##  [Exploring Co-Reclamation: Gesturing Towards Intercultural Collaboration and the Renewal of Indigenous Cultural Landscapes after Oil Sands Extraction in the Fort McKay First Nation Traditional Territory, Treaty 8, Alberta, Canada](/resource/exploring-co-reclamation-gesturing-towards-intercultural-collaboration-and-renewal) 

Organization

[University of Calgary (UofC)](/organization/university-calgary-uofc)

 

 

Project

[Theses - University of Calgary (UofC)](/project/theses-university-calgary-uofc)

 

Resource Type

[Thesis](/taxonomy/term/1407)

 

 

Author(s)

Christine Daly

 

 

Original Authors

Christine Daly

 

 

Resource Date:

2023

 

Page Length

194

 

 

The sustainability of a landscape and its host community post-mining depends on careful and  
effective mine closure and reclamation planning. Such planning has the potential to support the renewal  
of cultural landscapes and to re-establish traditional land use capability on reclaimed lands for affected  
Indigenous communities to exercise Indigenous and Treaty Rights within their traditional territories.  
A collaborative approach to mine closure and reclamation, termed “co-reclamation”, was conceived and  
evaluated by academic researchers and Fort McKay First Nation (Fort McKay) staff, representatives, and  
community members who are hosting oil sands projects on their traditional territory in Treaty 8, Alberta,  
Canada. An oil sands company participated in early portions of the study. The aim of this dissertation was  
to explore a participatory and inclusive approach to mine closure and reclamation of lands disturbed by  
oil sands activities in the Fort McKay Traditional Territory to support the renewal of cultural landscapes  
capable of supporting Fort McKay’s traditional uses. The study applied a “Two-Roads Approach”, which  
is an ethnoecological framework, to elevate Fort McKay’s voices, research inquiries, knowledge system,  
and ways of working throughout the study.  
The people of Fort McKay have been living off the land for many generations. The sustainability  
of their culture is rooted in their traditional lands and waters which supply food and other resources for  
subsistence activities and a connection to their community, history, traditions, knowledge, and  
spirituality. The Two-Roads ethnoecological framework supported an examination of the Fort McKay  
road whereby mine closure and reclamation processes were explored and developed based on Fort  
McKay’s understanding of their traditional lands, waters, and aspects from their placed-based knowledge  
system. Furthermore, the Two-Roads Approach enabled the braiding of scientific and Indigenous  
perspectives and knowledges into co-created research products. This dissertation presents the following  
emergent intercultural mine closure and reclamation tools, approaches, and insights: consultation,  
engagement, and mine closure good practices; an indigenized code of conduct; traditional Indigenous  
cultural methods for creating a shared closure vision; a shared First Nation-industry aspirational story - te  
mamano aski ki kakio asiniwak (Cree) / ɂeła ɂeghdalaı́ da niha tuha (Dënesuliné) / working together for  
the betterment of our people and land (English); a subset of the traditional use plants, wildlife, birds,  
amphibians, and fish taxa which are important to Fort McKay; insights from a systematic review of  
traditional land use planning in mine closure and reclamation at seven oil sands projects; and a TwoRoads Reconciliation & Reclamation Framework to assist oil sands operators and Canadian Provincial  
Government agencies with ethical intercultural dialogue and meaningful engagement with Fort McKay on  
mine closure and reclamation of their traditional territory. These research products illuminate steps forward in problem solving towards reclamation as an act of reconciliation and a more just and equitable  
closure landscape with mutual benefits for all.