Open events

This session will explore the climate futures of Indigenous Peoples, both the impact of climate change on Indigenous communities and the responses of Indigenous Peoples to climate change. On July 3rd, 2021, a wildfire in the Interior of British Columbia destroyed the village of Lytton and prompted the evacuation of the nearby Lytton First Nation. In the weeks before the fire, Lytton endured the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Canada. Climate scientists agreed the fire was the result of anthropogenic climate change. The case of Lytton First Nation raises important questions for all Indigenous communities in Canada with the survival of Indigenous Communities increasingly threatened by anthropogenic climate change. Yet for Indigenous Peoples, the risk extends beyond the destruction of their infrastructure and dwellings, to their cultures, languages, economies, and territories. The transformation of the land brought about by climate change will have lasting effects on almost every aspect of Indigenous life. Yet, Indigenous Peoples have complex and nuanced understandings of the land and might be best placed to understand and respond to the effects of climate change on their territories, mitigating CO2 emissions, and benefiting not only themselves but also enriching Canada’s response to climate change. Moreover, given their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), Indigenous Communities might be best placed to combat climate change and create resilient climate futures. The structures of settler-colonialism present daunting barriers to our collective climate futures. What might an Indigenous climate future look like?