Indigenous land-based practices for climate crisis adaptions

Abstract

Indigenous communities across Canada persist at the forefront of environmental and climate-related challenges, necessitating a concerted effort to integrate traditional Indigenous land-based knowledge and practices that inherently promote environmental protection and resilience. Using a decolonial feminist theoretical framework, this research centers on Indigenous community perspectives on the climate crisis and their land-based adaptions. Such an approach empowers Indigenous communities to reclaim agency over their narratives and shape research agendas congruent with their lived realities and aspirations. The study concludes by promoting the imperative of revitalizing traditional Indigenous land-based knowledge, practices and relationships with their ancestral lands. Despite emerging recognition within the scientific literature and international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, of the significance of traditional Indigenous land-based knowledge, many climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives continue to overlook Indigenous participation at various decision-making junctures. Hence, this paper advocates the necessity for international frameworks to acknowledge and integrate traditional knowledge systems and Indigenous participation across national borders, fostering inclusive climate crisis solutions that resonate with Indigenous communities' perspectives and experiences.