 In recent months we’ve all been at home more often. Whether you’re working from home or just spending more evening and weekends in, here are 5 simple steps you can take to be more environmentally conscious.
 "It's great to be with such a dedicated group of leaders who are committed to reconciliation. It's inspiring to see over 25 governments come together, some having not come together in over 150 years."  Are you the One?
We need your skills! The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER) invites applicants for the position of Research Associate.  Water is critical to life, yet our water resources are at great risk due to climate change, pollution, overuse and other management challenges. On December 19, 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mandated ECCC Minister Jonathan Wilkinson to “create a new Canada Water Agency to work together with the provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists and others to find the best ways to keep our water safe, clean and well-managed.”
This story was part of the CIER Summer 2020 Newsletter. Sign-up here for more stories like this.
Martin McLean from Lake Manitoba First Nation’s eventual goal is to encourage his community to start a recycling program. Right now, like in many First Nations across Canada, recyclables are thrown away and end up in a landfill. CIER’s Waste Warriors program helped Martin work towards achieving his goal, but the first step was education, awareness, and accountability about garbage and recycling in Lake Manitoba First Nation.  This story was part of the CIER Summer 2020 Newsletter. Sign-up here for more stories like this.
CIER’s Shining Lights program recently got Ria Letcher and other Northerners thinking about the role energy plays in our daily lives and how it affects our lives and the world around us. “Energy Literacy is so important especially in the North because of the high cost of living,” says Ria, a Shining Lights trainer from Fort Simpson, NWT. “Even the small things people can do at home to save energy and reduce their overall energy consumption.”  “As Indigenous people of the land, protection and conservation is not just about the Species at Risk or the health of the ecosystem but includes protecting the relationship and connection we have with them. That connection is a part of our language, our culture, and identity as Dakota Oyate (the Dakota Nation).”  Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Network of Networks (NoN) will support Canadian communities in establishing hydro-climactic monitoring programs to strengthen local stewardship over environmental resources and capacity building in communities through funding the development of monitoring programs, which include skills development, job creation, and training. This report describes these components and provides a step by step guide for how to build an overarching monitoring framework that is scientifically rigorous, technically feasible, decision-oriented, and scalable. This guidance is applied to two different Indigenous communities (Matawa First Nations Management and Dehcho First Nations) to illustrate how it can be applied more broadly. The report includes the following sections:
This project was generously funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada. Download the report or read online: 
 Inuvik workshop participants playing the energy appliance line-up game. Did you know that by making changes in small, everyday decisions you can save money, conserve heat and energy, and preserve the environment by reducing your diesel footprint? Simple actions like turning off lights when you leave a room can have a surprisingly big impact! The Shining Lights workshops were created to increase energy literacy in the Northwest Territories and promote energy-efficient practices. Forty-eight women and youth from nineteen communities participated in workshops that were held in Inuvik, Fort Simpson, and Yellowknife throughout 2019. Participants received training through an interactive and engaging curriculum that focuses on energy basics, energy efficiency and energy conservation. This curriculum was developed in partnership with Pembina Institute, Arctic Energy Alliance and CIER.  Fort Simpson Shining Lights participants enjoying the energy from the sun. Some workshop participants were excited to share their knowledge with their communities and created presentations to raise more awareness about energy efficiency and energy conservation in their home communities.
Part of the Shining Lights workshop was also a day devoted to translating key energy terms and teachings with the help of knowledgeable Indigenous translators. CIER has used the gathered information to create posters that will continue to promote awareness on energy efficiency and energy conservation. Wanting to learn more? Keep an eye out for our new Shining Lights posters that include six Indigenous languages. They’ll be launching on our social media and website soon and will also be mailed to each Indigenous community in the Northwest Territories. This project was generously funded by Natural Resources Canada through the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities program, with in-kind support provided by Laren Bill Consulting, North Raven and Phare Thoughts Company.  School for Manitoban children has been cancelled until September, but that doesn’t mean that learning has stopped.
Shianne McKay, a Senior Project Manager with CIER, is taking homeschooling in stride. Not only is she making sure her three children are keeping up with their schoolwork, she’s passing down Traditional Knowledge, medicine, and prayers. She’s teaching them how to pray and how to smudge by combining four sacred medicines: tobacco, sweet grass, sage, and cedar. “It’s a prayer about giving thanks,” she says. “To the grandmothers and the grandfathers, and Creator, the four directions.” Shianne notes that her household is lucky to have access to these traditions and medicines all the time, but before the COVID-19 pandemic they smudged on an as-needed basis. “Now, it’s more for purifying and keeping the air clean,” she says. “We also do a water ceremony where we say thank you to the water for giving us life.” This ceremony is about being thankful for what you have and thankful for waking up to another day, she adds. “Thankful for our ancestors who look after us as we’re going through this pandemic. We pray for others as well, those who don’t have access to these medicines and ways of healing.” |
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Mailing Address: P.O. Box 26092 RPO Maryland
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Phone | 204-956-0660
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Email | earth@yourcier.org
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