Climate action means “reconnection,” say Yukon First Nations fellowship participants

A group of young Yukon Indigenous people has created an interactive website that they hope will encourage a radical rethinking of the climate crisis and how to deal with it.

“It’s not a website that you flip through and flip through quickly,” says Carissa Waugh, one of the creators. “It has footage, it has stories, it has a lot of images.”

The website was created by 13 young First Nations representatives in Yukon and Northern BC who participated in the First Nations Climate Action Fellowship.

In February 2020, Yukon First Nations signed a climate change emergency declaration calling for a youth-led action plan, and for it to come from an Indigenous worldview.

That led to the creation of the fellowship and now, after two years of work involving healing, introspection, exploration of identity and culture – and how it all comes together with climate action – the plan, in the form of the interactive website, is complete.

“We want everyone to be a part of it, and this website allows you to be a part of what we’ve been doing,” said Waugh.

Waugh and her colleagues call their work a “Reconnection Vision,” and rather than being a typical policy document, they say it’s a guiding philosophy and toolkit that identifies disconnection as the root cause of the climate crisis, as well as the mental health crisis that affects many. communities.

They say the work of “reconnecting” is climate action, it’s about healing and being in harmony with yourself, the community and the country.

Building on the landmark 1973 Yukon land claims document Together today for our children tomorrow, the group calls themselves “the children of tomorrow” and says the Reconnection Vision can be a guiding philosophy for Yukon First Nations for the next 50 years.

“We really see this path where we can return to balance, return to harmony, return to circular thinking, to community,” said Jocelyn Joe-Strack, Indigenous Knowledge Research Chair at Yukon University.

She supported the group and watched the participants bond over the past two years. Joe-Strack says their work has taken a different approach and pushed back against the dominant culture.

“In typical climate plans, you know, you see things around greenhouse gases and reducing emissions, but we really recognize the climate crisis and the mental health crisis… the root cause of that is our state of disconnection,” she said .

According to the Reconnection Vision, “the imbalance of the country reflects the imbalance within ourselves.”

Joe-Strack says the time we spent together creating the vision was sacred, and the work of reconnecting isn’t always pretty.

“There’s a real intensity to it. It’s a challenge to heal in today’s world and there are aspects of our society, our institutions that are actively disconnecting us and preventing us from being whole, reconnecting, having a good relationship with each other have,” she said.

According to her, there is work to be done for organisations, governments and institutions that want to follow this vision.

“Think about your role in perpetuating the barriers to reconnection and think about the state and norm of disconnection in the work culture and in your community culture, and what we can do to make space and just explore. “

For colleague Nika Silverfox-Young, the process of coming together to create the plan has been an emotional journey that has allowed her to grow.

“I’m reconnecting with my language, my home community, my country,” she said.

“It’s just been unconditional love and support. I just want as many young people as possible to feel what we feel.”

Both Silverfox-Young and Waugh say the bond and strength they’ve gained from being involved in the fellowship has been life-changing.

They hope that as more people come to understand the vision, support and connection will spread and lead to healthier individuals, communities and country.

“Our youth are ready, they are ready for the change and we are ready to help them on that journey,” says Waugh.

Silverfox-Young adds that she thinks the vision will change many perspectives and “hopefully give us a small army of reconnection soldiers.”

“One day we will all be ancestors and lead our people through change in a good way.”