Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
Knowledge and Use Report and Assessment for
Shell Canadaʼs Proposed Redclay Compensation Lake
May 3, 2011
Craig Candler (Ph.D) and the Firelight Group Research Cooperative with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN)
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Knowledge and Land Use Report and Assessment for Shell Canada’s Proposed Redclay Compensation Lake
Prepared and authored by: Craig Candler (Ph.D) and the Firelight Group Research Cooperative
On behalf of: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN)
Submitted to: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Industry Relations Corporation ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Executive Summary
This report provides baseline information and impact assessment regarding Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) knowledge and use in the area of the proposed Redclay Compensation Lake (RCL).
Eleven individual mapping interviews specific to RCL were conducted concurrently with interviews for the Jackpine Mine Expansion and Pierre River Mine Projects. Information from previous studies was integrated including ACFN mapped (site-specific) data from approximately 100 interviews conducted with more than 50 ACFN elders and land users. Assessment was based on project footprint and included a local study area (LSA) within 5km of the proposed compensation lake, as well as a larger regional study area (RSA) based on ACFN cultural protection areas (ACFN 2010), and downstream portions of the Athabasca River, including the Athabasca delta.
Lands within the LSA and RSA contain unique and culturally important resources and landscapes that are integral to the practice of ACFN use and knowledge. Maps illustrate ACFN use within, adjacent to, and down stream of the proposed projects. 45 use values were reported within the RCL LSA including 9 habitation values, hunting sites, fishing sites, important wood bison and moose habitat, and trails and water routes. The RCL LSA also includes portions of a historic ACFN trapline.
Likely effects are characterized by standard criteria including magnitude and duration. Based on this assessment, the RCL project is considered likely to have significant adverse residual effects on specific ACFN knowledge and use values, especially related to effects on rare and culturally important wood bison and planned flooding of known core bison winter habitat including grass and sedge meadows.
It is recommended that the proponent consider abandoning plans for RCL, and instead engage with the ACFN and DFO regarding opportunities for augmenting, protecting and improving existing fish habitat threatened by changing river levels along the Athabasca River, such as at Richardson (Jackfish) Lake. Should the Proponent choose to proceed with the RCL Project, then the primary recommendation of this assessment is that the proponent and the Federal and Provincial Crown undertake a process, agreeable to and involving the ACFN, to ensure that adequate quantity and quality of resources, including woodland Bison, exist for the continuation of ACFN knowledge and use into the future. If impacts to ACFN knowledge and use cannot be avoided, reduced, or mitigated to below a significant level, as defined in this report, then permissions for RCL to proceed should require consent from the Federal and Provincial Crown, and authorized representatives of the ACFN. www.thefirelightgroup.com 3 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1: Outline of the Report ...... 9 1.1 Summary of Findings ...... 10 1.2 Organization of the Report ...... 11 1.3 About the Authors ...... 11 1.4 What is a Project Specific Traditional Use Study? ...... 12 1.5 Limitations of the Report ...... 13
Section 2: The Projects ...... 14 2.1 Redclay Compensation Lake ...... 14 2.2 Jackpine Mine Expansion ...... 14 2.3 Pierre River Mine ...... 15
Section 3: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation ...... 16 3.1 Culture and History ...... 16 3.2 Treaty 8 and Dené Livelihood ...... 18 3.3 ACFN Reserves and Traplines ...... 20 3.4 Population and Demographics ...... 21 3.5 ACFN Vision and Planning...... 23 3.5.1 ACFN Cultural Protection Areas ...... 24
Section 4: Methods for Baseline Collection and Impact Assessment ...... 27 4.1 Baseline Collection Methods...... 27 4.1.1 Identification of Key Valued Components ...... 27 4.1.2 Temporal and Spatial Boundaries...... 29 4.1.3 Interview and Mapping Methods ...... 31 4.1.4 ACFN Baseline Information Sources ...... 32 4.2 Impact Assessment Methods ...... 34 4.2.1 Valued Components for Assessment...... 34 4.2.2 Temporal and Spatial Boundaries...... 35 4.3 Assessment Methods...... 35
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4.3.1 Residual Effects Characterization ...... 35 4.3.2 ACFN Sensitive Receptors ...... 37 4.3.3 Environmental Consequence ...... 37 4.3.4 Significance Threshold...... 38 4.3.5 Confidence in Predictions ...... 38
Section 5: RCL Project Baseline and Assessment ...... 40 5.1 Baseline for Site Specific VCs within the RCL LSA and RSA ...... 40 5.2 Baseline Summary for Non-site-specific VCs Within the JPME LSA and RSA... 45 5.2.1 Water and River values – Quantity ...... 47 5.2.2 Water and River Values – Quality ...... 48 5.2.3 Culturally Important Species – Bison ...... 50 5.2.4 Culturally Important Species – Woodland Caribou and Barren Ground Caribou...... 51 5.2.5 Culturally Important Species – Migratory Birds ...... 53 5.2.6 Culturally Important Species – Plants ...... 53 5.2.7 Access and Enjoyment of ACFN lands - Traplines ...... 53 5.2.8 Access and Enjoyment of ACFN Lands – Reserves and Cultural Protection Areas...... 54 5.2.9 Intangible Cultural Resources – ACFN Knowledge and Language ...... 55 5.3 Assessment of RCL Project Effects ...... 56 5.3.1 Anticipated RCL Project Effects on Site-specific VCs within LSA and RSA . 57 5.3.2 Anticipated RCL Effects on Non-Site-specific VCs ...... 60 5.4 Existing RCL Mitigations ...... 63 5.4.1 Oil Sands Mine Reclamation and ACFN Knowledge and Use...... 63 5.5 RCL Residual Project Effects...... 66 5.6 Significance of Residual RCL Effects...... 67
Section 6: Summary and Conclusion ...... 69 6.1 RCL Summary of Baseline and Cumulative Impact Assessment ...... 69 6.2 Monitoring and Accountability ...... 71 6.3 Recommendations ...... 71 6.4 Closure...... 72
Section 7: References Cited ...... 73
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List of Figures and Tables
Figure 1: ACFN Indian Reserves and Traplines (RFMAs) Held by ACFN Members in Relation to the Projects...... 22 Figure 2: ACFN Traditional Lands and Cultural Protection Areas in Relation to the Projects...... 25 Figure 3: Regional Study Area and Local Study Area in Relation to the Project ...... 30 Figure 4: Environmental Consequence Rating System ...... 37 Figure 5: Reported ACFN Use Values within the RCL Project Local Study Area...... 42 Figure 6: Reported ACFN Site-Specific Use Values in relation to the RCL Project footprint, LSA and RSA...... 43 Figure 7: Reported ACFN Site Specific Use Values within the RCL Regional Study Area ...... 44 Figure 8: Reported Current (Winter 2011) Loss of Use Areas in the RSA including Reported Specific Loss of Use due to Water Level and Quality Downstream of the Muskeg River...... 46 Figure 9: ACFN Navigation and Navigable Hazards in Relation to the RCL Project ... 49 Figure 10: Reported Core Bison and Core Caribou Habitats in Relation to the Project and RSA ...... 52 Figure 11: Environmental Consequence of RCL ...... 66 Figure 12: Reported ACFN Site-specific Use Values within the RCL Regional Study Area ...... 70
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List of Appendices
Appendix 1: ACFN Elders’ Declaration on Rights to Land Use ...... 76 Appendix 2: Summary of Existing Downstream Effects of Oil Sands Developments on ACFN Rights...... 77 Appendix 3: Summary of Existing Proponent Mitigations and Commitments of potential Relevance to ACFN Knowledge and Use Practice...... 80 Appendix 4: Informed Consent Documentation ...... 86 Appendix 5: Interview Guide ...... 87 Appendix 6: Direct to Digital Capture Method...... 100 Appendix 7: Curriculum Vitae, Dr. Craig Candler ...... 103 Appendix 8: Curriculum Vitae, Steven DeRoy ...... 111
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
ACFN Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
ATK Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge
CASCA Canadian Anthropology Society/Société Canadienne d'Anthropologie
JPME Jackpine Mine Expansion
LSA Local Study Area
PRM Pierre River Mine
RCL Redclay Compensation Lake
RFMAs Registered Fur Management Areas (Alberta)
RSA Regional Study Area
TEK Traditional Ecological Knowledge
the Firelight Group or Firelight The Firelight Group Research Cooperative
the Project Redclay Compensation Lake
the Proponent Shell Canada
TUS Traditional Use Study
VCs Valued Components
VECs Valued Ecosystem Components
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Section 1: Outline of the Report
This report provides information and assessment based on available Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) Knowledge and Land Use data and with regard to the proposed Redclay Compensation Lake Project (the RCL Project or the Project) proposed by Shell Canada (the Proponent) within the traditional lands of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN).
Based on available information from the Proponent1, the RCL Project involves construction of a human-made lake and related fish habitat west of the Athabasca River near its confluence with the Firebag River. The Project would be intended to create new fish habitat to compensate for harmful alteration, disturbance, or destruction of natural fish habitat resulting from the proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME) immediately adjacent to, and extending north and west from Kearl Lake, Alberta, and the Pierre River Mine (PRM) located north and west of Kearl Lake on the west side of the Athabasca River (see Figure 1).
Specific ACFN knowledge and use values2, including areas and resources relied upon by ACFN members for the practice of treaty rights3, have been documented within and adjacent to the proposed RCL Project area, and would be inundated and destroyed or adversely affected by the proposed RCL Project.
The primary goal of this report is to: • articulate available ACFN knowledge and use related to the proposed location of the RCL Project; • identify how the Project is likely to benefit or impact ACFN knowledge and use values, including recommendations for optimization and avoidance of impact.
This report is intended for consideration as part of Section 35(2) Fisheries Act regulatory approvals processes. It integrates qualitative information collected through a 2008 ACFN
1 Information reviewed includes digital map data received by ACFN from the proponent (email of Jan. 19, 2011), and a powerpoint presentation provided by the proponent to the ACFN and dated Feb. 17, 2011. 2 For the purpose of this report, an ‘ACFN knowledge and use value’ is any a reported cultural resource, tangible or intangible, including site specific (mapped) and non‐site specific (non‐mapped) valued, that is considered important to ACFN livelihood (see section 3), or is associated with past, present, or planned ACFN use. 3 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. For additional detail, see Section 5.0 www.thefirelightgroup.com 9 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
study submitted to the Proponent (summarized in section 2) along with additional and supplemental ACFN information and analysis from 2010 (summarized in section 5).
1.1 Summary of Findings
The RCL Project proposes to flood, and construct fish habitat, within an area of land (the Local Study Area - LSA) that has been identified by ACFN members as:
• highly valued moose habitat, including an east-west migration corridor crossing the Athabasca River near its confluence with the Firebag River. Moose are an important ACFN cultural and subsistence resource; • core wood bison habitat which extends north to the Ronald and Diana Lakes area. Wood bison are identified by ACFN members as a rare, vulnerable, and culturally important resource; • within an area of important and heavy ACFN land and water use associated with the Athabasca and Firebag Rivers, and including multiple historic, and currently used habitation areas, including historic cabins, water and land based transportation corridors, heavy subsistence use, particularly fishing and hunting, and a historic ACFN trapping area that preceded RFMA #2863, and includes historic cabins belonging to the Trip de Roche family and reported to date back to at least the early 1900ʼs.
Based on available evidence, this report finds that the RCL Project, as proposed, is:
• unlikely to be used, or relied upon, by ACFN members for subsistence fishing or other ACFN knowledge or use practice, and so should not be considered a compensation, mitigation, or benefit related to PRM and JPME impacts on ACFN knowledge and use; • likely to result in significant adverse impact to ACFN knowledge and use values, particularly through impacts to habitat for rare and culturally important4 wood bison, and moose, as well as site-specific environmental features.
In combination with effects from other projects, the residual effects of the RCL Project is likely to contribute to and exacerbate existing significant cumulative effects on ACFN knowledge and use in the Local and Regional Study Areas (LSA and RSA). Both LSA and RSA are described in detail below.
4 For the purpose of this report, a culturally important resource is one that is especially integral, or important to, an aspect of ACFN culture or livelihood. Examples include species that are relied upon for subsistence, for specific cultural practices, or because of particular cultural associations. Garibaldi and Turner define ʻcultural keystone speciesʼ as, “…the culturally salient species that shape in a major way the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices” (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). www.thefirelightgroup.com 10 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
At its core, the RCL project proposes the destruction (by flooding) of a preferred ACFN hunting area and high value habitat for culturally important species like moose and wood bison, in favor an artificial lake for fish habitat that may or may not be successful, and that ACFN members are unlikely to use in the future due to interruption of the natural landscape, and perceived contamination of fish from nearby oil sands mines.
To optimize benefits and minimize impacts, the Proponent should consider abandoning plans for RCL, and instead engage with the ACFN and DFO regarding opportunities for augmenting, protecting and improving existing fish habitat threatened by changing river levels, as at Richardson (Jackfish) Lake. Augmentation of existing natural fish habitat is less likely to be seen as an interruption of the natural landscape, does not require sacrifice of high value terrestrial habitat, and is more likely to be used by First Nations as a result of historic connection, and distance from perceived oil sands impacts.
1.2 Organization of the Report
The report is organized into six sections:
• Section 1 provides an outline of the report, including goals and limitations.
• Section 2 provides a summary description of the RCL Project and the proposed projects that it would be in compensation for.
• Section 3 provides contextual information regarding the ACFN, including a brief discussion of Treaty No. 8, the relationship between treaty and trapline rights, and a general ethno-historical summary.
• Section 4 provides a discussion of methods used for baseline information collection, and for impact assessment.
• Section 5 provides baseline information regarding ACFN knowledge and use in the RCL LSA and RSA, and an assessment of how the Project is likely to benefit or impact ACFN knowledge and use values. Should the Project proceed, preliminary recommendations for project optimization and avoidance of impact are made – primarily in regard to alternatives to the Redclay Compensation Lake that should be considered.
• Section 6 provides a summary of findings and conclusions.
1.3 About the Authors
The lead author of this report, Dr. Craig Candler, holds a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) in Anthropology, a Master of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Alberta, and
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a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia (completed in 2008). He has taught at the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia and has more than 15 years experience working with First Nations in the fields of community-based research and traditional use and traditional knowledge studies. Much of Dr. Candlerʼs work, including graduate work, has been with Dené and Cree peoples in the boreal forest of British Columbia and Alberta. He has written components for large and small environmental assessments and has been an invited speaker on cultural impact assessment for the Western and Northern Canada Affiliate of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA). Dr. Candler worked for five years with the Victoria Office of Golder Associates as a Senior Traditional Studies Specialist, and as the Senior Technical Lead for traditional studies in Golderʼs Cultural Science Division in BC. Much of this work involved integration of indigenous use and knowledge within environmental assessments, including identification of mitigations, and including consideration of data from multiple disciplines, including wildlife, aquatic resources, and vegetation. In late 2009 Dr. Candler left Golder Associates to co-found the Firelight Group Research Cooperative, and is currently its President. He also serves on the Executive of the Canadian Anthropology Society/Société Canadienne d'Anthropologie (CASCA), and is a member of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Cartography for this report was provided by Steven DeRoy, Vice President of the Firelight Group. Steven has over 12 years experience working with aboriginal communities in Canada, focusing on cartography, GIS, community training, and technical services.
An internal peer review of the report was completed by Alistair MacDonald, a Firelight Group Associate, and Regional Director of the International Association for Impact Assessment's Northern Alberta office.
Review and support was also provided by Nicole Nicholls (ACFN IRC), and Carolyn Whittaker (the Firelight Group). While others have reviewed and made suggestions, the opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the primary author, Craig Candler.
Appendix 7 provides a CV for Dr. Craig Candler, Lead Researcher, and for Steven DeRoy, Cartographer.
1.4 What is a Project Specific Traditional Use Study?
A project specific traditional use study (TUS)5 is a systematic and evidence based form of investigation that applies indigenous knowledge and social science to accomplish goals that may include:
5 While there are various names and acronyms used, the term traditional use study (TUS), or variants, is perhaps the most common in western Canada. Tobias (2010: 32-33) provides a discussion of terms and definitions and suggests the term use-and-occupancy mapping (UOM). For the purpose of www.thefirelightgroup.com 12 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
• Describing the knowledge, use and interests of a community in relation to a proposed project or area;
• Assessing potential effects; and
• Identifying mitigations or recommendations that may reduce negative effects and maximize positive ones.
Most traditional used studies use mapping as an important method. Good community mapping practice (see Tobias 2010) emphasizes individual map biography interviews involving documentation of prior informed consent and a consistent and well documented method for data collection and management (see Appendices 4 through 6).
1.5 Limitations of the Report
This report is based on research conducted by the Firelight Group Research Cooperative and the ACFN as part of a project-specific ACFN knowledge and use study conducted in response to the proposed projects. This study was designed to meet these immediate needs, but also to be useful to the ACFN within the broader research program of an ACFN Southern Territories Use and Avoidance6 Study.
Information provided herein is the most current available to ACFN, but is not complete due to lack of resources. It is based on the understandings of the authors, and is not intended as a complete depiction of the dynamic and living system of use and knowledge maintained by ACFN elders and members. Absence of data does not mean absence of use or value. Additional studies are necessary to fill information gaps regarding ACFN knowledge and use, and the resources, criteria, thresholds and indicators necessary to sustain meaningful practice of Treaty 8 rights into the future.
Nothing in this submission should be construed as to waive, reduce, or otherwise constrain ACFN rights 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 integrates and includes information from several sources (see Section 4), including information collected as part of an initial report prepared by ACFN specific to the JPME and PRM and submitted to Shell in 2008. This report is specific to the RCL project and should not be relied upon to inform other projects or initiatives without written consent of the ACFN.
this study, we use the term TUS to remain consistent with other work. Our definition of project specific TUS is consistent with Tobias 2010, and our professional experience. 6 Avoidance refers to the loss of use of a location or area for a particular purpose due to changes, often related to industrial effects.
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Section 2: The Projects
Shell is seeking approval for construction of the Redclay Compensation Lake (RCL) Project as compensation for harmful alteration, disturbance, or destruction of fisheries habitat resulting from two new oil sands mining projects: the Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME), including new mining areas adjacent to the existing Jackpine Mine operations (Jackpine Mine – Phase 1), and the Pierre River Mine (PRM), a new mine on the west side of the Athabasca River.
The Redclay Compensation Lake is not part of the JPME or PRM regulatory applications. ACFN information specific to the JPME and PRM projects is provided in a separate report by ACFN to the Proponent.
2.1 Redclay Compensation Lake
The Proponent is proposing to construct a human-made lake on the west side of the Athabasca River, approximately 10km north of the northern extent of the proposed PRM footprint, and immediately west of the confluence of the Athabasca River and the Firebag River. Based on map data provided by the Proponent, the RCL Project would be approximately 6km long, more than 500m wide at its widest point, and separated by less than 1km from that Athabasca River.
2.2 Jackpine Mine Expansion
The proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion (JPME) is located within the Muskeg River watershed immediately south of the Firebag River, and includes areas north and west of Kearl Lake. Beginning in 2012, JPME anticipates diverting multiple streams, including portions of Pemmican, Green Stockings, Blackfly, Wesukemina and Iyinimin creeks. Later in the mine life (approximately 2041) upper reaches of the Muskeg River will be diverted through either an 11.3km water pipe, or through ditches around the northern perimeter of the Project footprint. The footprint of the JPME would more than double the approved footprint of the existing Jackpine Mine – Phase 1. The operating lifetime of the JPME is anticipated to be approximately 40 years. A detailed Project Description for the JPME is included as Volume 1 of the Proponentʼs Application. The Athabasca River would be a primary source of water for the JPME.
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2.3 Pierre River Mine
The proposed PRM is located within the watershed of streams flowing east from the Birch Mountains into the Athabasca River. Beginning in 2016, PRM anticipates diverting multiple streams, including the lower portions of Pierre River, Eymundson Creek, Asphalt Creek and Big Creek. Based on Shellʼs Project Description, the operating lifetime of the PRM is anticipated to be approximately 40 years. A detailed Project Description for the PRM is included as Volume 2 of the Proponentʼs Application. The Athabasca River would be a primary source of water for the PRM.
