The Shield Keepers are one of many tribally led stewardship programs emerging across what is now known as the United States. These initiatives—often called Guardians programs—help Tribal Nations care for traditional territories and exercise their inherent sovereign responsibilities to lands and waters.

Indigenous-led stewardship takes a holistic view of fire on the landscape. It’s not just about suppressing fire, but also about putting fire on the land where it is needed to help prevent out-of-control fires. It’s a year-round, ongoing relationship with fire.

Over 60 Indigenous leaders and partners attended a stewardship gathering on the Lummi Nation. Shaped by the rise in Indigenous-led stewardship in the U.S. and inspired by similar movements in Canada and Australia, the gathering explored the possibility of launching a network to link and support U.S. tribal stewardship programs.

The Indigenous Guardians movement has grown exponentially in recent years. Not only are more First Nations eager to launch their own Guardians programs, but the movement is also expanding into the United States. “We have been very successful in Canada, and now we are talking with our Native American brothers and sisters to share knowledge,” said ILI Senior Leader Frank Brown.

In the Northwest Territories, we are forging a way forward in the spirit of reconciliation and putting words and intentions into meaningful action. We hope our collaboration will provide a model for the whole of Canada on how to address the pressing challenges of our time, strengthen Indigenous cultures, and demonstrate how UNDRIP can be meaningfully implemented on the ground.

From the community level to the national stage, Indigenous Nations offered solutions for caring for lands and waters. Canadians welcomed these contributions: a national poll found 75% of Canadians support the Guardians programs, for instance. Here are some 2023 highlights ILI is proud to be a part of.

The abundance of salmon was not by accident but by design. Our people cultivated ecosystem services through the strong relationship with Salmon. Heiltsuk laws, governance, and stewardship systems are based on millennia of observation and accumulated intergenerational knowledge transfer.

ILI is taking the helm of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign and absorbing IBCC’s remaining staff, assets, and relationships with funders. This milestone marks one of the first times a longstanding, successful environmental campaign has been transferred to Indigenous leadership.

Reverence and respect for water is one of the most profound lessons the Indigenous worldview can share with a westernized society distracted by materialism. This knowledge is more important now than ever, as the planet faces the dual challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity.

The exponential growth of Guardians programs in recent years has been inspiring to witness. It has also unleashed a host of benefits for lands, communities, and the country as a whole.

The Guardians and Stewardship Training Initiative will be codeveloped this year by First Nations and the province, and we look forward to its launch and expansion. It will help prepare more Guardians to look after lands and waters we all rely on.

“Hawaiians have canoes. Māori have canoes. First Nations have canoes. We all have the value that we are one with the water, so why don’t we use our power, our voice, our chanting, our stories to paddle together.”

As the international community gathers in Montreal, they will see that sustaining biodiversity—and healthy communities—is already underway, and they will see that Indigenous Nations are blazing the trail.

As Indigenous place-based peoples, we live in these landscapes 365 days a year. We look not only at the ecological integrity of land and seas, but also the social and economic sustainability. Conservation-based activities like ecotourism provide economic opportunities that reflect Indigenous stewardship.

Now a new national strategy outlines how First Nations Guardians could play an expanded role in wildfire management and response, helping to manage the risk of climate change and shield communities from unchecked fires.

There are now 120 First Nations Guardians programs across the country! This means almost 20 percent of all First Nation communities have Guardians—bringing us closer to the goal of ensuring every First Nation that wants a Guardians program has the support to launch one.