Abstract
Sacred Natural Sites play an essential role in the expression and transmission of culture, in the conservation of biodiversity, and are a vital means for the manifestation of cultural and spiritual values related to nature. In Nunavik, the Government of Québec, in partnership with the Kativik Regional Government recently created the Kuururjuaq National Park on 4,274 km2 of tundra. A cultural important site for the Naskapi First Nation, the Caribou Heaven is situated within the limits of this new protected area. This chapter first provides an overview of the linkages between Aboriginal peoples and protected areas in Canada. It then illustrates the crucial role played by the caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in the socio-cultural, spiritual, and economic life of the Naskapi First Nation. Next, it explains how the ecological knowledge of the Naskapi was used to designate this culturally important place as an area of maximum protection, in order to ensure its protection and integrity. It finally describes how cultural and spiritual values, have formed the basis of co-management models of nature conservation in this park. The initiative is among the first of such efforts by the Government of Québec to give expression to the importance of and to provide protection to the sacred sites of First Nations.
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Notes
- 1.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://www.cbd.int/convention/text/default.shtml
- 2.
ILO Convention 169. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C169
- 3.
United Nations declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
- 4.
Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB) of UNESCO. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/man-and-biosphere-programme/
- 5.
Ramsar Sites. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://ramsar.wetlands.org/
- 6.
List of World Heritage sites. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/
- 7.
See ICCA Consortium. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from www.iccaconsortium.org/ and also the ICCA registry UNEP-WCMC. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from www.iccaregistry.org/
- 8.
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage systems (GIAHS). Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from http://www.fao.org/giahs/en/
- 9.
Kuururjuaq means “narrow valley” in Inuktitut .
- 10.
Québec covers 1,667,441 km2. The Québec network of protected areas currently covers 9.11 % of the province. See also: Ministère du Développement durable, Environnement et Lutte contre les changements climatiques, Pourcentage du territoire québécois en aires protégées. Retrieved, July 25, 2014, from www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/biodiversite/aires_protegees/registre/index.htm
- 11.
Rousseau, J. (1953). Report on the Survey Carried Out in Northern Quebec Labrador. Montréal Botanical Garden: Montréal, 60.
- 12.
Speck, F. (1935), p.84. Op. cit.
- 13.
Rousseau, J. (1953), p. 56.
- 14.
Rousseau, J. (1953). Op.cit.
- 15.
Rousseau, J (1953), p. 60. Op.cit.
- 16.
Hébert, A. (2006) The Caribou Heaven in the Kuururjuaq Park: A legendary belief and maybe a sacred site. Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Parks: Québec. In Conseil de la nation Naskapi de Kawawachikamach (2007) (p. 4).
- 17.
Conseil de la nation Naskapi de Kawawachikamach (2007). Mémoire : Designation of the Caribou Heaven as a sacred area within the proposed Kuururjuaq National Park, 2 March, 4.
- 18.
Cossette, S. (2011). MDDEP (personal communication).
- 19.
Boulianne, M. (2011). Parcs Nunavik Parks. (personal communication).
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Mameamskum, J., Herrmann, T.M., Füleki, B. (2016). Protecting the ‘Caribou Heaven’: A Sacred Site of the Naskapi and Protected Area Establishment in Nunavik, Canada. In: Herrmann, T., Martin, T. (eds) Indigenous Peoples’ Governance of Land and Protected Territories in the Arctic. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25035-9_6
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