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Section 3: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
In relation to areas associated with the JPME project LSA, a participant reported:
…itʼs really a good feeling to be out in the bush because you can feel that quiet…and you could feel the universe and that loud echo that you canʼt describe … as soon as you come into town, itʼs gone. Even if you go for a walk in the bush and back into town, that feeling is just gone. So itʼs a good feeling to have, feel connected to the earth, I guess, to yourself, and to the ancient spirits, you know, and to the land, to your being I guess…thatʼs what keeps some people grounded, to actually go out there as often as they can, and if they lose that, itʼs almost like they lost part of their soul... (A01 interview transcript, July 27, 2007)7
3.1 Culture and History
The Athabascan Chipewyan First Nation is part of the larger Dené sułine, or Chipewyan cultural group, the most numerous and widely distributed of the Northern Athapaskan language group (Smith 1981). Most ethnographies agree that up to the late 18th century and the rise of the northwest fur trade, Chipewyan peoples relied primarily on barren ground caribou (rangifer tranadus groenlandicus) and the forest-tundra ecozone from Great Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca in the west to the Hudson Bay north of Seal River in the east; and from the Arctic Circle near the mouth of the Coppermine River in the north to the Churchill River drainage in the south. Annual travel and residence patterns, social organization, religious beliefs and oral traditions were based around the annual caribou migration. From November to April Chipewyan peoples were primarily in the boreal forest moving with the caribou herds. In the spring the herds would travel back up to the tundra and the Chipewyan would follow, potentially spending the spring to late summer in the barren grounds (Smith 1981:272-273).
7 Interview quotes are referenced using participant ID number and date. The 2007-08 and 2010 ACFN interviews use similar, but separate, systems for assigning participant ID numbers. A01 in earlier data sets does not necessarily correspond with the same individual represented by A01 in the 2010 data set. www.thefirelightgroup.com 16 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
The demand for furs and availability of trade goods were important factors in the shift of Dené sułine peoples from the forest-tundra ecozone into the boreal forest, and the Athabasca delta area where furbearers, especially muskrat, were plentiful. The North West Company established Fort Chipewyan in 1789. With establishment of the Fort as a trading post, some Chipewyan, including the ancestors of the ACFN, began to reside more permanently in the boreal forest and around the western edge of Lake Athabasca, still relying on the annual migration of barren ground caribou, but also relying increasingly on boreal forest resources including woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), moose (Alces alces) and various other kinds of fish and game (Smith 1981: 272).
By the late 19th century, most Athabasca Chipewyan lived in several key village areas for at least part of the year, still relying on subsistence hunting and gathering, but also actively engaged in the fur trade. Village areas were located at Jackfish in the Athabasca Delta, Old Fort Point on the south shore of the Athabasca River, Birch River within present day Wood Buffalo National Park, and Point Brule and Poplar Point along the Athabasca River (Tanner and Rigney 2003).
Based on oral histories of ACFN elders provided through interviews, the last migration of barren ground caribou south of Lake Athabasca took place in the late 1950s. After this, ACFN hunters had to travel farther to the north of Lake Athabasca to hunt winter caribou, shift to store bought foods, or rely more heavily on other traditional food sources such as moose, wood bison, fish, and woodland caribou. In the late 1960s, construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the upper Peace River impacted water levels in the Peace- Athabasca Delta and led to a rapid decline in the population of muskrat and other aquatic furbearers, a staple of the local fur economy. Tanner and Rigney quote ACFN elder Alec Bruno:
No water, no rats. After 1967, Reserve 201 was never the same. Without water, nothing grows. By 1969, there was no water nowhere… When we moved to Fort Chip, everything changed. We didnʼt have that lifestyle any more. The reason we moved into town was that the delta dried up…My way of life has been taken away from me. Of course I miss it. I go over it in my mind all the time. My mind is always out there on the land. You donʼt forget it. It was the only life I knew. It was a good life (2003: 86).
Changes in the environment, lower fur prices, industrial impacts, and Canadian colonial and education policies all influenced transition to a permanent ACFN settlement at Fort Chipewyan through the 1960s and 70s, but seasonal reliance on historic village areas, traplines, and the wider traditional territory continued. Since the late 1960s, and with the intensification of the oil sands economy over the past 20 years, ACFN members and families continue to maintain livelihoods that are lived in relationship to the land, and also participate in the contemporary wage economy.
ACFNʼs submission to the Alberta government on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (ACFN 2010) notes that, in the Dené understanding, livelihood is not purely, or even
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mainly, about economics. It is, instead:
…about supporting the total way of making ones way in the world as a Dené individual. It is about “the way of life on the land” and how that relates to maintaining culture in the face of change. This includes the relationship between the physical acts of making a living and the spiritual and moral obligations of Dené individuals to themselves, to their community, and to the Earth and all of its creatures. It requires that physical and spiritual needs are met in order to sustain oneself and oneʼs community. As such, livelihood is central to individual and community well-being and to cultural continuity.
Dené livelihood ties people with place and culture with the land. These connections have implications for individual and community health and well-being and for maintaining the resilience of culture in the face of change. In the traditional Dené cosmology, the land is alive. The Creator imbued the land, the waters and all creatures that dwell upon or therein, with spirits and ACFN Elders remember the spirits that helped their ancestors to survive (ACFN 2010: 4-5).
3.2 Treaty 8 and Dené Livelihood
The Dené speaking peoples of Fort Chipewyan, led by Chief Alex Laviolette, signed Treaty 8 on the shores of Lake Athabasca in 1899.8 The ACFN considers the promises the Crown made in entering into Treaty 8 to be the foundation on which all subsequent non-aboriginal use, including Crown and industrial use, in the region depends.
The Crownʼs own negotiators confirm, shortly after signing, that:
Our chief difficulty was the apprehension that the hunting and fishing privileges were to be curtailed…We had to solemnly assure them [the First Nations] that only such laws as to hunting and fishing as were in the interest of the Indians and were found necessary in order to protect the fish and fur-bearing animals would be made, and that they would be as free to hunt and fish after the treaty as they would be if they never entered into it.
We assured them that the treaty would not lead to any forced interference with their mode of life…As to education the Indians were assured that…the law, which was as strong as a treaty, provided for non- interference with the religion of the Indians in schools maintained or
8 For a detailed history of Treaty 8 and its signing, see Fumoleau 2004. For a detailed history of Fort Chipewyan, see McCormack 2010. www.thefirelightgroup.com 18 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
assisted by the Government (Laird, Ross and McKenna, Report of Commissioners for Treaty No. 8, 1899).
In work with ACFN members and elders, Treaty 8 is consistently held up as a vital and foundational document that forms the basis for a relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples based in reconciliation, sharing, and protection of ACFN cultural and economic livelihood in relation to all lands and waters covered by the treaty.
At the time of signing, the Crown was well aware of the extent of resources that lay beneath the area encompassed by Treaty 8 (Fumoleau 2004). In 1888, the director of the geological survey of Canada, Dr. Robert Bell, confirmed, "the existence in the Athabaska and Mackenzie valleys of the most extensive petroleum field in America, if not in the world… it is probable this great petroleum field will assume an enormous value in the near future and will rank among Canadaʼs chief assets” (quoted in Hein 2000: 2-3). Ten years later, Treaty 8 was signed. Almost 70 years later, in the late 1960s, the first large scale oil sands mining operation (what would become Suncor) opened north of Fort McMurray.
ACFNʼs recent (2010) submission to the Alberta government on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan provides a clear ACFN perspective regarding the future of Treaty 8 rights, including livelihood rights:
Treaty Rights of ACFN are understood to include, but are not limited to, hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering for sustenance and livelihood purposes. The full practice of these rights reasonably includes, and is not limited to, access to sufficient lands and resources in which the rights can be exercised. “Sufficient” refers not only to quantity but quality, and is evaluated from the perspective of what is required to fulfill not only subsistence requirements, but also cultural needs, of the First Nation now and into the future.
Determining what is “sufficient” encompasses a suite of interconnected tangible and intangible resources that underlie the meaningful practice of rights. These “resources” include, but are not limited to:
• Routes of access and transportation;
• Water quality and quantity;
• Healthy populations of game in preferred harvesting areas;
• Cultural and spiritual relationships with the land;
• Abundant berry crops in preferred harvesting areas;
• Traditional medicines in preferred harvesting areas;
• The experience of remoteness and solitude on the land;
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• Feelings of safety and security;
• Lands and resources accessible within constraints of time and cost;
• Sociocultural institutions for sharing and reciprocity; and
• Spiritual sites.
3.3 ACFN Reserves and Traplines
Prior to signing Treaty 8, the aboriginal rights and titles of the Athabasca Chipewyan were held outside of Canadian law. In practice, indigenous Dené law and land management remained in place well past signing of the treaty. In the 1920s, through formation of Wood Buffalo National Park, and in the 1940s through the creation of traplines, Canadian laws and restrictions regarding the practice of ACFN knowledge and use were imposed in the Fort Chipewyan area.
Dené approaches to governing lands, and rights relating to use of lands, including trapping, continue to be grounded in pre-treaty relationships between people and place. However, through most of the 20th century, until today, traplines and Indian Reserves provided the most common legal mechanism for recognizing special rights within ACFN territory, and so provided ʻsafeʼ places for the practice of rights. While reserves and traplines do not constrain treaty rights, Indian Reserves and traplines controlled by ACFN members provide a unique resource integral to contemporary practice for many ACFN members. While an RFMA is held by an individual, it provides a resource used by the wider community and is frequently important to the collective use and rights of the First Nation as a whole – extending far beyond the commercial use of the RFMA for the purpose of trapping. Marvin LʼHommecourt, when asked why he and his family return to their cabins and hunting areas in and around RFMA 1714 despite existing impacts from oil sands industry, his response was simple: “itʼs because of the memories”. In 2007, another ACFN member stated:
…trapping, you harvest your beavers, you harvest your muskrats, your fishers, martens, what else…weasels, squirrels, all that kind of stuff is harvested in traplines. Thatʼs for that [trapline holderʼs] use; but in our traditional way, … we hunt and live off the land. So these arenʼt, you know, as far as Indian people, we hunt in everybodyʼs land. If thereʼs a moose then weʼre going to go shoot a moose. It doesnʼt belong to this Indian here because itʼs on his land, on his trapline. Heʼs only there to harvest those certain animals in order to make…a living of some sort, to feed his family or whatever….As traditional users, we hunt everything. If thereʼs moose over here it doesnʼt matter if heʼs on your trapline. Thereʼs buffalo over here or if thereʼs moose over here we going to go there, and if we see him then we take him… I canʼt even teach my children my traditional ways because of, because oil sands is not going to let me through (A06 interview transcript, July 31, 2007). www.thefirelightgroup.com 20 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Figure 1 shows ACFN Indian Reserves and traplines (RFMAs) held by ACFN members in relation to the project. Several of ACFNʼs traplines9 are held in the area of the Athabasca Delta, but others extend up the Athabasca River past the ACFNʼs Poplar Point reserve toward Fort MacKay. The RCL Project is located within what was once a trapline belonging to the Trip de Roche family of the ACFN.
3.4 Population and Demographics
The registered population of the ACFN is 924 (INAC 2010). While Fort Chipewyan remains the administrative base, the population of the ACFN is widely dispersed, with the majority of members living in Fort McMurray or other more southern areas. While the community of Fort Chipewyan has been an economic and administrative centre for the ACFN for generations, the cultural heartlands of ACFN knowledge and land use are further south. Members living in southern areas tend to use nearby resources, though many return to Fort Chipewyan and surrounding territories on a regular basis.
Based on oral histories recounted by ACFN elders, ACFN membership at time of treaty was later reduced due to government policies and the economic draw of the oil sands further south:
• With establishment of Wood Buffalo National Park in 1922, and expansion in 1926, members of the Cree band residing in the area, and a number of ACFN (then known as the “Ft. Chipewyan Band”) members, were allowed to maintain homes and use rights within the bounds of the park. Many ACFN members later transferred to the Cree Band in order to maintain their rights and homes within the park. The remaining ACFN members were excluded from use of homes and cabins in the Birch River settlement and lucrative trapping areas along the shores of Lake Claire. Patricia McCormack examined this transition and indicates that, “in 1944, a sizeable portion of the Chipewyan band, those members living in WBNP, was quietly removed from the Chipewyan Band list and added to the Cree band list. Legally, they became Cree Indians” (McCormack 1989:125).
9 For the purpose of this report, ACFN traplines are those RFMAs that are held, in whole or in part, by an ACFN member. www.thefirelightgroup.com 21 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Figure 1: ACFN Indian Reserves and Traplines (RFMAs) Held by ACFN Members in Relation to the Projects
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• In the southern portions of ACFNʼs territory, relationships between ACFN families from Poplar Point and Point Brule, and other Dené speaking families further south along the Athabasca River, are particularly close. Several ACFN elders and knowledge holders indicated that a number of ACFN members transferred membership to Fort MacKay in the 1970s as the oil sands economy grew in Fort McMurray at the same time as the fur economy in Fort Chipewyan sharply declined after construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River in 1967–68. With oil sands jobs easier to find in Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay, ACFN members with existing family connections to Fort MacKay First Nation are reported to have transferred membership in order to benefit from housing and family connections closer to employment from the oil sands. Strong family connections between particular ACFN families and those of Fort MacKay continue.
As a result of these historic dynamics, portions of several historic ACFN families are now affiliated with other First Nations in the region, resulting in strong family connections between ACFN and other First Nations, including Fort MacKay and Mikisew Cree.
3.5 ACFN Vision and Planning
The ACFNʼs submission on the Lower Athabasca River Plan (ACFN 2010) provides an articulation of ACFNʼs planned future land use. Consistent with the ACFN Elders Declaration on Rights to Land Use (Appendix 1), it presents Treaty 8 as the foundation of the ACFN vision for the Lower Athabasca Region and indicates that, consistent with the spirit and intent of Treaty 8, the reconciliation of non-aboriginal and First Nation interests must be a primary goal in considering any development.
ACFNʼs vision for future development includes that:
1. All ACFN members have a right, now and in the future, to practice their Treaty 8 rights in their preferred manner and locations with confidence, to sustain the health and well-being of themselves and their families, and to pass their culture on to their children. Their ability to do so requires priority access to sufficient quality and quantity of the tangible and intangible resources (e.g., water, game, fish, berries, spiritual sites, cultural landscapes and homelands, traditional knowledge, and others) that underlie meaningful practice of rights.
2. Development on ACFN traditional lands must proceed in step with negotiation and implementation of meaningful and reliable consultation and accommodation frameworks, including protective measures and benefit sharing mechanisms between industry and the ACFN, particularly in areas critical for the past, present and future practice of their rights. This includes:
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• Meaningful participation in decisions regarding development guided by principles of shared decision-making and joint stewardship for lands and resources of critical importance to the continued practice of rights; and
• Reasonable sharing of wealth generated from traditional lands and associated resources at least proportional to direct, indirect, or cumulative adverse effects from developments that harm, or take up, air, land and water.
3.5.1 ACFN Cultural Protection Areas
The ACFNʼs submission on the Lower Athabasca River Plan (ACFN 2010) identifies three kinds of cultural protection areas or zones. Figure 2 shows ACFN traditional lands and cultural protection areas in relation to the projects. The JPME area is within the Fort MacKay proximate zone. The PRM spans the Fort McKay proximate zone and the k'es hochela nene (Poplar Point Homeland), with the majority of the PRM footprint, and the Redclay Compensation Lake falling within k'es hochela nene. The RCL is also within a critical waterway zone associated with the Athabasca River. More information on cultural protection areas in relation to the projects is provided in Sections 5 and 6.
Based on the ACFN submission (ACFN 2010), homeland zones are identified as areas of critical importance to past, present, and future practice of ACFN use and rights. They are the places where ACFN history, culture, and livelihood are most firmly rooted. The homeland zones are presented as the places ACFN members are most likely to rely on, and require priority access to. As the population of the ACFN continues to rapidly grow, the resources needed to sustain the use practice and rights will also increase.
Proximate zones are areas relied upon for the practice of use and rights by an increasing number of ACFN members living in and around Fort Chipewyan, Fort MacKay, and Fort McMurray. Three proximate zones are identified in Figure 2; including areas around Fort Chipewyan, Fort McMurray, and Fort MacKay. Interviews with ACFN members suggest that use of the Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray proximate zones is increasing, while use of the Fort MacKay proximate zone is declining, mainly due to perceived industrial disturbance (e.g., A29 Dec. 16, 2010; A17 Aug. 10, 2010; A15 Aug. 04, 2010).
Critical waterway zones recognize the integral importance of water quality and quantity to the ACFN membership and their practice of use and rights. These interconnected zones extend 5 km on either side of waterways considered critical for the practice of ACFN rights. Due to the essential role that water plays within ACFN culture and the sensitivity of waterways to cumulative effects, these zones are designed to provide special consideration for the importance of water in sustaining Treaty 8 rights.
The document states that ACFN members consider the homeland zones sacred because they are considered necessary to the rights, identity, and ultimately, the
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Figure 2: ACFN Traditional Lands and Cultural Protection Areas in Relation to the Projects
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cultural survival of ACFN. ACFNʼs top priority is described as:
…protecting the viability of these lands as sanctuaries for their current use and that of future generations. Each homeland area differs from others in terms of the ecological and landscape patterns and processes, including abundance of various resources that characterize it … Each zone is integral and necessary to the meaningful practice of rights by ACFN members within core traditional lands and no one homeland zone can “replace” another in terms of utility for sustaining ACFN use. All are required as part of a connected system.
Large, contiguous areas, such as the homeland zones, are essential to past, present, and future ACFN practice of rights because of the wide ranging and dispersed nature of wildlife resources in the boreal, especially large ungulates such as moose, bison, and caribou, upon which much of ACFNʼs cultural practice and traditional economy depends. The importance of large areas within which livelihood can be practiced is likely to increase as a result of known or perceived contamination of waters by oil sands activities along the Athabasca drainage. This has largely eliminated ACFN opportunities for subsistence fishing on the Athabasca River resulting in ACFN members traveling further afield in search of ʻcleanʼ areas where game animals can be harvested with confidence.
Due to the limitations of existing studies, further research and sub-regional planning is required for all designations.
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Section 4: Methods for Baseline Collection and Impact Assessment
4.1 Baseline Collection Methods
Baseline data collection for the RCL Project involved scoping of valued components, existing document review and gap analysis, interviews and data collection, and analysis. It was conducted concurrently with data collection regarding the JPME and PRM.
4.1.1 Identification of Key Valued Components
Consistent with standard assessment practice, a valued component (VC)10 is an important aspect of the environment that a project has potential to effect and that is considered within an environmental assessment (Hegmann et al. 1999). The term key indicator resource (KIR) is used in the proponentʼs EA to designate a similar concept. In the context of ACFN knowledge and use, the identification of VCs provides a way to focus on what is most important regarding a particular project. The VCs for this assessment were determined through:
• An initial eldersʼ scoping meeting in Fort Chipewyan in June 2010;
• Review of materials from ACFNʼs initial 2007–2008 traditional use study for the JPME and PRM projects; and
• Review of other materials, including ACFNʼs 2010 submission regarding the Lower Athabasca River Plan (LARP).
An initial eldersʼ scoping meeting, held in June 2010, involved discussion of preliminary VCs and methods for the ACFN Southern Territories and Use Study. This meeting emphasized the importance of several key VCs, including water and river values,
10 Valued ecosystem component is another term frequently used, but is focused on biophysical resources. This report uses the more general term valued component (VC) in relation to ACFN knowledge and use values, as VCs may include tangible or biophysical resources (particular places or species), as well as more social or knowledge based VCs such as place names or traditional knowledge regarding a particular area. www.thefirelightgroup.com 27 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
woodland caribou, and woods bison. These values, as well as others more specific to the projects, including impacts on ACFN practice of rights within RFMA 1714, were reinforced through review of ACFNʼs initial 2007–2008 traditional use study for the JPME and PRM projects.
Valued components for baseline collection include the following site-specific and non- site-specific VCs. For the purpose of this report, site-specific VCs include values that may be mapped and are reported as specific and spatially distinct (though the 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. 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 it, religious or ceremonial practices that may be associated with the hunt, food processing and preparation techniques to utilize it, 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. The actual area covered by recorded site-specific use values should be understood as a tiny portion of the area actually required for the meaningful practice of ACFN livelihood. Site-specific VCs include:
• Subsistence values (including harvesting and kill sites, plant food and trapping areas);
• Habitation values (including temporary or occasional and permanent or seasonal camps and cabins);
• Cultural/spiritual values (including burials, village sites, ceremonial areas and medicine collection areas);
• Transportation values (including trails, water routes and navigation sites); and
• Environmental feature values (including specific highly valued habitat or resource areas).
For the purpose of this report, non-site-specific VCs include values that are largely specific to a resource or other concern, based in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) or aboriginal traditional knowledge (ATK), and spatially indistinct or difficult to map. Non- site-specific VCs include:
• Water and river values (including quality and quantity of water and aquatic resources);
• Access and enjoyment of ACFN lands (especially ACFN traplines, reserves and cultural protection areas indicated in Figure 1 and Figure 2);
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• Culturally important11 species (including quality and quantity of wood bison, moose, woodland caribou, migratory birds, and plants); and
• Intangible cultural resources (including ACFN language and knowledge, and sense of place).
