The Whitefeather 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 is a good land, a land in which everything is still working the way that it was in the beginning of time.
[Keeping the Land, p. 21]
Location Map (Click to view larger map)
The Whitefeather Forest is located in Northwestern Ontario within the ancestral lands of the people of Pikangikum. It is centered on the headwaters of the Berens River Watershed. It is bounded by Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in the southwest, the Red Lake and Trout Lake Sustainable Forest License units in the south and southeast, the Albany River Watershed to the east and the Severn River Watershed to the north.
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.
Fire plays an essential role in the health and sustainability of the Whitefeather Forest. The fire cycle in the Forest has been enhanced by our practices in the past. The cold climate and snow cover also shape the forest. To get a closer look at our winter landscape, go to our video of Caribou in Winter.
The biological diversity and abundance of the [Whitefeather Forest] Planning Area is great; Pikangikum Indigenous knowledge of the area is equally vast.
[Keeping the Land, p. 21]
Sub-sections:
- Our Stewardship Vision
- The Whitefeather Forest
- A Cultural Landscape
- Our Land Use Strategy
- Our Stewardship Planning Process
View The Photo Gallery »
