Photo above: Janna Wale, Indigenous Research and Partnerships Lead at the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
For thousands of years the Indigenous coastal communities in what is now British Columbia created marine gardens, cultivating ocean species like clams to sustain their communities.
One way to build these gardens is by erecting a rock wall that runs parallel along the beach at low tide line. As the tide washes in and out, the wall traps sediment, creating a clean habitat perfect for clams and other marine life to thrive.
Marine gardens are one of the sustainable methods of food cultivation that Indigenous communities are reviving to lead the way in climate action and climate adaptation, says Janna Wale, Indigenous Research and Partnerships Lead at the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions.
Wale is Gitxsan from Gitanmaax First Nation as well as Cree-Métis and lives in Nanaimo, B.C. She has a Master of Science and Sustainability from The University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna and incorporates her Indigenous expertise with Western climate science to build resilience to climate change in Indigenous communities.
Her community is further inland from the coastal Indigenous communities who practice, build and maintain marine gardens. In the last few years, Wale’s community has seen fewer salmon in the waters and noticed differences in moose foraging behaviour during the winter months, demonstrating the distressing effects of climate change on species that Indigenous communities have been observing for centuries. While she believes tackling global warming is important, she thinks Canadians also need to focus their efforts on climate adaptation.
According to the United Nations, climate adaptation aims to reduce the negative impacts of climate change and enhance people’s ability to live and cope with climate-related events like flooding, drought or forest fires. An example of climate adaptation could be building homes away from floodplains, or building homes on stilts if they are in flood prone areas. Another example is controlled backburns in forests to remove the dried leaves and sticks that can cause forest fires to get out of control.
Controlled burns, or cultural burning, are what many Indigenous communities practice to reduce the buildup in forests that fuels more intense wildfires, says Wale. They also “promote the health of the land by helping manage pests and supporting nutrient rich regrowth.”
“We are going to continue to experience climate change over our lifetime, but the sooner we implement adaption the better off we’re going to be,” said Wale during a recent Scotiabank employee-wide event.
A report by the Canadian Climate Institute found that for every dollar spent on adaptation measures, $13-$15 would be “returned in the years ahead in direct and indirect benefits.”
Climate change disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities
Wale was the keynote speaker for Scotiabank’s Earth Day webcast that centred on inclusive climate action and examined the important connection between reconciliation and climate action.
As Wale went through her presentation, she demonstrated how climate change disproportionately affects Indigenous communities and how Indigenous knowledge can help address the problems people are facing.
“When I was a kid, my family could go out and harvest salmon in about a day or two to feed our whole family,” said Wale. “During the summer before grade 11, however, it actually took us around a week… just to make sure we had enough fish to feed our families over the winter months.”
Salmon being harvested, carved and stored by Janna Wale's family in British Columbia.
These real climate effects on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples across Canada can leave many feeling anxious, says Wale. To slow down the impacts of global warming, Wale discussed how people can adapt a teaching explained to her by her Elders.
“It's essentially the idea that we should live and make decisions for seven generations into the future,” says Wale. “So, when we're thinking about applying this notion to the overwhelming feelings that can come with climate change, the teaching reminds us that our role isn't necessarily to fix everything right now.”
As Scotiabank continues on its path toward reconciliation, it has set out a Truth & Reconciliation Action Plan featuring 37 commitments aimed at building relationships of trust between the Bank and Indigenous employees, clients, and communities. A key focus area is the environment and forging a relationship of trust with Indigenous peoples, while supporting the global transition toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
For Wale, reconciliation is about relationships and “recognizing the harm that’s been done and doing the slow, intentional work of rebuilding that trust.” This includes reclaiming traditional knowledge and revitalizing practices like marine gardening.
By shifting our view of the land as not only a resource but also a relative, it can heal our relationship with one another and create a future that is “more just, more balanced and more sustainable,” says Wale.
Creating more balanced solutions, Wale points out, means understanding that Indigenous knowledge is science.
“My people have over 14,000 years of lived experience within our territory and can and want to contribute to climate solutions. In order to do this, we need folks to start being intentional with who is at the table,” says Wale.
