Photo: MCFN elder and trapper, Fred Vermillion, studies the Peace Point rapids before attempting to run them. Before BC Hydro regulation in the late 1960’s, the rapids were not a barrier to MCFN members use of the Peace River. Since BC Hydro regulation, regular low water on the Peace in spring and summer, and dangerous open water in winter, means that Fred is often not able to access his family cabins or trap line, where he and his brothers were raised, and where he plans to retire. When he can access his cabins, once plentiful muskrat and beaver are now rare, and large sandbars impair his ability to visit nearby family and friends.
Mikisew Cree First Nation
Report on Peace River Knowledge and Use for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project
September 20, 2013
Craig Candler, Ph.D. and the Firelight Group Research Cooperative with the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN)
Mikisew Cree First Nation Report on Peace River Knowledge and Use for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project Prepared and authored by: Craig Candler (Ph.D), and the Firelight Group Research Cooperative with the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN)
On behalf of: Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN)
Submitted to:
Melody Lepine Mikisew Cree First Nation Government and Industry Relations
Thanks and acknowledgements go to the MCFN elders, knowledge holders, staff, and leadership who contributed. This report could not have been completed without their support and expert knowledge.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Executive Summary
This report is based on information provided by Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN) knowledge holders regarding the Peace River and the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD or delta). It builds on initial reports completed for MCFN and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) in January and July 2013 and provides additional detail regarding MCFN knowledge, use and practice of treaty and aboriginal rights on the Peace River and within the PAD, trends over time, and likely pathways of effect on the PAD and lower Peace River from BC Hydro’s Site C project (the Project), including increased BC Hydro capacity to control and alter seasonal flows and ice dynamics on the lower Peace and in the PAD. This report is based on review of existing documents, one MCFN focus group interviews conducted in early July 2013, and a limited set of seven semi-formal follow-up interviews held in September 2013 with nine MCFN elders or knowledge holders, including two MCFN members from Garden River. Interviews were facilitated and recorded by MCFN GIR staff and researchers from the Firelight Group. They were guided by a series of questions designed to elicit MCFN traditional knowledge regarding relationships between Peace River flows and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, experience with past BC Hydro dams, and likely or anticipated effects of the proposed Site C Project based on past MCFN experience and traditional knowledge. The knowledge of MCFN members regarding the PAD and the Peace River is rich, detailed, complex and current. Given budget and time constraints, this report provides an overview of detailed Sakaw Nehiyâwewin (Northern or Bush Cree) understandings regarding the Peace River, including that:
• The flow of the Peace River and the PAD are connected and MCFN knowledge holders see BC Hydro’s influence on the flow of the Peace River as one of the most important influences on the ability of MCFN members to practice knowledge, use and rights on both the main stream of the lower Peace River, and throughout the PAD inside and outside of WBNP, including on and near MCFN reserve lands. • Despite changes, MCFN use of the lower Peace and adjacent portions of the PAD is intense, active and ongoing. Documented MCFN use and practice extends throughout the Peace River and throughout the PAD, including areas inside and outside WBNP. Specific areas and issues of particular concern include: o Project and cumulative impacts to MCFN subsistence, habitation, transportation, environmental feature, and cultural/spiritual values within WBNP and beyond, and especially areas near Mouth of the Peace, Rocky Point, Peace Point, Moose Island, Big Slough, and other locations along the Peace River, as well as Birch River, Buckton Creek, Quatre Fourche, and other places within the wider PAD, including Lake Claire and Lake
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Mamawi, where MCFN members and families maintain cabins, permanent residences, and preferred harvesting areas that depend on Peace River flows and ice conditions in all seasons for access and ecological health. o Project and cumulative impacts to MCFN reserve lands, traplines, and concentrations of subsistence, habitation, transportation, environmental and cultural/spiritual values in PAD areas outside of WBNP that are influenced by the flow of the Peace River. o Project and cumulative impacts to MCFNs ability to use key Peace River and PAD waterways for transportation and access to traditional lands and preferred harvest areas in all seasons, including winter. o Project and cumulative impacts to key PAD dependent resources which are already impacted by BC Hydro’s existing dams, and that threaten to further constrain the ability of MCFN members to harvest muskrat, beaver, mink and otter, migratory birds (especially ducks and geese), fish (especially white fish), and other delta resources that depend on the flow of the Peace River and seasonal flooding of the PAD.
• Past and ongoing impacts due to BC Hydro dams on the Peace have had, and continue to have, important adverse impacts that make both the PAD, and the PAD dependent way of life of MCFN members, especially vulnerable to change in the magnitude, seasonality, duration and frequency of high water on the Peace River; • MCFN members expect that, if built, BC Hydro’s proposed Site C Project will worsen existing impacts to their lands, waters, and way of life including areas inside and outside Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP). These expected effects are based on at least two major pathways anticipated by MCFN knowledge holders based on past experience: o Increased BC Hydro control of the Peace River and reduced magnitude, duration, and frequency of natural (unmanaged) high spring and summer Peace River flows essential to hydraulic dam conditions on the Peace, and resulting reverse flows and beneficial flooding in the delta. Based on MCFN knowledge and experience, the Bennett Dam has reduced the frequency of flooding in the PAD substantially and, if built, Site C is likely to reduce it further. o Increased BC Hydro control of the Peace River and potential increased magnitude, duration, and frequency of irregular and unnatural (managed) winter Peace River flows that kill ice and water dependent wildlife in the delta and along the Peace (especially muskrat and beaver), make ice based transport (by ice road, foot, or sled / snow machine) dangerous, difficult, or impossible, especially near Rocky Point, and increase unnatural winter flooding and high winter flows under ice leading to weaker, thinner, and more sediment loaded ice, and reducing potential for spring ice damming, and beneficial flooding, on the Peace.
The importance of the lower Peace River and adjacent portions of the PAD to ongoing MCFN knowledge, use, and practice of rights cannot be overstated.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
MCFN knowledge holders report that before BC Hydro regulation, the Peace River reached spring high levels adequate to create hydraulic damming and reverse flows to the PAD every five years. Since regulation, levels adequate to reverse flow are reported to have occurred in only three years, including 2013. These now rare years of high water offer ‘glimmers of hope’ for the delta and for Mikisew knowledge, culture and use that depends on the delta. MCFN knowledge holders expect that Site C would make the frequency of these ‘glimmers of hope’ even more rare, and potentially cause cascading effects on both PAD ecology and the transmission and practice of PAD dependent knowledge and use within the MCFN community. BC Hydro has not included information, or conducted an assessment, of potential Site C effects on the lower Peace and PAD. In the absence of information or funding from BC Hydro, the MCFN has not attempted to fully assess the anticipated effects of Site C on MCFN values, rights, or interests. However, MCFN anticipates that the effects of Site C will be adverse, and will act cumulatively with already existing and very significant effects of existing BC Hydro dams and management on the Peace River. Beyond providing experience, understanding and analysis within the focus groups and interviews, MCFN knowledge holders also expressed enormous frustration with BC Hydro, and the assessment processes, because of the lack of consideration of potential Site C impacts on the PAD and lower Peace despite more than four decades of MCFN suffering and loss in the delta, continual effort by MCFN to articulate and explain the impacts of BC Hydro’s existing dams on the PAD, court actions regarding the impacts of BC Hydro dams on MCFN lands, and ample published documentation and research demonstrating the relationship between the Peace River and the PAD. For elders and knowledge holders who remember interactions with BC Hydro from the 1970’s, who have participated and explained to BC Hydro through past meetings, studies, and legal actions, and who have lived most of their lives with the legacy of BC Hydro’s Peace River dams on their lands, waters, and families, the sense of betrayal, of governmental dishonesty or willful blindness, and of history repeating itself through the Site C process, was clear.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Table of Contents Executive Summary ...... ii
List of Figures ...... vii
List of Tables ...... vii
Section 1 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Introduction ...... 1 1.2 Limitations of the Report ...... 2 1.3 The Authors ...... 2
Section 2 Methods ...... 3 2.1 Introduction ...... 3 2.2 Review of Existing Data ...... 3 2.3 Focus Group Methods ...... 3 2.4 Follow-up Interview Methods ...... 4
Section 3 Summary of Findings ...... 5 3.1 Key Issues from MCFN Focus Groups and Follow-up Interviews ...... 5 3.2 Peace River flow, ice dynamics and MCFN knowledge and use ...... 8 3.3 Peace River Trends Prior to, and Since, BC Hydro Regulation ...... 11 3.4 ‘Glimmers of Hope’ and Reversal of Flow because of Hydraulic Damming on the Peace ...... 12 3.5 Frustration at Lack of Meaningful Consideration of the PAD by BC Hydro ...... 15 3.6 Key Issues and Pathways of Effect Between the Project and MCFN Knowledge and Use ...... 15 3.7 Likely MCFN trajectories of use on the Peace River and PAD with and without the Project...... 18
Section 4 Conclusions ...... 20 4.1 Summary of Understanding ...... 20 4.1.1 Closure ...... 23 Section 5 Bibliography ...... 24
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Appendix 1. Select Quotes ...... 25 Appendix 2. Curriculum Vitae, Dr. Craig Candler ...... 27 Appendix 3. Informed Consent Documentation for MCFN ...... 39 Appendix 4. MCFN and ACFN Desktop Knowledge and Use Report ...... 40 Appendix 5. Focus Group Guide ...... 58
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
List of Figures
Figure 1. Reported Ice Jam Locations and Reverse Flows on the Peace River ...... 10
List of Tables
Table 2. Timeline of high and low water events on the Peace River based on MCFN Traditional Knowledge ...... 11
Table 3: Reported MCFN site-specific values in the study area ...... 48
Table 4: Reported ACFN site-specific values in the study area ...... 53
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Section 1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction This final non-confidential report is based on available data regarding Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN) knowledge and use in the area of the Peace River and the Peace- Athabasca (PAD or Delta). It focuses on indigenous knowledge of the Peace River and delta, as well as ongoing impacts of BC Hydro (BCH) dams on the Peace, and anticipated pathways of effect on MCFN knowledge, use and rights as a result of BC Hydro’s proposed Site C Project.
To the knowledge of the MCFN, BC Hydro has not provided information, or conducted an assessment, of potential Site C effects on the lower Peace and PAD. In the absence of information or funding from BC Hydro, MCFN has not attempted to fully assess the anticipated effects of Site C on MCFN knowledge and use, or rights. However, based on MCFN knowledge and experience, and the precautionary principle, MCFN anticipates that the effects of Site C on MCFN use and rights will be adverse, and will act cumulatively with the already existing and extremely significant effects of existing BC Hydro dams and management on the lower Peace River and PAD. This report is organized into four sections: • Section 1: Introduction • Section 2: Methods • Section 3: Summary of Findings • Section 4: Conclusions This report was prepared within funding and time constraints. It builds on an initial report completed for MCFN and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) in January and July 2013 and provides additional detail regarding MCFN knowledge, use and practice of treaty and aboriginal rights on the Peace River and within the PAD, trends over time, and likely pathways of effect on the PAD and lower Peace River from BC Hydro’s Site C project (the Project), including increased BC Hydro capacity to control and alter seasonal flows and ice dynamics on the lower Peace and in the PAD. The findings of this report include: • A summary of MCFN knowledge of flow and ice dynamics on the Peace, how these influence the river and delta, and in turn influence MCFN knowledge and use. • A summary of MCFN knowledge and use along the Peace River and PAD prior to, and since, the construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, including;
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
o changes associated with construction of existing BC Hydro projects on the Peace (W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon dams); o changes associated with operation of existing BC Hydro projects on the Peace (W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon dams); • A summary of key issues and pathways of effect between the Site C Project and MCFN knowledge and use; • Likely trajectories of MCFN use on the Peace River and PAD with and without the Project.