4.1.2 Temporal and Spatial Boundaries
The temporal boundaries for baseline collection include past, present, and planned future ACFN knowledge and use. For the purpose of this study, a past value refers to an account of ACFN knowledge and use prior to living memory, a present value refers to an account of ACFN knowledge and use within living memory of ACFN participants, and a planned future value refers to anticipated or intended ACFN knowledge or use patterns.
Spatial boundaries for baseline collection included a local study area (LSA) for PRM, JPME, and RCL within which intense project related disturbance can be expected, and a larger regional study area (RSA) shared by the projects, and within which project related effects may interact with ACFN values (see Figure 3).
The LSA for the RCL project is defined as an area within 5 km12 of the project footprint including the proposed lake area, and associated works as indicated in Figure 3. The LSA used for this report includes the footprint of a single project, plus a buffer within which interactions between the project and ACFN values may exist.
The RSA is a broader area within which direct or indirect effects of the projects may be anticipated, such as noise, dust, odors, access management activities, traffic, effects on water and other forms of disturbance experienced by ACFN members. A single RSA has been defined for all three projects. The southern and western limits of the RSA are defined by ACFN cultural protection areas (see Figure 2) within which ACFN has identified specific management objectives, and where the movement of sensitive and culturally important animals, including woodland caribou and wood bison, may be impacted by the project. The eastern extent of the RSA is provided by the Alberta border, and the northern extent by the flow of the Athabasca River to Lake Athabasca.
11 For the purpose of this report, a culturally important resource is one that is especially integral, or important to, an aspect of ACFN culture or livelihood. Examples include species that are relied upon for subsistence, for specific cultural practices, or because of particular cultural associations. Garibaldi and Turner define ʻcultural keystone speciesʼ as, “…the culturally salient species that shape in a major way the cultural identity of a people, as reflected in the fundamental roles these species have in diet, materials, medicine, and/or spiritual practices” (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). 12 Five kilometers (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). This distance was confirmed by the ACFN elderʼs council as part of the ACFN Athabasca River Knowledge, Use and Change Study (2010). It is used as a reasonable approximation of the area of regularly relied upon resource use surrounding a given transportation or habitation value. www.thefirelightgroup.com 29 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Figure 3: Regional Study Area and Local Study Area in Relation to the Project
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A buffer of 5 km has been applied to the river and bodies of water that receive flow from the Athabasca River, including Lake Mamawi. The northern, or downstream, extent of the RSA, in the area of the Peace-Athabasca Delta, was identified based on ACFN knowledge of river flows reported by elders and river users. Inclusion of the Lake Mamawi area (east of Lake Athabasca) in the RSA based on knowledge of ACFN elders and land users regarding the flow of the Athabasca River was confirmed by an experienced hydrologist (Martin Carver, personal communication, January 18, 2011). Attention to downstream effects is based on ACFN concerns regarding loss of use due to increased fear or concerns regarding waterborne contamination caused by the projects. Due to the potential displacement of ACFN land use, such as subsistence hunting, it is also possible there will be indirect project effects outside the RSA as ACFN members avoid areas perceived to be effected by the projects.
4.1.3 Interview and Mapping Methods
Baseline data collection for both projects was largely based on map biography interviews with ACFN elders and land users conducted between July and December 2010. Eleven interviews with eight participants (seven male, one female) were conducted as part of work regarding the projects. A site visit and in-field interview took place in October 2010 at one of the ACFN cabins within the JPME LSA and associated with RFMA 1714. All other interviews, with the exception of one conducted in Cold Lake, took place in Fort Chipewyan or Fort McMurray. No GPS-based field verification of interview data was conducted.
All JPME, PRM and RCL project-specific interviews were conducted with individuals, included documentation of prior informed consent (see Appendix 4), and used a standardized interview guide (see Appendix 5) designed to meet the needs of the study and to provide a consistent, but flexible, framework for soliciting and recording responses. Dr. Craig Candler led each interview with Steven DeRoy as co-researcher providing GIS and mapping support.
Interviews followed a semi-structured and project-specific method framed within a larger ACFN Southern Territories Use and Avoidance Study. The Southern Territories framework supports consistency of method between multiple project-specific studies and compatibility of results between studies. In addition to the interviews specific to the JPME, PRM, and RCL projects, 39 compatible interviews using comparable methods were conducted on four other projects. Data from all of these is considered in this report. Other Firelight Group researchers (Rachel Olson and Carolyn Whittaker) and/or ACFN Industry Relations Corporation Staff (Nicole Nicholls and Lionel Lepine) participated in many of these additional interviews. The lead author, Dr. Craig Candler, was present for all but 14 of these interviews. All were completed under Craig Candlerʼs supervision and direction.
For work specific to the RCL, JPME, or PRM projects, all interviews were recorded using digital audio recording, digital video recording of the map surface, and through interview
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notes captured on interview forms or in notebooks. Questions were designed to gain an understanding of the participantʼs background and relationship to the southern territories, and of patterns of avoidance and use, including hunting, trapping, fishing and related practices, and how the participantʼs use has changed over time. Where data was location-specific it was mapped using points, lines, or polygons. Where possible, temporal information regarding season and year was recorded. Interviews averaged approximately two and a half hours, with the longest lasting approximately four hours. For some participants, there was not adequate time to address the southern territories as a whole. Where this was the case, areas in the vicinity of the footprints of the proposed Shell projects were emphasized. All interviews were conducted in English.
Data collection focused on the project LSAs, but extended north as far as Wood Buffalo National Park, and south past Fort McMurray. A scoping process (see below) and a review and gap analysis of existing information sources, including existing ACFN data sets and ethnographic material, was conducted prior to the start of interviews in order to inform the interview process. Additional detail regarding other information sources and how they were used is provided in Section 4.1.4 below.
Interview and mapping protocols were based on standard techniques (Tobias 2010). Map data was captured and managed using a direct-to-digital process involving mapping on-screen, with Google Earth imagery as a digital base and geo-referenced 1:50,000 scale or better data displayed on a wall or screen. Appendix 6 contains additional details on the mapping process. Interview data was collected so that disaggregation of individual participant data is possible, and first hand and second hand information is distinguishable.
Where participants had recorded data in previous studies, and where that data was available, information was reviewed to verify its quality (including validity and accuracy) and avoid redundancy before proceeding with the interview. Coding of data took place on screen so that it could be reviewed as it was entered.
4.1.4 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, including data from the following studies:
• ACFN TUS Study (2002) – Resource Use – 1,339 sites from 27 people, plus 51 sites from 'unknown' or 'unidentified' participants;
• ACFN TUS Study (2002) – Human Use – 170 sites from 33 people, plus 43 from 'unknown' participants;
• ACFN Athabasca River Knowledge and Use (2010) – 368 sites from 14 participants;
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• ACFN Species at Risk Bison and Caribou Study (2010) – 62 sites from 10 people;
• ACFN Southern Territories Use & Avoidance – Shell specific (2010) – 169 sites from eight participants (three of which completed two interviews);
• ACFN Southern Territories Use & Avoidance – Total specific (2010) – 71 sites from eight participants;
• ACFN submission on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) (2010); and
• ACFN Jackfish GPS (2010) – five sites from one person. Using the 2010 interview data as a core, other map data was considered for analysis and preparation of baseline maps. To be considered, map data had to be:
• Recorded in a reliable spatial format with meta-data clearly associated;
• Collected using a documented and consistent method; and
• Able to provide generally unique and non-redundant data comparable to information collected through the 2010 interviews.
The 2002 data set was created by the ACFN working with Jim Tanner and Alice Rigney, and contains information, digitized as points, collected from 32 ACFN elders (Tanner and Rigney 2003: 162), many of whom who have since passed away. Minimal redundancy exists between the data collected in 2002 and 2010 as the 2002 data focuses largely, though not exclusively, on ACFN use and occupancy in the Athabasca Delta area, and there is limited overlap between participants in the 2002 interviews and participants in 2010. Data from 2002, while mapped at a relatively coarse scale, was recorded using a documented and generally consistent method and interview guide (Tanner and Rigney 2003: 161-164) including spatial information, activity code, and identification of the individual reporting the use or value. Due to the limited precision of the mapping, locations from the 2002 data are assumed to be general and approximate, but otherwise adequate to include in analysis. Problems in the 2002 data for one ACFN member (A02), likely attributable to map processing errors, were identified. For the purposes of this study, and with consent of that member, that personʼs 2002 data was removed from the dataset, and replaced with updated data recorded in 2010.
Map data from the ACFN submission on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) (2010) is based on a synthesis and analysis of existing data and was relied upon for delineation of homeland and cultural protection areas. The ACFN Jackfish GPS data contributed a small number of points in the Athabasca Delta.
To enable integration of the 2010 and 2002 data sets, old and new data was categorized or ʻlumpedʼ using five broad activity classes. A new column was added to the dataset, and was used to produce the maps and analysis included in Sections 5 and 6. The original recorded activity code was maintained within the meta-data. For example, various sites recorded as burials, medicine collection and ceremonial sites, and birth/death sites were all considered to be part of the “cultural/spiritual” activity class. www.thefirelightgroup.com 33 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Permanent and temporary habitation areas, including cabins, permanent camps, and temporary camps, were classed as “habitation.” Hunting sites, fishing sites, berry collection areas, and trapping areas were classed as “subsistence.” Trails, water routes, and hazards like sand bars, dangerous rocks, or other transport related locations were classed as “transportation.”
Additional baseline information sources, including ethnographic material, academic papers, court affidavits, internal ACFN documents, and the 2008 ACFN site-specific study for JPME and PRM, were reviewed and considered in the gap analysis, or following the interviews. The 2008 ACFN JPME and PRM study was used, in particular, to identify interview participants, and refine the interview guide and VCs. Data collected in 2008 was reviewed and updated in 2010.
4.2 Impact Assessment Methods
4.2.1 Valued Components for Assessment
Valued components (VCs) for assessment are the same as those noted above for baseline collection. They include five classes of site-specific values:
• Subsistence values (including harvesting and kill sites, plant food and medicine collection areas, and trapping areas found within the LSA and RSA);
• Habitation values (including temporary or occasional and permanent or seasonal camps and cabins found within the LSA and RSA);
• Cultural/spiritual values (including burials, village sites, ceremonial areas, and medicinal plant sites found within the LSA and RSA);
• Transportation values (including trails, water routes, and navigation sites within the LSA and RSA); and
• Environmental feature values (including specific highly valued habitat for moose, Woodland bison and woodland caribou within the LSA and RSA).
They also include non-site-specific values. For the purpose of this report, non-site- specific VCs include values that may be specific to a resource or other concern, but may be spatially indistinct or difficult to map. Non-site-specific VCs included in this assessment are:
• Water and river values (including quality and quantity of water and aquatic resources within the RSA);
• Culturally important species (including bison, moose, caribou, migratory birds, and plants within the RSA);
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• Access and enjoyment of ACFN lands (especially ACFN traplines, reserves, and cultural protection within the LSA and RSA); and
• Intangible cultural resources (including ACFN language and knowledge).
4.2.2 Temporal and Spatial Boundaries
The temporal and spatial boundaries for assessment correspond to those for baseline collection. Past, present, and planned future ACFN use and rights practice were considered within a local study area (LSA) consisting of the footprint plus 5 km buffer, and a larger regional study area (RSA) within which project related effects may interact with or influence ACFN values (see Figure 3).
4.3 Assessment Methods
To facilitate consideration and integration of findings, the methods used in residual effects characterization are generally consistent with the methods used by the proponent in the applications made for the PRM and JPME projects. Like many social and ecological values, First Nations traditional use values exist within an ongoing process of interdependent environmental, cultural, economic and social change that is rooted in the past and extends into the future.
Knowledge and use values, like ecosystem values, are not static. The assessment of impacts provides a prediction of likely future change resulting from the projects given available information. ACFN knowledge and use involves complex and dynamic cultural and ecological systems where what appear to be minor changes in a single component may have larger and unexpected consequences for the whole.
4.3.1 Residual Effects Characterization
Residual effects are those effects remaining following full implementation of mitigation measures. In this assessment, generally consistent with the methods used in the proponentʼs applications, and with Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency guidance documents (Hegmann et al 1999), residual effects are characterized based on criteria outlined below:
Direction of an impact may be positive, neutral or negative with respect to the baseline (e.g., a change resulting in increased traditional use would be classed as positive, whereas a change resulting in decreased traditional use would be considered negative).
Magnitude describes the intensity, or severity of an effect. It is the amount of change in a measurable or perceivable parameter or variable relative to the baseline condition, guideline value, or other defined standard. In the case of effects on ACFN knowledge
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and use, magnitude was determined based on a qualitative and quantitative (where possible) evaluation of VCs potentially effected (as discussed in the baseline). Factors considered include:
• Vulnerability of value or sensitivity to change (high/low);
• Cultural importance (high/low);
• Rarity of similar values within the LSA/RSA (high/low);
• Intensity of likely community concern (high/low); and
• Degree of likely change in use practice (high/low).
Where change is predicted to be discernable but low in all factors, magnitude is considered to be low. Where change is predicted to be discernable and only one factor is high, magnitude is considered to be moderate. Where change is predicted to be discernable and more than one factor is high, then the magnitude is considered high.
Geographic extent is the spatial area affected by a specific project. It is generally based on the local and regional study areas developed. Effects within the LSA only (within 5 km of footprint) are considered to be local, effects extending into the RSA are considered to be regional (even if they diminish in magnitude), and effects that extend outside the RSA are considered to be beyond regional.
Duration refers to the length of time over which an environmental impact occurs. It considers the various phases of a project, including construction, operation, reclamation and closure, during which the effects may occur as well as the length of time for the environmental component to recover from the disturbance.
Reversibility indicates the potential for recovery of pre-project patterns or conditions of use and knowledge. An effect is defined as not reversible if the VC cannot be restored to pre-impact condition within the long term as defined under duration. Because traditional knowledge and use is dynamic, a value is considered restored if pre-existing cultural transmission and use patterns are restored. Reversibility is achieved where transmission and use are restored to the point of moving toward a condition that is essentially indistinguishable from pre-existing cultural transmission and use patterns. For this to occur, both the physical/economic and cultural/spiritual relationships between people and land need to return to pre-existing patterns. Due to the importance of intergenerational transmission to the survival of cultural knowledge and cultural landscapes, where an area will be removed from aboriginal use for one generation (generally between 20 and 25 years) or more, impacts to the transmission of knowledge regarding that area are considered permanent (irreversible)13.
13 As noted in section 2, this approach is consistent with that taken in other environmental assessments, and with the well-documented importance of particular places and landscapes to the continuity of aboriginal knowledge transmission (Basso 1996, Berkes 1999, Palmer 2005). www.thefirelightgroup.com 36 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Frequency describes how often the effect occurs within a given time period and is classified as low, medium or high in occurrence. Seasonal effects (intermittent, but effect may last for weeks or months) are considered to be of medium frequency. Continuous effects are considered to be of high frequency.
4.3.2 ACFN Sensitive Receptors
Consistent with good EA practice (Vanclay 2003), this assessment is designed to be conservative and is based on the most sensitive receptors or most vulnerable users. In the case of the RCL Project, this is understood to be families associated with the kʼes hochela nene (Poplar Point Homeland).
4.3.3 Environmental Consequence
To facilitate compatibility between assessments, an environmental consequence rating was calculated based on the method described in the proponentʼs PRM and JPME assessments. The environmental consequence rating consolidates the results of the impact characterization (direction, magnitude, duration, frequency, geographic extent and reversibility) into one rating. This approach allows different components to be compared using a common rating so that areas of greatest potential concern can be identified. The table below (Figure 4) details the system used to estimate the environmental consequence of residual impacts.
Figure 4: Environmental Consequence Rating System
Geographic Resource Direction Magnitude Duration Reversibility Frequency extent
ACFN positive, negligible (0) local (0): short-term reversible low (0): loss knowledge, effect (0): <3 years (-3) of use or use and rights avoidance negative or low (+5) restricted to practice the LSA occurs once medium-term irreversible per year or regional (+1): (+1): 3 to 20 (+3) less neutral moderate years (+10) effect extends beyond the moderate (+1): occurs LSA to RSA long-term high (+15) intermittently beyond (+2): >20 magnitude region (+2): years high (+2): varies effect extends occurs beyond RSA continuously
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The system identifies a numerical score for each VC used to assign environmental consequence to residual impacts. Consistent with the proponentʼs assessment, the following score ranges were used to characterize effect:
• Negligible – 0 to 5;
• Low – 6 to 10;
• Moderate – 11 to 15;
• High – 16 to 20; and
• Very high – over 20.
4.3.4 Significance Threshold
In addition to the environmental consequence rating, and consistent with good practice (Vanclay 2003, UNPAN 2006), a significance evaluation is provided for anticipated residual project effect.
In this assessment, with regard to ACFN knowledge and use, a significant effect is considered to be:
• An effect (positive or adverse) that is attributable to the projects or the projects in combination with other changes (including effects of other projects or human activities), and that is likely to result in:
• Strong concern or interest by ACFN members, and
• Clearly discernable (measurable or perceivable) changes to the preferred exercise of a culturally important practice, land use or right.14
Significant effects are generally related to a change in the availability or quality of, or access to, resources (tangible or intangible) important to ACFN knowledge, use, or rights practice. Significance evaluation is based on post-mitigation residual effect and may differ when considered at various spatial or social scales, for example individual, family or community, is based on impact characterization (summarized by the environmental consequence rating), assumes the most sensitive user or receptor (ACFN family or sub- group), and is based on the significance threshold identified.
4.3.5 Confidence in Predictions
Confidence in predictions provides the level of certainty that the effects of the projects will occur at the level predicted (Hegmann et al. 1999). For the purpose of this report,
14 This definition is similar to qualitative thresholds used in other environmental assessments, and is consistent with good practice described in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s Cumulative Impact Assessment Practitioner’s Guide (Hegmann et al. 1999). www.thefirelightgroup.com 38 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
confidence in predictions is assigned based on the following three categories:
• Low — Based on professional judgment with limited available secondary or primary information.
• Medium — Based on professional judgment and primary information that is limited due to extent of primary research or level of community representativeness among research participants.
• High — Based on professional judgment, strong primary information (including mapping at 1:50,000 or better) conducted with a reliable sample or operational- level studies involving field visits with knowledge holders, strong project information, and secondary literature review.
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Section 5: RCL Project Baseline and Assessment
The RCL Project is proposed on the west side of Athabasca River within the Redclay Creek watershed. This section provides baseline and assessment specific to the likely effects of the RCL Project on ACFN Knowledge and Use15.
5.1 Baseline for Site Specific VCs within the RCL LSA and RSA
Figure 5 provides a map of ACFN site-specific data reported within the RCL Project LSA including 6 site specific use values inside, or within 250m, of the proposed Project footprint. 45 site specific use values were identified within the LSA (5km of the proposed RCL Project footprint), including 23 subsistence values, and 9 habitation values. All mapped values are based on reported ACFN use and knowledge.
Due to the density of reported transportation features and navigational hazards along the Athabasca River, river based transportation is shown and analyzed as a simplified transportation ʻcorridorʼ consisting of a single polygon. All ACFN data (points, lines and polygons) is shown with a 1km buffer. Points were randomized by 250m, then 1km buffers were generated around all points, lines, and polygons to account for margin of error, and to protect confidential information.
Specific traditional use activities reported by ACFN members inside or within 250m of the proposed RCL footprint include:
• Large game hunting (moose kill site) • Two transportation corridors (the Athabasca River, and a trail used for access to hunting and resource areas near Ronald Lakes and into the Birch Mountains); • Environmental Features including high quality moose habitat, an east-west moose movement corridor, and multiple accounts of core wood bison habitat;
Beyond 250m of the Project footprint, and within the RCL LSA there are:
15 Several relevant figures and quotes that also apply to and are presented in the JPME and PRM baselines and assessments are reproduced here to support independent review. www.thefirelightgroup.com 40 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
• Multiple reported ACFN hunting and kill sites, particularly for moose, along the Athabasca River and in the vicinity of its confluence with the Firebag River. • subsistence fishing areas along the Athabasca River and Firebag River. • multiple permanent and temporary habitation values (cabins and camps) used by ACFN members along the Athabasca River. Use of habitation areas by ACFN members within the LSA is ongoing and current, and relies upon confidence in the quantity and quality of resources in surrounding areas. Permanent ACFN habitations in the RCL LSA and along the Athabasca River are reported to date from at least the early 1900ʼs, and likely earlier. One of the earliest reported ACFN habitations, located within and to the north of the LSA, relied upon a permanent dug well to access a reliable supply of ground water. • core wood bison habitat. • A historic ACFN trapline, and modern RFMA #2863, both associated with ACFN families.
