A Model for First Nation Leadership in Multi-Party Stewardship of Watersheds and Their Fisheries

Abstract

"This report documents the first stages of a multi-party collaborative watershed management pilot project initiated by the Shuswap Nation in their territory in southeastern British Columbia. The pilot project is examined in the context of province-wide fisheries conflicts, because it is an important attempt to create a situation in which these conflicts can be resolved, and a broadly-based local effort can be focused on improving fisheries and watershed management. This example illustrated how fisheries conflicts would be addressed wherever aboriginal people with a unique relationship to fish and other watershed resources live in close proximity to non-aboriginal communities who have to be part of the solution, lest they be part of the problem."