By 2022 Watershed Stewardship Assistant, Conlan Donahue.
Banner Photo: Blackfoot Tipi at Red Crow Park, Standoff, Alberta. Art by Api’ soomaahka. Photo by Conlan Donahue.
From September 14-16, the Kainai Ecosystem Protection Association (KEPA) held the annual KEPA Summit for three days at different locations across the traditional territory of the Niitsitapi (the real people in Blackfoot). This year’s theme was Naapi, oot ahs sip pi sa (the holder of sacred water). Throughout the Summit, we experienced powerful Blackfoot origin stories and were served some absolutely delicious food. It was so great to come together to celebrate the connection of environmental field work and the commitment of uplifting and restoring Blackfoot culture.
Day 1
Day 1 was located at the Oldman River North Recreational Area, a beautiful location where the headwaters of the Oldman River flow through the mountain valleys and the birds chirped in curiosity of our gathering. There were many speakers from different Blackfoot nations highlighting the momentum that the past three years of hard work has given them. With climate change adaptation, political imbalances, and the surge of worldwide emergencies, resiliency has been a priority. These challenges led to three years of Blackfoot Guardianship of the Rocky Mountain Eastern Slopes as a response to the threat of further fragmentation. During this time, the development for one of seven worldwide Indigenous Network & Knowledge Hubs began. Additionally, the Niitsitapi have been striving to reconnect the Blackfoot language and names to landscapes, uplift traditional Blackfoot governance systems, monitor cumulative effects on the land, and continue support for all Blackfoot nations and partners.
Community Lunch at Oldman North Recreational Area. Photo by Conlan Donahue.
After a community lunch, some of the projects that the Blackfoot Confederacy has been supporting were presented. While the principles of western science are well known and practiced, there is a drive to uplift Blackfoot knowledge systems to balance the application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and western science. Exciting projects are underway in the Blackfoot nations that will continue to support and develop Blackfoot conservation. The themes that echo in Blackfoot conservation principles are biodiversity, sustainability, and management without borders. With projects like the Native Trout Recovery and the Iinnii (buffalo) Initiative, there is a lot to look forward to in Blackfoot conservation and cultural revival.
The exciting and widely-supported Native Trout Recovery Project focuses on restoring native trout habitat. Habitat restoration and monitoring has been successful through bioengineering, eDNA sampling, recording water data, Elder interviews, and fish rescues. The partnership is determined to help monitor the changes to native trout populations over time. With highly-skilled staff, they are focused on building the capacity and reach of their operations. Data collection with the Native Trout Recovery Project has been concentrated on streams with no data or none in the past ten years to document and pinpoint areas of concern.
Photo taken by Conlan Donahue at Oldman North Group Campsite during 2022 KEPA Summit.
Day 2
On Day 2 we drove out to meet at the wetland that lies in front of the gate to Waterton Lakes National Park, called Maskinonge. To start the morning, a condensed Blackfoot origin story was told about the location we were at. It was a powerful and moving story that we were honoured to hear. To follow, Elder (and OWC board member) Ninna Piiksii (Mike Bruised Head) spoke about his challenges with a contaminated aquifer and having to buy jugs of water for his family and ceremonial practice. He continued to speak about his connection with sacred sites, mountains, and the timing of ecosystem events as a metaphysical energy and a way of healing/life. This was a powerful message that was felt throughout the 3 locations of the KEPA Summit.
To follow, KEPA’s Kansie Fox of Blood Tribe Land Management and Kim Pearson of Parks Canada presented on the Northern Leopard Frog Reintroduction Project. The Northern Leopard Frog is an ecologically and culturally important species and is listed as Threatened under the Wildlife Act. The Northern Leopard Frog’s is an indicator species, and its presence is indicative of a healthy wetland ecosystem. The challenge with reintroducing this species is that it is sensitive and among the highest threatened taxa group in conservation. Since the last sighting of this species in Waterton Park was in 1980, Kansie and Kim were happy to announce two out of three reintroduction sites have been successful and six additional sites were repopulated through natural distribution. Northern Leopard Frogs need a wetland habitat with highly oxygenated water and connection to grasslands without roadways fragmenting their habitat. They are an important addition to the ecosystem; tadpoles are vegetarians, eating up algae before they metamorpihize into frogs and become insectivores. Not only are they important primary and secondary consumers, they are a source of food to other predators.