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Figure 5: Reported ACFN Use Values within the RCL Project Local Study Area
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The RCL Project area, and associated LSA, is just north of a large area extending south from the Firebag River towards Fort McMurray that multiple ACFN members have reported is no longer considered safe for hunting and other resource procurement use due to access restrictions, disturbance, and concerns regarding contaminants from existing oil sands developments. This area is shown on Figure 8.
Existing nearby oil sand mines include CNRL, Albian Sands, and other planned or approved operations. In most, if not all cases, general avoidance practices by ACFN members in the area of the proposed RCL Project have developed recently (within the past five years) as a result of exploration activity and upstream oil sands developments. This loss of use is due largely to concerns regarding the quality of resources, including water, fish and meat, from the area, and because of disturbance from traffic, noise, and other industry related activities. Effects from existing industry in the area have already resulted in shifts in land use by some ACFN members to north of the Firebag River, and to south of Fort McMurray (upstream of the oil sands mine operations). As discussed in the assessment below, construction of the RCL is likely to expand the area of avoidance, or lost use, further to the north and into k'es hochela nene (an ACFN cultural protection area). Existing loss of use patterns, combined with those created by JPME and PRM, would make ACFN use of the RCL for fishing or harvesting of aquatic plants unlikely.
Figure 6 provides an account of reported ACFN site-specific values inside or within the 250m of the RCL footprint, within the LSA, and within the RSA.
Figure 6: Reported ACFN Site-Specific Use Values in relation to the RCL Project footprint, LSA and RSA
Within 250m of Within 5km of RCL Within Regional Study Activity Class RCL Footprint Footprint (LSA) Area (RSA) # of values # of values # of values Subsistence 1 21 1524 Habitation 0 9 268 Cultural/Spiritual 0 1 202 Transportation 2 6 20 Environmental 3 8 32 Features TOTAL: 6 45 2046
Figure 7 provides a map of ACFN site-specific use data reported within the RCL Project RSA and shows the relative density of site-specific use values downstream of the RCL project. The RSA includes 2046 reported ACFN site specific use values, including 1524 subsistence values and 268 habitation values, the majority of which are located in the Athabasca delta.
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Figure 7: Reported ACFN Site Specific Use Values within the RCL Regional Study Area
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Figure 8 shows areas of general loss of use due to industrial impacts reported by ACFN members in the RSA, as well as a cluster of specific instances of lost use due to resource quality (perceived contamination), and water levels near where the Muskeg joins the Athabasca River. General loss of use extends beyond the JPME and into the RSA, and includes avoidance of aquatic resources, including fish and aquatic plants (eg: A01 Aug. 4, 2010; A30 Dec. 16, 2010; A31 Dec. 18, 2010), extending downstream along the Athabasca River to Lake Athabasca. Loss of use within the RSA due to terrestrial disturbance from oil sands activities is also reported:
I used to camp at McClelland Lake on the other side… on the north side of it. One of my friends owns a trapline there and we used to hunt there. Up into the Fort Hills, thereʼs places in there that I used to hunt that I canʼt hunt anymore because of too much construction going on. At first it started off with the drilling projects and now thereʼs just all kinds of movement in there, as far as heavy equipment, thereʼs all kinds in there…(A06 interview transcript, July 31, 2007)
5.2 Baseline Summary for Non-site-specific VCs Within the JPME LSA and RSA
…ever since I moved to Fort McMurray...Even before that, way before that when I travelled with my grandpa, we never used to follow the channel all the way, the river was so high that we were able to drive anywhere, just go anywhere, I remember those days…Grandpa liked to visit around, he had all kinds of friends in there, as he made his way up, I remember the animals, we used to see lots of animals like bears, eagles, you know, geese. Even a few years ago there was still a few…itʼs more scarce now, I donʼt know where the birds are going, theyʼre probably flying a different route…they used the Athabasca for the gravel and the sand and they need it as they went down, but with the amount of industry thatʼs going on now today, the birds donʼt even want to travel here anymore. Theyʼre going around. Theyʼre finding different routes where theyʼre going to get their natural intakes... So thatʼs affected the use of harvesting for us as Native people eating wild birds (A06 interview transcript, July 31, 2007).
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Figure 8: Reported Current (Winter 2011) Loss of Use Areas in the RSA including Reported Specific Loss of Use due to Water Level and Quality Downstream of the Muskeg River
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Key non-site specific values associated with the RCL LSA and RSA include:
• Water and River values (including quality and quantity of water and aquatic resources) coming from the Birch Mountain, including the Athabasca River and downstream (e.g., A01 Aug. 04, 2010; A29 Dec. 16, 2010; A30 Dec. 16, 2010); • Culturally Important Species (including high value moose habitat, known and observed core wood bison habitat) (e.g., A01 Oct. 07, 2010; A22 Oct. 05, 2010; A30 Dec. 16, 2010; A13 Aug. 06, 2010; A12 Dec. 15, 2010); • Access to and enjoyment of ACFN lands (especially ACFN traplines, reserves, and cultural protection areas) (e.g., A14 Dec. 14, 2010; A01 May 17, 2010; A04 May 19, 2010). • Intangible Cultural Resources (including ACFN language, knowledge, and sense of place) (e.g., A14 Dec. 14, 2010; A01 May 17, 2010; A21 Dec. 16, 2010).
5.2.1 Water and River values – Quantity
The ACFN and MCFN Athabasca River Use Knowledge and Change Study (Candler et al. 2010) highlights the Athabasca River and adjacent streams as integral resources for the culture and economy of the ACFN, that are critical to the ability of ACFN members to hunt, trap, fish, and otherwise practice treaty rights in a preferred manner. Appendix 2 contains a summary of existing information regarding downstream effects of existing oil sands development on ACFN rights. ACFN river-based transportation routes have been documented within the LSA and RSA, and include portions of Redclay Creek.
One ACFN participant described the Athabasca River this way:
When we were younger the Athabasca River was … a wild beast. In other words, because it was alive, it had tremendous amount of water, it fed all the tributaries, lakes and everything. When the spring flood and that occurred … it brings life to the delta and when it brought life to the delta it also kept our people healthy, our population stable and, in other words, it sustained our way of life for our people for the existence of who we are today. (A06 Interview Transcript, May 19, 2010)
The Athabasca River is a river historically used by ACFN members to access large areas of traditional lands. ACFN members report that at low flows, navigational use of adjacent rivers and streams is restricted by low water levels. Figure 9, based on data from the ACFN Athabasca River Study, shows (in red) navigable watersheds16 that are known to become unnavigable at very low water, and hazards and incidents (in light yellow) downriver from the RCL along the Athabasca River.
16 where at least a portion of the stream is navigable from the Athabasca River. www.thefirelightgroup.com 47 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
As illustrated on Figure 9, in addition to the Athabasca River, portions of Redclay Creek are reported to be used by ACFN members as water transportation routes to access resources. Even in the absence of the Project, Redclay Creek is reported to become too low to travel on at low flow levels. The RCL Project is proposed along a stretch of the Athabasca River, extending downstream to Poplar Point, that is reported to be particularly difficult to navigate at low water levels due to sand bars and other hazards.
This corridor is vulnerable to low water conditions, especially towards the Athabasca delta where the majority of ACFN Indian Reserve lands, including important seasonal village areas, are located, and where all use depends on water access.
If we lose anymore water I think weʼre in deep trouble in terms of transportation and access to the different areas, even around Fort Chip and Fort McMurray, the Athabasca River. Canʼt afford to have the water drop any further than it is now. I think weʼre at the very max in terms of quantity… (A04 interview transcript, May 18, 2010).
5.2.2 Water and River Values – Quality
…Whatever emissions come from mining that area [Birch Mountains], are going to end up in that area up there, certain winds come around and will take them up there. Whatʼs going to happen to the natural fish that are, weʼre not going to able to eat those too? You know, the amount of impact itʼs going to have on the traditional use of this land is, and to me itʼs scary because itʼs never going to be the same again. And what about my little guy, heʼs only four years old, you know, and eventually Iʼm going to teach him…We have to travel all the way to Chip to go teach him how to do, use the traditional use of things, and Iʼm not able to access any of the traditional uses of the other land thatʼs around us (A06 Interview Transcript, July 31, 2007).
As documented in the ACFN and MCFN Athabasca River Use and Knowledge Study (Candler et al. 2010), ACFN members have observed changes in the quality of water and aquatic resources (including perceived abnormalities in fish and contamination of medicinal plants) on the Athabasca River system. These perceived changes in quality are attributed by ACFN members to oil sands development and have led to fear and other psycho-social impacts17 associated with contaminants (Health Canada 2005). The resulting and widespread loss of confidence in the quality of fish, water and other aquatic resources is having a serious effect on ACFN knowledge and use practice in the RCL area and will have to be dealt with in order for meaningful opportunities for the practice of use in the area to be maintained.
17 Health Canada (2005) identifies the following psycho-social factors associated with contamination – at least some of which are clearly affecting ACFN use of lands and waters: fear; feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness; anger; distrust; Grief; Guilt; Sense of depersonalization; Frustration; Isolation; Depression. www.thefirelightgroup.com 48 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Figure 9: ACFN Navigation and Navigable Hazards in Relation to the RCL Project
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See Appendix 2 for a summary of existing information regarding downstream effects of existing oil sands development on ACFN use and rights. ACFN fishing for subsistence use has been documented within the RCL LSA, as well as downstream from the PRM and JPME projects.
5.2.3 Culturally Important Species – Bison18
Based on ACFN TEK, and as shown on figure 10, the LSA, RSA, and the footprint of the RCL includes areas of observed and known core Ronald Lake Bison habitat. ACFN hunting of wood bison is current and ongoing, and has been documented within the RSA. Bison kill sites are included in the subsistence activity class shown on the RSA maps. Wood Bison are a rare resource within ACFN lands, and the Ronald Lake herd, in particular, is of unique and central importance to the ACFN, particularly as a winter food source, and for cultural/spiritual reasons. While there are other populations of woodland bison in Wood Buffalo National Park, ACFN hunting is restricted within the park. ACFN participants indicate that the Ronald Lake herd is the only herd of woodland bison currently available to ACFN hunters, and that it is already under pressure from non- aboriginal hunters due to a lack of legal protections. Ethnographic material (Smith 1981) and ACFN oral histories indicate that wood bison were important in the past, and continue to be important for cultural and subsistence purposes today.
…thereʼs even buffalos up there, woodland buffalos, like you, that you, that live up in the Birch Mountains … So you go into (Diana Lakes) in there, thatʼs where a lot of the buffalos hang out and feed or whatever, thatʼs where they basically stay, right, how is that going to effect those animals there? Like theyʼre sacred those animals to the Nativeʼs, if the spiritual part of our culture is to respect those animals and we do our spiritual ceremonies, our spiritual prayers, we ask, we have respect for those animals. For me, you know, thatʼs the way I use the land, I respect it for what it is. So before I go in there and take an animal I always say a prayer and make an offering… (A06 Interview Transcript, July 31, 2007).
18 Wood bison, woodland caribou, and barren ground caribou seem to have been largely not been addressed within the proponentʼs EIA. www.thefirelightgroup.com 50 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
5.2.4 Culturally Important Species – Woodland Caribou and Barren Ground Caribou
Based on ACFN interviews, and as shown on Figure 10, the RSA includes areas of core Woodland Caribou habitat. These are reported to be more than 5km from the proposed Project.
Woodland caribou (Alberta boreal population) is listed as a threatened species protected under Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act. Woodland caribou are of key cultural importance to the ACFN. An ACFN study regarding traditional knowledge of caribou range and distribution within ACFN territory is currently near completion. ACFN hunting of woodland caribou has been documented within the RSA .
While barren ground caribou migration patterns have changed since the 1950s, the RCL is located within the reported historic range of barren ground caribou. Several ACFN participants indicated that the change in caribou migration in the 1950ʼs was due to wide spread forest fires that removed lichen and other caribou food sources (A04 October 5, 2010; A24 October 5, 2010). Barren ground caribou are of key cultural importance to the ACFN and rarely encountered in the southern portions of ACFN territory since the 1950s (Tanner and Rigney 2003). ACFN hunting of barren ground caribou has been documented within the RSA.
Both woodland and barren ground caribou are valued for their meat, and fine hide. However, supported by the historic reliance of ACFN peoples on caribou and caribou migration (Smith 1981, Tanner and Rigney 2003), the connection of ACFN to caribou is often discussed as extending far beyond subsistence.
In an affidavit sworn October 1, 2010, Allan Adam stated the following:
…We have a spiritual connection and relationship with the caribou… The Dene have always lived of the caribou, regardless of whether itʼs woodland or barren ground, there has always been a connection…
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Figure 10: Reported Core Bison and Core Caribou Habitats in Relation to the Project and RSA
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5.2.5 Culturally Important Species – Migratory Birds
the big migration of geese, theyʼre always in … the delta, and much of it is gone, the deltaʼs gone, so, much of the birds donʼt even land there, they fly over, its dried out... So pretty soon we wonʼt be able to even eat our own food and we wonʼt be able to use some of the medicinal medicine that we get from so close to the river, this big Athabasca river system. … I wonʼt eat the fish from here. No way (A07 interview transcript, August 1, 2007).
As noted in the initial ACFN traditional use study for PRM and JPME, submitted to Shell in 2008, ACFN members have reported changes in migratory bird patterns, including ducks and geese, concurrent with oil sands development. These changes are reported to have impacted the quantity of birds available for the ACFN spring bird hunt, particularly in the area of the Athabasca delta. ACFN hunting of migratory birds has been documented within the RSA and is included in the subsistence activity class shown in Figure 7. Migratory birds are of key cultural importance to the ACFN. The spring bird hunt is a core component of the ACFNʼs past and present seasonal round.
In an affidavit sworn January 30th, 2009, Raymond Cardinal stated the following:
Every spring time, in May, I do one traditional hunt for migrating birds with my family and friends…there would normally be between 15 and 20 of us. My father taught me when I was growing up…I start hunting when I get on the Athabasca River at Fort McKay, and continue as I travel north on the river. Iʼm gone for about a week (Cardinal 2009).
5.2.6 Culturally Important Species – Plants
ACFN harvesting of culturally important plants, including berries and medicinal plants, has been documented within the LSA and RSA. Several kinds of medicinal plants are collected in water, or in riparian areas such as along the Athabasca rivers. As with fish, ACFN members report having observed changes in the quality of water and medicinal plants on the Athabasca River system concurrent with oil sands development. These perceived changes have led to widespread loss of use and inability to confidently practice ACFN knowledge and use. Harvesting of food plants, including berries, is included in the subsistence activity class shown in Figure 7. Harvesting of medicinal plants is included in the cultural/spiritual activity class shown in the same figure.
5.2.7 Access and Enjoyment of ACFN lands - Traplines
The RCL Project footprint is not located within a current ACFN trapline. The LSA includes a portion of RFMA #2863 located across the Athabasca River from the proposed footprint, and held by an ACFN family. It also includes an area used until
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the 1960ʼs as a trap line on the west side of the Athabasca river by members of an ACFN family who also maintained a primary cabin on the Athabasca River within the RCL LSA.
5.2.8 Access and Enjoyment of ACFN Lands – Reserves and Cultural Protection Areas
ACFN reserve lands are located within the RSA, but not the LSA or footprint. As documented in the ACFN and MCFN Athabasca River Use and Knowledge Study (Candler et al. 2010), and as reported by ACFN member, impacts of existing oil sands operations on ACFN reserve lands include:
• Perceived impacts on Athabasca River water quality (due to contaminant concerns, and resulting in loss of confidence in fish and other aquatic resources); and
• The impact of water withdrawals on river flow during ice free low flow periods resulting in impediments to river travel and navigation required to access many of the ACFNʼs reserve lands.
Other impacts noted by study participants, and associated with existing oil sands developments include noise, traffic, air quality, loss of access due to industry road controls, and loss of remoteness.
Potential project interactions with impacts to ACFN Cultural Protection Areas are discussed below.
5.2.8.1 Athabasca River critical waterway zone
As shown in Figure 2, The RCL footprint and LSA is within critical waterway zones associated with the Athabasca River and the Firebag River. Both rivers are central to ACFN use. As discussed in 5.2 and 5.3, the Athabasca River is already understood by ACFN members to be subject to extensive water withdrawals and impacts from upstream industry. As such, it is considered by ACFN members to be particularly vulnerable to additional industrial effects.
5.2.8.2 k'es hochela nene (Poplar Point Homeland)
As shown in Figure 2, the RCL footprint and LSA are within the k'es hochela nene (Poplar Point Homeland). The k'es hochela nene homeland includes approximately 1,292,290 hectares of lands and waters critical to ACFN members, and particularly those families affiliated with the Poplar Point (IR Chipewyan 201G) and Point Brule (IR Chipewyan 201F) areas. It has been identified by the ACFN as an area that is critical to historic, current, and future ACFN practice of rights. It includes areas west of the Athabasca River to the Birch Mountains and east of the Athabasca River into Saskatchewan.
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West of the Athabasca River, the southern and western boundaries of this homeland are defined by core wood bison range extending south and west from the area of Ronald Lakes, extending into the Birch Mountains. Bison from this area are relied upon by ACFN members (see 5.2.4), and are especially critical to those families affiliated with the Poplar Point and Point Brule areas. Impacts to this area are being experienced as a result of recreational use of the area and oil sands exploration. To date, no oil sands mines operate in kʼes hochela nene. As an area where ACFN rights can still be meaningfully practiced, the importance of k'es hochela nene is likely to increase as industrial effects continue to accumulate upstream along the Athabasca.
5.2.9 Intangible Cultural Resources – ACFN Knowledge and Language
In additional to concerns regarding impact to more concrete values, many ACFN participants also identified concerns regarding the potential impact of oil sands developments on intangible cultural resources, including language and the transmission of knowledge regarding areas of lost use resulting from industrial effects (e.g.: A01, July 27, 2007; A06, July 31, 2007). Particular kinds of knowledge, in the form of place based stories, place names, and histories, are associated with particular places (Basso 1996), and the cultural practices, or uses, that take place there. Actions that destroy a place, or cause the use of a place to be lost (for example, because of fear of contaminants), especially over long periods of time, frequently result in a gap in the transmission of place based knowledge, and eliminate the place as a cultural resource for remembering, teaching, and learning the knowledge associated with it. With regard to the RCL Project, and attempted ʻcreationʼ of a human-made lake, many participants indicated the importance of the cultural sense of place and connection that exists in natural surroundings, but that would be absent in at a human made lake.
Other kinds of knowledge may not be associated with a particular place, but with an aesthetic feeling, or sense associated with particular kinds of places, especially ones that are considered ʻnatural.ʼ With increased urbanization, and the increasing rarity of places that are ʻnaturalʼ or ʻwildʼ for ACFN members living in urban areas, places that offer this sense, but that are still accessible from urban areas, can be a very valuable and rare cultural resource. One ACFN participant put it this way:
…theyʼre polluting not just the earth and the animals and the air and the water, but the people too. And thatʼs sad…You know what the weird thing is? A lot of these kids growing up right now, theyʼll think that all this is normal…and itʼs not normal. I remember washing my hair in rain water, saving it in a barrel…and go jump in the lake, and you know, it wouldnʼt smell like oil or gas, it would smell like water and it would be clear and you could see the bottom, and you could see fish swimming, you know, and was just nice … you could even drink the water from the lake when you went for a walk in the bush, you could just bring a cup with you and just drink from the river, the lake, anywhere, now you have to bring your
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own water into the bush, … everybody brings their own water out in the bush now for the past, I donʼt know, 20 years. Thatʼs what I mean, these kids that are like maybe ten years old or so right now, donʼt know whatʼs normal. They think that … polluted water and air you canʼt really safely breathe and animals dying and suffering and animals getting extinct … they think thatʼs normal. They think itʼs normal, so thatʼs what scares me the most, more than everything else thatʼs going on, what scares me is that the kids think itʼs normal … itʼll be another … world without traditional knowledge. Theyʼll have whatever anybody tells them, theyʼll believe [it] to be true because how would they know the difference? If the earth is all screwed up and the water is all polluted and they canʼt see the sun and they canʼt see the stars and they canʼt breathe the air, then how in the heck are they supposed to know if theyʼd never washed in rain water … never swam in a clean lake, like how are they going to know whatʼs normal? Thatʼs what scares me, and thatʼs my grandkids Iʼm talking about and the next generation. I donʼt even think they know what it was like … itʼs probably to them like a fairy tale now (A01 interview transcript, July 27, 2007).
