This is a chapter in a story that is still unfolding. It is a story about a First Nation and academic co-researchers who learned from one another and, in doing so, co-created intercultural planning tools to prioritize Indigenous voices and leadership in Canada’s energy transition.
A gap exists in Canada’s oil sands mine closure and reclamation policies and practices that results in the exclusion of Indigenous treaty and Indigenous rights holders from meaningfully stewarding the repair of their degraded traditional territories. While government policy and regulations require that the impacts of mine projects on Indigenous rights holders and the land be mitigated, current approaches to mine closure and reclamation have fallen short, especially regarding mine closure’s social and cultural aspects. It is important that both people and natural elements be included in the plans for repair of degraded landscapes in order to sustain landscapes as well as the societies and cultures that depend on them.