​Guest Post by Kathleen Godfrey, 
 
​
A bright blanket of snow settled on the ground as we welcomed a group of 17 people – young, older, Indigenous, settler – to our Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Land workshop, an all-day gathering held on Saturday, January 25th at the Plenty Canada office and surrounding woodland. This event was an extension of the Truth and Reconciliation Training Program, open to the public and folks of all ages.

After warming up with a mug of tea or coffee, the day began with ceremony: a cleansing smudge and opening, led by Elders Larry McDermott and Barry Sarazin. As the medicine made its way around the circle, a lightness filled the space, readying us for a day of openness, learning, and community. 

What is ethical space?
Members of the circle shared how they had come to be here, each delicately fingering the band of beads on Larry’s eagle feather as they spoke of their journeys. Then, Larry began his teaching on “ethical space”, which is a key framework for pursuing good relations with Indigenous peoples and Nations in Canada, envisioned by Piikani Blackfoot Elder Dr. Reg Crowshoe and Cree Elder Dr. Willie Ermine.

In Larry’s words, “ethical space was part of how this country came together, practiced in 1764 Treaty-making. Ethical space, in essence, [is] our laws. John Borrows calls these laws ‘gifts’, of which there are seven: Love, Humility, Courage, Generosity, Respect, Truth, and Wisdom. Wisdom comes last, and love comes first, as the Creator, the Great Spirit, the activation of creation comes from love; love is also the underpinning of the Canadian constitution.

Those Seven Sacred Gifts were organized into a methodology for western and indigenous cultures to engage one another, specifically academically. This methodology was founded on parallel governance, with a ‘western business model’ on one side, and oral traditional governance on the other. The goal is not to blend them, but to allow both disciplines to thrive. Ethical space is everything between those parallels, where bridges can exist. For example, a smudge is equivalent to the gavel and the Seven Sacred Gifts are equivalent to Robert’s Rules of Order.” 

How does ethical space apply to environmental stewardship?
As a central figure in decades of conservation, forestry, and environmental dialogue in Canada, Larry was involved in a process to weave ethical space into conservation practice. He explained that in 2016, “when Canada made its decision on how to pursue its obligations under the conventions of Biological Diversity and Cimate Change, it organized the Pathway to Canada Target 1initiative.”

The Pathways 1 team agreed to accept this model of ethical space, and “so the whole process of fulfilling obligations was designed to revisit the strength that occurred in 1764, the true Treaty-making. In the processes of Pathways 1, there is no boss, no one person in charge. If you’re going to honor ethical space from the Indigenous side, this is the way it has to be – it has to be a safe space, whether you identify as a woman, as Indigenous, as 2SLGBTQQIA.”
Ethical space is actually embracing those Seven Gifts, it’s embracing Section 35, UNDRIP, and the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It means you bring your best intent, and the Seven Gifts help you focus that intent in a good way. 

“When everybody focuses their good intent, then amazing things can happen.”
Everybody has a responsibility to that ethical space, to make sure that it is working for both streams, which is easier said than done. It means doing enough homework to build up cross-cultural capacity. Everybody wants to jump ahead, to fulfill those conservation targets of 17% coverage for protected area, now rising 25%, then 30%. So far those targets are very western driven and ignore the importance of relationships.” 

Waking up to ethical space
Recognizing ethical space as gift, and as a framework for mutual understanding and respect goes beyond Indigenous and non-indigenous relations in the conservation field, applying to the broader conversation about meaningful reconciliation in Canada. 

As Larry puts it, “We like to pretend everything is rosy and working, and the problem with that is, if you look at the Seven Sacred Gifts, one of them is truth. If we don’t embrace truth, we will not know the solutions, nor the problems that we need to deal with. If you are truly participating in the process of reconciliation, it means that you have to accept a new governance system, a new way of meeting and sharing.” 
“We have to retrain ourselves. Part of ethical space is committing to that retraining.”

Moving forward
The group journeyed through this lesson with mmmms, slow head nods, and barely audible “yeses”. Heartbeats quickened, too. As a gathering of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of varying ages and experiences, engaging with ethical space came as news to some and history to others. When Larry finished, the room was slow to empty for lunch. The air was heavy with reflection, brain activity, deep understanding.

After sharing food together, with the morning’s lesson in our hearts and chili in our bellies, we made our way to the William Commanda Memorial Trail for a walk through the woods. The world, snowy and white, had a different hue. Embodying ethical space, we greeted our plant friends –“Hello”–, extending gentle hands to every wayward branch, pausing to learn the names and gifts of each. 

