Protected Areas and Aboriginal Interests At Home in the Canadian Arctic Wilderness

• Main Author: E. Sherry
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Yukon; Vuntut national park
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.424.1790; http://www.wilderness.net/library/documents/sherry.pdf

Abstract: An alliance in the Canadian Arctic between aboriginal and conservation interests through agreements that combine aboriginal entitlement, national park creation, and cooperative management is giving new dimension to wilderness preservation goals and is enriching protected area values. This article explores the historic roots and contemporary character of aboriginal and nonaboriginal views of wilderness. A case study analysis of Vuntut National Park, Yukon, Canada is presented to exemplify a new type of protected area establishment and management that promises to support both ancient aboriginal lifeways and national conservation obiectives. Differing Perspectives on Wilderness For Canada’s first people, wilderness protection is part of larger political and legal questions, those “bound up in the thorny issues of treaty rights, aboriginal title, and Land Claims” (Erasmus 1989). Through aboriginal eyes the Canadian Arctic embodies many pervasive and enduring connections, family ties; seasonal cycles of activity, a spirit of place, sacred spaces, and ancestral homeland (Klein 1994; Davis 1994). During the past three decades aboriginal land claims and self-government negotiations have altered the political, legal, and cultural face of the North. The exploration and development of energy mining, water, and timber interests have affected traditional aboriginal lifestyles and the health of northern ecosystems In the context of this contested terrain, aboriginal groups, resource managers, and conservationists are endeavoring to define common goals and mutual understanding.