Reflection, Acknowledgement, and Justice: A Framework for Indigenous-Protected Area Reconciliation

Protected areas have been both tools and indirect beneficiaries of settler-colonialism in nation-states such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, to the detriment of Indigenous nations. Reconciliation between... [ view full abstract ]

Protected areas have been both tools and indirect beneficiaries of settler-colonialism in nation-states such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, to the detriment of Indigenous nations. Reconciliation between settler-colonists and Indigenous peoples continues to be on the political agenda throughout the settler-colonial world.  In this paper, I demonstrate the need for settler-colonial protected areas to reconcile themselves with Indigenous peoples and advance a framework for doing so.  I first consider what is meant by ‘reconciliation' and then argue for park-Indigenous reconciliation.  I conclude by offering a framework for Indigenous-settler reconciliation within parks.

I frame 1) reconciliation as an exercise in truth-telling, acknowledging harm, and providing for restorative justice and 2) settler-colonialism as fundamentally about control of land, resources, and histories. By first considering what is meant by ‘reconciliation,’ we can more clearly evaluate the reconciliatory ability of emerging park/Indigenous structures such as co-management boards and Indigenous knowledge sharing protocols. This paper recasts discussions of such arrangements and moves us away from asking “is this simply better than previous structures?” to “does this specifically advance reconciliation as understood by Indigenous peoples and reconciliation scholars?”  I ground my discussion in concrete examples of park/Indigenous relations in the USA, Canada, and Australia.

While some agencies, such as Parks Canada, increasingly partner with Indigenous nations through co-management agreements or on Indigenous knowledge use in park management, I believe such park-by-park efforts do not go far enough towards true reconciliation.  For protected areas to reconcile with Indigenous peoples, they must not incorporate Indigenous nations into existing settler-colonial governance structures. Instead, agencies must commit to broadly engaging in truth-telling, acknowledging harm, and providing for justice that advances Indigenous interests.  This will require a willingness to engage on a system-wide level and to having difficult conversations about the future of protected areas on Indigenous territory gained by settler-colonists through violence or subterfuge.