Canadian Council on Ecological Areas. I am inspired by my work with native communites across Canada and by elder women and hunters. I see that, over the course of human history with indigenous people in North America, sustainable development has worked. Our inspiration comes from our philosophy and spirituality in which our relationship to the Creator and to other beings is through the earth. We communicate with the Creator outdoors, in quiet places, in calm, beautiful environments.
Native approaches are old, well-established and proven.
A major challenge is to take the best of what we have and combine that with the best of what non-native people have. I'm also concerned about the usefulness of the dollars devoted to sustainable development. This is not only a problem in Canada, which gives us the responsibility to speak out at the UN level about conceptual rights and issues for indigenous people. Changes needed at the community level are a microcosm of what's needed internationally. There are useful models in the American and Innu Science and Engineering Society and the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society.