The day closed with a drum circle led by Barry Sarazin, the vibrations helping to settle our resolve and commitment to creating ethical space together.

Chi miigwetch to all who gathered with us.
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To learn more, visit our Publications & Reports page, where you can find the following recommended resources, developed through Canada’s Pathways to Target 1 Process:
(2018) One With Nature: A Renewed Approach to Land and Freshwater Conservation in Canada – A Report of Canada’s Federal, Provincial and Territorial Departments Responsible for Parks, Protected Areas, Conservation, Wildlife and Biodiversity
(2018) Canada’s Conservation Vision: A Report of the National Advisory Panel
(2018) We Rise Together: Achieving Pathway to Canada Target 1 through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas in the spirit and practice of reconciliation – The Indigenous Circle of Experts’ Report and Recommendations

We had an amazing time during our Moccasin and Beading workshops led by Jessy Ann Sarazin. Participants had the opportunity to make their moccasins and decorate them with beautiful traditional beading. Chi miigwetch, thank you very much to Jessy Ann for the beautiful workshops and for sharing the knowldge and teaching our participants. We also enjoyed the drumming, the songs and the spirt that everyone showed. Barry shared the concepts and instructions of hide tanning. Chi miigwetch for the drum group who traveled a long distance from Pikwakanagan to participate in our community event. Chi miigwetch, to everyone who came to Plenty Canada this weekend for participating and adding your unique value to our events. We look forward to seeing you all at our next events!  

​We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. • Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

We had a great time at the Ginawadaganac Series event on Saturday! We enjoyed the drumming and the valuable stories that Larry McDermott and Barry Sarazin shared with us during the opening pipe ceremony and welcoming to our guests. The drum group performed a song that everyone danced to in honour of our executive director Larry and all the work he has accomplished as an Algonquin elder. Barry presented the Algonquin language booklet along with some Algonquin concepts to our participants of all ages. We also made a traditional Algonquin community feast with Bison burgers, strawberry water, and our desert made with wild rice (manoomin), strawberries and maple syrup. Our participants were eager to help prepare the food and clean up, which was so greatly appreciated during the event. The event reflected the voluntary spirit that we wish to emphasize which strengthens the community. Chii meegwetch, thank you, merci to all who participated in our event, and we hope that everyone had a great time!

The closing event of the Ginawadaganac workshop series will take place on Saturday, June 29. The celebration of the workshop series "Ginawadaganac: Strengthening Our Connections" will close the year's workshops that were held each month from June 2018-2019. We hope that our workshops will continue to facilitate access to Algonquin knowledge to strengthen our connections with each other and with nature.

Ginawadaganac is an understanding within Algonquin law which refers to the interconnectedness of all things, including human beings, non-humans, and the environment. The project’s main goal was to foster interconnectedness and cultural capacity among diverse groups of people, by bringing different community members in the Ottawa valley together for cultural learning and arts-based workshops.

This invitation is open to every human and pet. We look forward to celebrating our achievement with folks at Plenty Canada!

The event will run on Saturday from 12pm-7pm. It will include many exciting things such as:
11-12pm: Welcoming with drumming;
12-3pm: Deer Hide tanning; drumming and drum teachings;
3-6pm: A Summer Feast with traditional Algonquin foods such as wild rice, maple syrup, berries and bison burgers; Algonquin Language Booklet presentation; A power point presentation to summarize and review the year's completed workshops
6-7pm: A pipe ceremony to close this year's workshop series in a good way.

When:
Saturday June, 29th
From 11am - 7pm

Where:
Plenty Canada,
266 Plenty Lane,
Lanark, Ontario ​

​ 
Plenty Canada attended the Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival in Ottawa at Vincent Massey Park last weekend!  We enjoyed sharing information about out mission and our exciting upcoming opportunities with our guests. We met very interesting people who are ready to work with Indigenous Peoples for the protection of our environment for future generations, and these are the people that Plenty Canada counts on.
We enjoyed the Powwow and all of the performers that helped us celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ incredible language and culture on traditional Algonquin territory. Meegwetch, thank you to all the organizers and volunteers who made this festival the success that it was. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

The workshops held on May 25 and 26 was another outstanding success!
We hope everyone enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the sacred medicines, birch bark etching, and hiding tanning in a multicultural, intergenerational and supportive environment.

