Lhoosk'uz Dené Nation and Ulkatcho First Nation Part C Blackwater Gold Mine Project
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Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation and Ulkatcho First Nation Part C Blackwater Gold Mine Project (Blackwater) May 10, 2019 Written and compiled by Keefer Ecological Services Ltd. Ulkatcho First Nation and Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation Part C – Blackwater Gold Mine Project May 10, 2019 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ 4 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 5 1. Collaborative Assessment of the Project ...................................................................................... 7 1.1. Who we are: Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation & Ulkatcho First Nation................................................... 7 2. Collaborative Assessment Process Overview .............................................................................. 10 2.1. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): How we got here ........................................................ 10 2.2. What does the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) mean? ................................................. 11 3. Ulkatcho and Lhoosk’uz Dené Assessment Methodology .......................................................... 11 3.1. Ulkatcho and Lhoosk’uz Dené perspectives on health values .................................................. 12 3.2. How the methodology was applied .......................................................................................... 15 4. Lhoosk’uz Dené and Ulkatcho Health Values .............................................................................. 16 4.1. Health of Land ........................................................................................................................... 16 4.1.1. Nuxalk-Carrier Grease Trail (Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail) ............................ 16 4.1.2. Sacred sites ................................................................................................................... 17 4.1.3. Traditional land use ...................................................................................................... 18 4.1.4. Food & medicinal plant harvesting .............................................................................. 20 4.2. Health of Water ........................................................................................................................ 22 4.3. Health of Aquatic Life ............................................................................................................... 25 4.3.1. Fish ............................................................................................................................... 25 4.3.2. Waterfowl .................................................................................................................... 26 4.4. Health of Wildlife ...................................................................................................................... 26 4.4.1. Trapping ....................................................................................................................... 26 4.4.2. Hunting ......................................................................................................................... 27 4.5. Health of Air .............................................................................................................................. 29 4.6. Health of People ....................................................................................................................... 30 4.7. Health of Culture and Language ............................................................................................... 31 4.8. Health of Spirituality ................................................................................................................. 32 4.9. Health of Economy ................................................................................................................... 35 4.9.1. Ulkatcho First Nation.................................................................................................... 35 4.9.2. Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation ................................................................................................ 36 4.10. Governance ........................................................................................................................... 36 4.10.1. Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation ................................................................................................... 37 ii Ulkatcho First Nation and Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation Part C – Blackwater Gold Mine Project May 10, 2019 4.10.2. Ulkatcho First Nation ........................................................................................................ 38 5. Potential Impacts on Lhoosk’uz Dené and Ulkatcho Values ........................................................ 38 5.1. Landscape Level Disturbances: Forestry, Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic and Wildfire ......... 40 5.2. Health of Land ........................................................................................................................... 43 5.3. Health of Water ........................................................................................................................ 45 5.4. Health of Aquatic Life ............................................................................................................... 47 5.5. Health of Wildlife ...................................................................................................................... 48 5.6. Health of Air .............................................................................................................................. 50 5.7. Health of People ....................................................................................................................... 51 5.8. Health of Culture and Language ............................................................................................... 53 5.9. Health of Spirituality ................................................................................................................. 54 5.10. Health of Economy ................................................................................................................ 55 5.11. Governance ........................................................................................................................... 55 6. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 56 6.1. Health of Land ........................................................................................................................... 57 6.2. Health of Water ........................................................................................................................ 58 6.3. Health of Aquatic Life ............................................................................................................... 59 6.4. Health of Wildlife ...................................................................................................................... 59 6.5. Health of Air .............................................................................................................................. 59 6.6. Health of People, Culture, Language, Spirituality, Economy and Governance ........................ 60 7. Outstanding Issues ....................................................................................................................... 60 8. Chief and Council Support ............................................................................................................ 61 References ........................................................................................................................................... 62 iii Ulkatcho First Nation and Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation Part C – Blackwater Gold Mine Project May 10, 2019 List of Figures Figure 1 Diagram demonstrating the methodology for understanding potential impacts to Aboriginal interests. .............................................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2 Criteria for determining the severity of impacts to Aboriginal rights and title. ................... 15 Figure 3 Wildfire size and total hectares burned within the LDN territory from 1920 to 2017. ......... 42 Figure 4 Map of LDN keyohs underlying the mine footprint. .............................................................. 44 List of Appendices Appendix 1: Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Appendix 2: New Gold’s Proposed Mitigation Measures iv Ulkatcho First Nation and Lhoosk’uz Dené Nation Part C – Blackwater Gold Mine Project May 10, 2019 Acknowledgements Our team would like to acknowledge that this Part C document would not have been possible without the contributions of a wide number of individuals and organizations. Community members of both LDN and UFN have been very patient in their attempts to understand the intricacies of this major mining project’s impacts on the environment, wildlife and their communities, both in terms of social and economic impacts. This interaction with the community allowed the technical review team to speak with the authoritative voices of the community in the development of this document, Working Group meetings, as well as throughout the condition development process. The political leadership of both Nations have also been highly engaged and have been subjected to