
Applied Reconciliation: Indigenous Partnership Building
Key Takeaways:
- Living Lakes Canada works to protect water in the traditional lands of Ktunaxa, Secwepemc, Lheidli T’enneh, the Sinixt and the Sylix within the Columbia Basin. LLC also works across the province and country on water stewardship projects in the traditional territories of many nations.
- Recognizing Indigenous People as the rightful caretakers of their unceded territories, we work to complement their intergenerational work and Indigenous-led water stewardship initiatives,
- Living Lakes Canada acknowledges Indigenous Knowledge as paramount to water protection and restoration success. By unifying our efforts, we hope to decolonize relationships with water.
- Living Lakes Canada adheres to the First Nations Principles of OCAP® (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) in collecting and storing data.
WHAT IS APPLIED RECONCILIATION?
Applied Reconciliation refers to our water stewardship actions in Canada’s unceded traditional Territories of Indigenous People. We work to align our water stewardship with Indigenous People’s priorities to develop a cross-cultural approach to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous People, government and policy makers. We value intergenerational work, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the interweaving of this knowledge for collective water monitoring priorities.
PROGRAM GOALS
Meaningful collaborations and partnerships with Indigenous People regarding water stewardship priorities.
CURRENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
Indigenous-Led Webinar Series
In October 2021, Living Lakes Canada facilitated an Indigenous-Led Water Relationships within the Columbia Basin Webinar Series. The series was organized to make time and space for the Ktunaxa, Secwepemc, Syilx-Okanagan/Sinixt Peoples to share values, relationships and responsibilities for water. Presenters offered both historical and present water knowledge.
This was an interactive and cross-disciplinary learning opportunity for people who are working to protect water by deepening their understanding between Indigenous People and the land they have most intimately come to know.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge integration into FIMP
Living Lakes Canada is working to improve partnerships with Indigenous People by braiding Traditional Knowledge and Values into the FIMP assessment protocol and Foreshore Development Guidelines (FDG). Through methods familiarization, engagement, and data management communication with Indigenous People, a FIMP Indigenous Knowledge and Values Framework has been created in partnership with the University of British Columbia Sustainability Scholars as a preliminary template for interweaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into the newly updated Federal protocol for FIMP methodology.
Living Lakes Canada staff will continue to work with the Upper Nicola Band (UNB) and Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) to critique and identify additional pathways that interweave community-supported TEK and values.
First Nations engagement on Columbia Basin Water Hub
Living Lakes Canada has finalized an agreement with the Shuswap Band to create a decolonized version of a traditional Data Sharing Agreement for the Columbia Basin Water Hub that incorporates both sensitive and public data. Our Applied Reconciliation Coordinator has been advising the Water Hub team to ensure that the database is prepared to offer storage for Indigenous communities water data
Groundwater
The Living Lakes Canada Columbia Basin Groundwater Monitoring Program has created meaningful, functional relationships with Indigenous communities for groundwater monitoring. To date, the program has helped establish groundwater observation wells in the communities of ʔaq'am and Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi and works with these communities to track groundwater levels over time. The program incorporates the principles of OCAPⓇ (ownership, control, access and possession of data). If communities wish to share their data publicly it can be shared on the BC Real-time Water Data Tool and the Living Lakes Canada Columbia Basin Water Hub, where data from other observation wells in the Program are shared. The Groundwater Monitoring Program would like to offer services as an act of Reconciliation with the land and build their outreach and engagement to amplify Indigenous sovereignty over their groundwater resources.
CABIN
Living Lakes Canada is partnering with Indigenous communities across British Columbia and Canada to interweave Indigenous knowledge and traditional Western science using the standardized Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) protocol and language for biodiversity and water health assessments.
Living Lakes Canada developed the Cultural Connections Pilot Project in collaboration with the Ktunaxa Nation Council to explore water themes using traditional language. In this pilot project, the CABIN methods were used as the foundation for this experiential learning and knowledge exchange.
PARTNERS
The signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) are the first step in building partnerships that can help us identify our joint priorities, learn and work together.
CONTACT
To learn more contact Executive Director Kat Hartwig at kat@livinglakescanada.ca
See Kat's profile.

Status - Active
Categories
Water Bodies |
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GroundwaterLakesRivers, Creeks and StreamsSnowStormwater |
Regions |
British ColumbiaColumbia BasinNational |
Collaborators |
AcademiaCommunity groupsFirst NationsGovernment – FederalGovernment – ProvincialMunicipalityNGOsRegional District |
Types of Work |
AssessmentCitizen ScienceCommunity Based MonitoringDataMonitoringProtocol DevelopmentRestoration |
News and Updates
- The Youth Perspective: Inside an Inter-tribal Water Summit – Living Lakes Canada, July 26 2023
- Data for self-determination: Qʷúʔ, siwɬkʷ (water) data hub to support Indigenous watershed governance and protection – Living Lakes Canada, May 24 2023
- The Youth Perspective: Setting Sockeye Salmon free in the Columbia River – Living Lakes Canada, May 24 2023
- Water & Wildlife: Piloting new technology through an Indigenous lens – Living Lakes Canada, Mar 20 2023
- Lower Fraser First Nations embrace biomonitoring to protect fish habitat – Living Lakes Canada, Nov 23 2022
- Indigenous interns graduate from drinking water internship program – Penticton Herald, Oct 13 2022
- “It’s at the very core of everything”: The significance of Canada’s wild rivers – Canadian Geographic, June 2019
- Engagement and learning at the headwaters of the Columbia River – Kimberley Bulletin, Aug 4 2022
- FIMP-Indigenous Knowledge and Values Framework – Merritt Herald, July 13 2022
- Listening to our Indigenous Elders, their wisdom and concerns – Columbia Valley Pioneer, June 30 2022
- For a complete list of news features, visit our In The News page!
Resources
- The First Nations Principles of OCAP®
- Ktunaxa Knowledge Relationships: Jim Clarricoates & Norm Allard
- Secwepemc Knowledge Relationships: Kukpi7 Wayne Christian & Robyn Laubman
- Syilx-Okanagan/Sinixt Knowledge Relationships: Byron Louis, Dallas Goodwater & Rob Edward
- FIMP Indigenous Knowledge and Values Framework Final Report