At the workshop, we had the chance to meet and learn from Larry McDermott, from Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, and Chuck Commanda, from Kitigan Zibi First Nation about the Algonquin crafts involving birch bark, about the four sacred medicines, Sweetgrass, Sage, Tobacco, and Cedar, and their ceremonial uses. 
We had fun etching the canoe with Jessie-Anne Sarazin who is also a First Nation's languages speaker and artist!
We were also very fortunate to learn from Jessie-Anne's husband, Barry Sarazin, from Pikwakanagan First Nation, how to tan hides! Barry taught, demonstrated, and instructed the participants on how to tan a deer hide. Barry also shared the concepts of hide tanning, scared medicines, and birch bark canoe making in the Algonquin language.

We would like to thank our guests for your for participation, involvement, and the spirit everyone brought which added precious value to the workshop! We would also like to thank everyone who shared this event with other community members and your interest in our workshops.

Stay tuned for the last workshop of the "Ginawaydaganuk: Strengthening Our Connections" series at the end of June!

Registration filled quickly for our latest birch bark basket making workshop.
Meegwetch, thank you, merci for the substantial interest shown in this magnificent Algonquin craft.

There were two dates for the workshop that the participants chose from - March 24th and May 4th.
Approximately 10 participants attended the workshops led by Algonquin craftsman Chuck Commanda, his assistant Nicole Lefebvre, and organized by Plenty Canada's Project Manager and Algonquin youth, Shaelyn Wabegijig.

Meegwetch, thank you, merci to each of our participants for sharing your unique presence and gifts with the group, making each workshop as memorable as they were. A special chi meegwetch (big thank you, merci beaucoup) to Chuck Commanda for his knowledge and craftsmanship that he shared with the participants here at Plenty Canada.

Enjoy the gallery of photographs from our workshops below!

TORONTO — People from across Ontario are declaring solidarity with species at risk and calling for urgent change in the way we affect the natural world that sustains us. Twenty-eight authors, musicians, Indigenous Peoples, businesses and environmental organizations issued a joint statement today emphasizing humans’ collective responsibility to protect the natural health of Ontario, Canada and the planet.

The statement was issued on the heels of the Government of Ontario’s public consultation on the Endangered Species Act, 2007. As the public awaits the government’s amendments to the act, its commitment to increasing “efficiencies for business” has prompted fears about the fate of plants and animals already imperilled throughout the province.

More than 230 of Ontario’s plant and animal species are in danger of disappearing, largely due to habitat loss and disturbance. Industrial activity and development are key drivers of that loss. The ESA already provides significant exemptions to industry; further weakening the act will only increase the threats to the province’s most vulnerable species.

The joint statement emphasizes the interconnection of all life and the importance of the persistence and recovery of species at risk for human health. It also highlights the limits to Earth’s capacity to sustain human activity, and the urgent need to change our approach to how we interact with nature.

A selection of signatories to the statement had the following to say:

Sarah Harmer, musician:
“We are in the midst of a massive loss of biodiversity worldwide. Habitat destruction is the leading cause of loss of species. Ontario is home to precious wetlands, forests, grasslands and other complex ecosystems that support critical species at risk. Ontario citizens want to protect the most rare and endangered populations of plants and animals with whom we share this land and water. The Ontario government needs to strengthen our Endangered Species Act.”

Larry McDermott, Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, executive director, Plenty Canada:
“We are the elements governed by natural law and part of and responsible to all of Creation. Our rights flow from this relationship. The Ontario Endangered Species Act, 2007, is designed to share our ways of knowing and is a tool for achieving international treaty-based targets for biodiversity and climate change, and even more importantly, to restore our relationships with the rest of the web of life.”

Caroline Schulz, executive director, Ontario Nature:
“All life forms matter. As the main culprit imperilling the biodiversity that sustains us, humans have a collective responsibility to protect the planet’s most vulnerable plants and animals, including the 230 that are listed as species at risk in Ontario. We must not abdicate our responsibility. There is no time to waste. The clock is ticking.”

David Suzuki, scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation:
“The Ontario Endangered Species Act is meant to protect the province’s most vulnerable animals and plants. If we allow even more of their critical habitat to be opened up for business, it’s only a matter of time before that life support is cut off completely. The Ontario government has a responsibility to identify and protect species at risk. These species have already been waiting too long for our support. It’s beyond time to strengthen the act and improve its implementation, not go backwards by opening the door for more business.”