5.3 Assessment of RCL Project Effects
Details from the Proponent regarding the construction, operation, closure and post- closure of the RCL project are limited. In estimating the effects of the RCL Project, the following assumptions have been made: • Construction of the RCL is assumed to involve clearing of lands, increased traffic, new road access to the LSA, use of machinery, ground disturbance, and removal of waters from the Athabasca River either directly, or through diversion or impoundment of streams, and flooding of the RCL area. • Operation of the RCL is assumed to involve occasional traffic, maintenance of new road access, use of machinery, seasonal removal of waters from the Athabasca River either directly, or through diversion or impoundment of streams, and flooding of the RCL area. No emissions or contamination is assumed. • The RCL project is assumed to result in creation of a reservoir resulting in some reduction in waters reaching the Athabasca River and Redclay Creek, and is assumed to flood and eliminate habitat for terrestrial animals including moose, wood bison, and woodland caribou.
The RCL structure is assumed to be permanent with no closure or post closure anticipated, and an operating lifespan greater than that of the PRM and JPME mines (more than 50 years). The RCL structure may have effects on any or all of the categories of site specific and non-site-specific traditional use values identified in the LSA and RSA through direct disturbance and flooding of lands, increased industry and recreational access, and reduced flow levels in Redclay Creek and on the Athabsca River.
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5.3.1 Anticipated RCL Project Effects on Site-specific VCs within the LSA and RSA
5.3.1.1 Site-specific Subsistence Values
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, the RCL footprint will destroy and/or render un-useable preferred hunting areas and important moose and wood bison habitat, and is within 250m of a reported site-specific ACFN use value associated with Moose hunting. As discussed below, it is unlikely to create equivalent fishing areas for the practice of ACFN use, and the net effect on ACFN subsistence values is negative. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
The proposed location of the RCL is in a key preferred corridor for moose and bison hunting, as well as for fishing (on the Firebag River). Within the LSA, up to 23 documented ACFN site specific subsistence values, most along the Athabasca River and related to fishing or moose hunting, have potential to be adversely impacted by direct disturbance / flooding of lands increased industry and recreational access, and reductions in water flow related to impoundment of waters, leading to increased scope and intensity of avoidance or reduced use by ACFN members. Of those 21, only one of the documented ACFN site- specific subsistence values is within 250m of the Project footprint.
Within the RSA, and including the LSA, more than 1,500 ACFN site-specific subsistence values have been documented including a large concentration of values in the Athabasca delta. Beyond the LSA, but within the RSA, and including ACFN values in the Athabasca Delta, the values most at risk of Project effects (reduced flows in Redclay Creek and the Athabasca River) are downstream of the Project along the Athabasca River. Some or all of these subsistence values are likely to be impacted by the Project as a result of access effects on Athabasca River levels, especially during ice free periods of low flow. Also see non-site specific effects below.
5.3.1.2 Site-specific Habitation Values
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, the RCL footprint is not within 250m of reported site-specific ACFN habitation values.
Within the LSA, the RCL footprint is within 5km of 9 documented ACFN site-specific habitation values. These will be impacted by direct disturbance / flooding of lands relied upon (within 5km), increased industry and recreational access, and reduced water flow in the Athabasca River and Redclay Creek, upon which use of habitation areas rely. This has potential to increase the scope and intensity of avoidance or reduced use. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
Within the RSA, and including the LSA, 268 ACFN site-specific habitation values have been documented. Beyond the LSA, but within the RSA, values most at risk of Project
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effects are those downstream of the Project along the Muskeg and the Athabasca Rivers. These include regularly used cabins, and the most critical village sites and Indian Reserve lands of the ACFN. As with subsistence values noted above, these habitation values may be impacted by the Project through anticipated effects on Athabasca River levels during ice free low flow periods, leading to potential lost or reduced use.
5.3.1.3 Site-specific Cultural/ Spiritual Values
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, the RCL footprint is not within 250m of reported site-specific ACFN cultural/spiritual values. One cultural/spiritual value (north of the RCL footprint) was identified within the LSA.
Within the RSA, and including the LSA, more than 200 ACFN site-specific cultural / spiritual values are documented. These include ceremonial places, medicine collection places, and major burial sites sensitive to a variety of effects, including water level changes. Some or all of these cultural / spiritual values may be impacted by the Project as a result of anticipated effects on Athabasca River levels, especially during low flow. See non-site specific concerns below.
5.3.1.4 Site-specific Transportation Values
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, the RCL footprint is within 250m of two reported site-specific ACFN transportation values (a trail and a water route along the Athabasca River) may be impacted by the RCL Project. The recorded trail is used to access hunting areas for bison and moose within the LSA and into the Birch Mountains. The water route is the main water transportation route along the Athabasca River. These values will be impacted by direct disturbance / flooding of lands relied upon (within 5km), increased industry and recreational access, and reduced water levels along the Athabasca River and Redclay Creek. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
Figure 16 shows reported hazards and incidents along the Athabasca River, including sand bars, mostly encountered at low water levels. The RCL project is proposed for a portion of the Athabasca River, extending downstream to Poplar Point, that is reported to be particularly susceptible to sand bars and transportation hazards at low flow levels. Project water withdrawals from the Athabasca River, and diversion of streams otherwise flowing into the Athabasca River, are likely to contribute to lower flow levels on the Athabasca downstream of the RCL Project.
Based on Candler et al. 2010, reported effects of sand bars and hazards include: • lost access to side channels and streams adjoining the River (see maps 5 and 6); • Increased travel time and expense due to reduced speed and need for increased care; • Increased travel time and expense due to getting stuck on sand bars (including occasional inability to find a channel through); • Increased travel time and expense due to avoidance of sand bar areas (including
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large areas where the Athabasca delta joins Lake Athabasca); • Damage to boats, engines, and equipment; and, • Safety concerns related to collisions with sand bars or other hazards.
Figure 16 also shows that at least portions of Redclay Creek are navigable at adequate flow levels, and are reported by ACFN member to be water routes used for accessing resources.
Beyond the LSA, but within the RSA, values most at risk are those downstream of the Project along the Athabasca River. These include water transportation routes, including access to reserve lands critical to ACFN rights practice in the Athabasca Delta, on the Athabasca River, and in adjacent rivers and streams. Some or all of these are likely to be impacted by the Project as a result of anticipated effects on Athabasca River levels, especially during ice-free low water periods. See non-site specific concerns below.
5.3.1.5 Site-specific Environmental Feature Values
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, construction and operation would destroy and/or disturb site-specific ACFN environmental feature values including past, current, and planned future habitat areas for moose and wood bison. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
Within the LSA, up to 8 documented ACFN site specific environmental features will be impacted by direct disturbance and flooding, reduced ACFN access, and increased industry and recreational access. These include reported core range of a unique and culturally important population of Wood Bison, and areas of high quality and river accessible moose habitat (culturally important) including an east – west moose travel corridor crossing the Athabasca River. Portions of three of these eight environmental features are inside or within 250m of the Project footprint, including areas of Bison and Moose habitat. These portions would be destroyed or rendered un-useable by the Project.
Due to a reported lack of legal protection from hunting by non-aboriginal hunters, ACFN elders and knowledge holders identified the Wood Bison population of the area as especially vulnerable to increased access by recreational hunters and industry likely to result from a bridge crossing the Athabasca, as planned as part of the PRM. See non- site specific values below.
Beyond the LSA, but within the RSA, the environmental feature values most at risk of Project effects are areas of core Wood Bison habitat north and west of the RCL that would be subject to increased access by recreational hunting and industry. See non-site specific concerns below.
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5.3.2 Anticipated RCL Effects on Non-Site-specific VCs
5.3.2.1 RCL Effects on Water and River values - Quantity
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, the project will flood an area within the Footprint, and is likely to impede the practice of ACFN use along Redclay Creek and downstream of the Project by reducing water levels flowing into the Athabasca River, or extracting water from the Athabasca, during low flow periods.
The RCL Project is likely to increase the intensity, scope and area of existing patterns of ACFN loss of use due to lower water levels downstream of the Project along the Athabasca River (Candler et al 2010). This effect is likely to be most pronounced during ice free low water periods and is likely to result in impeded access to past, current, and planned future use areas, documented areas of traditional use, and ACFN Indian Reserves. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
Documented existing impacts to ACFN knowledge, use and rights practice related to water levels include loss of access to large areas of traditional lands along the Athabasca River and adjoining tributaries (Candler et al 2010), increased incidence of sand bars and navigational hazards (see 5.3.1.4 ), ecological change, including vegetation changes and changes in channel and channel migration, and loss of access to Indian Reserves (Chipewyan 201, 201 C, 201 E, 201 F, 201 G) lands leading to increased avoidance, reduced use, and loss of knowledge transmission opportunities (Candler et al 2010) . These changes are likely to be most pronounced downstream of the RCL and in the Athabasca delta area where the majority of ACFN reserve lands, and the greatest intensity of ACFN use values occurs.
As shown in Figure 8, current avoidance patterns related to existing industrial development suggest that the RCL footprint and LSA are located north of an area of extensive lost ACFN use surrounding existing oil sands mines. While thresholds of practice/avoidance have not been quantified, existing patterns, and the response of ACFN elders and land users, indicates that the RCL Project would expand existing avoidance patterns into the k'es hochela nene or Poplar Point Homeland, and would likely include increased intensity, scope and area of avoidance by ACFN members. This effect would be due to the flooding of lands, and possibly reduced water levels on the Athabasca and in Redclay Creek rather than due to perceived contaminants. See Appendix 2 for additional detail.
5.3.2.2 RCL Effects on Water and River Values – Quality
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, the RCL Project is not anticipated to have an effect on perceived levels of industrial contaminants, or the quality of fish or aquatic resources within the ACFN environment. Existing perceived levels of water borne contaminants, in combination with other changes, are already having serious psycho-social effects and resulting in wide spread avoidance and loss of www.thefirelightgroup.com 60 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
use by ACFN members in the region (Candler et al 2010). Should the JPME and PRM projects proceed, as proposed, likely increases in perceived contamination of water and plant resources (either directly, or by air) will make the RCL Project unlikely to be used by ACFN members as a source of fish, or medicinal plant collection. As such, the RCL Project is unlikely to reduce existing concerns.
5.3.2.3 RCL Effects on Culturally Important Species – Wood Bison
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, construction and operation would disturb or destroy observed and known core Wood Bison habitat identified by ACFN knowledge holders, including preferred grass and sedge meadow winter range habitat, which intersects the footprint of the RCL Project. The project will have adverse effects on Wood Bison habitat, and has the potential, through increasing non-aboriginal hunting access, to eliminate a preferred, unique, and culturally important resource from ACFN access.
Subject to a lack of available information regarding Project interactions with Bison, this effect is anticipated with a moderate degree of confidence. It is unclear from the Proponentʼs Application whether or not Project effects on Woodland Bison were meaningfully evaluated. Based on the precautionary principle, in the absence of information regarding the likely effect of the Project on culturally important and unique wood bison, high levels of caution should be applied.
In addition to footprint effects on woodland bison habitat, ACFN participants indicate that, due to lack of provincial recognition, the Ronald Lake herd is currently vulnerable to, and being reduced by, unregulated hunting due to a lack of legal protections. Creation of road access to the PRM and RCL area, including a bridge across the Athabasca River, is expected to result in increased non-aboriginal hunting pressure. In the absence of legal protections, the elimination of the Ronald Lake herd, and so the species, from ACFN use is likely. Woodland Bison are currently hunted by ACFN members, and are considered an essential component of planned future ACFN use in kʼes hochela nene homeland.
5.3.2.4 RCL Effects on Culturally Important Species – Woodland Caribou and Barren Ground Caribou
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, the RCL project will disturb or destroy part of the range of culturally important populations of Woodland Caribou resident in Birch Mountain area, as well as portions of the historic range of Barren Ground Caribou. The Project is located outside of reported core Caribou habitat.
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5.3.2.5 RCL Effects on Culturally Important Species – Migratory Birds
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of available Project information, the RCL project has the potential to improve habitat for culturally important populations of migratory birds including various species of duck, geese, cranes, and other birds.
ACFN knowledge holders have reported a downward trend in the number of migratory birds transiting the RCL LSA and RSA in recent decades. Project effects related to removal of muskeg, drying of upland lakes, reduced water levels downstream of the Project (including in the Athabasca Delta), as well as intentional disturbance of birds and flyways through use of cannons, may further adversely impact the current or potential availability of migratory birds as preferred and culturally important resources for ACFN knowledge and use practice. This effect is anticipated with a medium degree of confidence due to lack of detailed ACFN knowledge and use studies focused on migratory birds.
5.3.2.6 RCL Effects on Culturally Important Species – Plants
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, RCL Project effects will disturb and flood an area of natural vegetation. Should the JPME and PRM projects proceed, as proposed, likely increases in perceived contamination of water and plant resources (either directly, or by air) will make the RCL Project unlikely to be used by ACFN members as a source for food or medicinal plant collection. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
5.3.2.7 RCL Effects on Access and Enjoyment of ACFN Lands – Traplines
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, RCL Project effects will flood or eliminate ACFN access and enjoyment of lands associated with a historic trapline west of the Athabasca River and associated with an ACFN family group. Project effects within the LSA would include loss of access and enjoyment due to Project related flooding. Effect, including disturbance as a result of increased access, may also be experienced in relation to RFMA #2863. This effect is anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
5.3.2.8 RCL Effects on Access and Enjoyment of ACFN Lands – ACFN Indian Reserves and Cultural Protection Areas
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, RCL Project Project effects may contribute to impacts on or elimination of ACFN access and enjoyment of lands associated with ACFN Indian Reserves (Chipewyan 201, 201 C, 201 E, 201 F, 201 G) downstream of the Project. Portions of Chipewyan 201 and 201E located away from the main channel of the Athabasca River are particularly vulnerable to loss of access due to declining water levels.
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The Project, as currently proposed, will not support ACFN management goals identified in ACFNʼs submission on the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (ACFN 2010) including no-net loss of habitat, and no-net increase of linear disturbance within Cultural Protection Areas and kʼes hochela nene homeland. These effects are anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
5.3.2.9 RCL Effects on Intangible Cultural Resources
Based on reported ACFN knowledge, and review of Project information, RCL Project effects are likely to reduce or eliminate opportunities for the transmission of ACFN knowledge and language, including place names and place based knowledge (Basso 1996), specific to the LSA. This would contribute to the erosion and, over time, loss of ACFN knowledge and language specific to the RCL footprint and LSA, and potentially extending to other portions of the RSA as a result of loss of use due to impediments to access and travel by water related to low flow levels on the Athabasca River. The project is also likely to adversely affect ACFN memberʼs ʻsense of placeʼ through disruption of the cultural landscape and replacement of natural habitat with a human- made construction. These effects are anticipated with a high degree of confidence.
5.4 Existing RCL Mitigations
At the time of writing, it is not known if the Proponent has committed to mitigations for the adverse effects of the Project. Appendix 3 provides mitigations contained within the JPME and PRM applications.
5.4.1 Oil Sands Mine Reclamation and ACFN Knowledge and Use
While the technology of reclamation and creation of aquatic habitats continues to improve, and while it is beyond the scope of this report to comment on the ability of the Proponent to create new habitat for fish, ACFN participants indicated clearly that creating fish habitat does little or nothing to mitigate for impacts on ACFN knowledge and use. Based on the accounts of ACFN elders and land users, it is clear that the meaningful practice of use involves reliance on the quality and quantity of necessary resources, such as fish, but also on the intangible aspects and relationships associated with those resources.
While the RCL Project may be able to create physical fish habitat in the Redclay area, the project will not create a cultural landscapes consistent with ACFN traditions of knowledge and use. While the biological conditions for fish, plants, or animals may be successfully introduced, the landscape in the vicinity of the RCL will be converted from a natural one, to a manufactured one. Evidence from ACFN elders and land users suggests that this will permanently alter the cultural, historic, and sacred relationships www.thefirelightgroup.com 63 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
that make the current landscape of Redclay Creek a living thing within ACFN oral tradition.
Some participants laughed at the suggestion of fishing in a ʻfake lakeʼ created by industry. Others talked about the sacred relationships that exist on the land, and how these can never be ʻreclaimedʼ following disturbance.
…if a company says itʼs going to dig a hole and then youʼre going to replant, the hole is already dug, right, the spirit of the land is gone when youʼre digging, when you dig a big kick ass hole like… ten mile radius, the spirit of that land is gone. Itʼll never come back, even if you put trees, muskeg and trees back and throw a couple of buffalos there, itʼs never the same…you can still see the type of land that they put back, is almost the same, but it certainly is not. Itʼs all spaced and coordinated… and trees are all nicely spaced in rows like theyʼre planting apple trees or something. Johnny Apple Seed was there. [laughter]… and out in Poplar Point, you know, itʼs wild and itʼs beautiful…No matter what they do, theyʼll never be, ever, ever the same. All they got to do is stay away from it, thatʼs the only thing, if they want to keep it the same, just stay away (A03 interview transcript, July 30, 2007).
They say theyʼre going to make it better then it was. There is a reason why that bush is thick right there … You know, because they plant trees and vegetation far apart and make it look pretty yeah does that make it better? It doesnʼt make it better. That is there for a reason ... It takes care of some kind of species in there or some kind of animal or some kind of vegetation species thatʼs in there. Itʼs a sacred species to us as native people, thereʼs medicine in these trees that we use…We use that stuff…you going to put those back? Are they going to be sacred still? You still going to be nurtured from what was naturally there before, not what was all taken out from underneath it? Put it all back, thereʼs sand and mud and whatever, and then put a soil on it and plant it and put it up again? I donʼt think itʼs sacred anymore, itʼs been disturbed. That affects us that way, you know, our rat root thatʼs, a lot of rat root grow in marshes around this area here, in the Shell project…Muskeg River…what about the rat root that is so sacred to the people too, you know, that we use for a number of things…it works as a natural medicine that one, it helps everything in your body. As long as you respect…my traditional ways is you pray to that medicine and ask for it to help you, and it does, you know, if you believe. Those are my concerns, you know if oil sands go in there, theyʼre going to disrupt that, pretty hard to put it back the way it was. You can say itʼs better, but naturally it isnʼt… if you want to make a difference then donʼt mine. Youʼll save our children, youʼll save your children (A06 interview transcript, July 30, 2007).
There is also skepticism that industry will actually be around long enough to reclaim the land:
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You think industry is going to around forever, what happens when everything collapses around here, the oil prices drop out of the sky? And everybody just getʼs up and leaves. Is he just going to leave everything the way it is? Be another Uranium City? How is it going to affect the people that live off the land, once youʼre gone?... (A06 interview transcript, July 30, 2007).
Participants made clear that in some cases, such as muskeg, the function of natural wetland habitats goes far beyond fish habitat.
Itʼs home…Iʼve got to come and see home…it feels like Iʼve been raped or something…Theyʼve kicked me, kicked me out of my house…If they do that [mine the Muskeg River] then they kill Muskeg River. See, all that is swamp. Once they get rid of the swamp, thereʼs no more river…how do they plan to reclaim?...The fish already have a place to live…the swamp, it sustains life. See your swamp is a muskeg. You have your muskeg here, and then your base flow of water underneath…it holds the water. It holds it so that you have the river flowing. You might have an abundance of rain, but itʼs not going to let all go at one time. So the muskeg absorbs the water the slowly drains it away...you donʼt have to be a biologist to understand this. (A21 Interview Transcripts, December 16, 2010).
Even if perfect reclamation of the physical and cultural landscape was possible, a common standard of socio-cultural impact assessment is that where an area has been removed from aboriginal use for more than one generation (approximately 22 years), impacts to the transmission of knowledge regarding that area are considered permanent and irreversible. Where disturbance involves removal of landforms and where areas relied on for teaching are fundamentally altered or made inaccessible, then the role of landscape in transmitting knowledge (Basso 1996) is fundamentally and irrevocably changed through development. The new landscape of the RCL Project would not support ACFN members to practice and transmit the kinds of place-based cultural knowledge essential to the meaningful practice of ACFN knowledge and use.
Based available evidence, the RCL is unlikely to be used, or relied upon, by ACFN members for subsistence fishing or other ACFN knowledge or use practice, and so should not be considered a compensation, mitigation, or benefit related to PRM and JPME impacts on ACFN knowledge and use. Even the best and most sensitive reclamation techniques cannot be expected to reverse or fully mitigate impacts to ACFN use values.
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5.5 RCL Residual Project Effects
Given anticipated Project effects on ACFN knowledge and use, and absent mitigations proposed by the Proponent, the adverse residual effects of the RCL Project are anticipated to range from low to very high.
