Short bio:

In partnership with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, I work with Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the wild plant harvest community, in Whitehorse, Yukon, to explore ways of supporting their practice while challenging the Settler-patriarchal underpinnings of northern land planning.

Additional details:

Over 60% of the residents of Whitehorse, Yukon, secure a portion of their food from wild sources, yet strategies for the protection of wild harvest spaces and practices are seldom addressed within local food and land planning (City of Whitehorse, 2017, 6). As a result, harvest is threatened by the region’s increased development and climate variability. In partnership with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, I examine both the social and environmental impact of omitting harvest from the planning process, linking this exclusion to historical and ongoing attempts to undermine the knowledge and authority of Indigenous peoples and, more specifically, of Indigenous women. Our research reveals that when activities like plant foraging are deemed feminine they are left out of land planning on the reasoning that they cannot or do not contribute adequately to the ‘advancement’ of the community. In this way, current approaches to land-management reinforce colonial power dynamics by naturalizing gendered hierarchies of land-use and by limiting the diverse claims Indigenous communities have to land. Conversely, however, our findings suggest that bolstering harvest practices can help confront the injustice of Settler-patriarchy. Towards this aim, KDFN and I collaborated with Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the harvest community to design policy options and advocate for their implementation. I am applying to the “Conversations on Collaboration and Colonialism in a Climate Changing North” panel because I seek to share our project insights and explore further how our work can contribute to strengthening decolonization and promoting climate justice in the North.