​For more information or to request an interview:
Stefanie Carmichael, David Suzuki Foundation: scarmichael@davidsuzuki.org, 437 997 2568
John Hassell, Ontario Nature: johnh@ontarionature.org, 416 786 2171
Shaelyn Wabegijig, Plenty Canada: shae.plenty@gmail.com, 705 238 8895

Statement:

Planet Earth is a shared home for humans and millions of other species, and our fates and well-being are interdependent. Yet, as a result of unsustainable human activity, global wildlife populations have, on average, declined in size by 60 per cent since the 1970s. We are now in the throes of the largest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago.

In response to this crisis of biodiversity loss, the Government of Ontario passed a new Endangered Species Act in 2007, with support from all parties. Deemed to be a gold standard in species at risk legislation at the time, this law is now under review.

In response to this review, we the undersigned agree and confirm that:

1. All life is interconnected. Human needs are not separate from the needs of species at risk. Their persistence and recovery are integral to the health of the province, the country and the planet.
2. All humans share the responsibility to care for the natural world that sustains us. This responsibility extends back from our ancestors and forwards to future generations;
3. This responsibility predated contact and was recognized at the Treaty of Niagara in 1764, when the British Crown and over 2500 Indigenous representatives solemnly proclaimed their commitment to sharing the land based on both British Common law and the Indigenous legal systems in ceremonies before the Creator. Protecting and recovering species at risk is part of living up to this shared responsibility.
4. This responsibility was also confirmed by the world at the Earth Summit in 1992 under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, to which Canada is a signatory. In 2010, parties to the convention agreed to prevent the extinction of threatened species and to sustain and improve their conservation status by 2020.
5. The persistence and recovery of at-risk species depend upon the protection and restoration of the ecosystems that support them. Habitat loss is the primary driver of extinction.
6. There are limits to the Earth’s capacity to sustain human activity. We must recognize these limits and manage human activities with respect for all life, so that all species can thrive, and none is driven towards extinction.
7. The ever-rising number of species at risk in Ontario underlines the need to change our approaches to using and managing our lands and waters. We must learn to steward and share these places with the plants and animals that depend on them.
8. The development and implementation of recovery strategies for species at risk must include Indigenous Peoples and their ceremonies and practices, which are millennia-old methodologies for maintaining species abundance and cultural responsibilities associated with natural law.

Signed,
Margaret Atwood | Writer
Jeff Beaver | TEK Advisor/Manager
Rick Beaver | Artist, Ecologist
Marilyn Capreol | Grandmother, Knowledge Keeper
Katsi Cook | Elder, National Aboriginal Council of Midwives
Derek Coronado | Coordinator, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario
Chris Craig | Senior Forestry Technician, South Nation Conservation, Member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan
Amber Ellis | Executive Director, Earthroots
David Flood, RPF | Matachewan First Nation - member
Jack Gibbons | Chair, North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance
Graeme Gibson | Writer
Meagan Hamilton | B.E.S., M.A., Can-CISEC, Indigetech Inc. Environmental Consulting, Member of Six Nations
Sarah Harmer | Musician
Richard W. Hill | Tuscarora, Beaver Clan, educator
Steve Hounsell | Chair, Ontario Biodiversity Council
Deb Pella Keen | Senior Advisor, Plenty Canada
Stephen Lewis | Former Canadian Ambassador to the UN
Henry Lickers | Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Environmental Science Officer
Dr. Dan Roronhiakewen Longboat | Turtle Clan, Mohawk Nation, Grand River Territory, Professor and IESS Director, Trent University, Peterborough
Deborah Martin-Downs | Chief Administrative Officer, Credit Valley Conservation, Chair, Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition
Larry McDermott | Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, Executive Director, Plenty Canada
Janet McKay | Executive Director, LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests)
Miptoon (Anthony Chegahno) | Neyaashiinigmiing, Project Manager, Species at Risk
Eugenia Ochoa | Public Engagement Coodinator, Ontario Council for Cooperation
Michael Ondaatje | Writer
Peggy Pyke-Thompson | Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Environment Program Manager
Lorraine Rekmans | Member of Serpent River First Nation, Indigenous Affairs Critic, Green Party of Canada
Caroline Schultz | Executive Director, Ontario Nature
M.A. (Peggy) Smith | Miskwaanakwadook (Red Cloud Woman), R.P.F. (Ret.), Professor Emerita, Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University
David Suzuki | Scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation
Shaelyn Wabegijig | Caribou Clan, Timiskaming First Nation member, Project Manager, Plenty Canada
Peigi Wilson | President, Plenty Canada