What's great about these Indigenous led conservation projects is that they focus on using both traditional knowledge and western science. This combination of knowledge is used to determine what's best for the species of concern by protecting habitat and/or connecting populations to build genetic resilience.
The Iinii Initiative is another valuable project underway to restore iinnii to the grasslands, and is being led on Kainai Nation by Justin Bruised Head & Leroy Little Bear. Iinnii is Blackfoot for buffalo and the management of this project has large cultural ties to the Niitsitapi.
The main clauses tied to the Iinii Initiative are:
The crowd gathered around at the smell of warm, delicious food at Maskinonge. Photo by Conlan Donahue.
Conservation
Culture
Education
Health
Economics
Research
Collaboration
Being a catalyst for other bison conservation efforts
Potential development of transboundary international corridor for free-roaming buffalo managed by Blackfoot conservation
The northern portion of Kainai Nation has some of the largest parcels of intact grassland in the country to support iinnii reintroduction. Plains Bison are a sacred resource to the Blackfoot way of life and there is a continued effort to connect youth with the buffalo. Bison bring about balance and interconnectedness in their ecosystem as they are a keystone species. They engineer ecosystems by increasing biodiversity of plants and creating a microclimate habitat for other species with their wallows. Their wool is also an important resource for other animals in their nests and burrows.
This initiative focuses on restoring land and habitat to support bison populations and conducting grassland assessments to collect habitat data and monitor the impacts on the ecosystem. Because of a historical bottleneck of this species, preserving the health of the herd and remaining sustainable within the carrying capacity of their resources is a priority. The iinnii are treated and cared for like family and are to be respected, not feared. The Initiative is not for profit and its resources are shared with the community. The Plains Bison were adapted to our climate for countless generations and are thriving being back home after almost being hunted to extinction. Some challenges with managing a bison herd in today's light include dealing with deteriorating grasslands due to climate change, invasive species, and cultural loss.
Day 3
We arrived at Red Crow Park in Standoff for Day 3. The colours of fall, warm coffee, and the crisp morning air made for a cozy morning in the park. Keynote speaker Aimee Craft spoke on the importance of working for, and not with, water. She spoke of this as an innate responsibility of our relationship to the land and water we live off of. To honour our vector of life and remind ourselves of what little control we have over the forces of extreme water events—floods, high snowpack, and weather. The privilege most of us have with water makes it too easy to forget where our water is coming from and the relationships between. Following Aimee’s presentation, the Honouring Partners Ceremony began. With the supporting cheers of the community and allies filling the park, our very own Executive Director, Shannon Frank, was honoured with a Blackfoot name, Water Singing Woman.
Shannon Frank and Mike Bruised Head. Photo by Conlan Donahue.
Following this unforgettable event was the Buffalo Harvest and Blackfoot Traditional Food Showcase. As we waited patiently for the food, we had a nice chat with Justin Bruised Head about the differences in managing Plains Bison versus Northern Alberta Wood Bison and the challenges with starting the Iinii project from the ground up. After tasting some wonderful food, we set up the OWC information booth alongside Indigenous Artistry and the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS) to share our successes being partners of Kainai Nation and Piikani Nation.
This event was an absolute pleasure to be a part of. We were fortunate enough to visit some stunning locations in our watershed and experience amazingly rich Blackfoot culture in three days of gorgeous weather. We met many new people, laughed together, took photos, and shared delicious food side by side. Thank you to KEPA and the Blackfoot community for the space, sharing, knowledge, and gifts.
Take Part
Participate in Truth & Reconciliation Day events on and before September 30th to connect with our Indigenous allies. Events in the Lethbridge area can be found here.
Make sure to also keep an eye out for future Blackfoot stewardship events such as the Lethbridge Indigenous-led Nature Walk on October 22 with our friend and partners Api’soomaahka (Running Coyote) and the Canadian Parks And Wilderness Society.
A beautiful and peaceful bend of the river beside Red Crow Park in Standoff, Alberta. Photo by Conlan Donahue.
OWC’s attendance at the KEPA Summit was partially funded by the Watershed Resilience and Restoration Program (Government of Alberta) and the EcoAction Community Funding Program (Government of Canada). Thank you for supporting our Community Resilience and Knowledge-Sharing project!
