Piikani Monitoring of Bison and Sweetgrass

Initiative Overview

Location:

Piikani Nation, Alberta

Duration:

Major Supporters:

University of Calgary Mobilizing Climate Action Grant for Southern Alberta

The TRI team is excited to continue our climate work with the Piikani Nation, now in collaboration with the University of Calgary’s Biogeoscience Institute (BGI).

A new project titled Building a Monitoring Program Inspired by the Traditional Piikani Winter Count will bring knowledge holders from the Piikani Nation together with students and climate experts from the University of Calgary. The project will look at methods for weaving traditional ways of documenting and sharing change from the Piikani Nation, known as the Winter Count, with good practices from other community-based monitoring techniques. Workshops will begin in early spring of 2024.

This project will bring together knowledge experts from the Piikani Nation in southern Alberta, academia, government, and the charitable sector to develop the capacity of the Piikani People to monitor key climate indicators.

BGI has been leading research in the Canadian Rockies since 1950. The Barrier Lake and RB Miller Field Stations, both located in Alberta’s Kananaskis country, create an environment that inspires high quality land-based research, education, and community connections. The field stations enhance learner experiences and create a space for weaving Western and Indigenous perspectives.

About the image above:

“The symbols on the elk hide pictured here is an interpretation of art forms that go back to our stories, to ceremony, and to our ways of knowing.” – Albertine Crow Shoe, Stories of Resilience author, describing the Winter Count