A year of protection: BC First Nations secure mining pause on ancestral lands
An aerial view of Obo Lake, part of the vast northern BC region. Photo by Maureen Garrity, submitted by Gillian Staveley.
By Sonal Gupta
First Nations in northern British Columbia have secured a one-year pause on new mining claims across a vast stretch of their traditional territory, a move Indigenous leaders called “history-making” for Indigenous-led land management.
Gillian Staveley, a member of Kaska Dene and director of culture and land stewardship for the Dena Kayeh Institute, said the agreement marks a big step forward.
“This is a really important beginning,” Staveley said. “We’re really focusing on the work that’s moving us forward toward what we’re striving for, where Kaska leadership is respected and reconciliation is honestly more than just a word.”
The BC government announced Tuesday that for the next year, no new mining claims can be staked or registered in one-third of the region covered by the agreement. The pause will give the five First Nations, including the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga’a Nations, and the province time to work together on a land-use plan across 16 million hectares and gather input on how the land should be protected, used and managed in future.