STEWARDSHIP & THE GUARDIANS
Our Guardians are at the heart of the IPCA
Guided by our Knowledge Keepers and community, Guardians tend to the land and water that we call home, balancing technical skills with tradition.
This work is "done by community, for community,” bringing together western science, like technical environmental sampling and data collection, with our traditional ways of knowing. The Guardians program is a shared responsibility to place, and ensures the story of our land is told by our people.
Stewardship can be seen in how we care for one another. The land provides for us and in turn we care for one another in the community.
tending to the land after fire
The environment is changing. The wildfires of 2023 and 2025 were a significant moment that reshaped our entire region. These fires have changed the land we have known for generations, and so we must change how we care for it as it begins its life cycle again.
This responsibility is best understood through the teachings of our Knowledge Keepers, like Peter Durocher. Even when the forest seems gone, our duty is to protect what is coming back. If a single spruce tree begins to grow, we must make sure nothing happens to that tree. We protect that one tree today so that it will grow for future generations. This act of care and protection for life is the foundation of our work as a Métis-led Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).
At the heart of Sakitawak IPCA is our commitment to protect the Woodland Caribou. Our community is interconnected with the caribou. Their survival is inseparable from our community's way of being.
Because the caribou rely on a healthy ecosystem, we bring together our traditional ways of knowing and western science to monitor how the habitat is healing after the fires.
Monitoring Water Health
Tracking how fire affects water alkalinity and the health of fish eggs in our river systems.
Habitat Tracking
Observing how the land is coming back and identifying the specific areas that can once again support the caribou population.
Upholding Integrity
Ensuring that as the land restarts its life cycle, it is protected from further industrial disturbance.