Figure 11 provides a characterization of the residual effects, and a rating of environmental consequence for each VC: Figure 11: Environmental Consequence of RCL
aphic
r Value Direction Magnitude Geog extent Duration Reversibility Frequency Environmental Consequence
Site-specific Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Subsistence extends beyond (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) Values LSA into RSA years Site-specific Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Habitation extends beyond (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) Values LSA into RSA years Site-specific Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Cultural/ extends beyond (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) Spiritual LSA into RSA years Values Site-specific Negative moderate regional (+1): long-term irreversible moderate Moderate Transportati (+5) extends beyond (+2): >20 (+3) (+2): (13) on Values LSA into RSA years intermittent Site-specific Negative high (+15) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Very High Environmen extends beyond (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (23) tal Features LSA into RSA years Water and Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible moderate Moderate River values extends beyond (+2): >20 (+3) (+1): (12) (quantity) LSA into RSA years intermittent Water and Negative negligible regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): low (8) River values (+0) effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (quality) beyond the LSA years into the RSA Culturally Negative high (+15) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Very High Important effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (23) Species beyond the LSA years (Woodland into the RSA Bison) Culturally Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Important effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) Species beyond the LSA years
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(Woodland into the RSA and Barren Ground Caribou) Culturally Positive low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Important effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) Species beyond the LSA years (migratory into the RSA birds) Culturally Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Important effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) Species beyond the LSA years (plants) into the RSA Access and Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible high (+2): Moderate Enjoyment effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) continuous (13) of ACFN beyond the LSA years lands into the RSA (ACFN trap lines) Access and Negative low (+5) regional (+1): long-term irreversible moderate Moderate Enjoyment effect extends (+2): >20 (+3) (+1): (12) of ACFN beyond the LSA years intermittent lands into the RSA (ACFN IRs and cultural protection areas)
5.6 Significance of Residual RCL Effects
Based on available information, residual project effects (separate from effects of other projects) of the RCL on ACFN Knowledge and Use would be generally adverse and of low to moderate environmental consequence, except for effects on site-specific environmental features and wood bison which are potentially of very high environmental consequence. The RCL Project would:
• Disturb or destroy (through flooding) important environmental feature values in the LSA, primarily related to moose and bison hunting. The Ronald Lakes Bison, in particular, are rare, vulnerable, and culturally important. Given the baseline context of minimal pre-existing impact, and in the absence of effective provincial and First Nations legislative protection and enforcement, the footprint disturbance of the RCL, combined with increased access by sport hunters to Bison core habitat is considered likely to impact or destroy the last remaining viable and accessible wood bison within ACFNʼs traditional lands, and result in complete or
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near complete ACFN loss of access19 to wood bison for multiple generations. This effect would likely result in strong concern or interest from ACFN members affected, and would be a clearly discernable (measurable or perceivable) change to their preferred exercise of a culturally important practice, land use or right. As such, this would be a significant adverse effect.
The primary finding of this assessment is that, depending on wood bison interactions with the RCL through construction and operations, the RCL Project (not in combination with other projects), is likely to have significant adverse residual effects on ACFN Knowledge and Use, particularly in relation to effects on wood bison.
Given that the primary issue is the taking up of lands, mitigating the effects of the RCL Project on wood bison is likely to be challenging, and may be impossible. At its core, the RCL Project proposes the destruction (by flooding) of a preferred ACFN hunting area and high value habitat for culturally important species like moose and wood bison, in favor an artificial lake for fish habitat that may, or may not be successful, and that ACFN members are highly unlikely to use in the future due to interruption of the natural landscape, and perceived contamination of fish from nearby oil sands mines.
To optimize benefits and minimize impacts, the Proponent may wish to abandon plans for RCL, and instead engage with the ACFN and DFO regarding opportunities for augmenting, protecting and improving existing fish habitat threatened by changing river levels, as at Richardson (Jackfish) Lake. Augmentation of existing natural fish habitat is less likely to be seen as an interruption of the natural landscape, does not require sacrifice of high value terrestrial habitat, and is more likely to be used by First Nations as a result of historic connection, and distance from perceived oil sands impacts.
Should the Proponent choose to proceed with the RCL Project, then the primary recommendation of this assessment is that the proponent and the Federal and Provincial Crown undertake a process, agreeable to and involving the ACFN, to ensure that adequate quantity and quality of resources exist for the continuation of ACFN knowledge and use into the future. This process should prioritize avoiding and reducing impacts over mitigating them. Where impacts to ACFN knowledge and use cannot be avoided then they should be mitigated to below a significant level, as defined in this report, using effective strategies agreeable to the ACFN. If impacts to ACFN knowledge and use cannot be avoided, reduced, or mitigated to below a significant level, as defined in this report, then permissions for RCL to proceed should require consent from the Federal and Provincial Crown, and authorized representatives of the ACFN.
19 This is a precautionary assessment of effect due to the lack of information available on likely project interactions with Wood Bison. www.thefirelightgroup.com 68 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Section 6: Summary and Conclusion
6.1 RCL Summary of Baseline and Cumulative Impact Assessment
The proposed RCL Project is located within the Treaty 8 area and within lands historically and currently relied upon by ACFN members for the practice of knowledge, use and rights under Treaty 8, including hunting, trapping, gathering, fishing, and associated cultural and livelihood practices.
Figure 12 layers reported ACFN loss of use areas with reported use values in the RSA. It shows the overlap between reported areas of aquatic loss of use (in transparent blue) and reported terrestrial loss of use (transparent grey), with reported ACFN site-specific knowledge and use values. The footprint of the RCL Project:
• Includes or is within 250m of 6 documented ACFN site-specific values, including trails, habitat areas, and hunting areas.
• Includes or is within 5km of 45 documented ACFN site-specific values, including 9 accounts of permanent or temporary habitation.
• Includes core habitat for wood bison, and moose, which are historically and currently relied upon by ACFN members, and are of high cultural importance.
• is within kʼos hechela nene (Poplar Point Homeland), which is an ACFN Cultural Protection Area identified in submissions to the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan.
• is within or adjacent to a historic trapline associated with an ACFN family.
• is within the larger Athabasca River watershed, which is vulnerable to ACFN loss of use during low flows (Candler et al 2010).
Effects on ACFN knowledge and use are likely to interact with effects from other projects resulting in cumulative effects. A detailed assessment of cumulative effects on ACFN knowledge, use and rights practice resulting from Project activities in combination with other existing and proposed projects in the area was beyond the scope of this report and is recommended should the proponent wish to proceed with the RCL Project. www.thefirelightgroup.com 69 ACFN Knowledge and Use Report for Redclay Comp. Lake 5/03/2011
Figure 12: Reported ACFN Site-specific Use Values within the RCL Regional Study Area
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Based on existing information, the Project is likely to result in significant adverse residual, and to have effects of high to very high environmental consequence on the following VCs:
• Culturally Important Species (Woodland Bison);
• Site-specific Environmental Features.
6.2 Monitoring and Accountability
Should the proponent wish to proceed with the Project, monitoring and accountability measures agreeable to the ACFN should be established. The goal of these should be to develop a community based monitoring and accountability program that ACFN members trust, and that communicates effectively regarding actual risks and effects, and what they should mean for how ACFN members use their lands.
6.3 Recommendations
The primary recommendation of this assessment is that the proponent consider abandoning plans for RCL, and instead engage with the ACFN and DFO regarding opportunities for augmenting, protecting and improving existing fish habitat threatened by changing river levels along the Athabasca River, as at Richardson (Jackfish) Lake. Should the Proponent choose to proceed with the RCL Project, then the primary recommendation of this assessment is that the proponent and the Federal and Provincial Crown undertake a process, agreeable to and involving the ACFN, to ensure that adequate quantity and quality of resources, including woodland Bison, exist for the continuation of ACFN knowledge and use into the future.
If impacts to ACFN knowledge and use cannot be avoided, reduced, or mitigated to below a significant level, as defined in this report, then permissions for RCL to proceed should require consent from the Federal and Provincial Crown, and authorized representatives of the ACFN.
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6.4 Closure
Should there be questions or clarification required regarding this report and assessment, please email requests to [email protected].
Signed May 03, 2011.
ORIGINAL SIGNED
Craig Candler, Ph.D. (Cultural Anthropology) Director, Community Studies and First Nations Consultation ______The Firelight Group 864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 T: +1 (250) 590-9017 C: +1 (250) 220-2064 E: [email protected]
cc/ro/cw/dt/gg/sd
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Section 7: References Cited
A01 Interview Transcript, May 17, 2010, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A02 Interview Transcript, July 28th, 2007, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A03 Interview Transcript, July 30th, 2007, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A03 Interview Transcript, May 18, 2010, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A04 Interview Transcript, May 18, 2010, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A05 Interview Transcript, July 2007, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A06 Interview Transcript, May 19, 2010, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A07 Interview Transcript, August 01, 2007, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
A14 Interview Transcript, December 14, 2010, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
ACFN
— (2008) Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Traditional Land Use Study for the Proposed Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion and Pierre River Mine Project. Ft. McMurray, Alberta: ACFN IRC unpublished report.
— (2010) Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Advice to the Government of Alberta Regarding the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan. Unpublished document provided to the Land Use Secretariat, November 22, 2010
Basso, Keith. (1996). Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico.
Berkes, Fikret. (1999). Sacred Ecology: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resource Management. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis.
Palmer, Andie. (2005). Maps of Experience: The Anchoring of Land to Story in Secwepemc Discourse. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
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Candler, C. , Rachel Olson and Steven DeRoy. (2010). As long as the rivers flow: Athabasca River knowledge, use, and change. Edmonton, AB: Parkland Institute, University of Alberta.
Fumoleau, R. (2004) As Long As This Land Shall Last: A History of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, 1870-1939. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
Garibaldi, A. and N. Turner (2004) Cultural keystone species: implications for ecological conservation and restoration. Ecology and Society 9(3):1
Health Canada (2005). Addressing Psychosocial Factors Through Capacity Building: A Guide for Managers of Contaminated Sites. Ottawa: Ministry of Health.
Hegmann, G., C. Cocklin, R. Creasey, S. Dupuis, A. Kennedy, L. Kingsley, W. Ross, H. Spaling and D. Stalker (1999). Cumulative Effects Assessment Practitioners Guide. Prepared by AXYS Environmental Consulting Ltd. and the CEA Working Group for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Hull, Quebec.
Hein, Francis J (2000). Historical Overview of the Fort McMurray Area and Oil Sands Industry in Northeast Alberta, in Earth Sciences Report 2000-05. Alberta Geological Survey. Energy and Utilities Board.
INAC 2010 community profiles http://pse5esd5.aincinac.gc.ca/fnp/Main/index.aspx?lang=eng, accessed January 14, 2011.
Laird, David, J.H Ross, and J.A.J. McKenna, Report of Commissioners to Clifford Sifton, Superintendent General, Department of Indian Affairs, Ottawa, September 22, 1899, in Copy of Treaty No. 8 Made June 21, 1899, and Adhesions, Reports, etc. Ottawa: Queenʼs Printer, 1966.
McCormack, P.
— (1989) Chipewyans Turn Cree: Governmental and Structural Factors in Ethnic Processes. In K. S. Coates and W. R. Morrison, eds. For Purposes of Dominion: Essays in Honour of Morris Zaslow. Pp. 125-138. North York, Ont.: Captus Press.
— (2010). Fort Chipewyan and the Shaping of Canadian History, 1788-1920s. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Smith, James G.E., ed. (1981) "Chipewyan", pp. 271-284 in Handbook of North American Indians, Vol.6 (Subarctic), ed. by June Helm. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
Tanner, J. and A. Rigney (2003). Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Traditional Land Use Study. Ft. McMurray, Alberta: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, unpublished report.
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Tobias, T. (2010). Living Proof: The Essential Data-Collection Guide for Indigenous Use- and-Occupancy Map Surveys. Ecotrust Canada and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs: Vancouver, Canada.
UNPAN (United Nations Public Administration Network) (2006) A Comprehensive Guide for Social Impact Assessment. Centre for Good Governance.
Vanclay, Frank, 2003. International Principles for Social Impact Assessment. In Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, volume 21, number 1, March 2003, pages 5–11, Surrey, UK: Beech Tree Publishing.
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Appendix 1: ACFN Elders’ Declaration on Rights to Land Use
This is our Dené sułine territory, our Traditional Lands. We have occupied these lands for the last 10,000 years and maybe longer. Our traditions go on and we have the right to continue our traditional way of life. We agreed only to share our lands and we still consider these lands ours. Clearly we have been here longer than anybody. The Government must recognize that we still have the right to use these lands.
Our Rights to use the lands and water on Traditional Lands have never been extinguished. The Traditional Lands, and our rights to use of the lands, are central to our Dené culture, identity and well-being. They are essential to the well-being of our future generations and their ability to sustain our culture in a changing world.
The meaningful practice of our treaty rights depends on having sufficient lands and resources to exercise those rights. Sufficient refers to not only quantity but quality, including what is required to fulfill our cultural and spiritual needs.
Our parents and grandparents have told us that Treaty 8, signed by our Chief Laviolette in 1899, is an intergovernmental agreement that, in return for sharing our Traditional Lands, upholds our inherent Dené rights to land use and livelihood. In our experience, Alberta is not upholding their end of the treaty and is sacrificing our rights to industrial development. We have never been properly consulted and the Federal and Provincial Governments have never accommodated our rights or compensated us for infringements.
ACFN has had enough with having our land destroyed, no one is dealing with it; neither the Federal nor the Provincial Crown. Yet you come to us for approval of new projects. It is time for the Government to stop cheating us of our rights to land use and livelihood, culture and identity without proper consultation, mitigation and compensation.
As the Elders of our community, we demand that our ability to practice our constitutionally protected treaty rights and traditional uses is sustained within our Traditional Lands for future generations. We demand that our rights are protected in the LARP and any other initiatives proposed by the governments.
The lands from Firebag north, including Birch Mountain on the west side of river, must be protected. Richardson Backcountry is not to be given away – not to any government.
Everything we do here, we do to protect our rights to land use, livelihood and culture. — Declared by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Elders Council, July 8, 2010, Fort Chipewyan, Alberta
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Appendix 2: Summary of Existing Downstream Effects of Oil Sands Developments on ACFN Rights
This Appendix summarizes potential effects of oil sands development on the ability of ACFN to meaningfully practice treaty rights downstream. An analysis of existing data collected through the 2010 ACFN Athabasca River Use, Knowledge and Change study was conducted to identify existing dynamics affecting ACFNʼs ability to hunt, fish, and navigate in the Athabasca watershed north of the Muskeg River. Particular attention was paid to existing adverse effects observed river changes have had on ACFN reserve lands (specifically IR Chipewyan 201, 201C, 201D, 201E).
Additional oil sands development along the Athabasca River is likely to exacerbate existing impacts on water level and quality and contribute additional impacts to ACFNʼs ability to exercise rights both on and around their reserve lands.
Downstream Effects on Water Levels
The decreasing water levels of the Athabasca River are of great concern to the ACFN. Boating and water based access is essential to the maintenance of ACFN mode of life. In Spring, Summer and Fall (the primary seasons for hunting, fishing, and subsistence procurement), boat access is the only option for moving between Fort Chipewyan and seasonal camps and villages, Indian Reserves, and core ACFN territories along the Athabasca delta, the river itself, and its tributaries.
Water-based boat access is the preferred means, and often the only possible means (in the absence of roads) by which many ACFN members choose to exercise rights such as hunting, trapping, and fishing, even where road access is possible. The Athabasca Riverʼs delta ecology, and ACFN membersʼ familiarity with water navigation for subsistence, means that at adequate water levels, a web of interconnected waterways exists that can be used to ʻgo anywhereʼ in the delta area, and tributaries to the Athabasca River allow access deep into adjacent watersheds. Moose, the preferred game sought by most ACFN hunters, tend to congregate near water in summer months, so boats make for an ideal means of locating, shooting, and carrying the many hundreds of pounds of meat that results from a successful kill. Boats also allow for procurement of fish or terrestrial resources adjacent to river banks, and allow ACFN members to access areas without disturbance from – and increased safety risks from – industrial traffic associated with many of the roads closer to Fort McMurray and the oil sands developments.
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In the Athabasca Use, Knowledge and Change Study, areas of lost use and access due to inadequate water levels were documented including:
• Ninety-six instances of lost use recorded due to low or extreme low water levels downstream from the Firebag River and the proposed project.
• Loss of use due to low water levels was associated with subsistence values (including hunting and trapping and food gathering areas), habitation values (including camps, cabins), transportation values (including water transportation routes), and cultural / spiritual values (including important burial sites).
The majority of these recorded instances have occurred in the past five years.
Downstream Effects on Water Quality
In interviews for the Athabasca River Use, Knowledge, and Change study, ACFN members expressed perceptions of declining environmental quality, concurrent with industrial development, that were explicitly connected by participants to oil sands mining related emissions, and linked to both risk knowledge communicated by government authorities and other ʻexperts,ʼ as well as local or traditional ecological knowledge related to perceived environmental change.
Frequently reported water quality indicators which ACFN members have reported observing change in include:
• changes in the taste and smell of Athabasca River water,
• presence of unusual foams or films on the water visible on boats or in cooking vessels, and
• the absence or decline of particular species, including insects, along the Athabasca River.
Observed abnormalities in fish, moose, and other game, particularly in areas near the Muskeg River (downstream of the JPME), but also other parts of the Athabasca River and delta, are linked by ACFN members to perceived oil sands related contamination.
In the Athabasca Use, Knowledge and Change Study, areas of lost use and access due to water quality were documented including 14 specific instances of lost use due to concerns regarding quality downstream from the Firebag River. Examples include places where a moose was shot but the meat was left on the land because of some abnormality in the meat, or where a fish was caught, but thrown back or fed to dogs because of some perceived quality issue (e.g. deformities, loss of colour, excessive slime).
In conjunction with other interview findings, instances of avoidance due to concerns regarding quality suggest that, at least amongst some ACFN land users, a lack of confidence regarding the quality of resources, largely related to perceived oil sands
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emissions, is having a significant adverse effect on subsistence use and the practice of treaty rights in and around the Athabasca River. It seems clear that psychosocial factors, consistent with Health Canada guidance (Health Canada 2005) and related to fear of contaminants related to oil sands development on the Athabasca River and surrounding areas, are resulting in avoidance of traditional foods and resources by ACFN members, especially fish and drinking water. This is likely to result in adverse effects on the meaningful practice of rights along the Athabasca, in the delta, and adjoining tributaries.
Downstream Effects on ACFN Reserve Lands
Issues of water level and quality are of particular importance when the geography of ACFN land use is considered, particularly in relation to ACFNʼs Indian Reserve lands. In the study:
• Fifteen instances of lost use due to low and extreme low water levels were recorded on reserve lands (IR Chipewyan 201, 201B, 201E).
• Associated use values include hunting and trapping areas, food gathering areas, camping areas, and burial sites on reserve.
• One instance of lost use due to quality was recorded on an ACFN reserve (IR Chipewyan 201G).
• Sixteen instances of lost access to navigable watersheds and river areas were recorded on or adjacent to reserve lands (IR Chipewyan 201, 201B, 201C, 201E, 201G). The majority of these instances occurred within the past five years.
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Appendix 3: Summary of Existing Proponent Mitigations and Commitments of potential Relevance to ACFN Knowledge and Use Practice
On November 10, 2010, the ACFN requested the proponent provide a summary of existing mitigations and commitments designed to address the issues and concerns of the ACFN reported in the proponentʼs applications, raised in ACFNʼs 2008 traditional use submission, or raised through consultation to date. The proponent indicated that it was not able to provide this summary.
In the absence of a list of commitments by the proponent, the following table was compiled as a list of existing mitigations and commitments that may be relevant to ACFN issues and concerns. It is drawn from the following documents, and may not be complete:
• Selections from the EIA, Volume 3: Air Quality, Noise and Environmental Health. Application for Approval of the Jackpine Mine Expansion Project and the Pierre River Mine Project. (Did not include full review of every page, was a selection including mitigations);
• Golder Technical Memorandum, August 5, 2010 on Shell Canada, Jackpine Expansion, Navigability Assessment, Information Requests;
• Jackpine Mine Expansion, Supplemental Information, Round 1, December 2009;
• Jackpine Mine Expansion, Supplemental Information, Round 2, June 2010; and
• Pierre River Mine Application and Jackpine Mine Expansion, Additional Information Requests from Federal Governments, August 3, 2010.
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Impact area Proposed mitigation
Air quality Dust control through road watering at dry times. EIA 2-12 (Summary of EIA) All air quality parameters were rated as negligible or low environmental consequence. There are many specific air quality mitigation measures.
