Our Forest
The land I see when I go out into the forest, what the Creator has made for us, is all good. What the Creator has made for us is beautiful, like something that is really clean, an untouched forest. If we take care of our forest like the way the Creator made it, the forest will last forever.
– Elder Norman Quill (in translation)
The Whitefeather Forest (dark green on the map) is located in the ancestral lands of the people of Pikangikum in Northwestern Ontario. It is located in the boreal forest (light green) and is bounded by Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in the southwest. There are many important waterbodies in the Whitefeather Forest including extensive mahskeek (“muskeg”) which are peat bog and fen wetlands. These wetlands form the headwaters of the Flanagan River, part of the Severn River watershed. This remarkable network of wetlands also drains into the Throat River and McInnes Lake which are part of the Berens River watershed.
The Whitefeather Forest is an Indigenous Cultural Landscape of Pikangikum people. Since time immemorial, we have maintained the biological diversity of the landscape. In many cases we have even nurtured greater abundance and diversity on this land. Our people have achieved this through customary indigenous resource stewardship practices and management techniques supported by a rich Indigenous Knowledge tradition.
From its vast tracts of jack pine to Manomin (wild rice) fields planted by Pikangikum people, to rich muskrat marshes that were historically burned to increase food for these fur-bearing animals as well as the ducks and other animals that live there, the Whitefeather Forest cultural landscape is of international ecological significance.
The ecological richness of the Whitefeather Forest landscape is also complemented by a cultural heritage legacy that includes features such as pictographs, campgrounds, portages, and canoe channels. These enhance the numerous pristine waterways that flow through the forest.
It is the intention of Pikangikum First Nation in the Whitefeather Forest Initiative to provide economic opportunities for our members while protecting the rich ecological and cultural heritage of our ancestral forests.
A Northern Boreal Landscape
The Whitefeather Forest is a northern boreal landscape of expansive coniferous forest interspersed with numerous lakes and rivers. Under the care of our people, the Whitefeather Forest has been protected and enhanced as a rich, boreal ecosystem inhabited by black bear (Mahkwa), caribou (Atik), moose (Moos), timber wolves (Maaingan), wolverine (Kwiingwaagway), fox (Waagoosh), ducks (Shiishiib), bald eagles (Migisi), sandhill cranes (Ochiichaag) and many others.
1,175,718 Hectares
Total area of the Whitefeather Forest
767,044 Hectares
Forest under management by WFCRMA
407,829 Hectares
Dedicated protected areas set aside for land uses other than commercial forestry, mining, hydroelectric generation
Through the land-use planning process and the forest management planning process, the Whitefeather Forest Management paradigm has been created in accordance with the mandate from Pikangikum Elders, including the use of Indigenous Cultural Burning as the preferred silvicultural post-renewal treatment and light-footprint cut-to-length logging as the preferred harvesting method.
The unique planning context for the Whitefeather Forest Initiative has led to a set of significant policy outcomes, including specific direction for planning in the Whitefeather Forest in the Forest Management Planning Manual. To learn more, the Land Use Plan and the Forest Management Plan are both available online.
Everything that you see in me, it is the land that has moulded me. The fish have moulded me. The animals and everything that I have eaten from the land has moulded me, it has shaped me. I believe every Aboriginal person has been moulded in this way.
-Elder Whitehead Moose (in Translation)
As they guide the development of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative, Pikangikum Elders continue to teach that we are people of the forest. We must always cherish all living ones who live with us on our lands. We must always cherish the smallest critter to the largest moose and the smallest medicinal plant to the tallest tree.
Moose and caribou, birch and jack pine, muskrats and beaver, ducks and geese, sturgeon and whitefish – these and many other living ones have always given us sustenance and livelihood. Our deep relationships with all living ones on our land, is reflected in our clan system – doodemahk. There are seven clans at Pikangikum including moose and sturgeon.
The trees and plants, the animals and fish, and all of the living ones in the Whitefeather Forest have been made by the Creator. They are precious. The Creator has given the people of Pikangikum these resources of the Whitefeather Forest for our survival. They are for us to harvest for our livelihoods.
Our Elders direct that it is important for us to show respect for all our fellow living ones in the Whitefeather Forest.
We are to do this following our customary ways. This is part of a living tradition that stretches back to ancient times.
Our Elders say that we must continue to hunt animals in order to show them respect. If we do not show them respect by hunting them and using what they give us for our livelihood and survival, the animals will go away. We must find ways to continue to live in the Whitefeather Forest today so that this practice of respect for the land can continue. Nothing is to be hoarded and nothing is to be wasted. This approach is guiding our planning for new economic activities in the Whitefeather Forest.
The resource stewardship tradition of Pikangikum is based on respect. We are to respect the way the Creator made all living ones on our land and the freedom they have been given to exist on the land so they can flourish. They must continue to be free to roam over the land as the Creator made them.
Keeping The Land
Our Elders teach us how important it is for Pikangikum First Nation people to continue to cherish our lands and all living ones – paymahteeseewahch – by following the customs we have been taught. We must continue to carry out our responsibilities of Keeping the Land – Cheekahnahwaydahmunk Keetahkeemeenahn. Keeping the Land embodies our tradition of how we live in the Whitefeather Forest.
