Through IPCAs, Indigenous nations in New Brunswick are regaining control of their land while also protecting Nature
For Indigenous peoples across Canada, access to their land is essential for cultural revitalization, renewal, and reconciliation. A new type of land conservation in which Indigenous peoples regain control of their land via the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) is achieving both reconciliation and conservation objectives in New Brunswick.
“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 at the heart and soul of an IPCA.”
-We Rise Together Report, Indigenous Circle of Experts, 2018
The province’s newest IPCA is located in the rural community of Shemogue, in Southeastern New Brunswick. It’s a 44-hectare rectangle of land, formerly owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), a national conservation organization. The Shemogue property didn’t quite fit into the organization’s conservation plan, explains Paula Noel, Program Director with NCC. “We were looking for an option of an owner that would maintain and maybe improve the natural values of the property.” she says.
In the past few years, NCC has been building a relationship with Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn (MTI), a Mi’gmaq rights-based organization. As MTI recently created their own land trust, it was a perfect opportunity to support their work and collaborate on the creation of a new IPCA. When Paula Noel approached MTI about transferring the land, she says “ we were very pleased to find that there is quite a history of Indigenous use of this area”.
As it turns out, the Shemogue area does indeed have a long history of Mi’gmaq use and occupation. “The word Shemogue is Mi’gmaq for ‘Simon’s Place’,” explains Tracy Anne Cloud, Director of Trilateral Negotiations at MTI. The name indicates that the area was of significance, and as Cloud says, “ the Mi’gmaq have resided since time immemorial in these areas”.
Today, the newly minted 44-hectare IPCA is on a path to recovery and regeneration following heavy human use. Traces of a former homestead and fields are being taken over by shrubs and wild roses, second growth trees, dense alder thickets, a wetland and even some mature stands.
What is especially striking at the Shemogue IPCA are the abundant wildlife tracks, even on a grey December day. On a thin dusting of snow, snowshoe hare prints appear crisp and clear, criss-crossing and looping, hinting at a thriving population. Dainty pawprints on a thin sheet of ice, likely a mustelid (animal from the weasel family), perhaps on the heels of its hopping prey.
Further back into the woods, a porcupine highway crosses a stand of birches, tooth marks on the wood shining bright in the winter forest. Chickadees and kinglets stir in the fir trees.
The Shemogue IPCA represents a long-term commitment to protecting the land and its inhabitants, be it chickadees or snowshoe hares, but it does not exclude sustainable use of the land’s resources.
As Cloud explains, sustainable harvesting of certain renewable resources such as birch bark, porcupine quills and medicines will be permitted in the IPCA, provided it is done in accordance with Mi’gmaq values and laws, “guided and informed by Elders, as well as a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, where Indigenous knowledge and worldviews may also be complemented by Western science. Using scientific knowledge to fill in the gaps,” she says.
The IPCA will be managed according to important Mi’gmaq values such as Gepmite’tmnej Ta’n Wettapegsimg, a deep respect for Mi’gmaq roots; Gepmite’tmnej Ta’n Wettapegsimg, a recognition that “we sprouted from the Earth (like a blade of grass)”; M’sit No’gmag , “honouring all of our relations, including our ancestors and future generations, and all other creatures” ; and Getuapsultimg, “meeting adequate community needs without jeopardizing the integrity of the environment”(spellings and translations provided by Tracy Anne Cloud).
Gepmite’tmnej Ta’n Wettapegsimg: a deep respect for Mi’gmaq roots
M’sit No’gmag: honouring all of our relations
Gepmite’tmnej Ta’n Wettapegsimg: we sprouted from the Earth
Getuapsultimg: meeting adequate community needs without jeopardizing the integrity of the environment
-Spellings and definitions provided by Tracy Anne Cloud
In this way, IPCAs are about much more than protecting Nature: they are also an important tool for cultural revitalization. The IPCA might become a place where ceremonies are hosted, and it will provide an important opportunity for communities to reconnect with the land through land-based learning opportunities and active stewardship of traditional lands, guided by Mi’gmaq laws.
Re-establishing access to land is essential, says Cloud, as Mi’gmaq culture and language are closely rooted in the land. Government policies have a track record of removing Indigenous peoples from their lands, damaging their ability to practice their cultures and keep their languages alive. Therefore, IPCAs are a part of nation rebuilding process, says Cloud.
They also contribute to reconciliation “because they return land to its rightful stewards,” she says. “There is no reconciling without land back”. Although IPCAs are primarily for Indigenous peoples, Cloud says without hesitation that non-Indigenous people will be welcome as well, as long as they abide by Mi’gmaq laws of land stewardship.
“There is no reconciling without land back”- Tracy Anne Cloud
Cloud sees IPCAs as part of a broader Mi’gmaq land strategy with several pillars: land for conservation, for economic development and for residential purposes.
Under the conservation pillar, IPCAs will be managed by a dedicated land trust, which was created in 2020 by MTI, Fort Folly First Nation, and the North Shore Disctrict Micmac Council. Its name is Keki’namuanen Msit Wen Wlo’tmnen Nmaqami’kminu Inc. (KMWWN), and, according to the Mi’gmaq Elders who named it, it translates to “teaching everyone to care for our territory,” says Cloud.