Noise Bird activated cannons fired when birds in area (EIA 2-15), Section 2.3.2 Consultation with parties during construction and operations about noise levels (EIA 2-15), Section 2.3.2
Water Operations: Return of groundwater dewatered from overburden materials and management PAC to surface water bodies (EIA 2-29, Section 2.5.2.4) Closure: topography and drainage system constructed to achieve equivalent capability to similar natural systems … seepage from capped and reclaimed ETDAs will be intercepted and routed through wetlands before being released into environment (EIA 2-29, Section 2.5.2.4)
Water Operations: All water from plant site in contact with oil sands will be contained withdrawal within project development areas. Minimize sediment loading to receiving streams and lakes by routing muskeg drainage, overburden dewatering, to polishing ponds, equipped with oil separation capability (where required) before released to receiving streams. (EIA 2-33, 2.5.3.4) Closure: erosion protection measures for minimal erosion of embankments and storage facilities during floods. (EIA 2-33, 2.5.3.4) Research: Surface Water Working Group working on in stream flow needs (EIA 2-33, 2.5.3.4) There are specific withdrawal levels discussed with respect to each river and each mine expansion: Jackpine refers to Jackpine Creek, Muskeg River, Kearl Lake; Pierre River Mining Area refers to Big Creek and Eymundson Creek, and Athabasca River EIA 6-12) Minimize raw water withdrawal requirements from the Athabasca River by recycling tailings and consolidated tailings porewater release…( EIA 6-340) Use staged diversion, drainage and dewatering systems to minimize effects on flows of the Athabasca tributary streams and Athabasca River (EIA 6-340)
Water quality Polishing ponds: musket drainage and overburden dewatering waters will be directed to polishing ponds equipped with oil removal capabilities to trap eroded soil material, reduce suspended particulates, organics and oxygen- consuming constituents, and allow waters to approach ambient water temperatures, prior to release to the environment. (EIA 2-43, 2.5.4.3) Closed-circuit water recycling during operations: process-affected waters, runoff and or seepage to be captured and recycled. (EIA 2-43, 2.5.4.3) Perimeter ditches and wells: tailings pond water to be pumped back into the tailing pond, and at closure to be directed to wetlands, pit lakes or Treatment Lake. These have to be big enough that outflow from reclaimed landscape will be non-toxic before released into natural watercourses and waterbodies. (EIA 2-43, 2.5.4.3)
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Impact area Proposed mitigation
Self-sustaining closure landscape and drainage system: landscape and drainage system will be constructed to have similar characteristics as natural systems. (EIA 2-43, 2.5.4.3) Best management practices: accidental spills from pipeline ruptures or vehicular accidents and failure of retention structures will be handled using best management practices. Surface water and groundwater monitoring and response plan will be implemented to determine effects of potential accidental releases promptly and to initiate required remedial action. (EIA 2-43, 2.5.4.3) Regional monitoring, research and management: Shell will continue to participate in RAMP (EIA 2-43, 2.5.4.3) Project-specific monitoring and management Discharges into receiving surface waters: provide necessary data regarding water quality of appreciable discharges and corresponding in-stream water and sediment quality changes. (EIA 2-45, 2.5.4.3) Polishing ponds: monitoring of polishing pond will be undertaken for temperature, DO, biochemical oxygen demand … if monitoring program indicates ponds are not performing, appropriate mitigations will be implemented. (EIA 2-45, 2.5.4.3) Pit lakes: water chemistry will be monitored, and where releases could be toxic or cause undesirable effects, the filling rate could be reduced…or use of passive treatment, and if there are detrimental changes to the thermal regimes of receiving streams, outflows from pit lakes will be directed to ponds or wetlands….. (EIA 2-45, 2.5.4.3)
Aquatic health Design operational diversions and closure channels to provide for fish passage; Minimize effects on flows and water levels in receiving streams and lake, Use best practices (sediment and erosion control, screening the water intake to meet federal and provincial requirements), Implement a fish salvage program and develop a fish habitat of the same or higher productive capacity. Develop a compensation lake in lower Big Creek watershed and closure channels.( EIA 6-29, 6.1.6.2); Scheduling construction activities (EIA 6-598) Develop a self-sustaining closure drainage system (EIA 6-598) Note: Shell is considering measures such as managing access to compensation lakes and implementing a no-fishing policy for Shell employees while working on-site. (EIA Response 20b, 16-3, December 2009 CR020)
Wildlife Construction Specific mitigation measures to minimize the effects of the project on terrestrial resources, wetlands and biodiversity during construction include: Avoiding clearing between April 1 and August 30 to avoid the main breeding bird and ungulate calving seasons; Constructing straight roads will long sight lines where feasible;
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Impact area Proposed mitigation
Leaving remnant forested areas undisturbed where practical; Providing construction staff with environmental awareness training as part of their on-site orientation; Contacting ABSRD, Fish and Wildlife to assist in removal of hibernating black bears if they are accidentally disturb, and Implementing regulatory standard soil handling, management and storage practices. (EIA 2-60, 2.6.3) Operations: Specific mitigation measures: Maintaining a 250 m wildlife corridor along the Athabasca River from the wetted edge in the 100 year flood event; Providing for wildlife passage under the Athabasca River bridge on both the east and west banks of the river; Designing lighting to reduce light pollution in the adjacent wildlife corridor; Fencing the approaches to the Athabasca river bridge; Retaining treed buffers around or near watercourses; Planning and sharing access with other industrial partners; Storing all food wastes in bear-proof containers followed by transport off site; Providing project staff with environmental awareness training as part of their on-site orientation; Posting wildlife crossing signage where key wildlife crossing areas are identified; Reducing traffic volumes by continuing to support transport staff to site using buses; Enforcing traffic speed limits; Undertaking dust control on roads; Deploying and maintaining bird deterrent systems; Using markers, such as aviation spheres, to mark transmission lines, in particular those located above tree line or in clearings, and Expanding and implementing the existing weed control system for the project area; (EIA 2-59-2-60, 2.63) Reducing lighting impacts, however they do not commit to use alternative light technologies (Jackpine Expansion, Supplemental Information, Round 2, Response 40a) Reclamation Reclaiming the landscape to an equivalent capability… Designing for reclaimed landforms to include diversity and micro-topographic relief; Reclaiming and revegetating progressively Reclaiming in consultation with ASRD, forestry rights holders and local
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Impact area Proposed mitigation stakeholders. (EIA 2-59-2-60, 2.63)
Design Construct straight roads with long sight lines where feasible (EIA 7-10, 7.1.3) feature: roads
Design The pit lakes by the Muskeg River will have a minimum 100-m offset intact features: pits adjacent to the river valley. Following mining, Shell will backfill the portions of by Musket the mine pit adjacent to the valley. In total, a minimum 200 m offset from the River valley crest will be created…slope stability will be critical. (EIA 6-331)
Design Providing for wildlife passage under the Athabasca River bridge on both the feature: bridge east and west banks of the river (EIA 7-11) over Will be constructed to leave space for potential navigation of the River Athabasca (Supplemental Information, Round 3, Section 4)
Design The loss of navigation along the Muskeg River over the period of 2041 to feature: closure—Shell proposes to provide land transportation through the project Muskeg River area for river users. diversion Will also require the yearly transportation of fish in spring (capture and fish channel transport) (See response 335a in Shell Canada Limited 22-28, CR020), Jackpine Expansion Supplemental Information, Volume 1, part 3.
Design Expected construction between 2024 and 2029—with no design plans or feature: mitigation measures at this time. Muskeg River bridge
Continued Shell will continue to consult with all aboriginal stakeholders including FMFN, Consultation ACFN and MCFN.
Trappers Shell will facilitate access across the project area by trappers to their traplines. satisfaction (EIA 2-85, 2.6.3) with trapping According to industry standards Shell will provide compensations to trappers and access to directly-affect by the project. (EIA 8-5) traplines
Employee or Shell is committed to providing a system for cultural diversity awareness contractor training for their employees and contractors regarding respect for traditional education resource users, traplines, cabins, trails and equipment. (EIA 2-85, 2.6.3)
Reclamation Shell’s approach to reclamation involves direct consultation with First Nations and Métis groups. There are two different reclamation groups that are referred to in the commitments, including one with the FMFN and CEMA (EIA 2-85, 2.6.3)
Resource use Remnant corridor between Athabasca River and the PRMA will be at a minimum 250 m wide, while the setback on other watercourses will be 100 m. Access to the development area will be managed by Shell’ Impacts to fish and wildlife, as they affect fishing, hunting and trapping, will be mitigated as described in the Fish and Fish Habitat and Wildlife assessments, including off-site compensation, and Reclamation plans will incorporate use values, such as recreational, fishing, hunting, trapping and berry picking capabilities.
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Impact area Proposed mitigation
Monitoring of resource use is not required or planned. However, Shell will report to ASRD if discoveries of new aggregate resources or changes in anticipated aggregate requirements occur. (EIA 2-67, 2.7.2.3)
Visual Treed buffers will be maintained between road routes, and along the Aesthetics Athabasca river. (EIA 2-68. 2.7.3.3) (There are other specific visual aesthetic mitigation measures that seem less directly applicable)
Historical Twelve pre contact sites were identified. The report recommends two sites for resources excavation, or additional shovel testing leading to possible excavation, and then sites are recommended as requiring no further work. (EIA 2-70, 2.7.4.3)
Socio- Increase of population to be mitigated by: Economics: A camp-based model for housing workers, including recreation, health care Transportation and leisure facilities and services; (EIA 6-13-14) A fly-in-fly out approach for transportation (EIA 6-13-14) Use of buses (EIA 6-13-14)
Housing Use full-service on-site construction camps (EIA 6-13-14) Adopt extended work schedules (EIA 6-13-14) Provide workers with time off so they can travel home to their place of residence (EIA 6-13-14) Complement regional resources with in-camp security and on-site health services (EIA 6-13-14)
First Nations Compensation for Directly Affected Trapline Holders, Continued Consultation TEK and Land With Key Aboriginal Groups, Access to Traplines, Employee/Contractor Use Education, and Reclamation (EIA 8-48, 49)
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Appendix 4: Informed Consent Documentation
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Appendix 5: Interview Guide
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Appendix 6: Direct to Digital Capture Method
The methods for spatial data capture (direct to digital mapping) for the study were developed by Dr. Craig Candler and Steven DeRoy of the Firelight Group and were designed to reliably document detailed ACFN community use, knowledge, and avoidance in relation to Shell-specific development projects.
Interview Team and Materials
Interviews were conducted with at least two team members, plus the participant, present. One team member was primarily responsible for conducting the interview and taking hard copy notes. The second member was primarily responsible for managing the mapping software and recording data within the mapping software used, in this case Google Earth or Google Earth Pro. The majority of interviews were mapped using Google Earth Pro version 6.0.1.2032 running on a windows based laptop with a tablet pen, necessary for drawing lines and areas. A digital projector and laser pointer, digital video camera and tripod were also used as part of the mapping kit.
Study Area
The study area was defined generally as an area between Wood Buffalo National Park and Fort McMurray, with a focus on the area of the proposed projects. The larger study area was referred to as ʻthe southern territories,ʼ and included areas such as Point Brule, Poplar Point, Fort McKay, and Fort McMurray. The study area, and the ability in Google Earth to was explained to each participant at the beginning of the interview through reference to the maps projected on the wall.
Base Maps
Due to the size of the study area, and the need for both detail and flexibility, Google Earth imagery was chosen as the digital base map for mapping sites. Using a projector, the map image was projected onto a clear wall or screen. In order to improve readability and help the participant orient themselves, other geographic information system (GIS) shape files were overlaid on top of the Google Earth image. Where conversion from other formats was required, a licensed version of Google Earth Pro was used. Supplemental GIS data originated from the following Government of Canada online GIS data repositories or other sources:
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• National Framework – Hydrology, Drainage Network: ftp://ftp.geogratis.gc.ca/frameworkdata/hydrology/analytical/drainage_net work/canada/
• Atlas of Canada 1,000,000 National Frameworks Data, Canadian Place Names: http://www.geogratis.gc.ca/download/frameworkdata/popplace/
• National Framework Canada Lands Administrative Boundary (CLAB) Level 1 (First Nation reserves): http://www.geogratis.gc.ca/download/frameworkdata/Cda_Lands_Adm_L 1/
• National Topographic System 1:50,000 reference grid: ftp://ftp2.cits.rncan.gc.ca/pub/index/
• Data regarding the footprint of the JPME and PRM, as well as existing Shell mine infrastructure, received by the ACFN from the proponent.
Interview Process
Prior to commencing with the interview, informed consent to participate in the interview was documented through signing a consent form. Interviews were recorded using an external digital audio recorder, or the built-in microphone and sound recorder on the laptop for audio files. A digital video camera mounted on a tripod and pointing at the maps projected on the wall recorded the mapping of sites throughout each interview, and provided back up audio. All interviews followed a semi-structured interview guide, and notes were written directly onto the guide or in the interviewerʼs notebook.
In Google Earth, a folder called “TEK” was created to store all new mapped data. Each participant was given a folder named by their participant code (e.g. A01). Within the participantsʼ folder, three folders were created to store newly mapped data. For example, participant “A01” had points stored in the A01_points folder, lines in the A01_lines folder, and areas in the A01_areas folder. Each participantʼs mapped data (points, lines and areas) were saved as a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file. The entire database was stored as a KMZ file (KML files are often distributed as KMZ files, which are zipped KML files with a .kmz extension).
We mapped new sites using Google Earth at a scale of 1:50,000 or better. That being said, most sites were mapped at a scale of 1:5,000 or better, increasing the accuracy of the location of sites identified. Where possible, we added timestamps to include month or season, and the year the activity occurred. In some cases, people were able to identify specific dates or the beginning, middle or end of a month.
At the end of the interview, audio files were saved in an audio folder and all video files in the video folder on the computer. Names for audio and digital files were saved in the following format:
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[Participant ID]_[Participant Name]_[Interview Date MMMDDYYYY]_[file#].[file type] For example, A01_JOHNDOE_FEB282011_1.avi
Post-Interview Data Processing
After the interviews were completed, the data was backed up onto a portable hard drive. All data was mapped using a standardized Universal Transverse Mercator, Zone 12 projection. We downloaded a GIS conversion tool developed by the Department of Natural Resources for the State of Minnesota called DNR Garmin (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.ht ml). DNR Garmin is a reliable tool to convert points, lines and areas collected in Google Earth KML format to ESRI Shape file format. KML files (e.g. A01_points.kml) from the “KML” folder were converted into Shape files (A01_points.shp) and stored in a folder called “Shape.” Each dataset was checked for consistency and accuracy before converting new data files.
Once the data was converted into ESRI Shape Files, we applied a geomasking process to protect the confidentiality of the data. Points were randomized using Hawthʼs “Generate Random Points” tool. This process involved buffering the original points by 250 metres, generating a new random point location within the 250 metre buffered area, and then buffering the new randomized point by 1 kilometre. Buffering tools come standard with ESRI ArcGIS, however, Hawthʼs tools were downloaded from ESRIʼs support pages (www.support.esri.com). Lines and areas were not randomized, but were buffered by 1 kilometre using ArcGIS.
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Appendix 7: Curriculum Vitae, Dr. Craig Candler
Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
Education Ph.D. Cultural Craig Candler, Ph.D. (anthropology) Anthropology, University Director, Community Studies and First Nations Consultation of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 2008 Employment History M.A. Anthropology, University of Alberta, The Firelight Group Research Cooperative-Victoria, BC Edmonton, AB, 1999 Director/Community Studies and First Nations Consultation Specialist (2009 to date) B.A. (First Class Honours) Anthropology, Responsible, as a founding member and director, for helping establish University of Alberta, The Firelight Group, a group of aboriginal and non-aboriginal research Edmonton, AB, 1996 professionals providing respectful and respected environmental and social science research, consulting, and support services in processes where aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests interact, and where good relationships and quality research tools are desired by all sides. Currently serving as the president of the 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.
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 1 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
University of British Columbia, PhD 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 Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Traditional Use Studies (TUS) Mikisew Cree First Primary Researcher and Project Manager for a TEK/TUS project Nation and Athabasca involving documentation of community use and knowledge along the Chipewyan First Athabasca River to inform decisions regarding water withdrawals and Nation oil sands production. Jointly funded through two First Nations, the Northwest Alberta 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.
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 2 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
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 Southwest British traditional territories in the Fraser Valley, Fraser Canyon, and in the Columbia area of Nicola Lake. Tasks included methodology development, 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 Southwest British transmission line, proposed by a First Nation joint venture. The Columbia project involved generation of energy and transmission through 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 Project Manager for the completion of Socio-Economic and Coal 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 Northeast British for EA purposes for two coal mines and related developments. The Columbia project involved working with six First Nations and Metis groups. 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 Energy within a harmonized BC Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA)- Northwest British Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) process on the Columbia north coast of BC. The project involved a large generation area and more than 100 km of linear transmission corridor involving the traditional territories of three First Nations. Tasks included methodology development, archival review, First Nations liaison, and preliminary coordination of overview-level TUS interviews. Project Manager and lead researcher for a gap analysis of TUS data Aseniwuche Winewak used for First Nations consultation purposes, providing specialist Nation support for the optomization 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 Northeast British million dollars, including mapping and TEK interview components, Columbia training, project management, site visits, GPS data collection, 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
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 3 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
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 Northwest Alberta needs. Review of digital data, methodologies, and community goals. Beaver First Nation Methodology development, First Nations liaison, training and Traditional Use Study capacity building workshops on community-based research, mapping Northwest Alberta strategies, GIS/GPS technology, and proposal writing. Dene Tha’ Methodology development and expert review of TUS data collection Consultation Pilot and mapping, digital data capture, and database design. Assisted Project negotiation of final information sharing and consultation protocols. Northwest Alberta 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 technologies Institute in the context of traditional knowledge research in Canada’s north. Edmonton, AB Gwich’in Tribal Archival research in the Hudson’s Bay Archives, archival Council and the documentation and report writing on historic environmental change Sustainable Forest and resource use along the Mackenzie Delta. Management Network Winnipeg, MN
Project Experience – Socio-Economic and Cultural Impact Assessment Western Canadian Project Manager for the completion of Socio-Economic and TUS Coal 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, Government Services including social studies, related to a risk assessment of contaminants Victoria, BC in a heavily used urban industrial waterway. Treaty 8 Tribal Assisted with design and development, including fundraising, criteria Association and indicators, and determination of community-relevant VECs Northeast British (Valued Ecosystem Components) for a community-based and First Columbia Nations-led centre for cumulative impact assessment, geared 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 Chiang Mai, Thailand tracing environmental and community health changes over time, particularly with regards to pesticide use and early child health. Methodology development, training, field interviews, analysis, reporting.
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 4 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
Treaty 8 Tribal As-and-when needed technical support and recommendations to Association local governments towards the resolution of community concerns Northeast British involving forestry, oil and gas, highways, and agriculture sectors. 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 Edmonton, AB forest industries and communities. Team included industry, 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 Northern Alberta social relations, community factionalism, and the practice of 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. Northwest BC The project involved multiple First Nations in the area of Terrace, BC, as well as the Nisga'a Nation. Tasks included procedural consultation support, acting as point of contact for First Nation 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 Component Lead for First Nations consultation services in relation to Farm LP permitting of a proposed development through provincial and federal Northwest BC processes. The project involved three First Nations and traditional 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 Northwest British provincial-federal process. The project involved supporting Columbia consultation and accommodation discussions involving three First 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 Vancouver Island, BC support, including analysis of First Nations consultation requirements
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 5 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
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, Government Services including analysis of First Nations consultation requirements under Victoria, BC federal policy and recent court decisions. Tasks included project and document review and reporting. Aseniwuche Winewak Project Manager for conducting a gap analysis of TUS data used for Nation consultation purposes, and providing expert support for the Grande Cache, AB optomization of an internal First Nations consultation and referral system. Treaty 8 Tribal Assisted with the design and development of a TUS data system Association designed for referral and consultation purposes. Tasks included Northeast British design and implementation of GIS and databases, and negotiation of Columbia information sharing protocols.
Dene Tha’ Methodology development and expert review of TUS data collection Consultation Pilot and mapping, digital data capture, and database design. Assisted Project 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 north Energy coast First Nations on community-based TUS/TEK research, Northwest British including traditional use mapping, for environmental assessment Columbia purposes. Training included classroom and field components and 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 Northeast British utilizing both traditional and scientific knowledge and criteria for Columbia evaluating and monitoring environmental, socio-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 Edmonton, AB Comparative and Religious Studies, and Department of Anthropology. Northern Lights Design and delivery of a college-level course on anthropology, College community research, and natural resource management for post- Inuvik, NT secondary Gwich’in and Inuvialuit students.
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 6 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
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, et al. 2010. As long as the Rivers flow: Athabasca Publications, Journal River knowledge and use study. Alberta: Parkland Institute, University Articles, and of Alberta. Proceedings Craig, Candler, Rachel Olson, Steven Deroy and Kieran Broderick. Participatory GIS as a Sustained (and Sustainable?) Practice: The Case of Treaty 8 BC. Participatory Learning and Action, 54 (2006), 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 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
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 7 [email protected]
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Resumé Craig Candler, PhD January, 2010
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).
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.
