Being on the land and being able to eat traditional food and practice the traditional lifestyle- I couldn’t have imagined it any other way.” After high-school, Wesley worked for the oil and gas industry. “At the time it was a money making job- cutting down trees, running chainsaws and burning piles, but after awhile I wanted to transition to a career out of the bush”.
While transitioning to a new career, Wesley witnessed a surge in industrial development within and close to his traditional territory. As the presence of multinational corporations continued to increase, it became apparent that if Wesley’s community did not voice their opinion in land use planning, development that is beyond the interests of Fort Nelson First Nation territory may occur. As a result, Wesley took a job with the local lands department documenting traditional knowledge.
Wesley worked hard to document his peoples beliefs, experiences and practices so that the knowledge of his people can be heard. “Traditional knowledge is passed by word of mouth, yet by writing and documenting traditional knowledge, it can become verified, quantifiable data”, says Wesley. Wesley speaks of how First Nations are recording the traditional knowledge of their community, a method which lends itself to help direct land use in First Nation traditional territory. “Being able to quantify traditional knowledge we can give it to Chief and Council which helps them with land use planning and of course helps when dealing with industry and government”. By collecting traditional knowledge, land use in Wesley’s traditional territory, such as the prospective development in the Horn River Basin, can therefore be guided by the advice of community residents rather than dictated from outside interests.
From his experience working with the local lands department conducting traditional knowledge surveys, Wesley was hired by Treaty 8 First Nation in a term position acting as a Liaison between his community of Fort Nelson First Nation and Treaty 8 regarding a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Peace River. Wesley met with residents to learn about their questions and concerns regarding the proposed dam. While meeting with residents Wesley received a wide variety of reaction, “Some are very eager to share and help spread their knowledge. Some are suspicious to what were using it for and whose going to have control of it. Some are willing to share, some are hostile, and some are shy.”
After meeting with his community, it was evident that Wesley, as well as his community had many questions regarding the reason and timing of the proposed dam, the impacts that it would have on species previously affected by industrial development and were curious who in the long-run would ultimately benefit from developing Fort Nelson First Nation’s undeveloped traditional territories. Wesley believes that most questions and concerns ultimately boiled down to, “Must the first peoples of this land be displaced and impacted for the benefit and accommodation of urbanites and their excesses? How much more can we give? Where do we have left to go?” The information collected was documented and submitted by Wesley as a traditional knowledge report to government and industry with the hopes that his people’s advice and concerns would be respected in determining the fate of this megaproject. However, the B.C. Government recently finalized their decision to go ahead with the proposed hydroelectric dam on the Peace River. Sadly, the community’s advice had little to no effect on the outcome. “The information collected from residents did not impact where the dam is going. Community input was not used or acknowledged the way it should have been.”
Despite some setbacks, Wesley continues to seek traditional knowledge. His current work with the Assembly of First Nations is on an advisory group to Environment Canada focusing on a recovery strategy for the boreal woodland caribou. The woodland caribou are an endangered as well as protected species in Fort Nelson First Nation’s traditional territory. Traditional Knowledge, such as the animals’ behaviour, migration patterns and distribution, are used to help identify the factors affecting caribou population growth, which can then be utilized to help reestablish caribou populations. The use of traditional knowledge is an invaluable resource to guide caribou recovery strategies.
Furthermore, the traditional knowledge that Wesley documents is not only important to help guide land use plans and caribou recovery strategies but is also an opportunity for Wesley’s community to preserve their culture. “We are losing so many Elders right now, that there is a good chance that my traditional language will die out. If we can’t keep our knowledge living through people who can speak it, then we have to get the second best by recording the knowledge”, says Wesley.
It is well known as well as accepted that indigenous peoples are stewards of the land. Through their experiences of relying on the land for survival, indigenous peoples have an understanding of the importance in long-term observations. “The philosophy and view point from First Nations people is that we are not above, and it is not our place to say how nature shall be, or the way animals shall be. Rather our viewpoint is observational,” says Wesley. Long-term observations are formed over hundreds of years and is the reason why traditional knowledge is so dynamic and rich- for example, Wesley’s people have stories referencing the great flood. The cumulative properties that traditional knowledge posses further exemplify why traditional knowledge is such an important science. Communities such as Fort Nelson First Nation who utilize traditional knowledge into their land-use decision making processes should not have to justify why traditional knowledge forms the basis for their decision process. Rather, government and corporations must fully respect the work from people like Wesley Behn so that traditional knowledge is fully braided into all land-use decision making processes on traditional lands and territory.
May 31st, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Great story! The importance of oral history has long been valued and recognized in many cultures and many countries. This story also sheds light on its potential as a positive force on decisions that affect our environment and its distinct habitats.
June 10th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Great pic! Good article–it effectively captures the essence of the work we do in the FNFN Lands Department. Wes was a member of our 2009 TUS research team. Though Wes is no longer with the department, our TUS work continues.
For more information about FNFN Traditional Use Studies,(including an upcoming Boreal caribou study) please contact our department at: reception.lands@fnnation.ca.
Mahsi cho,
Lana Lowe
FNFN Lands Director