At the Crossroads: The Fight for Canada’s Northern Landscapes and the Central Role of Indigenous Knowledge

OTTAWA, January 22, 2026 – Across Canada’s vast north, a dual crisis is unfolding beneath the feet of communities and within the foundations of the land itself. Boreal peatlands, commonly known as muskeg, are being lost to industrial development while permafrost, the frozen ground that has underpinned northern life for millennia, is thawing at an alarming rate. These changes are not merely environmental footnotes; they represent a fundamental threat to biodiversity, global climate stability, and the cultures and rights of Indigenous Peoples. Emerging from this crisis is a critical, yet often sidelined, source of solutions: Indigenous knowledge systems, which offer a holistic path for healing landscapes and building resilient communities.

The Muskeg: From “Wasteland” to Recognized Lifeline

Stemming from the Cree word maskek, muskeg refers to the sphagnum moss and sedge-dominated peatlands that cover approximately 65% of Alberta’s boreal region and significant portions of the subarctic. Historically dismissed by governments as “unproductive” land to be drained or removed for settlement and resource extraction, the ecological value of muskeg is now undeniable. These wetlands are among the world’s most efficient terrestrial carbon sinks, storing vast amounts of carbon that, if released, would drastically accelerate climate change. They also act as natural water filters, flood mitigators, and fire breaks, while providing critical habitat for species like the threatened woodland caribou.

However, this vital ecosystem is under direct threat. In Alberta’s Athabasca region, oil sands extraction has disturbed vast swathes of muskeg. While reclamation is legally required, a fundamental tension exists in its goals. The provincial government mandates companies to achieve “equivalent capability” for an “end land use,” a bureaucratic and quantifiable target. For Indigenous communities like the Woodland Cree First Nation, nêhiyawak (Cree), Dene, and Métis of the region, reclamation is an entangled process of healing—of renewing relationships with traditional territories and the “spirit in the land.” As researcher Tara L. Joly notes, this often creates a “problem of translation” between scientific classification and Indigenous conceptions of “growing with” the landscape.

The Thawing Foundation: Permafrost and Community Crisis

Further north, the stability of the land is literally melting. Permafrost thaw, driven by Arctic warming at rates two to three times the global average, is damaging critical infrastructure—homes, roads, airstrips—and threatening the release of immense stores of greenhouse gases and legacy contaminants like mercury. A 2022 report by the Canadian Climate Institute and Firelight Research details the profound impacts on Northern Indigenous communities: increased costs for construction and maintenance, disrupted access to country foods, and dangerous challenges to travel and safety on the land.

“The biggest impact that permafrost thaw has had on me is probably my house shifting … my drywall, especially around my windows, has cracked … But yeah, the insurance doesn’t cover it,” shared a participant from Iqaluit in the report. The economic costs are staggering, with one Quebec study estimating government costs related to permafrost thaw could rise from $64 million in 2015 to $217 million by 2065.

Key Facts: Muskeg, Permafrost, and the Cost of Inaction

Indigenous Knowledge: The Path from “Two-Eyed Seeing” to Integrated Solutions

The escalating costs and ecological risks highlight the insufficiency of purely technocratic solutions. Increasingly, Indigenous knowledge is recognized not as anecdotal but as a rigorous, holistic knowledge system essential for sustainable management. Mi’kmaw elder Albert Marshall describes the approach as “two-eyed seeing”: learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and from the other with Western science.

This knowledge is already guiding action. The Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation employs community-based monitoring to inform resource management. In agriculture, traditional practices like the Three Sisters companion planting or sophisticated water catchment techniques are being revived for their drought resilience. In forestry, Indigenous practices like cultural burning are being integrated into wildfire management strategies.

Yet significant barriers remain. A 2021 guide on mobilizing Indigenous knowledge notes institutional challenges, risks of appropriation, and the difficulty of translating relational, oral knowledge into forms deemed “legitimate” by Western regulatory frameworks. The new federal Impact Assessment Act, which requires the consideration of Indigenous knowledge, represents a step forward, but its meaningful implementation is an ongoing test.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is muskeg, and why is it important?

Muskeg is a common term for boreal peatlands, acidic wetlands that accumulate organic matter. They are crucial carbon sinks, storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide, and provide essential ecosystem services like water filtration, flood control, and habitat for wildlife. Culturally, they are sites of medicine, sustenance, and spiritual significance for many Indigenous Peoples.

How does permafrost thaw affect everyday life in northern communities?

Thawing permafrost destabilizes the ground, causing homes and buildings to crack and settle, roads to buckle, and airstrips to become unsafe. It increases maintenance and insurance costs, disrupts safe travel on the land for hunting and fishing, and can release contaminants into water sources, threatening community health and food security.

What is the difference between Western scientific reclamation and Indigenous concepts of reclamation?

Western scientific and bureaucratic reclamation often focuses on achieving measurable, “equivalent” ecological function or land use (e.g., for forestry). Indigenous perspectives often view reclamation as a process of healing and restoring reciprocal relationships with the land—a spiritual and cultural-ecological endeavour that goes beyond quantifiable metrics.

How can Indigenous knowledge be respectfully included in environmental management?

Respectful inclusion requires building long-term, trusting partnerships with Indigenous communities, involving them as co-leaders from the outset of projects, compensating Knowledge Keepers, and creating frameworks that protect Indigenous data sovereignty. It means valuing oral tradition and experiential knowledge as valid evidence alongside peer-reviewed science.