The Project
‘Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek’ means ‘Our Land We Want to Protect’.
The Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek project brings together five Cree (Nayhenaway lninewuk) Nations to discuss creating an Indigenous-led protected area on our shared ancestral lands in northeastern Manitoba and along the Hudson Bay coastline. The project was initiated by York Factory First Nation (YFFN) in August 2020, and collaborates with Tataskweyak Cree Nation (TCN), Fox Lake Cree Nation (FLCN), Shamattawa First Nation (SFN), and War Lake First Nation (WLFN).
The Five Nations have developed a shared vision (signed statement and document) for the protection of our ancestral lands. This vision was guided by community members (elders, leadership, resource users, men / women, and youth) from each of the Nations who have been part of the conversations of this initiative so far. The vision will help guide future generations and all those residing on this land (Askiy) to know why protecting this area is so important to our Cree peoples (Nayhenaway lninewuk).
No decisions have been made yet about which areas of northeastern Manitoba will be protected through Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek. Defining these areas will be the primary goal of 2024.
Further work in 2024-2026 will focus on implementing our shared vision by:
- Continuing collaboration with communities, leadership, and stakeholders.
- Gathering and documenting traditional laws, teachings, and practices.
- Confirming and mapping physical areas and boundaries for protection.
- Identifying and analyzing legal protection mechanisms.
- Promoting awareness of the project to the broader public.
- Engaging with governments to advance interim land protection.
The map shown, including all lands and waters within it, has been home to our Cree (Nayhenaway lninewuk) ancestors since time immemorial. It contains many natural, historical, cultural, and spiritual areas important to our peoples. The Five Nations continue to maintain our sacred relationship to the land (Askiy) by listening to and honoring our past, keeping and passing on our traditional knowledge into the present, and planning and implementing the needs of current and future generations.
This project is really critical to our people to remain connected to our traditional territory on the coast. We need to work together to protect our traditional territory.