A First Nations Political Ecology of Climate Change in Saskatchewan

Abstract

Climate change is the major global environmental challenge of this century. Globally, climate change impacts are unevenly distributed. In Canada, the impacts of climate change are reported to be exacerbated in northern and Indigenous communities. To help understand why this condition exists, I have applied the theoretical lens of political ecology as an explanatory tool. Political ecology links ecological outcomes to power differentials that result from control of government and other institutions over local and Indigenous peoples. This research took place in three First Nation communities in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Community members collected data for this study using semistructured interviews and a survey questionnaire developed by each community. Data analysis categorized the impacts of climate change at the individual and community level. This research shows how the creation of ‘Indian Reserves’ and the forced relocation of Indigenous people onto relatively small parcels of “land reserved for the Indians” (Indian Act 1876) has led to multi-faceted risk exposure to weather and climate events. This research makes a contribution to a ‘developed world’ political ecology.