1.2 Limitations of the Report This report is based on research conducted by the Firelight Group Research Cooperative (Firelight) and the MCFN. It outlines connections between the Peace River and the proposed Site C Project and may contribute to, but should not be taken as a replacement for, other studies that may be required such as socio-economic, cultural impact, diet, health and wellbeing, indigenous or treaty rights, or governance, planning and policy, or cumulative effects based studies or assessments. Information provided herein is the most current available to the MCFN, but only a handful of MCFN knowledge holders were able to participate because of funding and time constraints. This report may be updated or revised by the MCFN as additional work is completed and new information arises. It is based on the understandings of the authors, and is not intended as a complete depiction of the dynamic way of life, and living system of use and knowledge maintained by MCFN elders and members. Unless verified, all dates and locations should be considered approximate. Absence of data does not mean absence of knowledge, use, or value. Much more work is required to fully describe MCFN knowledge and use related to the Peace River and PAD, and additional studies are necessary to fill information gaps regarding MCFN knowledge and use, and the resources, criteria, thresholds, and indicators necessary to sustain meaningful practice of Treaty 8 rights into the future. MCFN has asserted that a concrete plan is needed to ensure that meaningful MCFN practice of treaty rights remains possible for future generations. This report is specific to the Site C Dam project, and should not be relied upon to inform other projects or initiatives without written consent of the MCFN. Nothing in this submission should be construed as to waive, reduce, or otherwise constrain the use or rights of MCFN or other First Nations or Aboriginal peoples within, or outside, regulatory processes. 1.3 The Authors Dr. Craig Candler, the lead author of this report, holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and is a specialist in indigenous knowledge and use studies and cultural impact assessment. Dr. Candler has more than 15 years’ experience working in the fields of community-based research, and traditional use and traditional knowledge studies with First Nations (see Appendix 1 for CV). Much of Dr. Candler’s work has been with Dené and Cree peoples in the boreal forest of British Columbia (BC) and Alberta. He has written components for multiple large and small environmental assessments.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Section 2 Methods
2.1 Introduction As noted above, this report was prepared with funding and time constraints. It is based on review of existing documents, one MCFN focus group conducted in early July 2013, and a set of seven semi-formal follow-up interviews held in September 2013 with nine MCFN elders or knowledge holders. Interviews were facilitated and recorded by MCFN GIR staff and researchers from the Firelight Group. The work was guided by a series of questions designed to elicit MCFN traditional knowledge regarding relationships between Peace River flows and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, experience with past BC Hydro dams, and likely or anticipated effects of the proposed Site C Project based on past MCFN experience and traditional knowledge. An initial version of this report based on initial review of existing data and focus group interviews was provided to BC Hydro in July 2013. The final version of this report has benefited from additional information and perspectives based on the MCFN follow-up interviews conducted in September 2013. 2.2 Review of Existing Data The MCFN and ACFN Desktop Knowledge and Use Report BC Hydro’s Proposed ‘Site C’ Dam Project (Candler et al 2012, enclosed as appendix 4) was provided to BC Hydro in early 2013 and includes an analysis of existing information, including community mapping data, regarding ACFN and MCFN knowledge and use within 5km of the main stream of the Peace River downstream of the western boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), including Peace Point. This work confirmed that, based on ACFN and MCFN knowledge, the portion of the delta influenced by the flow of the Peace extends far beyond the study area used. Additional detailed mapping by MCFN has also been completed since completion of the desk top report. Subsequent review since early 2013 has included the findings of the Indian Claims Commission (1998) regarding past damages to the delta by BC Hydro operations, and related scientific documentation of ecological change in the PAD. While there is some debate regarding the status of the delta, and the relative contribution of changes resulting from climate change and from river regulation, the most systematic and well- tested review of evidence available can be found in the report of the Indian Claims Commission (1998) and agrees that the PAD has been drying, and that BC Hydro control of upstream tributaries on the Peace is one of the main reasons. 2.3 Focus Group Methods A focus group is a form of qualitative social science interview where a set of related issues or subjects is explored by a small group of people working together. The group is usually more than three and fewer than twelve (5 to 10 is often ideal), and is usually
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013 structured based on gender (e.g: a women’s focus group, or men’s focus group), age (e.g., an elders circle, or youth focus group), family, or other qualities considered important by the community or the researcher. Focus groups include at least one facilitator, and usually one documenter and are usually used as a supplemental method to complement other forms of interview or survey (Bernard 2011). One MCFN focus groups was conducted for the initial report on July 2nd, 2013 involving a full day session (slightly more than six hours) with seven MCFN knowledge holders and one GIR staff member. The session was held in the municipal government meeting chambers in Fort Chipewyan. Participants in the focus groups were selected by MCFN staff to represent knowledge holders familiar with the PAD and the role of the Peace River in sustaining it. The focus groups were facilitated by Dr. Craig Candler. Janelle Kuntz was the primary documenter and information manager. The primary goal of the focus group session was to identify the most important mechanisms and pathways of effect between Peace River flow and areas of the delta important to rights-based activities including MCFN knowledge and use, and to evidence these mechanisms and pathways of effect based on MCFN knowledge and experience. Focus groups included documentation of prior informed consent (see Appendix 3) and followed a semi-structured format guided by a series of nine broad questions (Appendix 5). All focus groups were recorded using near verbatim notes, digital audio and digital video. Large format flip-chart paper was used to record key points during the interview so that participants could see and comment on key information being recorded. Focus groups were conducted in English. 2.4 Follow-up Interview Methods A set of seven semi-formal follow-up interviews involving nine MCFN elders or knowledge holders was held in Fort Chipewyan in early September 2013. Follow-up interviews were designed to confirm and provide more in-depth information on the knowledge and experience of a smaller sample of MCFN knowledge holders and users, and to involve members of the MCFN living on the Peace River at Garden River and Big Slough who were not able to participate in the initial focus group. The follow-up interviews provide a set of case studies of MCFN use and practice from the lower Peace River and portions of the delta, including Lake Claire, Lake Mamawi and Quatre Fourche, that are directly impacted by changes in Peace River flow. The interviews included direct to digital mapping of MCFN member’s use of lands and resources, but focussed on life histories of interaction with the Peace. Two of the interviews involved two MCFN participants, one a husband and wife, and another a male elder and his son. The others were conducted with a single MCFN participant. Participants in the follow-up interviews were selected by MCFN staff to represent key knowledge holders familiar with the Peace River, and with MCFN use of lands, waters along the Peace River and in WBNP. Follow-up interviews were led by Dr. Craig Candler with Janelle Kuntz providing documentation and information management and Jocelyn Martin of the MCFN GIR coordinating and assisting. Follow-up interviews included documentation of prior informed consent (see Appendix 3) and followed a loosely structured format. They were recorded using field notes and digital audio and were conducted in English.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Section 3 Summary of Findings
3.1 Key Issues from MCFN Focus Groups and Follow-up Interviews The following is a summary of key points recorded in the MCFN Focus Group. Supporting quotes can be found in Appendix 1.
• Timing and magnitude of high water on the Peace River and Athabasca River is critical. Both rivers must have high water levels in order for the delta to flood in the spring time. Both [Peace and Athabasca] rivers influence our delta. If they both come at the same time, same run-off, it fills our delta up and floods it. It brought our lake up one meter this summer compared to last year. (M72, July 2, 2013) • Low water levels that have been happening since 1968 are causing lakes and other tributaries to dry up. They become replaced with willows, habitat for muskrats and other wildlife has disappeared. MCFN members still try to follow their way of life in the delta, but it is increasingly difficult. • The springtime flood is critical for filling critical water bodies, such as Lake Mamawi and Lake Claire. Without water in lake Mamawi, it is not possible to access Lake Claire and large portions of WBNP. • It is harder to get to trap lines and hunting areas with low water levels by boat, end up having to drag boats across sand bars. • Loss of trapping economy due to inability to access trapping areas • There is a significant decline in waterfowl and wildlife. Where members used to catch thousands of muskrats, they would now only catch about a dozen with the same effort now. • Overflow in the winter on the Peace and adjacent creeks makes it impossible to use snow mobiles at key places, such as creek crossings, and dangerous or impossible to travel on the Peace River ice in particular locations, including near Rocky Point and Peace Point rapids, due to weak ice and persistent open water. • The high waters from the springtime flood are critical in order to create the ice jams and damming in the winter. Since the Bennett dam, ice quality and quantity has significantly decreased and made access and travel to lands difficult and increasingly dangerous • The blue, clear ice that used to form on the Peace is now thinner and full of sediment, making the ice weaker and melt faster which prevents the ice jams from forming:
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Releasing water from the dam [in winter], that’s one of the problems right there. If you release that water at the wrong time of the year, just when it’s starting to freeze, you don’t get good ice. When they release the water in November, all that water comes down and wears out the ice, the clear ice. And sure it freezes, but all that sand in it freezes and it doesn’t make good ice. Then in April/May, that muddy water melts like nothing. So you don’t have the ice there to make floods. In the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, we used to have nice blue ice before the dam. The ice used to be three feet thick, and blue ice. And that doesn’t melt right away. By the time the Peace River flows [at spring break-up], that ice [was] still almost two feet thick. And that’s what floods it down at Rocky Point. All the water backs up and floods the whole Peace River. A lot of that water goes into Lake Claire, Lake Mamawi, so you get nice clean water over there. That’s why there were a lot of muskrats and everything else over there. Today, these things don’t happen because we don’t have that kind of ice anymore (M64, July 2, 2013) • Demand for energy in winter months leads to the release of water in winter, an unnatural flood time. This has caused winter roads and ice bridges to melt away, restricting access and travel for community members. We got a winter road. Everything in Chip seems to be in two’s, we got two rivers to fill our delta and we have two winter roads. We have one to head south to get our groceries and gas, we have the other heading north running parallel to the Quatre Fourche River. And along the Peace, here it’s called Moose Island. Right here our winter road crosses … up into Fort Smith. I worked on the winter road here for 20-some years building ice bridges … around mid-December, they release water - Bennett Dam starts their big turbines. Everyone needs power, more power for Christmas Lights, more power for the southerners, everyone needs more power. So the turbines spin faster, they release water. Our winter road here, we just finish it off flooding and putting the ice bridge in, and all of a sudden the water comes up. It comes up 8 to 10 feet. We have records where we have had to close the road because the water came up. As Aboriginal people, we never saw water come up in the winter. That’s human cause[d], that’s man cause[d], to get their power, so we have to close our road. It’s just a headache in itself [for] getting groceries and living our lifestyle and getting parts for our snowmobiles and for our traps, it gives us a headache… Not only is it just the delta, it affects us socially as well. To get our groceries, our gas. They close that road and then they say it’s not affecting us? Not only the land, the people itself. (M72, July 2, 2013) • Fewer people out on the land means less transmission of knowledge. Follow-up interviews with MCFN elders and knowledge holders highlighted the importance of several specific areas and values impacted by changes in flow and ice dynamics on the Peace River. Site-specific values were mapped and recorded using standard direct to digital mapping methods. Key values identified included:
• MCFN subsistence, habitation, transportation, environmental feature, and cultural/spiritual values within WBNP and beyond, and especially dense constellations of value near Mouth of the Peace, Rocky Point, Peace Point, Moose Island, Big Slough, and other locations along the Peace River, as well as
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Birch River, Buckton Creek, Quatre Fourche, and other places within the wider PAD, including Lake Claire and Lake Mamawi. MCFN members and families maintain cabins, permanent residences, and preferred harvesting areas for moose, bear, fish and other resources in all of these areas and depend on Peace River flows and ice conditions in all seasons for access and ecological health. • MCFN reserve lands (including Peace Point), traplines, and concentrations of subsistence, habitation, transportation, environmental and cultural/spiritual values in PAD areas outside of WBNP that are influenced by the flow of the Peace River. • MCFNs ability to use key Peace River and PAD waterways for transportation and access to traditional lands and preferred harvest areas in all seasons, including winter. Based on reported MCFN knowledge, there are three kinds of areas where navigation is especially vulnerable to impact from water flows:
o Shallow rocky bottom stretches - especially the rapids above Peace Point, but also the rock weir on the Coupe and des Rochers at little rapids, where the river flows fast and shallow over a rocky bottom. The Peace Point rapids were navigable year round prior to regulation of the river. Since regulation, they have become a barrier for many land users - navigating them requires knowledge, care, slow speed, and an extra prop. Many land users avoid traveling them at all, meaning that a large portion of territory above Peace Point is not available to many MCFN users. During low water events in summer and fall it is not possible to navigate them in a boat with outboard motor (the only available mode of transport for most), even for knowledgeable and experienced land users.
2) Side channels and 'short cuts' along the main river are especially important to hunting for moose and other animals - many of these (because they are shallower than the main channel) are now not accessible by boat and so large areas of preferred and formerly accessible lands are permanently or seasonally lost to MCFN use. Big Scow and Little Scow channels, near the mouth of the Peace, are examples of these. River users also reported a large increase in the number and size of islands in the lower Peace post-regulation, with what used to be open water now full of sand bars and difficult or impossible to navigate, and what used to be sand bars with annual grasses now large and high islands covered in mature willow.
3) Within the PAD, other shallow channels and water bodies that connect to the Peace and depend on seasonal high flow from the Peace to maintain adequate water levels for navigation. These include channels like Baril River and the Coupe river that connect the Peace to the rest of the PAD and Lake Athabasca, and many other portions of the PAD, including Lake Mamawi and Lake Claire, that become shallow and unnavigable at low water, but are replenished and accessible when the Peace and Athabasca flows are synchronized and flow reversal occurs on the Baril, Coupe and other connecting channels.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
• PAD dependent resources which are already impacted by BC Hyrdo’s existing dams, and that threaten to further constrain the ability of MCFN members to harvest muskrat, beaver, mink and otter, migratory birds (especially ducks and geese), fish (especially white fish), and other delta resources that depend on the flow of the Peace River and seasonal flooding of the PAD.
3.2 Peace River flow, ice dynamics and MCFN knowledge and use Seasonal flooding of the PAD is critical for the ecology of the delta, hunting and trapping areas, and navigation routes relied on by MCFN members. The Indian Claims Commission (1998) found clear evidence that, through impacting the flow of the Peace River, past BC Hydro dams have already seriously impacted the PAD, including lands lying beyond WBNP: Although Canada is not foreclosed from producing further evidence and arguments to rebut the compelling evidence before us, that evidence leads inescapably to the conclusion that significant environmental damage was sustained by the First Nation [ACFN] and IR 201 [in the PAD] by the construction and operation of the Bennett Dam. No other conclusion is possible from the prima facie evidence before us. The initial flooding of the reservoir above the dam resulted in immediate reductions in the water flow. Water levels remained low for three succeeding years after 1967, and Lake Athabasca dropped 4-5 feet below pre-dam levels. Shallow lakes in the delta were reduced to mud flats, and in the winter some lakes froze to the bottom. The vegetation almost immediately began a “transition toward dominant willow communities.” This process occurs normally over many years when water levels are naturally reduced, but because of the dam this process was accelerated. The willows replace former species and this change may in turn alter habitat or food sources for animals dependent on them. (ICC 1998: 46-47, underline added)1 Based on MCFN knowledge, simultaneous high water is critical in both rivers to create hydraulic dam conditions that flood the delta in the spring, and cause rivers the otherwise drain the delta to reverse flow and replenish it instead. This back flooding provides water for water bodies such as Lake Claire and Lake Mamawi, and for critical hunting and trapping areas and navigation routes relied on by Mikisew members. Without back flooding caused by high water and hydraulic damming of the Peace, the PAD dries and becomes blocked with vegetation, muskrats and other furbearers die off, migratory birds and fish lose habitat and are less abundant, and MCFN harvesting and land use, which depends on the richness of the delta ecosystems, is impaired. The two rivers flow to the delta, that’s what brings the water levels way up to the right level. When they dammed the Peace River, and there was only the Athabasca River coming down, there was not enough water for it to put in to the delta and bring it
1 While the ICC (1998) ruling was specific to ACFN reserve lands, its findings are relevant to the PAD as a whole including large portions of WBNP and MCFN reserve lands.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
back out, you know to wash out the bottom. There is not enough pressure with just one river. The Peace River is doing nothing [most years]. It’s been like that since they dammed the river … We get no help from the Peace, just the Athabasca. It’s not enough pressure to push everything in and bring it back out. (Mikisew Knowledge Holder M40, July 2, 2013).
