Sacred Natural Sites play an essential role in the expression and transmission of culture, in the conservation of biodiversity, and are a vital means for the manifestation of cultural and spiritual values related to nature. In Nunavik, the Government of Québec, in partnership with the Kativik Regional Government recently created the Kuururjuaq National Park on 4,274 km2 of tundra. A cultural important site for the Naskapi First Nation, the Caribou Heaven is situated within the limits of this new protected area. This chapter first provides an overview of the linkages between Aboriginal peoples and protected areas in Canada. It then illustrates the crucial role played by the caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in the socio-cultural, spiritual, and economic life of the Naskapi First Nation. Next, it explains how the ecological knowledge of the Naskapi was used to designate this culturally important place as an area of maximum protection, in order to ensure its protection and integrity. It finally describes how cultural and spiritual values, have formed the basis of co-management models of nature conservation in this park. The initiative is among the first of such efforts by the Government of Québec to give expression to the importance of and to provide protection to the sacred sites of First Nations.
This webinar series, hosted by the Indigenous Knowledge Circle of the National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium, highlights Indigenous-led work to protect and restore caribou and their habitat.
Past webinars include:
Jan 2023 - Caribou Conservation, Treaty Rights, and Guardians in Alberta's Oil Sands
Nov 2023 - Tâdzié-Sagow Atihk Stewardship Plan - Indigenous Knowledge to Recover Caribou
This project is about what Danny Beaulieu learned about the caribou cycle over the past one hundred and ten years or so, talking to Denesųłıné elders in Fort Resolution, Łutselk’e, and Yellowknife. He mostly learned from his grandmother, his grandparents, and his parents.
