Alison, with son Samuel, of the Simpcw First Nation reconnects with land that is now Jasper National Park/Parks Canada, Alexandra Thurm

Parks Canada worked with Simpcw First Nation and Stoney Nation this fall to facilitate the reawakening of a treaty between the two nations that shows a longstanding relationship and illustrates their mutual commitment to sharing resources.

There was a gathering and fauna harvest in Jasper National Park in Alberta.

“Today times have changed and we’re back here today,” Chief Aaron Young of the Bighorn Chiniki Stoney Nation said in a news release. “There’s a big grey area where the residential schools, where everything took place, covered us with this humiliation from putting us away. However now we’re at a point where we are rekindling, it’s a new start. It’s to bring back our young people to teach them and go back, back to these mountains and particular areas where the animals are.”

Simpcw First Nation, Stoney Nation, Parks Canada and RCMP participated in a pipe ceremony in Jasper National Park on October 28, 2023/Parks Canada

Parks Canada staff and RCMP participated in a pipe ceremony on Oct. 28 to mark this reconnection to the land now known as Jasper National Park. The mountain park is located in Treaty 6 and 8 as well as the traditional lands of the Anishinabe, Aseniwuche Winewak, Dene-zaa, Nêhiyawak, Secwépemc, Stoney Nakoda, Mountain Métis and Métis. Parks Canada acknowledges the past, present, and future generations of these nations who continue to steward the land.

“That pipe brings us together in ceremony and that’s the best way we can move forward and ground ourselves in ceremony,” said Kúkpi7 George Lampreau of the Simpcw First Nation. “Once you are in that ceremony everything has to be done in a good way, everything has to be done honestly and it can’t be broken. This one is going to last another thousand years. It took a while to revive it, but we are here now. We are reviving the ceremonies that we used to do on these lands forever.”

Indigenous partners young and old reconnected to the land through ceremony, crafting, sharing meals and a hunt.

“We’re close to the Snaring River, to me, the Snaring works with our pipe ceremony,” said Elder John Wesley from Bighorn Chiniki Stoney Nation. “The Snaring is like a path. We can tell the mountains are really powerful, so is the river and this is why it is called Snaring River. They snare us together here and we move forward from here on, working together.”

Reconnection also took place in the kitchen where a feast was prepared and shared among the group including Niyanah (left) and Wyanne (right)/Parks Canada, Alexandra Thurm

Harvesting occurred over two days and the area closure is now lifted. There were three bull elk, one white-tail deer and one big horn sheep ram harvested.

“Each step forward on the path to reconciliation with any of the more than 20 Indigenous partners is important work,” said Parks Canada. “Reintegrating practices like harvesting, in alignment with shared conservation objectives, allows Indigenous partners to reconnect to their territories and honors Indigenous rights and cultures.”

This specific ceremonial reawakening of a treaty between the Simpcw First Nation and Stoney Nation, that predates the establishment of Jasper, was time specific and it does not manage or incorporate Indigenous harvesting long term.

The 2022 Jasper National Park Management Plan identifies the re-incorporation of Indigenous harvesting as an objective. Parks Canada is dedicated to continuing transparent and important conversations with Indigenous partners on ways it can further reconnection to Jasper, including through Indigenous practices like harvesting plants and animals.

Reconnection looks different for each nation. This recent gathering saw reconnection to the land through ceremonies, crafting, sharing meals and a hunt. For others, it’s strong involvement in the Caribou Recovery Program or the Fire Management Program, for others it is sitting on the working group for the Indigenous Exhibit or conducting Indigenous awareness training with staff.

Samuel, just 18 months old and from the Sipmcw First Nation, reconnects with the land in Jasper National Park/Parks Canada, Alexandra Thurm