KMWWN already owns over 1000 hectares (more than 2000 acres) of land, and Cloud says it’s one of the first and only Indigenous-led land trusts in Canada. The land trust and its network of IPCAs are still in their infancy, but the plan is for the trust to work closely with the Mi’gmaq community nearest to the IPCA to develop a stewardship plan for the area.
This plan will permit sustainable harvesting in accordance with Mi’gmaq values, for the purpose of self-sufficiency and the good of the community, while also maintaining ecological integrity, says Cloud. Her vision for the future is the creation of a network of protected areas across Mi’gmaq territory.
Across the province, in Peskotomuhkati territory (southwestern New Brunswick), another IPCA project is underway, with a different approach but related objectives.
The Peskotomuhkati peoples are in a unique situation in Canada, explains Darran O’Leary, Lands Manager with the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group, because they are not recognized by Canadian governments, even though they have always been present in New Brunswick. “We don’t exist here in the eyes of Canada” he says, and “ We have no land base. A lot of our culture is from the reserves on the US side of the border,” he says.
“Unless you own land here, or use Crown land, you gotta figure out a way to get back to the land. Getting back to the land helps future generations, it helps language, because a lot of our language comes from the land.”
O’Leary sees the IPCA project as a way to reestablish access to the land and make it available for traditional uses. IPCAs and recognition go hand-in-hand: obtaining recognition would mean that Peskotomuhkati presence in Canada would become legitimate in the eyes of governments, and IPCAs will allow people to get back to the land and learn about their roots.
“Unless you own land here, or use Crown land, you gotta figure out a way to get back to the land. Getting back to the land helps future generations, it helps language, because a lot of our language comes from the land.”
Darran O’Leary, Lands Manager, Passamaquoddy Recognition Group
The Passamaquoddy Recognition Group’s main focus is on land around the Skutik (St. Croix) river, with 2500 acres currently part of the IPCA project. The objective is to protect as much of the river’s watershed as possible, including habitat for the threatened Canada Warbler and other species at risk.
Unlike MTI, the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group does not have its own land trust. It’s currently relying on an important ally: the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, who is holding properties in trust until the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group can set up its own landholding entity. In the meantime, the two organizations are co-stewarding properties on Peskotomuhkati territory.
Back at NCC, Paula Noel does not see IPCA projects as potential competition, but rather as a great opportunity to work together. “There’s a lot of work to do to protect wildlife in the province and the more groups and people involved, the better,” she says.
In the province, only about 10% of lands and freshwater are currently protected, which is amongst the lowest in Canada, and well below the national target of protecting 30% by 2030.
Meanwhile, the planet is experiencing a precipitous decline in wildlife populations, a loss of natural areas and degradation of the ecosystems that support life. Although New Brunswick recently reached a milestone in protecting 10% of its land and freshwater, Tracy Anne Cloud is disappointed that only a small percentage of it has been earmarked for IPCAs.
To Paula Noel, working with Indigenous communities on conservation objectives is a no-brainer, and sign of changing times in the conservation movement. As conservation “has been associated with removing indigenous people from the land… that colonial history of conservation, conservation itself and the language around it carries that baggage,” she says.
“In [the] early days of parks creation in Canada, Indigenous Peoples were understood as obstacles to the enjoyment of nature. Thus, they were often forced to relocate or were restricted by imposed jurisdictions that effectively eliminated the Indigenous practices and economies that were so critical to healthy biological diversity,” states a report by the Indigenous Circle of Experts. IPCAs represent a shift away from this type of protected area, towards a type of conservation that empowers Indigenous peoples.
“In [the] early days of parks creation in Canada, Indigenous Peoples were understood as obstacles to the enjoyment of nature. Thus, they were often forced to relocate or were restricted by imposed jurisdictions that effectively eliminated the Indigenous practices and economies that were so critical to healthy biological diversity,”
-We Rise Together report, Indigenous Circle of Experts, 2018
For Paula Noel, fostering IPCAs and collaborating with Indigenous communities on conservation projects means “actually going out and developing relationships and trying to build trust with Indigenous people”.
To develop those relationships, Noel says that transparency has been key: “being transparent about where we’re acquiring land, being open to partnering or transferring projects, where appropriate, to Indigenous partners.”
In addition, she wants to ensure that Indigenous people feel welcome on the lands managed by NCC. She explains that her organization does not see human presence on the land as antithetical to conservation, “so we [want to] convey that message and do the work to develop relations with Indigenous communities and let them know and demonstrate that they are welcome on the lands that we manage”.
In fact, areas that are under Indigenous stewardship actually have been shown to have greater biodiversity and healthier ecosystems. “It is recognized that Indigenous people, traditionally and currently manage land in a way that is sustainable and that maintains biodiversity. In many studies around the world, land that is managed by Indigenous nations has better biodiversity outcomes, generally, than land that is not managed by Indigenous peoples,” says Paula Noel.
Tracy Anne Cloud says, “you know, we’ve been stewarding the lands since time immemorial, so it’s something that really comes natural to us”. Both her and Noel agree, IPCAs will benefit all New Brunswickers.
We should care about and support IPCAs, says Noel, “for the same reason that [we] should care about conservation and biodiversity protection. For one thing, because it clearly is important to people, and I think people understand that we are in a double crisis right now of loss of nature that is being accelerated by the climate change crisis. It is good for all of us to have more conservation happening. And I also think that a lot of people are also interested in reconciliation and fairness and that [IPCAs are] able to accomplish both of those things”.