864 Dunsmuir, Victoria, BC, V9A 5B7 ! T: +1 (250) 590-9017 ! C: +1 (250) 220-2064 8 [email protected]
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Appendix 8: Curriculum Vitae, Steven DeRoy
Resumé Steven DeRoy February 17, 2011
Education Steven DeRoy BA Geography (in Director and Vice President progress), University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Employment History 2011 The Firelight Group – Winnipeg, MB GIS/Cartographic Director and Vice President (2009 to date) Technology, Sir Sandford Responsible, as co-founder and director, for helping establish The Fleming College, Firelight Group, a firm of aboriginal and non-aboriginal professionals Lindsay, ON, 1998 specialized in providing respectful and respected environmental and social science research, consulting, and support services in processes where aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests interact, and where good relationships are desired by all sides. Tasks include business 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, GIS technical support and training, research, community involvement processes, and First Nations consultation support services. Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources – Winnipeg, MB Research Associate/GIS Specialist (2007 to 2010) As a Research Associate/GIS Specialist, my primary role was to build a mapping and GIS service at CIER that would support both internal staff and external clients with technical, advisory and professional support on a range of projects. Responsible for design, development, and oversight of an Ontario-wide risk assessment inventory of fuel systems and waste site inventory project; managed, researched and documented good practices for setting up GIS offices in Aboriginal communities across Canada (this resulted in publication of “Good Practices Guide: Setting up and keeping an Aboriginal Mapping Program.”); conducted an assessment of land use planning issues for First Nations in Ontario; coordinated an indigenous place names mapping initiative for the Little Grand Rapids First Nation; GIS data manager for the Pimachiowin Aki world heritage site nomination; development of environmental monitoring tools for the Mikisew Cree First Nation; species at risk tool development using CyberTracker software; delivery of comprehensive community planning services; advisory support to Clean Energy and Community Adaptation Program; and internal IT liaison. Clients included First Nations, Ivey Foundation, RBC Blue Water Foundation, INAC, Parks Canada, and GeoConnections/ Natural Resources Canada. Treaty 8 Tribal Association – Fort St. John, BC GIS Advisor (2005 to 2006) Provided mapping and GIS advisory support to six member First Nation communities (Fort Nelson, Prophet River, Halfway River, Doig River, Saulteau, and the West Moberly First Nations), chiefs and councils, internal staff, and to the Treaty 8 negotiations team. Aided in the storing and mapping of traditional use information and maintained a
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Resumé Steven DeRoy February 17, 2011
comprehensive digital data library containing numerous datasets from diverse government agencies, conservationists & industry; expedited the consultation referral and permitting process through ongoing training and technical support for Treaty 8 land use offices; researched, wrote proposals and secured funding for an online mapping application; participated in joint planning and management activities involving government agencies, industry and Treaty 8 First Nations; and acted as Information Technology manager for 25 client users. Red Road HIV/AIDS Network – West Vancouver, BC GIS Technician/Consultant (2004 to 2007) Managed the web-based mapping system, utilizing ESRI’s ArcIMS software, to map out the locations of HIV and AIDS service organizations throughout the province of British Columbia. Also designed and developed 30,000 map guides highlighting HIV/AIDS and health services for both the city of Vancouver and northern British Columbia; represented the Red Road interactive mapping project at various conferences, workshops and meetings; and coordinated the redesign and maintainance of www.red-road.org. Ecotrust Canada – Vancouver, BC Aboriginal Mapping Network Coordinator and GIS Mapping Analyst (2002-2004) Manager for the Aboriginal Mapping Network, with responsibilities including management of program initiatives, presentation of the program to funders, members, and organizations at various conferences and workshops, and co-facilitatation of two workshops with national and international participation addressing issues of concern to aboriginal mappers. Supported identification of funding sources relating to land use and occupancy research (this resulted in publication of "A New Trail: Fundraising for Cultural Research and Land Use and Occupancy Studies - A Reference Guide For Securing Funds."), provided mapping and GIS training and technical support to First Nation communities involved with developing land use plans and bioregional atlases, and maintained the Ecotrust Canada and Aboriginal Mapping Network websites (www.nativemaps.org). DrakeGIS & Mapping Ltd. – Kelowna, BC Marketing Manager (2000 to 2002) Assisted in the development of the company in response to the increasing need for mapping and GIS services in BC. Cultivated strategic affiliations and joint ventures with small consulting companies and First Nation bands; researched, identified and wrote proposals for contract opportunities; project leader for a traditional use study for the Nazko Band Government; responsible for the completion of all mapping phases for fish & fish habitat inventory mapping projects and watershed assessment maps for various clients as well as administrative duties. Urban Systems Ltd. – Kelowna, BC GIS/Cartographic Technologist (1999) Performed tasks for the Digital Information Management and Resource Systems (DIMARS) project including editing watermain, sanitary sewer
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and storm sewer drawings using AutoCAD 14; setting up databases for each drawing in ArcView; and linking data to scanned drawings in PDF. Computer Master – Mississauga, ON MicroStation Operator (1999) Acted as a consultant for the Regional Municipality Of Peel by adding, updating and editing watermain plans and files using MicroStation SE. Involved recording and updating changes made to waterplans into graphic conversion databases using Excel.
Toronto Hydro Electric Commission – Scarborough, ON CAD Operator (1999) Produced and created small site plans, single line diagrams, and updated and revised landbase files, strip maps and subdivision maps using IRAS/B within MicroStation SE. Also assisted in training MicroStation SE to co-op students.
Project Experience – Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Traditional Use Studies (TUS) Mikisew Cree First Co-researcher and GIS Manager for an Indigenous Knowledge study for Nation assessing Shell-specific oil sands development projects near Fort Northern Alberta McKay. The project involved work planning, gap analysis, methodology development, leading and participating in field interviews using direct-to- digital mapping, and First Nations liaison.
Tsleil-Waututh Nation Technical support and training for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Knowledge Southern British and Use Project (Marine and Foreshore). The project involved Columbia methodology development, development of a training guide, and leading a direct-to-digital mapping training session with key staff and youth.
Athabasca Chipewyan GIS Manager for a TEK community-based monitoring of Woodland First Nation Caribou and Wood Bison herds, funded in part by the Aboriginal Funds Northern Alberta for Species at Risk Program (AFSAR). The project involved GIS data management, analysis, and final map production.
Athabasca Chipewyan Co-researcher and GIS Manager for a use and interests assessment for First Nation Shell’s Jackpine Mine Expansion project and Pierre River Mine project. Northern Alberta Key tasks include methodology development, participating in field interviews using direct-to-digital mapping, data management, GIS analysis, map production, and reporting.
Athabasca Chipewyan Co-researcher and GIS Manager for a TEK/TUS project involving First Nation documentation of community use and interests assessment for the Total Northern Alberta Jocelyn Oil Sands Mining project near Fort McKay. The project involved methodology development, participating in interviews using direct-to- digital mapping, data management, GIS analysis, map production, and reporting.
Athabasca Chipewyan GIS Manager for the development of relevant base maps and digitization First Nation and the of Traditional Ecological Knowledge data for the Athabasca River Use Mikisew Cree First and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Study. The project involved
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Nation working with researchers, establishing methodologies, GIS pre- and Northern Alberta post-processing, and reporting.
Ktunaxa Nation Council GIS Manager and researcher for a TEK/TUS component of an Southern British environmental impact assessment for Teck Coal`s proposed mining Columbia project. The project involved working with First Nation researchers and included direct-to-digital mapping interviews, GIS pre- and post- processing, and reporting.
God’s Lake First Nation GIS Manager for the digitization of all Traditional Use Study data Eastern Manitoba collected for the Historical Resources Branch of Manitoba. The project involved working with First Nation researchers and included methodology review, GIS pre- and post-processing, and reporting.
Manto Sipi Cree Nation GIS Manager for the digitization of all Traditional Use Study data Eastern Manitoba collected for the Historical Resources Branch of Manitoba. The project involved working with First Nation researchers and included methodology review, GIS pre- and post-processing, and reporting.
Wabanong Nakaygum GIS Manager for 13 First Nations involved in the collection of Traditional Okimawin Use Study data for the Wabanong Nakaygum Okimawin East Side Eastern Manitoba Planning Authority. The project involved working with First Nation researchers and included methodology review, GIS pre- and post- processing, and reporting.
Little Grand Rapids Project leader for the development of a Saulteaux/Syllabics place names First Nation map for the Little Grand Rapids First Nation. The project involved Eastern Manitoba working with two First Nation researchers to document and verify toponyms. Tasks have included methodology development, First Nations liaison, training, community-based mapping, GIS pre- and post- processing, and reporting.
Mikisew Cree Nation Facilitated the development of a community-based, environmental Northeast Alberta monitoring program using Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science, to record changes in the environment, and to create tools to assist in environmental monitoring. Tasks included conducting community-based research to develop traditional knowledge indicators of environmental health, customization of CyberTracker software to enable the Mikisew Cree First Nation to collect TEK observations in the field, and reporting.
Keeseekoowenin Conducted community-based research for the development of an Ojibway First Nation environmental monitoring program using Indigenous Knowledge and Southern Manitoba scientific monitoring techniques. Tasks included methodology development, First Nation liaison support, training, customization of CyberTracker software, GIS pre- and post-processing, and reporting.
Coalition of First Completed a needs assessment for completing an Anishnabe Nations with Interest in Knowledge Study. The report outlined two potential approaches for the Riding Mountain Anishnabe Knowledge Study, which differed primarily in the technical National Park skills required for data collection and in the nature of the products that Southern Manitoba would be developed from the study. Tasks included interviews, literature reviews, methodology development, technical writing, and reporting.
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Saulteau First Nation Conducted a cultural values assessment by integrating land use and and the West Moberly occupancy research findings from past studies into the Peace Moberly First Nations Tract Land Use Plan. The planning committee consisted of Northeast British representatives from the BC provincial government, industry and First Columbia Nations. Tasks included methodology development, gathered data from numerous research studies from both SFN and WMFN, developed maps that showed the distribution of cultural heritage, and created buffered zones for areas of cultural sensitivity. Also facilitated training workshops for land use personnel from the WMFN to create the maps to be used in the land use plan.
Prophet River First Provided technical expertise for the development of maps to be used in Nation a land use planning initiative for a 5 square kilometre area around the Northeast British PRFN's reserve lands. Created a series of maps that integrated scientific Columbia and cultural heritage data for a planning initiative between the Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) and the PRFN. The maps were produced for community input on issues affecting hunting, fishing, and other activities.
Doig River First Nation Provided technical expertise for integrating land use and occupancy Northeast British research findings from past studies into the communities Treaty Land Columbia Entitlement process. Tasks included facilitating training workshops to land use personnel from DRFN to create maps of cultural heritage, and provide technical support during the community consultation process for identifying potential land parcels that would be added to the DRFN reserve lands.
Fort Nelson First Provided technical and training expertise for the development of a Nation community atlas and mapping of traditional use study research findings. Northeast British Tasks included facilitating training workshops for a community GIS Columbia Trainee, and the development of a community atlas that integrated scientific and cultural data, and digitize traditional use study research findings to create deliverables to the OGC on behalf of the community.
Halfway River First Provided technical expertise to land use personnel to identify a RCMP Nation historic trail route. Involved researching and identifying maps of historic Northeast British data highlighting the trail, along with a field reconnaissance with land Columbia use personnel from HRFN to GPS the exact location of the trail.
Bigstone Cree Nation Assisted with gap analysis, evaluating community goals and needs, and TUS Gap Analysis the potential of an existing TUS data set to meet those goals and needs. Northwest Alberta Assessed community land use and occupancy study (CLUOS) data and provided GIS training to staff members.
Aboriginal Mapping Interviewed practitioners and researched funding sources that would Network support Traditional Use Study research activities in First Nation Vancouver, British communities that resulted in the development of "A New Trail: Columbia Fundraising for Cultural Research and Land Use and Occupancy Studies - A Reference Guide For Securing Funds."
Nazko Band Initiated a Traditional Use Study in accordance with the BC Traditional Government Traditional Use Study guidelines. Project leader for the development of a Traditional Use Study Use Study for the Nazko Band Government, coordinating literature Central British Columbia reviews, and managing budgets and personnel.
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Project Experience – Land Use Planning, Atlases and Bioregional Mapping Athabasca Chipewyan Technical support for the ACFN’s Industry Relations Corporation to First Nation support on-going consultation with government and industry. Key tasks Northern Alberta include digital mapping, data management, and GIS analysis.
Athabasca Chipewyan Technical support for the ACFN’s Lower Athabasca Region Plan, editing First Nation maps and conducting GIS analysis to consider ACFN’s interests and Northern Alberta vision for planning.
Fisher River Cree Facilitated workshops for the development of a community vision for Nation watershed planning. Involved methodology development, community Manitoba consultations, coordination with First Nation Liaisons, mapping, and synthesizing responses for inclusion into a community vision.
Ivey Foundation Conducted an assessment of Ontario-based First Nation land use issues Northern Ontario to gain a deeper understanding of community-driven, participatory land- use planning priorities. Involved working with First Nations by traveling to and interviewing practitioners, synthesizing data and reporting.
Treaty Relations Produced and designed a 24-page portfolio for the Historical Atlas of Commission of First Nations in Manitoba, 2009 Map Portfolio. Involved collaborating Manitoba with academic researchers and writers, conducting archival and Manitoba historical research, graphic design and layout, GIS analysis and cartography.
Little Black Bear First Provided advisory, technical and training support to the Little Black Bear Nation First Nation for the development of a comprehensive community plan. Southern Saskatchewan Involved designing implementation strategies for First Nations involvement, including workshop facilitation, mapping, and synthesizing responses for inclusion into a community vision.
Parks Canada In support of the public participation program for the expansion of Northwest Territories Nahanni National Park Reserve, develop a 22-layer atlas showing conservation and other values of the area. Prepared relevant data and edited maps for the final production of the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem Atlas. Also prepared satellite imagery suitable for draping on a 3D model.
Whitesand First Nation Collaborated with the Aboriginal Strategy Group to work with the Northwest Ontario Whitesand First Nation to develop a land use plan vision in Armstrong, Ontario. Involved workshop facilitation and synthesizing responses for inclusion into a community vision document.
Doig River First Nation Collaborated with Herb Hammond to identify forestry resources within Northeast British DRFN's territory to give the community options for economic Columbia independence. Involved the creation of a series of maps that highlighted forest data (age, species, site class, etc.) that could be analyzed for the visioning process.
Tahltan First Nation Provided technical expertise for the production of maps for the Tahltan Northwest British First Nation's territory. Involved the creation of a series of maps to
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Columbia support the community's interest in identifying potential economic opportunities and protection from industrial development activities.
Heiltsuk Nation Provided technical and training expertise for the production of the Central Coast of British Heiltsuk Nation’s land use plan. Tasks included obtaining, filtering and Columbia managing all relevant information (scientific and cultural data), resulting in the production of indicator data, spreadsheets and maps. It also involved facilitating training workshops to the land use personnel to identify and filter cultural data from past TUS research for inclusion into the land use plan.
Sencot’en Alliance Provided technical and training expertise for the development of a Southern British bioregional atlas for 5 communities of the Sencot'en Alliance. Involved Columbia researching and gathering information and digital data for inclusion into the bioregional atlas. It also involved facilitating training workshops to support land use staff from 5 communities to create maps for the atlas.
Tsleil Waututh Nation Provided technical and training expertise for the development of a park Southern British atlas for Say Nuth Khaw Yum (Indian Arm Provincial Park). Researched Columbia and gathered information and digital data for inclusion into the park atlas, resulting in over 45 map layers. It also involved facilitating training workshops with the community GIS technician to create maps for the park atlas.
Hupacasath First Provided technical and training expertise for the development of the Nation Hupacasath First Nation’s land use plan. Obtained, filtered and Southern British managed all relevant information (scientific and cultural data), resulting Columbia in the production of indicator data, spreadsheets and maps. Also facilitated training workshops with land use personnel to create maps that would be included in the land use plan.
Nazko Band Produced a land interest document that provided an overview of the Government Ndazkoht'en people and their long-term goals and vision. Involved Central British Columbia community-based research, interviews and synthesizing results into a comprehensive report.
Project Experience – Capital Infrastructure Indian and Northern Development of a risk assessment inventory database tool for fuel tank Affairs Canada (INAC) – systems and wastes disposal sites on Indian reserves throughout Ontario region Ontario for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (awarded the ESRI Ontario Canada 2009 Award of Excellence). Involved developing a comprehensive implementation plan detailing methodology, managing GIS consultants, provided training and technical support to data collectors, conducted quality assurance, developed training manuals and final reporting.
Swan Lake First Nation Provided technical expertise for the development of a 5-megawatt wind Southern Manitoba farm on the Swan Lake First Nation. Involved the production of mapping products.
Treaty 8 Tribal Provided technical expertise for the development of a wind farm tenure Association application in Treaty 8 territory. Involved laying out the site location using
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Northeast British 3D modelling and developing mapping products. Columbia
DIMARS - Summerland Conducted GIS data entry and analysis for the Digital Information Central British Columbia Management And Resource Systems (DIMARS) project. Involved editing watermain, sanitary sewer and storm sewer drawings and setting up databases that linked to scanned drawings.
Regional Municipality Conducted GIS data entry and analysis for the adding, updating, and of Peel editing of water main plans and files for the entire Regional Municipality Southern Ontario of Peel.
Toronto Hydro Conducted GIS data entry and analysis for small site plans and single Southern Ontario line diagrams, and updated and revised land base files, strip maps and subdivision maps.
Project Experience – Health and Social National Aboriginal Technical lead for the production of numerous mapping products Health Organization designed for use in highlighting Aboriginal midwifery in Canada. Involved Canada-wide methodology development, pre- and post-GIS analysis, quality assurance, map development and reporting.
Red Road HIV/AIDS Technical Lead for the development of a comprehensive listing of Network HIV/AIDS and health services available to First Nations for the province British Columbia of British Columbia. Involved methodology development, pre- and post- GIS analysis, quality assurance, map development and reporting.
Red Road HIV/AIDS Technical Lead for the development of 10,000 pocket book guides Network highlighting HIV/AIDS and health services available to First Nations for Northern British the northern region of British Columbia. Involved methodology Columbia development, pre- and post-GIS analysis, quality assurance, map development, managing graphic design consultants, coordination with print shop, and reporting.
Red Road HIV/AIDS Technical Lead for the development of 20,000 pocket book guides Network highlighting HIV/AIDS and health services available to First Nations for Southern British the city of Vancouver. Involved conceptualizing and planning, Columbia methodology development, pre- and post-GIS analysis, quality assurance, map development, managing graphic design consultants, coordination with print shop, and reporting.
Conferences/Workshops • Presenter, Central Boreal Learning Network, November 4-6, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec; • Presenter, Working Forum on the Duty to Consult: Now What?, October 22-23, 2009 in Edmonton, Alberta; • Presenter, Keepers of the Water III, August 13-17, 2008 in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta; • Presenter, Wabanong Nakaygum Okimawin Traditional Area Land Use Plans, June 24- 25, 2008 in Winnipeg, Manitoba; • Presenter, Northern British Columbia GIS Conference 2006, May 30-31, 2006 in Prince George, British Columbia; • Presenter, Mapping for Change, September 7 – 11, 2005 in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa;
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• Presenter, Indigenous Communities Mapping Initiative Conference, March 10 – 15, 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia; • Presenter, Geotec Event “A Spirit of Collaboration”, May 16-19, 2003, in Vancouver, British Columbia; • Presenter, Natural Resources Information Management Forum: Putting Knowledge to Work, 2003 in Richmond, British Columbia; • Presenter, Intertribal GIS Council Conference 2003, in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho; • Presenter, Sto:lo Environment Conference, April 16, 2003 in Chilliwack, British Columbia; • Presenter, UBCIC Land Claims Research Conference, 2003 in Vancouver, British Columbia; • Presenter, Northern British Columbia GIS Conference 2002, May 2002 in Prince George, British Columbia.
Selected Publications Journal Articles Craig, Candler, Rachel Olson, Steven DeRoy and Kieran Broderick. Participatory GIS as a Sustained (and Sustainable?) Practice: The Case of Treaty 8 BC. Participatory Learning and Action, 54 (2006), 325-356.
Other “Direct-To-Digital Mapping Methodology Using Google Earth” guidebook produced by the Firelight Group for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (2011).
“Good Practices Guide: Setting up and keeping an Aboriginal Mapping Program” guidebook produced by CIER for GeoConnections and Natural Resources Canada (2010).
Rachel Eni, Gladys Rowe, and Steven DeRoy. Assessing the Social, Cultural, Health Impacts of Hydro-electric Construction in Fox Lake. Poster presentation at the 10th annual Health Impact Assessment Conference in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Employment Equity • Registered with Indian Status through the Ebb & Flow First Nation (Manitoba), Registry Number: 280 00936 01
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