Elders Margaret MacKay (KDFN), and Mark Wedge (C/TFN) speak to the importance of the How We Walk with the Land and Water (HWW) initiative that will help shape our peoples future. Elders Margaret MacKay, and Mark Wedge are members of the HWW Elders Advisory Committee.
What is How We Walk with the Land and Water?
In 2017 in a sacred ceremony, Carcross/Tagish First Nation, Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council committed to work together on an Indigenous Land Relationship Plan.
Our aim is to prepare for Regional Land & Water Relationship Planning by creating a unified First Nation vision for the Southern Lakes that is rooted in indigenous story, law, knowledge and affirmed by western science.
Our Elders have named this initiative Aat á x yaa has na.át. aáni ka heen (Tlingit) | Nän ye chu ye ts’àdnäl (Southern Tutchone) | How We Walk with the Land and Water.
"Woosh een yei ch'u tooneiyi haa gooxlatseen" -If we work together we're going to be strong
~ Winnie Atlin - Mar 4/15
Photo by Elder Ralph James, C/TFN
Our Purpose
Our Guiding Principles
Our Knowledge
Why is it needed?
Chapter 11 of the Umbrella Final Agreements mandates that a regional land use plan be developed for the Southern Lakes. The Southern Lakes has the largest population and most industry in Yukon. This provides many opportunities for sustainable development, but also the potential to harm the natural environment. Unguided by a regional land use plan, piecemeal development will continue exert pressure on the land, water and their inhabitants.
Intent of the How We Walk with the Land and Water.
The Indigenous Land Relationship Plan will include an Indigenous Values Framework and a Mapped Land Vision that will express eco-cultural values and their relationship across time and landscapes. The goal is to ensure that what is important on the land and water will be protected for future generations and that future development is sustainable. By supporting the health of the land and water, we are supporting our health and the health of all of the people who live here.
We recognize strength in partnerships, unity and collaborating in good faith. As such we are working with other First Nation governments, our communities, technical experts and other government agencies. Also, we are linking with ongoing First Nation initiatives including the Southern Lakes Caribou Steering Committee, Southern Lakes First Nations Caribou Working Group and Salmon Working Group.
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