In addition to reducing the magnitude of spring flows on the Peace, and reducing the occurrence of reverse flows, participants indicated that BC Hydro management of the Peace means that high and irregular flows occur often in the winter. High flows in winter mean that more sediment is present in Peace River ice, making it weaker and causing it to melt faster, thereby reducing the frequency of ice dams. Irregular winter flows and flooding further damages the river ice and creates dangerous conditions for MCFN members travelling on frozen creeks and rivers in winter. Releasing water from the dam, that’s one of the problems right there. If you release that water at the wrong time of the year, just when it’s starting to freeze, you don’t get good ice. When they release the water in November, all that water comes down and wears out the ice, the clear ice. And sure it freezes, but all that sand in it freezes and it doesn’t make good ice. Then in April/May, that muddy water melts like nothing. So you don’t have the ice there to make floods. (Mikisew Knowledge Holder M61, July 2, 2013).
Figure 1 provides a visual depiction of the location of major ice dam or ice jam locations along the Peace River, with a focus on those locations that result in back flooding of the PAD beyond the Peace River valley. MCFN knowledge holders confirmed the main water courses (in purple) that reverse flow when the Peace is high and hydraulic damming occurs. Yellow arrows indicate the flow of rivers without hydraulic damming (out of the delta and into the Peace). Red arrows indicate the flow of the Peace (into the delta) when it is high and hydraulic damming takes place. Blue arrows indicate the flow of the Athabasca River into the delta. Other tributaries to the delta exist, but when water is high on the Peace, all are ultimately controlled by the Peace River and the hydraulic damming that can occur during high spring and summer Peace flows
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Figure 1. Reported Ice Jam Locations and Reversing Flows on the Peace River based on ACFN and MCFN Indigenous Knowledge
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
3.3 Peace River Trends Prior to, and Since, BC Hydro Regulation According to MCFN elders and knowledge holders, impacts to water levels on the Peace River, and resulting impacts on access, wildlife, and other values, have been ongoing since the construction of the Bennett Dam. Prior to the Bennett Dam, MCFN knowledge holders described the muskrat and beaver as being at the centre of the delta ecosystem, and the MCFN subsistence and trading economy. Muskrat are food for mink and otter, and create edge habitat for migratory birds, while beaver help maintain water levels and further increase wetland habitats. Both muskrat and beaver provide MCFN members with valuable fur, and a reliable and preferred winter and spring food source. Populations of muskrat, in particular, are reported to have declined drastically in the delta and along the Peace River since BC Hydro regulation began.
Table 1. Timeline of high and low water events on the Peace River based on MCFN Traditional Knowledge MCFN Pre 1950’s Up and down years, but overall high waters. Delta filled up quickly and annually. Lots of people on the land depending on the water. 1958 Big ice jam event in delta.
Late 1950’s and 60’s In 1960’s, able to travel from Lake Claire to the Peace along Pine River or Baril River. That was normal all summer. Now impossible. Mamawi was deep enough for large barges to travel. 1968/69 to 1973 One elder reported having trapped over 1600 muskrats in spring prior to start of filling – same area (lake at Mouth of Peace) was turned to mud and has been dry and full of willows over most of past decade. Approx. 1973/74 Good water levels in the delta and weir constructed to mitigate Bennett effects.
1975-1995 Generally low water. Weirs maintain some water in delta, but a lot of water is lost. Delta ecosystems decline. 1996 High water meant that young people able to travel to places they never had before like Baril Creek and Pine 1997 River. 1998-04 Generally low – some minor flooding in delta in 2003-04.
2005-11 Very low water. Many people unable to cross Lake Mamawi in 2010. 2013 Rivers reverse in the delta for the first time in years. Able to access lands fully because plenty of water.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
MCFN participants noted with a great deal of happiness that high water levels, and reversals of flow in the PAD that are occurring this year (2013) are similar to what was considered normal water levels after a spring runoff prior to the construction of the Bennett Dam because they are high and sustained. Elders familiar with how the water and flow was before 1968 commented that what was once a normal level of water at this time of year is now seen as an infrequent anomaly by younger people who aren’t used to seeing the delta as it is supposed to be.
3.4 ‘Glimmers of Hope’ and Reversal of Flow because of Hydraulic Damming on the Peace MCFN members highlighted the importance of the unusual years, like 2013, where the ability of BC Hydro to impound waters is exceeded by the river itself, and high waters and reversal of flow occur in the delta. These rare years were described as providing ‘glimmers of hope’ for the delta and for the traditional way of life.
MCFN knowledge holders described that even in years where the flow of the Athabasca River and other tributaries to Lake Athabasca is high, if the flow of the Peace River is not high, then the water of the PAD and Lake Athabasca flows quickly out through the Rivière des Rochers and Slave River and no hydraulic dam occurs. In these years, little or no Peace River enters the PAD, and the Athabasca flow passes more quickly through the PAD and out through the Slave.
Below is a list of river bodies and tributaries that regularly reversed flow during the spring flood prior to WAC Bennett, and which now very rarely do. See also Map 1. Flow reversals are dependent on high water levels in the Peace River and MCFN members understand that flow reversals are more likely to occur when BC Hydro has to spill water because of existing constraints in the BCH ability to contain Peace River flows. Since the construction of the Bennett Dam, the occurrence of the reversal of these water bodies has become increasingly rare. Reversals have occurred only in unusual high water years (1974, 1997 and 2013), and generally in the second of multiple wet years, whereas they occurred approximately every 4-5 years prior to WAC Bennett. It is anticipated that the construction of the Site C dam would make reversal of flow, and beneficial flooding of the delta, increasingly rare.
As shown on Figure 1, the waterways that ‘reverse’ reverse as a result of high synchronized Spring flows on the Peace and Athabasca Rivers, and resulting hydraulic damming by the Peace are:
• Maskwisipi (Prairie River) - joins Lake Mamawi and Lake Claire. • Mamocinan (gathering place) or Quatre Fourches Channel – important for transport and subsistence based access to Lake Mamawi and beyond.
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• Rocher River (Rivière Des Rocher) – important to subsistence based access • Revillion Coupe River – shorter route between Fort Chipewyan and Peace Point, but difficult to travel at low flow. • Pakosipanak (dry slough)- Baril River – important to subsistence based access prior to Bennett, but largely impassible since. • Minahiksipi (spruce river) - Pine River – important to subsistence based access prior to Bennett, but largely impassible since.
Right here is Rocky Point … that’s the biggest bend that causes ice jams there. And then the Quatre Fourche is right across form it, that backs everything up and runs everything back down here into Lake Mamawi. And then Pine River, Baril Creek, those are little tributaries that run off into the delta. So when you get that big ice jam, it backs up the Quatre Fourche, backs up all these little creeks and floods its banks all along here. I’ve seen Moose Island flooded. It all runs into the delta and puts water into our Lake Claire, Barrel Lake. (M72, July 2, 2013)
Table 2 provides a summary of MCFN observations regarding the delta and effects on knowledge and use pre-Bennett, post-Bennett, as well as further effects anticipated as a result of the Site C Project.
Table 2. MCFN Observations Pre and Post Bennett Dam, and Anticipated with Site C Pre- Bennett Post- Bennett Effects on MCFN After Site C? Knowledge and Use
In 1950’s, there were Since 1968, water Harder to get to hunting More islands, more only 2 or 3 big islands levels have areas and trap lines, have willows, less access in the Peace. declined and many to drag your boat, or go because of more Navigation from Lake small islands and long ways around. This is regular impairment. Claire to the Peace sand bars in the especially hard on elders. River via Pine and Peace make it Baril Creeks was hard to navigate. possible all summer. Sand bars are in Water levels were main channel and high and reliable. also where tributaries hit the Peace.
Travel from Lake Not possible. Can’t access large areas Lake Mamawi Claire to Peace River Silted up and low like Baril Lake. Cannot (already in danger) via Baril or Pine water, lose to the Access even in Spring will likely be Creek. Even Lake Peace River. when used to access all blocked to boat Mamawi was used for summer. access and dry out big barges circa 1955 more regularly.
Ice jams regularly and Ice jams are rare – Declines in wildlife, Lower spring clears into lake in reverse flows muskrats, ducks result in freshets, less spring with regular (1974, 1996/97 fewer opportunities for energy, less ice reverse flows rivers were only times) – hunting and trapping. dams, less
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013 connecting the PAD weirs were Water table drops making hydraulic damming. and the Peace. important to 1974. the delta less resilient.
Clear blue ice – Ice is brown and Access to spring fur is Ice increasingly strong and long weaker because of impaired because of ice unpredictable for lasting, because of sediment in river – melting out faster, travel – isn’t strong low winter flows. melts fast – no ice dangerous travel in spring enough to jam. jams. – especially because of overflow.
When land is frozen, 4-10 foot winter Loss of trapping Unclear, but river does not rise. time fluctuation on economy. Key economic potential impacts Peace. Dead species (muskrat) has resulting from muskrats and disappeared. Overflow on increased BCH beavers extending creeks and rivers make it capacity to manage back from river. A impossible to use snow Peace River flows. few dozen rats in a mobiles (different kind of season where overflow). 2000 would have been trapped in same area with same effort before dam.
“Feel good” when old Loss of security - Psychological effects, More lakes will turn delta comes alive – the water is gone, fewer people on the land, to prairies – people are on the animals are gone, less transmission of continuity of land interacting, don’t know if you knowledge. knowledge and everyone is happy. can get to where cycle of life more you want to go. broken – can’t take kids out to trap when no muskrat.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
3.5 Frustration at Lack of Meaningful Consideration of the PAD by BC Hydro Beyond providing their experience, information and analysis, knowledge holders used the focus groups to express their enormous frustration and disappointment that after more than four decades of suffering and loss in the delta, and ongoing effort by MCFN to articulate and explain the impacts of existing dams to BC Hydro and the Crown, as well as massive amounts of published documentation and research, BC Hydro has proposed a third dam on the Peace without dealing with the ongoing effects of the first two, and without meaningfully recognizing or considering the potential effects of the Project on the PAD, or on the MCFN. For elders and knowledge holders who remember interactions with BC Hydro from the 1970’s, who have participated and explained to BC Hydro through past meetings and studies, and who have lived most of their lives with the legacy of BC Hydro’s first Peace River dams on their lands, waters, and families, the sense of betrayal, of governmental dishonesty or willful blindness, and of history repeating itself through Site C, was intense.
3.6 Key Issues and Pathways of Effect Between the Project and MCFN Knowledge and Use The knowledge of MCFN members regarding the PAD and the Peace River is rich, detailed, complex and current, but also at risk because of serious ecological changes in the PAD since the construction of the WAC Bennett dam. Key issues and pathways of effect between the Site C Project and MCFN knowledge and use are anticipated to include:
• the flow of the Peace River and the PAD are connected, and are central to MCFN knowledge and use of lands and waters. MCFN knowledge holders understand BC Hydro’s influence on flow of the Peace River as one of the most important influences on their lives and their ability to practice knowledge, use and rights on both the main stream of the lower Peace River, and throughout the PAD inside and outside of WBNP, including MCFN reserve lands.
• Key issues related to the proposed Site C Project include: o Project and cumulative impacts to MCFN subsistence, habitation, transportation, environmental feature, and cultural/spiritual values within WBNP and beyond, and especially areas near Mouth of the Peace, Rocky Point, Peace Point, Moose Island, Big Slough, and other locations along the Peace River, as well as Birch River, Buckton Creek, Quatre Fourche, and other places within the wider PAD, including Lake Claire and Lake Mamawi, where MCFN members and families maintain cabins, permanent residences, and preferred harvesting areas that depend on Peace River flows and ice conditions in all seasons for access and ecological health. o Project and cumulative impacts to MCFN reserve lands, traplines, and concentrations of subsistence, habitation, transportation, environmental
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and cultural/spiritual values in PAD areas outside of WBNP that are influenced by the flow of the Peace River. o Project and cumulative impacts to MCFNs ability to use key Peace River and PAD waterways for transportation and access to traditional lands and preferred harvest areas in all seasons, including winter. o Project and cumulative impacts to key PAD dependent resources which are already impacted by BC Hydro’s existing dams, and that threaten to further constrain the ability of MCFN members to harvest muskrat, beaver, mink and otter, migratory birds (especially ducks and geese), fish (especially white fish), and other delta resources that depend on the flow of the Peace River and seasonal flooding of the PAD.
• The unique and complex hydrology (sensitive shallow wetlands), ecology (wetland dependent wildlife and plants) and history (wetland dependent cultural practices and ongoing damages from existing dams) of the PAD are considered likely to magnify the effects of any changes in Peace River flow, regardless of how far upstream those changes may occur. In particular, impacts related to unnaturally high winter water flows remain relatively constant, regardless of distance from the point of release. Since BC Hydro regulation began, MCFN members report annual water level changes between four and six feet occurring in mid- November after initial ice formation has taken place.
• past and ongoing impacts due to BC Hydro dams on the Peace have, and continue to have, important adverse impacts that make both the PAD, and the PAD dependent way of life of MCFN members, especially vulnerable to change in the magnitude, seasonality, duration and frequency of high water on the Peace River.
