Heiltsuk

Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management’s Diana Chan joined Firelight Group’s Justin Chan to take us out onto the water in Heiltsuk territory with the team who are conducting an ambitious and unique Indigenous Environmental Impact Assessment in the Great Bear Sea. Learn about the blending of western science with Indigenous knowledge, and discover special shellfish stewardship practices.

Mussels, clams and oysters have been an important part of the diet for many First Nations communities for thousands of years. On the Northwest Coast, clams were often dried in large quantities for use. Clams were first steamed open in an earth oven and then strung on sticks and roasted over a bed of coals.…

Heiltsuk Nation is currently conducting its own, Indigenous-led Environmental Impact Assessment, drawing on Indigenous ecological knowledge and western science to determine the health of the spill area, which has beena marine breadbasket for Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. The Heiltsuk are determined to heal the land and waters — but to do so, they need patient observation and hard data.

Haíɫzaqv are intricately connected to our natural world, the land, the sea, rivers, all the plants and animals great and small. When any one of these is put at risk, hurt, or displaced it affects us culturally, spiritually, physically, and in ways we cannot put into English words. The Nathan E. Stewart disaster is a prime example of that, and we cannot rely on a colonial system or the polluter , but rather must conduct an environmental impact assessment grounded in our laws, our culture, and values.

Earlier this year, we witnessed the historic Big House opening on Heiltsuk territory. During a four day potlach ceremony,  totem poles were raised that tell the story of who the Heiltsuk are and where they are going. Guided by 14,000 years of history, ancestral laws, memory and tradition, the Heiltsuk are deeply committed to revitalizing…