wayfinders circle governance report english - Flipbook - Page 8
The Achuar Nation is in Ecuador and Peru. The Achuar of
The Heiltsuk Nation is in British Columbia, Canada, at the
Ecuador have fearlessly defended their 800,000 hectares of
heart of the largest intact old-growth boreal forest in the world;
traditional territory from oil extraction—including 680,000
a territory covering some 3,555,300 hectares. The Heiltsuk
hectares of legally recognized territory—following the guidance
practice a longstanding system of governance based on their
of their elders and of Arútam, the sacred source of the forest.
ǧvıḷás (the laws of their ancestors), as a paramount principle
Their great mission of caring for Mother Earth is a commitment
that guides all resource use and environmental management.
that has been in place since time immemorial. The Amazon
Rainforest is their home, the sustenance and source of ancestral
wisdom.
The Mayangna Nation is in the North Caribbean Coast
Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. It articulates 75 Indigenous
communities, organized across nine territories, with a territorial
The Blackfeet people, Niitsitapi, live in Northern Montana in
extension of 810,100 hectares. Their traditional governance
the United States, and southern Canada. The US reservation is
system has three fundamental pillars: the community, the territo-
some 607,000 hectares—a fraction of the tribe’s traditional
ry, and the Nation. Each of these pillars supports the Mayangna
territory— with a population of about 17,321 members, and the
community regime and its cultural, spiritual, and territorial unity.
territory in Canada is approximately similar in size. The Blackfeet
see themselves as caretakers of much of North America’s water
resources, as multiple rivers flow down from the Blackfeet
The Native American Land Conservancy is an organization
reservation and Glacier National Park east to the Atlantic, west
located in Southern California. They directly own and manage
to the Pacific, and north to the Arctic. The Blackfeet have ample
2,446 acres of tribal territory, including many sacred sites. The
experience in reclaiming their traditional lands, and manage vast
Native American Land Conservancy combines traditional
grasslands and herds of buffalo and cattle.
environmental knowledge of the local tribes with a western
scientific paradigm to protect and restore fragile desert ecosystems and revitalize Native communities.
The Gabbra people are nomadic pastoralists in Northeast
Kenya. The population of 141,200 Gabbra inhabit 3,500,000
hectares of semi-arid territory. Gabbra guardianship is based on
The Rapa Nui Municipality is on an island of about 16,360
customary tenure systems, local practices, livelihoods, knowledge,
hectares, located in the southeast Pacific over 1,000 miles from
and procedures. It is grounded on the mutual adaptation
Eastern Polynesia and some 1,400 miles west of South America.
between culture and environment.
The Municipality of Rapa Nui is led by community leaders, each
Initial M emb ers of the Way fi n d ers Circl e
8