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
• MCFN members expect that, if built, BC Hydro’s proposed Site C Project will further impact their lands, waters, and way of life including areas inside and outside Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP). These expected effects are based on at least two major pathways anticipated by MCFN knowledge holders based on past experience: o reduced magnitude, duration, and frequency of natural (unmanaged) high spring and summer Peace River flows that, when adequate, are essential for creating hydraulic dam conditions on the Peace, and cause reverse flows and beneficial flooding throughout the delta. MCFN knowledge holders consider this adverse effect to be likely or certain because Site C would increase the proportion of the Peace watershed under BC Hydro control, and reduce the percent of the river’s flow that is determined by natural processes. Site C would also increase the capacity of BC Hydro to successfully impound and manage spring and summer high water on the Peace River, thereby further impairing or delaying natural spring and summer high water conditions on the lower Peace and delta. MCFN knowledge holders estimated that the frequency of hydraulic damming on the Peace resulting in reversed flows in the delta prior to the WAC Bennett dam was in the order of one in every four to five years (approximately 20% likelihood). Since WAC Bennett was built, MCFN knowledge holders indicated that Peace River levels have been sufficient to cause reverse flows only three (1974, 1997, and this spring, 2013) in forty-four years (approximately a 7% likelihood). If Site C is built, MCFN knowledge holders anticipate the frequency, magnitude and duration of hydraulic damming and reverse flows to be reduced further. The effects of reduced flooding in the PAD are well documented (e.g. ICC 1998) and well known to MCFN. They include: § impacts to wildlife, fish and plant habitat in the PAD resulting in reduced quantity of migratory birds, aquatic fur, fish, particular medicinal plants, and other culturally important wetland dependent species in the PAD and along the Peace; § impacts to MCFN navigation in the PAD and along the Peace and adjacent delta waterways as a result of increased incidence of sandbars, rocks and other low water hazards, and reduced access to traditional lands along adjoining tributaries, or along river meanders of the Peace and in the PAD, including MCFN reserve lands; § increases in aquatic weeds, grasses and willows leading to large scale ecological change that further reduces wetland and riparian habitat and productivity, and impacts MCFN water and wetland dependent access and use; § impacts to the ability of the delta to ‘flush itself’ through seasonal spring flooding and release resulting in impacts to channel
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MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
maintenance, reduced water quality in the PAD, and increased fear and concern regarding increased accumulation of industrial contaminants in certain portions of the PAD and in PAD wildlife due to reduced flooding. o potential increased magnitude, duration, and frequency of irregular and unnatural (managed) increases in winter Peace River flows (when the whole Peace watershed would otherwise be frozen and at very low flow) causing: § impacts, including destruction of habitat and dens, for ice and water dependent wildlife in the delta and along the Peace (including culturally important aquatic fur such as muskrat and beaver); § unstable ice surfaces and water conditions that have, in the past, damaged ice bridges and made winter travel in, and access to, the delta and along the Peace by MCFN members (by ice road, foot, or sled / snow machine) dangerous, difficult, or impossible. These include areas of persistent open water in portions of the river (e.g. Rocky Point and rapids above Peace Point) that would freeze solid and provide safe winter travel routes prior to BC Hydro regulation, and areas of dangerous overflow or hanging ice caused by irregular BC Hydro releases upstream; § damage or weakening of Peace River ice as a result of unnatural flooding and freezing of snow cover, and as a result of increased turbulence and sediment in Peace River ice, thereby reducing the potential for spring ice damming on the Peace and beneficial flooding in the PAD.
3.7 Likely MCFN trajectories of use on the Peace River and PAD with and without the Project.
Absent the proposed Site C Project, and without implementation of mitigative changes to BC Hydro’s ongoing Peace River regulation regime, delta based MCFN knowledge and use will continue to be practiced, but will be impaired by the ongoing effects of BC Hydro management of the Peace River. Delta wildlife populations, including muskrats and aquatic fur, and migratory birds, will continue to be depressed, water and ice based transportation and access to preferred areas will continue to be impaired, and willow ingress will continue to convert highly valued delta and riparian habitats. In the context of existing BC Hydro management of the Peace River, and regional variations in precipitation, MCFN members, and the delta itself, would continue to depend on the ‘glimmers of hope’ provided by the now rare years when the Peace River is able to reach spring water levels adequate to reverse flows in the PAD, despite BC Hydro management of the upper watershed.
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Because of industrial impacts including oil sands developments on the Athabasca River and elsewhere in MCFN territory, the importance of the delta adjacent to the Peace River for MCFN practice is likely to increase relative to areas influenced by the Athabasca River. However, this increased importance is likely to exacerbate the combined adverse effects of existing BC Hydro management, and issues related to climate change within the Peace watershed. With regard to the continuity of traditional knowledge and practice in the PAD, reverse flows were relatively common prior to 1968, but under current conditions, are occurring only once or twice in a generation2. As such, the frequency is already at a threshold where transmission of knowledge between generations regarding reverse flows and use and access at high flows is in danger. If the Site C Project is built, MCFN knowledge holders expect that the frequency of high water on the Peace will be further reduced and already vulnerable delta dependent traditional practices will be further compromised. Because of the accumulation of existing effects that already act on MCFN use, and because of the unique delta ecology and MCFN’s cultural dependence on it, even small changes in the flow of the Peace River, especially the timing and magnitude of spring freshet, but also high managed flows in winter, have the potential to result in significant changes on MCFN use and practice. A more full characterization of impacts to MCFN use would require further work with MCFN knowledge holders and more detailed information from BC Hydro regarding likely effects of Site C on the frequency, magnitude and seasonality of Peace River based hydraulic damming in the PAD, winter ice impacts and any other Project or cumulative effects.
2 In demographic terms, a generation is approximately 20 to 25 years.
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Section 4 Conclusions
4.1 Summary of Understanding Existing use and occupancy data demonstrating the importance of the PAD and the Peace River to MCFN rights and interests is extensive. Based on MCFN knowledge, and available Project information, it is clear that the PAD continues to be impacted by BC Hydro control of the Peace, especially during the spring freshet, and that the Site C Project would likely intensify these effects. Based on MCFN traditional knowledge, and review of existing documents, it is clear that:
1. The PAD is a unique ecology that responds to changes in flow on the Peace in unique ways. The lands and waters of the Peace Athabasca Delta (PAD), including the Peace River itself, and the Athabasca River itself, and the wildlife and plant resources and habitats they sustain, are central to MCFN culture and way of life. The importance of the PAD is increasing for the MCFN as a result of industrial impacts and contamination along the Athabasca River, and as a result of recent changes in federal management of Wood Buffalo National Park.
2. Based on available evidence, prior to regulation, both the Peace River and the Athabasca River exhibited high year to year variation within an overall pattern of very high flow during the Spring freshet, often leading to ice damming, and very low flow in late fall and over winter. Lower flows and low turbidity in winter meant stronger ice, and stronger ice meant that when higher spring freshets occurred on the Peace, ice damming and back flooding was common.
3. The unregulated pattern of the Athabasca and Peace Rivers sustained the delta for thousands of years with the two rivers (the Peace and Athabasca) 'working together' to maintain the seasonal variation in flow that is essential to the health of the PAD.
4. Traditional knowledge indicates that the PAD as a whole is drying, and that this drying has coincided with BC Hydro regulation of the Peace. Drying of the delta results in shifting vegetation with less grass and more willow, increased sand bars and islands in the Peace River, and drying of wetlands and muskegs well back from the main course of the river, especially those that depend on seasonal flooding for renewal. Drying results in less habitat for muskrat, waterfowl, and other species, reduced ability to travel or hunt in the delta, and changes in other resources and parameters critical to MCFN use. The ability to harvest muskrat and migratory birds are defining indicators used by MCFN knowledge holders in describing the health of the delta, with muskrat being especially important to the MCFN mixed economy, and in especially precipitous decline as a result of changes in flow in the PAD.
5. The WAC Bennett dam and other BC Hydro infrastructure reduced the downstream flow of the Peace River while it was being filled and continues to through its operation. BC Hydro continues to regulate the flow of the Peace River, including the
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timing and magnitude of the spring freshet, through operation of its Peace River dams. The Indian Claims Commission (1998), supported by decades of research, found that BC Hydro's existing operation of the WAC Bennett and Peace Canyon dams have had, and are having, ongoing detrimental effects on the ecology of the PAD and on the indigenous way of life in the region.
6. With the PAD already significantly impacted by existing BC Hydro operations, even very small changes in flow may result in large effects on the delta and on MCFN use. The occasional years when spring high water on the lower Peace is high enough to create hydraulic damming, and synchronized with spring high water on the Athabasca so that back flooding occurs adequate to renew the PAD, provide increasingly rare and essential windows for the revival of the delta ecology, and the practice of MCFN knowledge and use along the lower Peace and in areas like Lake Claire and Lake Mamawi. Based on available Project information, the proposed Site C Project is anticipated to increase the ability of BC Hydro to store and regulate the Peace River to the detriment of the PAD and the way of life and treaty rights of the MCFN.
7. While the Athabasca and Peace Rivers need to work together in order for the delta to flood, MCFN knowledge holders have understood, for generations, that the Peace River plays a primary role in regulating the flow of the PAD as whole. Available traditional knowledge indicates that the spring peak flows of the Peace River can contribute to the water level of the PAD in at least two primary ways:
• Direct contribution to the PAD as a result of water flowing from the Peace to the PAD when the level of the Peace is higher than the level of the PAD causing flow reversal on key tributaries. • Indirect contribution to the level of the PAD as a result of the Peace River acting as a hydraulic dam and causing the PAD basin to fill even when little or no water may flow directly from the Peace into the PAD. 8. Available traditional knowledge, indicates that the timing and magnitude of peak spring flows on the Peace River are the most critical elements for PAD flooding to occur:
• If the Peace River and the Athabasca River are high and reach peak flow simultaneously then an effective hydraulic dam is created. High flow on the Peace acts as a dam to high flows of the Athabasca and other parts of the delta. This results in a rapid back-flooding and reversal of flow (from the Peace into the Athabasca) along a specific series of channels filling of the PAD as a whole. If the hydraulic dam is maintained over multiple days, a large flood is likely to occur. Ice damming may also contribute. Before regulation, the magnitude of freshet on the Peace was much higher. Based on available evidence, a coincidence of high water led to PAD flooding on a regular basis in the decades prior to 1967 (approximately every 5 years based on traditional knowledge, or approximately 20% likelihood), though the interval may have varied. • If the Peace River flow is high, but not synchronized with a strong Athabasca River freshet then some of the Peace River will flow directly into the PAD but the PAD is likely to flood only lightly.
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• If the flow of the Athabasca River and other tributaries to Lake Athabasca is high, but the flow of the Peace River is not, then the water of the PAD and Lake Athabasca flows out through the Rivière des Rochers and Slave River and no hydraulic dam will occur. Little or no Peace River water will enter the PAD, and the majority of the Athabasca and other tributary flow will be able to pass more quickly through the PAD and out through the Slave. 9. With BCH regulation, and since 1967, the timing and magnitude of high water on the Peace River has been influenced by BC Hydro. Based on MCFN knowledge, the conditions necessary for a hydraulic dam to form on the Peace are occurring less frequently, and so the Peace River regularly permits more water to flow out of Lake Athabasca and the PAD much more rapidly than would be normal under natural (unmanaged) spring and summer conditions.
10. Changes in ice quality, including increasing sediment in Peace River ice, and winter releases of water (especially in November), have been noted at Peace Point and further downstream, as a result of the WAC Bennett Dam. These impacts reduce the chance of ice damming and create dangerous conditions for travel by MCFN members that restricts access to traplines, sometimes destroys traps where these are set on the Peace River or nearby creeks or rivers, and kills or disturbs animal dens, especially muskrat and beaver. MCFN members anticipate that Site C is may result in an increase in these conditions.
11. The timing and magnitude of flow on the Peace, and as a result, the annual flooding of the PAD, is governed by at least three mechanisms that would or may be influenced by the Site C Project:
• As a result of the amount of precipitation and speed of snow or glacier melt within portions of the Peace River watershed that are not regulated by BC Hydro. This is an important annual influence on magnitude and timing but is dominated by large scale climate patterns that are beyond the control of BCH or other single parties. The Site C Project would establish BC Hydro regulation and control over portions of the Peace River watershed that are currently unregulated and would thereby reduce the ability of 'natural' or unregulated freshet on the Peace to benefit or influence the PAD. • As a result of ice dams on the Peace. These may occur seasonally and in particular places where ice, flow, and shore patterns are favorable. They may cause rapid and intense flooding in portions of the PAD. Formation of ice dams is unpredictable, but may be influenced by timing or magnitude of flow, as well as channel morphology and temperature. Magnitude and timing of flow on the Peace, as well as channel morphology, is strongly influenced by BCH management. The Site C Project would increase the ability of BCH to manage the magnitude and timing of spring flow on the Peace, especially during high flow events, thereby reducing the frequency ice damming on the Peace. • As a result of BCH releasing more water into the Peace River downstream of its dam facilities. The timing and magnitude of flow on the Peace as a result of this mechanism is entirely under BCH control. The Site C Project would increase the level of control that BCH has to retain or release water into the Peace, and to influence the timing and magnitude of peak flows on the Peace, thereby reducing the
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frequency of hydraulic damming in the PAD. This would increase damage to the PAD and the ability of MCFN to practice their rights and way of life.
