Acknowledging our past and path forward in upholding Indigenous governance

Sierra Club BC is committed to building respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples and respecting and upholding their territorial governance in the lands where we live and work together.

We acknowledge that Sierra Club BC has perpetuated harm against Indigenous peoples and communities. This was done through advocating for conservation of land by colonial governments without the free, prior, informed consent of the Indigenous Nations who have lived on and stewarded these lands for thousands of years. We acknowledge that Sierra Club BC’s history of advocacy for the creation of parks and protected areas has been informed by colonial ideology. When settler governments designated some areas as parks or protected areas for enjoyment, and later for conservation, they unjustly removed Indigenous peoples from their land, interrupted their cultural practices, and left ecosystems cut off from the beneficial Indigenous management practices that had shaped and nurtured them over millennia.

We commit to forging relationships with Indigenous peoples based on respect. We recognize that this ongoing process includes education, critical reflection, seeking and acting on feedback, and changing policies and practices.

Today, Sierra Club BC staff, board members, volunteers, and members are an increasingly diverse group. We have different lived experiences and different perspectives, but we all come from a place of respect for the natural world. The conversations we are currently having about our role in perpetuating colonialism can be painful. We acknowledge our responsibility to create as much cultural safety as possible within the organization and across all our initiatives as we do this work.