Smith's Landing First Nation Community Based Monitoring Program

Smith's Landing First Nation (SLFN), traditionally known as the Tthebatthi Dënésułıné entered Treaty 8 in 1899. We have 10 reserves located across Northeastern Alberta and Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), 2 land leases in the Northwest Territories, and a transboundary territory Treaty 8 and sovereign lands beyond. Since time immemorial, SLFN citizens have relied on these lands which are sustained by the waters of the Peace, Athabasca, and Slave Rivers.

Our mandate is defined within the following mission statement:

We, the Tthebatthi Dënésułıné, have been sovereign since time immemorial. Together, we will continue our journey in harmony with the environment to sustain a healthy and self-sufficient lifestyle for future generations. To honour our Creator and ancestors, we will protect and nurture the integrity of our Dene Ch’anié.

In recent years, we have experienced significant environmental change due to cumulative effects including: hydroelectric dams, tar sands, pulp and paper, and climate change. These changes are an encroachment and infringement to our Aboriginal and Treaty rights, as protected under Section 35 of the Constitution Act 1982, which includes the inherent right to hunt, trap, fish, practice Dene Ch’anié, and the right to environmental conservation and sustainability.

SLFN’s Community Based Monitoring (CBM) Program is part of a larger SLFN Guardianship initiative uphold SLFN’s ability to optimize the peaceful enjoyment of s.35 rights and further enhance and restore Dene Chanie, protect sovereignty, autonomy, and ecological integrity of Territory. The CBM currently focusses on fish and fish habitat (though is being expanded each year and will eventually encompass all indicators of environmental health) and is entirely community led. Knowledge holders and Elders identify areas of concern and change based on generations of Dëné Knowledge (DK) and then work with western scientists to identify DK and western science indicators.

Citation

Smith's Landing First Nation. 2024-03-28. "Smith's Landing First Nation Community Based Monitoring Program" (dataset). 6.0.0. DataStream. https://doi.org/10.25976/e3qr-w520.

Funding Sources

DFO Indigenous Habitat Participation Program

Data Collection Information

Program is continually evolving to address community questions and concerns. In general sampling includes: Water Samples: A YSI probe is used to collect temperature, pH, salinity, EC, tubidity, DO, conductivity and ORP. Water samples were collected for laboratory analysis of anions, total and dissolved metals, nutrients, general chemistry parameters, CCME CWS PHCs, chlorinated phenols and PAHs.

Sediment Samples: Sediment samples were collected for laboratory analysis of metals, CCME CWS PHCs, chlorinated phenols, PAHs, TOC, moisture, TKN, total phosphorus and particle size.

Data Processing

The laboratory conducted blank, duplicate and laboratory control sample QA/QC analysis on both water and sediment samples.

Attribution Licence (ODC-By) v1.0

You are free to share, copy, distribute, use, modify, transform, build upon, and produce works from the data as long as you attribute any public use of the data, or works produced from the data, in the manner specified in the licence. For any use or redistribution of the data, or works produced from it, you must make clear to others the licence of the data and keep intact any notices on the original data. https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/by/1-0/

Data Disclaimer

Data collection driven by Dëné Knowledge

API Access

curl -G https://api.datastream.org/v1/odata/v4/Records --data-urlencode "\\$filter=DOI eq '10.25976/e3qr-w520'" -H "x-api-key: PRIVATE-API-KEY"

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