12. It is also clear that under BCH regulation, to date, the timing and magnitude of spring freshet on the Peace at Peace Point and other areas downstream has been managed by BCH, with the freshet being much lower magnitude. Per point 11 above, this has increased drying of the PAD. Drying of the delta and reduced or variable seasonal water levels on the Peace is having a myriad of impacts on MCFN use in the delta, including adverse effects on wildlife populations (especially aquatic fur and migratory waterfowl), water based navigation (due to low water and increased obstacles), and access to large portions of territory. Without a proper assessment, and explicit protective measures, MCFN anticipates that the proposed Site C Project will allow BC Hydro to further control the spring freshet on the Peace, resulting in further and intensified direct adverse effects throughout the PAD, and on MCFN practice of knowledge, use, rights, and way of life. If Site C is built, the ability of BC Hydro to impound the Peace would be increased and MCFN knowledge holders anticipate further exacerbation of the already significant and adverse effects on the PAD and on MCFN from existing BC Hydro dams. Direct Site C effects are anticipated, both on the PAD water levels and MCFN ability to navigate, access, hunt and trap in the delta. Reduced magnitude, duration, or frequency of hydraulic damming on the Peace, and reverse flows on the delta is expected to lead to further drying of lakes and tributaries in the PAD, fewer opportunities for hunting, impacts to aquatic fur, fish, and bird populations, difficult and dangerous access and navigation, and interuption of knowledge transmission to younger generations. Winter release of water and resulting impacts on the delta are also a major concern for MCFN transportation and the ability of MCFN members to rely on access to cabins and other areas impacted by BC hydro regulated winter flows.
4.1.1 Closure Should there be questions or clarification required regarding this report and assessment, please email requests to [email protected], or contact the MCFN GIR directly to schedule a meeting to discuss the findings of this report, and develop a plan for further work to assess the potential impacts of Site C on the lower Peace, the PAD, and the MCFN. Signed September 20, 2013.
ORIGINAL SIGNED
Craig Candler, Ph.D. (Cultural Anthropology) Director, Community Studies and First Nations Consultation ______The Firelight Group Suite 201, 500 Johnson, Victoria, BC, V6W 3C6
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T: +1 (250) 590-9017 C: +1 (250) 220-2064 E: [email protected]
cc/ro/cw/dt/gg/sd
Section 5 Bibliography
Bernard, Russell. (2011). Research Methods in Anthropology (5th edition). Altamira Press. Candler, Craig, Steven Deroy and the Firelight Group. (2012). MCFN and ACFN Desktop Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed ‘Site C’ Dam Project. Unpublished report, December 21, 2012. Indian Claims Commission. (1998). Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Inquiry Report on: WAC Bennett Dam and Damage to Indian Reserve No. 201 Claim. Ottawa: Indian Claims Commission.
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Appendix 1. Select Quotes
ID Date Quote
M72 July 2, There are four [rivers] in our delta that flow both directions. When 2013 the Peace is high, it runs right into our Delta. This year, the water was so high from the Peace it drove the ice right out to the Lake [clearing into the lake]. Both rivers influence our Delta… If they both come at the same time, same run-off, it fills our delta up and floods it. It brought our lake up one meter this summer compared to last year… In 1997, they released the water, [because] they had big sink holes in the Bennett dam [but] … We aren’t getting the ice thickness, we aren’t getting the timing where there is a big slug of water coming down, we aren’t having big ice flooding and jamming events since 1974 … at the mouth of the Peace and the 30th Baseline. M40 July 2, The two rivers flow to the Delta, that’s what brings the water levels 2013 way up to the right level. When they dammed the Peace River, and there was only the Athabasca River coming down, there was not enough water for it to put in to the Delta and bring it back out, you know to wash out the bottom. There is not enough pressure with just one river. [Because of the Bennett dam], the Peace River is doing nothing. It’s been like that since they dammed the river … We get no help from the Peace, just the Athabasca. It’s not enough pressure to push everything in and bring it back out, like fresh water. The [sediment] is building up. I travel [the Peace River] every year, same with the Athabasca River. M72 July 2, Both [Peace and Athabasca] rivers influence our Delta. If they 2013 both come at the same time, same run-off, it fills our delta up and floods it. It brought our lake up one meter this summer compared to last year.
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ID Date Quote
M72 July 2, Right here is Rocky Point … that’s the biggest bend that causes 2013 ice jams there. And then the Quatre Fourche is right across form it, that backs everything up and runs everything back down here into Lake Mamawi. And then Pine River, Beryl Creek, those are little tributaries that run off into the Delta. So when you get that big ice jam, it backs up the Quatre Fourche, backs up all these little creeks and floods its banks all along here. I’ve seen Moose Island flooded. It all runs into the Delta and puts water into our Lake Claire, Baril Lake.
M72 July 2, When you get the big flood, in the spring time, when you’re 2013 normally supposed to get the big floods, its not happening because there’s not enough ice, [it’s] not thick enough to actually jam here at Rocky Point … when it jams, the Quatre Fourche backs up and all these little creeks here flow into the Delta.
M61 July 2, Releasing water from the dam [in winter], that’s one of the 2013 problems right there. If you release that water at the wrong time of the year, just when it’s starting to freeze, you don’t get good ice. When they release the water in November, all that water comes down and wears out the ice, the clear ice. And sure it freezes, but all that sand in it freezes and it doesn’t make good ice. Then in April/May, that muddy water melts like nothing. So you don’t have the ice there to make floods. In the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, we used to have nice blue ice before the dam. The ice used to be three feet thick, and blue ice. And that doesn’t melt right away. By the time the Peace River flows [at spring break-up], that ice [was] still almost two feet thick. And that’s what floods it down at Rocky Point. All the water backs up and floods the whole Peace River. A lot of that water goes into Lake Claire, Lake Mamawi, so you get nice clean water over there. That’s why there were a lot of muskrats and everything else over there. Today, these things don’t happen because we don’t have that kind of ice anymore.
ID Date Quote M72 July 2, We got a winter road. Everything in Chip seems to be in two’s, we 2013 got two rivers to fill our Delta and we have two winter roads. We have one to head south to get our groceries and gas, we have the other heading north running parallel to the Quatre Fourche River. And along the Peace, here it’s called Moose Island. Right here our winter road crosses … up into Fort Smith. I worked on the winter
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road here for 20-some years building ice bridges … around mid- December, they release water - Bennett Dam starts their big turbines. Everyone needs power, more power for Christmas Lights, more power for the southerners, everyone needs more power. So the turbines spin faster, they release water. Our winter road here, we just finish it off flooding and putting the ice bridge in, and all of a sudden the water comes up. It comes up 8 to 10 feet. We have records where we have had to close the road because the water came up. As Aboriginal people, we never saw water come up in the winter. That’s human cause[d], that’s man cause[d], to get their power, so we have to close our road. It’s just a headache in itself [for] getting groceries and living our lifestyle and getting parts for our snowmobiles and for our traps, it gives us a headache. Because they released water, now we can’t go to Fort Smith. We have family and friends at Christmas time to go visit, and also events. Not only is it just the Delta, it affects us socially as well. To get our groceries, our gas. They close that road and then they say it’s not affecting us? Not only the land, the people itself.
Appendix 2. Curriculum Vitae, Dr. Craig Candler
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Education Craig Candler, Ph.D. (Anthropology) Ph.D. Cultural Director, Community Studies and First Nation Consultation Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Employment History Vancouver, BC, 2008 The Firelight Group Research Cooperative-Victoria, BC Director/Community Studies and First Nations Consultation M.A. Anthropology, Specialist (2009 to present) University of Alberta, Responsible, as a founding member and director, for helping Edmonton, AB, 1999 establish The Firelight Group, a group of aboriginal and non- aboriginal research professionals providing respectful and respected environmental and social science research, consulting, and support B.A. (First Class Honors) services in processes where aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests Anthropology, University interact, and where good relationships and quality research tools are of Alberta, Edmonton, desired by all sides. Currently serving as the president of the AB, 1996 Firelight Group, tasks include business and organizational development, as well as design, development, and delivery of technical services including community-based traditional knowledge research and documentation systems, environmental and socio- cultural impact assessments and monitoring programs, indigenous land use mapping, archival research, community involvement processes, and First Nations consultation support services.
Golder Associates Ltd. – Victoria, BC Senior Anthropologist/Traditional Studies and Community Consultation Specialist (2005 to 2009) As Senior Anthropologist, provided technical leadership to the cultural sciences division of Golder in the fields of traditional studies and First Nations consultation, particularly within the context of environmental impact assessment. Responsible for design, development, and oversight of community-based traditional knowledge research and documentation systems, capacity building initiatives, environmental and socio-cultural impact assessment and monitoring, indigenous land use mapping, public involvement processes, archival research, and First Nations consultation support services. Tasks included leading baseline data collection, environmental assessment, and community involvement components related to community-based traditional use studies and First Nations consultation support, including projects with estimated capital costs in excess of one billion dollars. Projects included mines, wind and other energy developments, civil infrastructure, environmental remediation, and linear energy transmission projects. Key clients and partners included First Nations across BC and western Canada, private industry, and government agencies. www.thefirelightgroup.com 28
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University of British Columbia, Ph.D. Researcher – Vancouver, BC Lead Researcher, Changing Land Use and Children's Health in Mae Chaem, Northern Thailand (2000 to 2008) Responsible for designing, grant writing, coordinating, and conducting anthropological research within a multi-method (qualitative and quantitative) and community-based research project on oral histories of land use and child health change in Northern Thailand since the 1950s. Third Stone Community Research – Edmonton, AB Anthropological Consultant (1995 to 2005) Founder and Principal of a private consulting company offering applied anthropological, community-based research and consultation services, specializing in First Nations land use documentation and mapping, and comprehensive socio-cultural and community impact assessment and mitigation. Projects included leading a large multi- year traditional use study for the Treaty 8 Tribal Association of BC, as well as smaller projects for communities and research agencies based in Alberta, BC, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories. National Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Forest Management, University of Alberta – Edmonton, AB Research Coordinator (2000) Research and funding coordinator for socio-economic, community sustainability, and integrated and cumulative effects related projects supported through the NCE-SFM. Centre for the Cross-Cultural Study of Health and Healing, University of Alberta – Edmonton, AB Coordinator and Consultant Liaison (1995 to 1999) Coordinator of office activities including development of a consulting program for academic and contract research, project proposal development, grant applications, reporting, financial administration, marketing and managing a publishing series, organizing public workshops and lectures, and coordinating volunteer involvement.
Project Experience – Traditional Knowledge (TEK) and Traditional Use Studies (TUS)
Mikisew Cree First Primary Researcher and Project Manager for a TEK/TUS project www.thefirelightgroup.com 29
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Nation and Athabasca involving documentation of community use and knowledge along the Chipewyan First Nation Athabasca River to inform decisions regarding water withdrawals and oil sands production. Jointly funded through two First Nations, Northwest Alberta the project involves documentation of First Nations use and interests through interviews and mapping, and understanding the effects water quality and water level change on the practice of aboriginal and treaty rights along a major river and within an ecologically sensitive delta and lake area.
British Columbia Component Lead for an overview-level TUS for planning of a linear Transmission transmission project involving archival review, field interviews, and Corporation coordinated research with more than forty First Nations with traditional territories in the Fraser Valley, Fraser Canyon, and in the Southwest British area of Nicola Lake. Tasks included methodology development, Columbia interview protocols, First Nations liaison, supervising and participating in mapping interviews and archival review, and leading analysis and reporting.
Kwoiek Creek Component Lead for community-based TUS conducted for Hydroelectric Project environmental assessment of a run-of-river project, including transmission line, proposed by a First Nation joint venture. The Southwest British project involved generation of energy and transmission through Columbia multiple First Nations territories. Tasks include methodology review, supporting First Nations interviewers to complete baseline, and leading community-based impact assessment and reporting.
Western Canadian Coal Project Manager for the completion of Socio-Economic and Aboriginal Interests and Use chapters for an Environmental Northeast British Assessment (EA) application to the BC Environmental Assessment Columbia Office (BC EAO) regarding a proposed coal development in northeast BC. The project involved working with First Nations and Metis groups and included methodology review, First Nations and aboriginal liaison, and reporting.
Peace River Coal Component Lead for overview-level TUS and TEK work conducted for EA purposes for two coal mines and related developments. The Northeast British project involved working with six First Nations and Metis groups. Columbia Tasks have included methodology development, First Nations liaison, archival review, community-based mapping, focus group interviews, and reporting. North Coast Wind Component Lead for overview and operational-level TUS proposed within a harmonized BC Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA)- www.thefirelightgroup.com 30
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Energy Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) process on the north coast of BC. The project involved a large generation area and Northwest British more than 100 km of linear transmission corridor involving the Columbia traditional territories of three First Nations. Tasks included methodology development, archival review, First Nations liaison, and preliminary coordination of overview-level TUS interviews.
Aseniwuche Winewak Project Manager and lead researcher for a gap analysis of TUS data Nation used for First Nations consultation purposes, providing specialist support for the optimization of an internal First Nations consultation Grande Cache, AB and referral system, and providing research services in support of oral history interviews and document preparation related to a comprehensive claim.
Treaty 8 Tribal Project Coordinator for all aspects of a large multi-community, multi- Association year traditional use study (TUS) with a budget in excess of one million dollars, including mapping and TEK interview components, Northeast British training, project management, site visits, GPS data collection, Columbia archival review, GIS and database design, digitization, indigenous toponomy, and oral history. Facilitated negotiation of community consultation and information protection protocols.
Sawridge First Nation Methodology development, interview protocols, First Nations liaison, and Kapawe’no First and proposal development. Nation Traditional Use Study Central Alberta
Bigstone Cree Nation Assisted with gap analysis, evaluating community goals and needs, TUS Gap Analysis and the potential of an existing TUS data set to meet those goals and needs. Review of digital data, methodologies, and community Northwest Alberta goals.
