I still remember our very first float, out on the Kebsquasheshing River with Chuck Commanda around five years ago. Feeling light as a feather, it was like floating on a leaf, the feeling of weightlessness. All I could think about was how my ancestors floated on these waters in birch bark canoes for thousands of years, travelling, hunting, fishing, singing, laughing, thriving. I was there as part of the Wahkohtowin Development Guardians program, where we learned how to harvest and build a traditional birch bark canoe. At the ceremonial launch, I was honoured to join Chuck in the voyage and was overwhelmed with emotions and a deep sense of victory because we had harvested and processed all of these materials from the land with our very own hands! 

When Indigenous Guardians aren’t in the bush or on the open water, they’re sometimes in conference halls, networking, strategizing, attending workshops and sharing best practices. Through the Storytellers Project, Guardians capture moments of connection, strength, and pride with their cameras and phones, offering perspectives that often go unseen and unheard. The Community Storytellers Project not only highlights their work on the land and water, but also shows the creativity, leadership, and community spirit that drive their stewardship.

Indigenous Guardians across Canada are stepping forward, not just with all-terrain boots and weather-beaten field notebooks, but with their stories and creativity.

Our ancestors might be astonished to know that today, some of us can build entire careers and even campaigns around Indigenous Storytelling.

Land Guardians help care for the Seal River Watershed in northern Manitoba—one of the largest intact watersheds left in the world. As Land Guardians, we see ourselves as caretakers, entrusted with preserving this watershed’s health and vitality. It is our responsibility to ensure this landscape remains vibrant and resilient for generations to come. 

The federal government has announced $340 million in new funding over five years to support Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship. This includes more than $173 million for Guardians programs. And it represents a major increase from previous funding for Guardians—up from the $25 million over five years pilot investment in 2017.

Guardians programs help strengthen ourselves and our Nations after decades of colonization. “The mass graves opened up wounds in our own community and across the country,” said Chief Heidi Cook of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in Manitoba. “Maintaining our relationships with the land is healing for a lot of our people. Going back to those natural laws and feeling the love that the land has for us—feeling the belonging in our space—that's the important thing.”