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Paper short abstract:

In 2018, Pimachiowin Aki, “The land that gives life,” was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Anishinaabe applicants challenged the modernist separation of nature and culture which had framed UNESCO decisions and created space for other Indigenous cultural landscape proposals.

Paper long abstract:

In 2018, Pimachiowin Aki, “The land that gives life,” was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took the Anishinaabeg communities of Poplar River, Pauingassi, Little Grand Rapids, and Bloodvein, 18 years, working patiently with the Governments of Manitoba, Ontario, and Canada, to achieve this status. They argued that their territorial lands are not just an example of a healthy boreal ecosystem, where rivers run free from source to mouth and there are no mines, no forestry operations and no industrial structures, but that the Anishinaabe people, as stewards of this land for the last many thousands of years, are successful ecosystem managers. Pimachiowin Aki is a vibrant cultural landscape because the people who live there live Anishinaabe lives and speak Anishinaabemowin. Their experiences of the land and rivers, the animals and spirits are framed by an Anishinaabe ontology which is elegantly expressed in Anishinaabemowin. Their ideas are different from conventional understandings of the world and the way it works; different enough to present a challenge to visitors who struggle to imagine the forces which shape Anishinaabe lives and contribute to their well-being. In submitting their application, they caused UNESCO rethinks its method of evaluating nominations where land and culture are interrelated, and ultimately, in addition to securing their nomination, they challenged the modernist separation of nature and culture which had framed UNESCO decisions for many years.