Beaver First Nation Methodology development, First Nations liaison, training and Traditional Use Study capacity building workshops on community-based research, mapping strategies, GIS/GPS technology, and proposal writing. Northwest Alberta
Dene Tha’ Consultation Methodology development and expert review of TUS data collection Pilot Project and mapping, digital data capture, and database design. Assisted www.thefirelightgroup.com 31
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Northwest Alberta negotiation of final information sharing and consultation protocols.
Halfway River First Designed and delivered TUS methodology, field work, training, and Nation Traditional Use capacity building in mapping and land use research. Study Northeast British Columbia
Dene Tsaa Tse K’nai Designed and delivered TUS methodology, field work, interviews, (Prophet River) First design of field recording and GPS strategies, coordination of field Nation Traditional Use visits, training, reporting and capacity building. Study Northeast British Columbia
Canadian Circumpolar Literature review and critique of emerging GIS and GPS Institute technologies in the context of traditional knowledge research in Canada’s north. Edmonton, AB
Gwich’in Tribal Council Archival research in the Hudson’s Bay Archives, archival and the Sustainable documentation and report writing on historic environmental change Forest Management and resource use along the Mackenzie Delta. Network Winnipeg, MN
Project Experience – Socio-Economic and Cultural Impact Assessment
Western Canadian Coal Project Manager for the completion of Socio-Economic and TUS chapters for an Environmental Assessment (EA) application to the Northeast British BC Environmental Assessment Office (BC EAO) regarding a Columbia proposed coal development in northeast BC. The project has involved working with First Nations and Metis groups. Tasks have included methodology review, First Nations liaison, and reporting.
Public Works and Design and implementation of public and First Nations involvement, www.thefirelightgroup.com 32
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Government Services including social studies, related to a risk assessment of contaminants in a heavily used urban industrial waterway. Victoria, BC
Treaty 8 Tribal Assisted with design and development, including fundraising, criteria Association and indicators, and determination of community-relevant VECs (Valued Ecosystem Components) for a community-based and First Northeast British Nations-led centre for cumulative impact assessment, geared Columbia particularly towards the oil, gas, and forestry sectors, and utilizing both community- and science-based knowledge.
World Agroforestry Design and delivery of a two-year study working within a Centre multidisciplinary team to develop community-based methods for tracing environmental and community health changes over time, Chiang Mai, Thailand particularly with regards to pesticide use and early child health. Methodology development, training, field interviews, analysis, reporting.
Treaty 8 Tribal As-and-when needed technical support and recommendations to Association local governments towards the resolution of community concerns involving forestry, oil and gas, highways, and agriculture sectors. Northeast British Columbia Sustainable Forest Worked as part of a multidisciplinary management team to support Management Network and manage socio-economic and cumulative effects related to boreal forest industries and communities. Team included industry, Edmonton, AB academic, and government representatives.
Bigstone Cree First Extended field work and community-based research on the effects of Nation northern industry, particularly pulp and paper development, upon social relations, community factionalism, and the practice of Northern Alberta traditional medicine in a Northern Cree community.
Project Experience – First Nation Consultation and Negotiation
BC Hydro Aboriginal Assisted in leading a consultation team providing specialist First Relations and Nations consultation services in relation to the environmental Negotiations permitting of a large transmission line project in northwestern BC. The project involved multiple First Nations in the area of Terrace, Northwest BC BC, as well as the Nisga'a Nation. Tasks included procedural consultation support, acting as point of contact for First Nation www.thefirelightgroup.com 33
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consultation, coordination and documentation of consultations within the environmental assessment process, supporting negotiations regarding memorandums of understanding and provision of capacity funding, as well as support, where appropriate, for negotiation of long-term impact and benefits agreements (IBAs) or other agreements related to project construction and operation.
Mount Hays Wind Farm Component Lead for First Nations consultation services in relation to LP permitting of a proposed development through provincial and federal processes. The project involved three First Nations and traditional Northwest BC territory interests within an existing municipal boundary. Tasks included procedural consultation support, acting as point of contact for First Nation consultation, coordination and documentation of consultations, facilitation of negotiation regarding letters of understanding and development of accommodation packages including non-financial and financial accommodations, and support for negotiation of a long-term impact and benefits agreement (IBA).
North Coast Wind Component Lead for First Nations consultation services in relation to Energy a multi-billion dollar project being processed through a harmonized provincial-federal process. The project involved supporting Northwest British consultation and accommodation discussions involving three First Columbia Nations and related traditional territory interests south of Prince Rupert, BC. Tasks included procedural consultation advice, acting as point of contact for First Nation consultation, coordination and documentation of consultations, facilitation of negotiation regarding letters of understanding and development of accommodation packages including non-financial and financial accommodations, and negotiation of long-term impact and benefits agreement (IBA).
Catalyst Paper Corp. Project Manager for provision of Public and First Nations consultation support, including analysis of First Nations consultation Vancouver Island, BC requirements and strategic advice. Tasks included delivery of consultation tools including letters, contact matrices, project website development, and open house coordination.
Public Works and Project Manager for provision of expert consultation support, including analysis of First Nations consultation requirements under www.thefirelightgroup.com 34
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Government Services federal policy and recent court decisions. Tasks included project and document review and reporting. Victoria, BC
Aseniwuche Winewak Project Manager for conducting a gap analysis of TUS data used for Nation consultation purposes, and providing expert support for the optomization of an internal First Nations consultation and referral Grande Cache, AB system.
Treaty 8 Tribal Assisted with the design and development of a TUS data system Association designed for referral and consultation purposes. Tasks included design and implementation of GIS and databases, and negotiation of Northeast British information sharing protocols. Columbia
Dene Tha’ Consultation Methodology development and expert review of TUS data collection Pilot Project and mapping, digital data capture, and database design. Assisted negotiation of final information sharing and consultation protocols. Northwest Alberta
Project Experience – Training and Capacity Building
North Coast Wind Designed and delivered a week-long training workshop to three Energy north coast First Nations on community-based TUS/TEK research, including traditional use mapping, for environmental assessment Northwest British purposes. Training included classroom and field components and Columbia was taught in collaboration with four community Elder instructors.
Treaty 8 Tribal Design and development (including fundraising) for a community- Association based and First Nations-led centre for cumulative impact assessment utilizing both traditional and scientific knowledge and Northeast British criteria for evaluating and monitoring environmental, socio- Columbia economic, and health changes.
University of British Design and delivery of a senior university-level course on the Columbia ethnography of Southeast Asia. Vancouver, BC University of Alberta Design and delivery of senior university-level courses in the School of Comparative and Religious Studies, and Department of Edmonton, AB www.thefirelightgroup.com 35
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Anthropology.
Northern Lights College Design and delivery of a college-level course on anthropology, community research, and natural resource management for post- Inuvik, NT secondary Gwich’in and Inuvialuit students.
Professional Affiliations
Canadian Anthropological Society (CASCA) – Member of the CASCA Executive, effective June 2010, representing applied and practicing anthropologists in Canada at the national level.
Canadian Asian Studies Association – Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies (CASA- CCSEAS)
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA)
Selected Publications
Peer Reviewed Craig, Candler, Rachel Olson, Steven Deroy and Kieran Broderick. Publications, Journal Participatory GIS as a Sustained (and Sustainable?) Practice: The Articles, and Case of Treaty 8 BC. Participatory Learning and Action, 54 (2006), Proceedings p. 325-356.
Young, David and Craig Candler. 1997. “The Paradoxes of Northern Development in Canada: An Anthropological Perspective,” in The Proceedings of the 11th International Abashiri Symposium on Peoples and Cultures of the North, Abashiri, Japan.
Candler, Craig, David Young, Cliff Pompana and Denise Spitzer. A www.thefirelightgroup.com 36
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Hermeneutic Exposition of a Plains Healer’s Concept of “The Grandfathers”. Anthropos, 92 (1996), 115-128.
Books and Theses Candler, Craig. 2008. Changing Land Use and Children’s Health in Mae Chaem, Northern Thailand. Ph.D. thesis, University of British Columbia.
Candler, Craig. 1999. Healing and Cultural Formation in a Bush Cree Community. M.A. thesis, University of Alberta. Scholarly Conference Invited Roundtable member for: Anthropological Connections: Presentations Networking Practising Anthropologists in Canada, Canadian Anthropological Society (CAS-SCA), Montreal, Canada (2010).
The Good, the Bad and the Glossy: Anthropology, Land Use Mapping and ‘Adequate’ First Nations Consultation and Accommodation. Presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Vancouver, Canada (2006).
Incorporating TEK and Aquatic Toxicity Science. Interactive Workshop Presentation for the Aquatic Toxicity Workshop, Jasper, Canada (2006).
Transcendent Life (and) Science: Medicine, Ecology, and Flexible Biotechnical Citizenship in a Northern Thai Valley. Presented at the 32nd Congress of the Canadian Anthropological Society (CAS-SCA), Merida, Mexico (2005).
Globalization in a Pill: Opium, Yaa Baa, and Addictive Modernity in Northern Thailand. Presented at the joint meetings of the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies (CCSEAS) and the Canadian Asian Studies Association East Asian Council (CASA-EAC), Université de Montréal, Canada (2003).
Maps, Dreams, and GIS: Telling Stories with New Technology. Presented at the 27th Congress of the Canadian Anthropological Society (CAS-SCA), University of Calgary, Canada (2000). www.thefirelightgroup.com 37
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The Concept of Significance in Cultural Resource Management: Protecting What Past for Whose Future? Presented at the 1999 Chacmool Conference on Indigenous Peoples and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Canada (1999).
Paper, Pipes and the Pentecost: Healing and Change in a Northern Cree Community. Presented at the 25th Congress of the Canadian Anthropological Society (CAS-SCA), Toronto, Canada (1998).
Reviews and Other Craig Candler has provided external and/or internal peer review on specialist technical reports, academic articles, and book length works, including peer review of chapters and contributions to Terry Tobias' (2010) landmark work, Living Proof: the Essential Data- Collection Guide for Indigenous Use-and-Occupancy Map Surveys.
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Appendix 3. Informed Consent Documentation for MCFN
MCFN Peace River Knowledge and Use Project Declaration of Informed Consent and Permission to use Information I (name) , on this day (complete date) , give permission for to interview me for the MCFN Peace River Knowledge and Use Project. I understand that the study is being conducted by the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN). The purpose of this project is to document baseline data and trend information related to MCFN knowledge and use of the Peace River and its interactions with the PAD, and to identify likely pathways of effect between the Site C Project and MCFN knowledge and use.
By signing below, I give permission to have my words and responses regarding my land use and my past and current traditional ecological knowledge recorded on maps, in notes, and using audio and video recording equipment. I also understand that:
(a) I am free to not respond to questions that may be asked, and to end the interview at any time that I wish, without penalty.
(b) The MCFN will maintain intellectual property rights over information and recordings collected through my participation in this interview and may use the information collected, including audio, video, or images, in pursuit of its claims, and for defending and communicating the rights, interests, and titles of its members. This will include, but is not limited to, sharing information for the purposes of environmental assessment.
(c) The MCFN will contact me, or my descendents, before using my information for purposes other than those indicated above.
For more information, please contact Clifford Starr @ (780) 714-6500.
If needed, I also give permission to have my name included in reports:
yes no
Signature of participant Witness
______
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Appendix 4. MCFN and ACFN Desktop Knowledge and Use Report MCFN and ACFN Desktop Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed ‘Site C’ Dam Project
December 21, 2012
Craig Candler (Ph.D.), Steve DeRoy (M.Sc.) and the Firelight Group Research Cooperative with the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN) and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN)
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MCFN and ACFN Desktop Knowledge and Use Report BC Hydro’s Proposed ‘Site C’ Dam Project Prepared and lead authorship by: Craig Candler (Ph.D), Steve DeRoy (M.Sc.) and the Firelight Group Research Cooperative On behalf of: Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN) and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Submitted to: Mikisew Cree First Nation Government and Industry Relations and (MCFN GIR) Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Industry Relations Corporation (ACFN IRC)
Disclaimer The information contained in this report is based on ‘desktop’ information ONLY. No interviews specific to the proposed ‘Site C’ Project were conducted due to funding and time constraints. This report reflects the understanding of the authors, and is not intended to be a complete depiction of the dynamic and living system of use and knowledge maintained by ACFN or MCFN elders and members. All mapped information is based on ACFN or MCFN data available at the time of writing. Data gaps related to the Peace River are substantial for both communities, but especially for the ACFN. Base map data originate from the National Topographic System and Natural Resources Canada. The information contained herein should not be construed as to define, limit or otherwise constrain the Treaty and aboriginal rights of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Mikisew Cree First Nation, or other First Nations or aboriginal peoples.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Introduction and Background
1 Introduction The Firelight Group Research Cooperative (Firelight) is pleased to provide this desktop review of baseline information held by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Industry Relations Corporation (ACFN IRC) and Mikisew Cree First Nation Government and Industry Relations (MCFN GIR) regarding ACFN and MCFN knowledge and use in the vicinity of the lower Peace River, and particularly in relation to BC Hydro’s proposed ‘Site C’ dam project (the Project). This report provides a summary of existing data related to ACFN and MCFN use in and around the Peace River in the vicinity of Peace Point, as well as a summary of key issues identified in review of existing information. This report does not address existing data regarding ACFN and MCFN use within the larger Peace and Athabasca Delta (PAD), which is extensive. The information contained in this report is based on ‘desktop’ information ONLY. No interviews specific to the proposed ‘Site C’ Project were conducted due to funding and time constraints. No assessment of likely Project effects is included in this report.
1.1 The Project The Project would be the third major hydro-electric dam and reservoir on the upper Peace River. The dam site would be just south of Fort St. John, BC, and the resulting reservoir would occupy portions of the Peace River, Moberly River, Halfway River, and other river valleys, extending upstream to approximately the area of Hudson’s Hope, BC. The Project would have effects both upstream and downstream of the dam site. Based on the knowledge and experience of both the ACFN and MCFN, BC Hydro’s existing two dams on the Peace River (W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon) have had an immense effect on downstream areas of the lower Peace, and especially in the area of Wood Buffalo National Park and the PAD. In its lower reaches, the Peace River is a major influence on the ability of MCFN and ACFN members to practice water and delta based rights and interests. The past and ongoing effects of existing BC Hydro dams on the PAD, and resulting impacts on the practice of aboriginal rights in the area, are documented in several documents, including the findings of the Indian Claim Commission regarding impacts to ACFN reserve lands (ICC 1998).
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
In a report on MCFN economic history, Dr. Patricia McCormack notes:
The Province of British Columbia had developed is own “Northern Vision” by the early 1950s, which culminated in the Portage Mountain hydroelectric project and the Bennett Dam, completed in 1967. The dam would change the hydrological regime of the Peace River and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, with significant deleterious impacts on the traditional Cree lands and the bush-based components of their mixed economy… The primary impact of the Bennett Dam was the elimination of the spring flooding of the Peace River, as a result of the large volumes of water which the dam impounded. This reduced water flow was compounded by a natural regime of slightly-below average runoff from 1968 to 1970. From 1968 to 1970, summer water levels of Lake Athabasca were four to five feet lower than during the years 1960 to 1967…This change in water regime allowed areas that formerly were either inundated or maintained by flooding as sedge-grass meadows – plant communities in early successional stages – to be exposed and be invaded by willows and trees… Direct economic losses to the Crees included loss of current income, loss of earning capability of recent investments (in trapping, hunting, and fishing equipment), and loss of development potential. (McCormack 2004: 111-114)
1.2 The Study This report is based on desktop review only. Substantial gaps exist in existing documentation of the extent and nature of MCFN, and especially ACFN, use and interests in the area of the Peace River. No interviews were conducted as part of this work due to funding and time constraints.
Even without dedicated work designed to understand the knowledge and use of MCFN and ACFN in the area of the lower Peace River, past research studies conducted by both First Nations have identified, at least in passing, traditional ecological knowledge and use in areas along the Peace River.
The primary goal of this study, identified in the statement of work dated December 4, 2012, and approved by BC Hydro, was to complete a technical report summarizing existing ACFN and MCFN use data in the Peace River area, for consideration by BC Hydro, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Mikisew Cree First Nation, and regulators to be submitted to ACFN/MCFN by late December 2012.
1.2.1 Study Scope This report includes non-confidential site specific information related to the lower Peace River, and identification of key issues and non-site specific concerns based on existing information.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Firelight based its review on a study area that focuses on areas up and down stream of the Peace Point area. The study area includes values within five kilometres3 of both sides of the main stream of the Peace River, from the western edge of the Wood Buffalo National Park in the west to the junction of the Peace and Slave Rivers in the east, and extending and south towards Fort Chipewyan, ending at Lake Athabasca. The study area map is shown in Figure 1. As shown on figures 2 and 3, mapped values include subsistence, habitation, cultural/spiritual, environmental features, and transportation classes, as well as Indian reserves. The study area includes:
• MCFN reserve lands and permanent habitation areas used by ACFN and MCFN members at Peace Point; • permanent MCFN habitation areas at Garden River, along the Peace River near the western boundary of Wood Buffalo Nation Park (WBNP); • permanent habitation areas used by ACFN and MCFN members along the Peace River near Rocky Point.
The study area does not include the larger PAD that is dependent on seasonal flows from the Peace River. This larger PAD area is very heavily used by both ACFN and MCFN, includes ACFN and MCFN reserve lands, the community of Fort Chipewyan, and portions of Lake Athabasca, as well as Lake Claire, Lake Mamawi, and connecting channels.
1.2.2 Study Methods This study was conducted through review of existing ACFN and MCFN databases for site- specific values, as well as other material including past ACFN and MCFN reports, in order to identify key issues and non-site specific values. Data from the communities was kept separate and is reported separately below. Key issues and non-site specific values were confirmed with ACFN IRC and MCFN GIR staff. For each community, the studies reviewed are listed before presentation of the data. Each study was based on different focal areas, and followed different methods, though there are some useful similarities. For the purpose of this report, site-specific values include values that are reported as specific and spatially distinct, and that may be mapped (though exact locations may be considered confidential). Site-specific values, such as cabins or kill sites, reflect specific instances of use that anchor the wider practice of livelihood within a particular landscape. For example, a particular moose kill site may be mapped with a precise point, but that value is correctly interpreted as an anchor or focal point for a wide spectrum of other related livelihood practices and values, including:
• wider hunting areas covered in efforts to find the moose; • practice of navigation and tracking in order to access the moose;
3 Five kilometres (just over three miles) is an approximation of the distance easily travelled in a day trip from a point (such as a cabin, camp or other location) by foot through bush, as when hunting, and returning to the point of origin (Candler et al, 2010:29). It is used as a reasonable approximation of the area relied upon for regular resource use, or zone of reliance, surrounding a given transportation or habitation value.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
• religious or ceremonial practices that may be associated with the hunt; • food processing and preparation techniques to utilize the moose; • connection to family hunting areas and sense of place; • indigenous language and place names used to share knowledge and teach younger generations; • cultural sharing of resources to elders and other community members ; and • the range of social relationships and knowledge transmission (teaching) activities that are required for a successful hunt to occur.
In other words, every mapped site-specific value implies a much wider range of activities and a wider geographic area upon which the meaningful practice of that use relies. Therefore, the area covered by recorded site-specific use values should be understood as a tiny portion of the area actually needed for meaningful practice of ACFN and MCFN livelihood. Site-specific value components for baseline presentation include five classes of site-specific values. More detailed activity codes from each of the studies were ‘lumped’ into one of the following activity classes:
• subsistence values (including harvesting and kill sites, and plant food collection areas); • habitation values (including temporary or occasional, and permanent or seasonal camps and cabins reported within the study area); • cultural/spiritual values (including burials, village sites, ceremonial areas, and medicinal plant sites, and non-RFMA trapping and teaching areas reported within the study area); • transportation values (including trails, water routes, and navigation sites within the study area); and • environmental feature values (specific highly valued habitat reported within the study area).
All ACFN and MCFN data (points, lines and polygons) are shown with a 1 kilometre buffer. Points were randomized by 250 metres, then 1 kilometre buffers were generated around all points, lines, and polygons in order to account for margin of error, and to protect confidential information.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Figure 2: Study Area4
1.2.3 Study Gaps and Limitations Information contained herein is the most current available to ACFN and MCFN, however, because the vast majority of proposed Projects that have resulted in collection of ACFN and MCFN knowledge and use data are located along the Athabasca River, almost all of the existing ACFN and MCFN studies focus on areas beyond the current study area, and do not provide detailed consideration of ACFN and MCFN use in the vicinity of the Peace River. Review of existing studies does indicate that dedicated work should be undertaken. Major gaps in existing studies include:
• For MCFN, existing data is not complete for the Peace River area. Our understanding is that no MCFN members residing at Garden River have participated in MCFN studies to date. MCFN use of the Peace River is active and ongoing.
4 Place names shown are derived from CanVec topographic base data and do not necessarily follow local ACFN and MCFN usage.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
• For ACFN, very little information was available regarding ACFN use along the River, however ACFN use along the Peace River is ongoing. • Neither community has undertaken dedicated studies regarding the Peace River, its navigation, and the influence of flow on ACFN or MCFN use of lands and resources, nor how rights are currently impacted by existing hydro dams on the Peace, nor how the addition of the Project would further impact them.
This study is desktop only, did not include any interviews or meetings with knowledge holders to discuss the Site C project, or potential issues. As such, this report is preliminary in nature, and likely demonstrates only a very small portion of total ACFN and MCFN use and occupancy in the study area. It is not intended as a complete depiction of the dynamic and living system of use and knowledge maintained by ACFN and MCFN elders and members. Given these limitations, it is especially important to note that absence of data does not suggest absence of knowledge, use or value. Additional work is necessary to properly characterize ACFN and MCFN use and occupancy within the study area, and to assess the likely effects of the Project on ACFN and MCFN use of lands and resources. This study may contribute to, but should not be taken as a replacement for further community-based studies and assessments that should be undertaken. Nothing in this submission should be construed as to waive, reduce, or otherwise constrain ACFN and MCFN Aboriginal or Treaty rights5 within, or outside, regulatory processes. Nor should it be construed as to define, limit, or otherwise constrain the treaty or Aboriginal use or rights of other First Nations or Aboriginal peoples. This report is specific to the Project and should not be relied upon to inform other projects or initiatives.
2 MCFN Values and Key Issues Since the formation of WBNP, the MCFN have had their subsistence rights recognized within WBNP operations6. Because of longstanding MCFN connections to the Peace River and adjacent areas, but also because of formal recognition of MCFN use by WBNP, MCFN use in the area of Peace Point, as well as areas upstream and downstream is intensive.
2.1 MCFN baseline information sources MCFN mapped (site-specific) baseline information sources included the following six studies, all of which were reviewed in Elias 2011.
• The Ayapaskowinowak Study (Tanner, 2006);
5 For the purpose of this report, treaty rights are understood to include, but are not limited to, hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering for sustenance and livelihood purposes, as well as ancillary practices.
6 Conversely, as discussed briefly in section 3 below, ACFN subsistence practices were formally excluded from park boundaries until very recently.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
• Husky Sunrise Study (Husky Oil Operations Ltd., 2005); • PACTeam Historic Study (PACTeam Canada Inc., 2007); • Deer Creek Study (Tanner, 2008); • Total Joslyn North Mine Study by Calliou Group (Conacher et al., 2009); and • MCFN Comprehensive TLU Study (Tobias, 2010). • MCFN Athabasca River Knowledge and Use Study (The Firelight Group, 2010) • MCFN Indigenous Knowledge Study for Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion, Pierre River Mine, and Redclay Compensation Lake (The Firelight Group, 2012) • MCFN Coordinated Knowledge and Use Study (The Firelight Group, 2012)
The most important and useful account of MCFN use within the Study Area comes from Tobias’ 2010 work. Still, despite the title, important sections of the MCFN membership were not interviewed, including MCFN members residing at Garden River (also known as Garden Creek, shown in black in figures), upstream of Peace Point and along the Peace River.
2.2 MCFN Site Specific Values Table 1 provides an account of reported MCFN site-specific values within the study area. Figure 2 provides a map of MCFN site-specific use data reported within the study area and shows the relative density of site-specific use values within the vicinity of Peace Point on the Peace River. The study area includes 3,462 reported site-specific use values, including 2,390 subsistence values, 690 habitation values and 359 cultural/spiritual values. More than fifty accounts of burials have been documented by MCFN members within the study area, and documented transportation values are primarily associated with river travel along the Peace River. Table 2: Reported MCFN site-specific values in the study area
Activity Class # of values within the study area
Cultural / Spiritual 359
Environmental 8
Habitation 690
Subsistence 2390
Transportation 15
TOTAL: 3462
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Figure 3: Reported MCFN site specific use values
MCFN's Garden River members have never been interviewed, so their knowledge and use is not represented in the existing MCFN data set. Even without it, mapped MCFN use extends
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
throughout the study area, and is particularly intensive in the Peace Point area, and along the Peace River. This patterning highlights the critical role that the Peace River plays for MCFN land users. Within the river itself, hundreds of values were mapped and associated with fishing (multiple species), harvesting migratory birds, and aquatic fur, water based plants and medicines, as well as harvest of large animals including moose, bison and caribou. The inset map included in Figure 2 focuses on MCFN reserve lands at Peace Point (shown in black outline). A dense cluster of values (subsistence, habitation, and cultural/spiritual) is associated with the area. Other values extend up and downstream of Peace Point. As noted above, the relatively sparse reporting of values in the Garden River area, near the western boundary of WBNP, is almost certainly related to a lack of work done with MCFN members resident at Garden River, or with other MCFN members active in the area, and should not be interpreted as an absence of use or value.
2.3 MCFN Non-Site Specific Values and Key Issues While no interviews were conducted specific to the Project, key issues identified through review of past work were confirmed through telephone conversations with an MCFN staff member. Based on these conversations, the following non-site specific values and key issues were confirmed:
• Past and ongoing impacts from initial Peace river dams (W.A.C Bennett and Peace Canyon) - including impacts up and downstream of Peace Point, and large areas of the Peace delta (including Lake Claire and Lake Mamawi) - continue to affect MCFN and ACFN use up the Peace River and throughout the Peace-Athabasca Delta area.
• The Peace River is a critically important transportation route used by MCFN members at Garden River, Fort Chipewyan and Peace Point. It is also used by ACFN members.
• The Peace River, including Peace Point and other areas within WBNP, is recognized by MCFN members for its relatively in-tact environmental quality and wildlife habitat. This, combined with pressures on MCFN use along the Athabasca River and elsewhere due to oil sands and other developments, means that the Peace River plays a critical role in MCFN use of lands and resources, and this importance is likely to increase in the future as other areas are impacted further.
• The cultural importance of Peace Point for both Dene and Cree peoples from an oral historical perspective is huge as it is recognized as the location of the peace made between Dene and Cree in the late 18th century.
• The presence of MCFN reserve lands at Peace Point, and the existence of permanent MCFN residences at Peace Point and elsewhere along the Peace, highlight the importance of the area for MCFN practice of rights.
• The Peace River, including Quatre Fourche and Coupe Rivers, have already been impacted by the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, and are subject to seasonal lack of access
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
because of inadequate or irregular flow dynamics on the Peace. Existing issues on the Peace River related to water flow include, but are not limited to: 1. Peace River at Peace Point and elsewhere upstream and downstream is subject to sandbars, rocks, and other navigational hazards, especially during ice free low water periods - this impacts the ability of all First Nation members to use the river, and access wider territories, for preferred practice of rights.
2. At least some MCFN users have reported not being able to access cabins on the Peace River due to low flow levels in some seasons.
3. Reduced occurrence of flooding and ice dams on the Peace is reported - ice dams and related flooding are important for 'cleaning' the river and maintaining river channels (through scouring) and support ecosystems essential to access and traditional use.
4. MCFN members residing along the Peace have seen several years where, despite existing dams on the Peace River (including the WAC Bennett Dam), high water flow in-season (i.e, Spring freshet) has helped maintain the quality and viability of the lower Peace river for traditional use. Two years (in the mid-1990’s and mid-1970’s) were mentioned as high water years. 2012 was also reported to be a relatively high water year. These high water years allow important seasonal flooding to occur, and improved flows are felt at Peace Point, as well as elsewhere on the Peace. Periodic in-season flooding helps maintain access, channels and ecosystems along the river. MCFN members expect and rely on it (MCFN cabins on the Peace are often built in anticipation of seasonal flooding).
5. High water at the correct times of year has minimal negative impacts on MCFN use (because it is natural and anticipated), and large positive benefits.
6. High water on the Peace (especially when out of season, or unexpected) has also done damage - including:
• destruction of tent frames, summer camps, and cultural areas as a result of unexpected releases. • high mortality of aquatic fur (especially beaver) has been observed when water levels have risen in winter because of releases by BC Hydro – flooding beaver and muskrat houses, which then freeze. • damage or destruction of the Fort Smith winter road and ice bridge (which crosses the Peace) when out of season releases occur in winter.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
3 ACFN Values and Key Issues Since the formation of WBNP, and the later exclusion of ACFN subsistence practices from park boundaries, the ACFN have had their subsistence rights excluded from WBNP operations. Through much of the 20th century, ACFN members were able to enter the Park, and practice some rights there, but were generally not able to reside, hunt, or trap within the park boundary. Dr. Patricia McCormick has written extensively regarding this situation. Despite the ACFN removal, at least some ACFN members, and especially those with close Mikisew family connections, have maintained close connections to the Peace River, and the study area remains a critical resource for the practice of cultural rights by some ACFN members. Because of recent changes to the management of WBNP to allow at least limited hunting and practice of rights by ACFN members within the park boundary, and because of impacts elsewhere in ACFN territory, ACFN use of the Peace River is likely to increase in future generations. To date, the ACFN has conducted no systematic documentation of practices by its members along the Peace River. While ACFN has put very little effort into mapping the land use of its members along the Peace River and in WBNP, even the preliminary conversations with ACFN IRC staff members that were part of this study confirmed that use of the Peace River including areas upstream and downstream of Peace Point exists, and is ongoing. It simply has not been documented. ACFN use in WBNP has been maintained by at least some families through the following mechanisms:
• practice of subsistence activities (hunting, trapping, and other activities) despite Park regulation; • maintenance of non-harvesting rights (including supporting MCFN members in harvesting), and cultural / spiritual rights, including teaching of knowledge between generations, along the Peace River.
Additional work is needed to further understand the practice of ACFN use and rights along the Peace River within the context of WBNP regulation, and especially in light of recent changes to WBNP regulation. Given these changes, it is likely that the lower Peace could play a critical role for future ACFN generations, even if recent ACFN generations have been excluded to some extent.
3.1 ACFN baseline information sources ACFN mapped (site-specific) baseline information sources include spatial data from approximately 100 interviews conducted with more than 50 ACFN elders and land users. It is critical to note that unlike the MCFN, none of these studies has focussed on ACFN use along the Peace River. Data from the following studies is considered below:
• ACFN TUS Study (Tanner, 2002) – Resource Use; • ACFN TUS Study (Tanner, 2002); • ACFN Athabasca River Knowledge and Use (The Firelight Group, 2010); • ACFN Species at Risk Bison and Caribou Study (The Firelight Group, 2010);
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
• ACFN Southern Territories Use & Avoidance – Shell (The Firelight Group, 2010); • ACFN Southern Territories Use & Avoidance – Total (The Firelight Group, 2010); • ACFN Jackfish GPS (The Firelight Group, 2010); and • ACFN Coordinated Knowledge and Use Study (The Firelight Group, 2012)
3.2 ACFN Site Specific Values Table 2 provides an account of reported ACFN site-specific values within the study area and Figure 3 provides a map of the same and shows the relative density of site-specific use values in the vicinity of the Peace River. The study area includes 107 reported site-specific use values, including 66 subsistence values and 11 habitation values. The majority of recorded ACFN values are associated with use in portions of the study area near Fort Chipewyan outside of WBNP. Subsistence values reported by ACFN members within WBNP are largely associated with aquatic fur trapping (otter, beaver, muskrat), fishing along the Peace River, and several values associated with harvest of bison, moose, or other animals. Environmental features associated with migratory birds and harvesting areas for aquatic medicines were also reported. Beyond site specific harvesting, the Peace River is relied upon for water that is critical to wildlife and ACFN practice of rights throughout the delta area. Table 3: Reported ACFN site-specific values in the study area
Activity Class # of values within the study area
Cultural / Spiritual 4
Environmental 10
Habitation 11
Subsistence 66
Transportation 16
TOTAL: 107
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Figure 3: Reported ACFN site specific use values
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
3.3 ACFN Non-Site Specific Values and Key Issues While no interviews were conducted specific to the Project, key issues identified through review of past ACFN work were confirmed through telephone conversations with an ACFN staff member who has close family relationships with MCFN, and is an active land user along the Peace River, including at Rocky Point on the Peace River, and areas upstream. Based on this limited information, the following non-site specific values and key issues were confirmed:
• Past and ongoing impacts from initial Peace river dams (W.A.C Bennett and Peace Canyon) - including impacts up and downstream of Peace Point, are extensive and include large areas of the Peace and Athabasca delta (including Lake Claire and Lake Mamawi), and lake Athabasca. In some areas within the PAD, they are also well documented (see ICC 1998). These impacts continue to affect ACFN use up the Peace River and throughout the Peace-Athabasca Delta area.
• The Peace River provides water that is essential for wildlife and for treaty practice by ACFN members (including harvest of fish, birds, aquatic fur, and other animals, drinking water, harvest of aquatic medicines, and other uses), and is a critically important transportation route used by ACFN members to access lands and waters.
• The Quatre Fourche and Revillon Coupe channels are particularly important, and are reported by ACFN members to be subject to obstruction at low water, or due to impediments caused be inadequate seasonal flow, or lack of spring flooding.
• The Peace River, including Peace Point and other areas within WBNP, is recognized by ACFN members for its relatively in-tact environmental quality and wildlife habitat. This, combined with pressures on ACFN use along the Athabasca River and elsewhere from oil sands and other developments, and the recent recognition of ACFN harvesting rights within the Park, means that the Peace River will likely be critical to the use of lands and resources by at least some ACFN members in the future.
• Despite restrictions on ACFN harvesting within the WBNP boundaries through most of the 20th century, at least some ACFN members have continued to practice rights based activities along the Peace River within WBNP – including use of habitation areas, navigation, cultural and spiritual practices, transmission of cultural knowledge, and harvesting of resources where possible.
• The cultural importance of Peace Point for both Dene and Cree peoples from an oral historical perspective is huge as it is recognized as the location of the peace made between Dene and Cree in the late 18th century.
• The Coupe River is an especially preferred water route by ACFN members, and is now rarely navigable because of seasonally inadequate or irregular flow dynamics on the Peace. Like MCFN, ACFN members have noted that: 1. Peace River is subject to sandbars, rocks, and other navigational hazards, especially during ice free low water periods - this impacts the ability of all First Nation members to use the river, and access wider territories, for preferred practice of rights.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
2. reduced occurrence of flooding and ice dams on the Peace is reported - ice dams and related flooding are important for 'cleaning' the river and maintaining river channels (through scouring) and support ecosystems essential to access and traditional use.
3. ACFN members noted that despite existing dams on the Peace River (including the WAC Bennett Dam), occasional high water flow in-season (i.e, Spring freshet) has helped maintain the quality and viability of the lower Peace river for traditional use. A year in the mid-1990s and 2012 were noted as relatively high water years, with the mid-1990s event being dangerously high. These high water years allow important seasonal flooding to occur, and improve access by ACFN members. Periodic in- season flooding helps maintain access, channels and ecosystems along the river.
4. High water at the correct times of year has minimal negative impacts on ACFN use (because it is natural and anticipated), and large positive benefits.
5. High water on the Peace (especially when out of season, or unexpected) has done damage, including flooding of cabin areas relied on by ACFN members.
4 Conclusion and Recommendations for Additional Work Based on existing information, it is clear that despite the history of impacts from existing hydro- dams on the Peace, combined with restrictions on ACFN use within WBNP, both ACFN and MCFN members still actively use the Peace River within the Study area. This use relies upon the flow of the Peace River and seasonal high water, especially in Spring. Where water levels are suitable, a suite of water-based ACFN and MCFN rights and practices are possible, and currently practiced. These include water based navigation, fishing of diverse species, harvesting of aquatic and riparian plants, harvest of aquatic fur, hunting of migratory birds, and other species such as moose that rely upon delta ecosystems. In addition to these navigation and subsistence practices, a unique set of cultural knowledge and oral history relies upon the Peace River and MCFN and ACFN use of it. All of these uses are potentially impacted by changes in river flow, and changes in flood and ice dam dynamics along the Peace. Existing sources of information regarding knowledge and use are extremely limited for ACFN, and much better, but still limited, for MCFN. It is not possible, at this time, to characterize the full extent of ACFN or MCFN use in the area, its importance, or the significance of possible effects resulting from the Project on its own, or in combination with other projects and changes in the environment. However, preliminary indications are that the study area is of very high importance to MCFN knowledge, use and occupancy, and is also of high importance to the practice of at least some ACFN members. Beyond collection of additional baseline information regarding both ACFN and MCFN use and occupancy, both communities have extensive experience with the implications of past dams on
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
the Peace River for the PAD and First Nation use of it. This information may be critical to good decision-making regarding the Project, and its consideration should be supported. Specific work that should be undertaken includes:
• A more complete gap-analysis of existing information, and its ability to address the Project; • A reasonable sample of interviews with MCFN members not yet interviewed (especially around Garden River), and ACFN members generally, regarding use of the lower Peace River, the implications of changed flow, and potential further reductions in spring flooding and ice damming. • Additional review of existing sources, including ethnographic and archival documents, should be conducted to develop a ‘pre-development’ picture of the Peace River and its role in supporting the PAD and associated First Nation practice. This pre-development baseline would support consideration of cumulative effects on the PAD, and whether thresholds of unacceptable change have likely already been surpassed, or will be contributed to by the Project. • Using a baseline derived from interviews, and consideration of pre-development conditions, an assessment of Project effects should be conducted in order to identify the potential for significant impacts to MCFN and ACFN knowledge, use and rights. • Alternatives to improve water management on the lower Peace should be explored.
The above recommendations are preliminary and for initial work. Additional effort and issues may be required in order to fully address ACFN and MCFN rights and interests, and potential effects of the Project, or the Project in combination with other Projects and changes in the environment (such as climate warming). Required further work, and resources required to support it, should be the subject of discussion between ACFN, MCFN, and BC Hydro.
5 Bibliography Indian Claims Commission. (1998). Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Inquiry Report on: WAC Bennett Dam and Damage to Indian Reserve No. 201 Claim. Ottawa: Indian Claims Commission. Patricia A. McCormack. (2004) The Economic History of the Mikisew Cree First Nation Late 19th Century to c.1970. Prepared for Rath & Company and Mikisew Cree First Nation.
For references for other sources, please contact the authors directly.
MCFN Knowledge and Use Report for BC Hydro’s Proposed Site C Project 09/20/2013
Appendix 5. Focus Group Guide
The focus of these interviews will be on identifying the most important mechanisms and pathways of effect between Peace River flow and areas of the delta important to rights-based activities including ACFN and MCFN knowledge and use, and to understand these mechanisms and pathways of effect using ACFN and MCFN knowledge and experience. Key questions for the focus group included:
1. Based on ACFN and MCFN knowledge, what was the delta like before WAC Bennett, and how have past BC Hydro dams on the Peace (WAC Bennett and Peace Canyon) influenced the ecology of the delta, including particular animals or resources?
2. In general, how did these past changes influence ACFN and MCFN use on the Peace River? In the delta? (For ACFN, focus will be on areas away from IR201).
3. Based on ACFN and MCFN knowledge, what are the main influences on the level of the Peace and Athabasca Delta (Athabasca River, Peace River, wind, etc.). How important is the flow of the Peace River to the water levels in the delta as a whole? Does the Peace River only influence water levels in particular parts of the delta, for example Lake Mamawi? Lake Claire? Quatre Fourche? Jackfish Lake? Embarrass? Other parts of the delta?
4. Are there particular times of year or seasons when the flow of the Peace River is especially important?
5. In years when there have been high flows of water on the Peace River (like 1996/1997), were there benefits to ACFN and MCFN use?
6. How do people know the influence of the Peace River on the delta? (e.g: colour of water? Direction of flow? Other signs / indicators?)
7. Other than level of flow, are there other ways that the Peace River is important for the delta? What are they?
8. In general, in summer, how does the flow of the Peace River currently influence ACFN / MCFN use in the delta? along the Peace River itself? adjacent streams? How about in winter? (eg: navigation hazards or obstructions, sand bars, low water limits).
9. If the Site C dam was constructed, based on ACFN/MCFN knowledge, what do you think the short and long term effects would be on the delta? On ACFN and MCFN use? What would you like to see happen in the delta in the future?