E1. Indigenous

A new documentary highlights the impact of Pamilo hydropower station to lake Koitere and other water bodies, land locked salmon and local communities in Koitajoki.

This documentary contains materials of community-based observations of hydropower impacts and ecological change in Koitajoki catchment, North Karelia. It is the home of a large Snowchange restoration project funded by Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme.

Impacts have accumulated since 1950s, including the loss of the migratory routes and habitat for the unique land locked salmon. A new restoration plan has been developed to address some of the issues.

You can see the film here.

Sámi forest and area of Paanneoja

August brings late summer restoration and forest actions to view, fisheries are beginning, Le Monde covers Snowchange rewilding actions in the Eastern Finland and Lapland. Several international events mark the Autumn.

Karvakkoselkä rewilding area, Kemijärvi

Rewilding and restoration has proceeded in summer. Highlights of the season include the arrival of Paanneoja Sámi OGF forest and ecological corridor up in Muotkatunturi Wilderness Area, Inari, of 100 hectares and several kilometers. Most of the sites focused in June and July into Arctic Circle peatlands and forests.

Vilmajoki River, Salla

In Kemijärvi, Karvakkoselkä 70 hectare topographically important spring-fed peatland and forest system supports existing Snowchange sites in close vicinity. In Salla, Vilmajoki ecological corridor is an important old growth forest and flood plain. Joukahaisoja, as a part of the wider lake Unari catchment work in Sodankylä can be assessed to be a rather completely intact trout river in North Boreal. It can be considered a pearl of boreal ecosystems.

Joukahaisoja, Unari

Most important of the summer restoration and rewilding actions continued in Salla and Eastern Lapland. Hand restoration in Kotala, Latoaukia and Orahaara provided for the first modern catchment and peatland restoration actions on these sites, and planning and scoping of Koutelo River catchment restoration continued with expansion of 50 hectares of Pahajoenjänkä and digger restoration expected either late in 2026 or 2027. This peatland has fully intact old growth forest islands supporting outstanding boreal biodiversity. In other regions, planning and licensing for major post-peat mining sites in Ranua and river restoration continued and the Koitajoki restoration proceeded at a rapid pace.

Forest islands of Pahajoenjänkä, Salla

International media visited through the season – a major German magazine will cover Sámi forest work later in the year. Le Monde, prominent French newspaper wrote about our peatland work and this is available here. Autumn is expected to be busy with several IPCC and UN events, Snowchange workshops on boreal peatland restoration and Pacific work.

We’re excited to announce that applications are now open for our November 16-21, 2026 National Native Community Organizing Training.

Apply Now

Our national trainings are for Native organizers and Tribal leaders committed to engaging our communities with organizing strategies guided by Inter-Tribal Indigenous values. The week-long gathering focuses on sharpening community organizing skills to build effective grassroots campaigns and movements to build power in our Native Nations and Native Communities. We will also focus on the changing political landscape and how we meet the challenges and opportunities before us.

The training will be held in Federal Way, Washington State. The cost of housing, transportation, and most meals will be covered by Native Organizers Alliance.

We are now accepting applications.

Apply Now

Participants spend time together envisioning how to mobilize community action to make change possible and strengthen sovereignty and self-determination.

• We explore how we have traditionally and historically used our traditional values to organize in our communities and how we continue to do so today.
• We discuss building political power for change and how Tribal and urban communities can challenge the power that denies our peoples’ inherent and sovereign rights.
• We share organizing tools and share knowledge gained from our teachings and life experiences.
• We learn from our rich history of Inter-Tribal cultural values of building community by using interactive sessions that are grounded in collective learning. And folks go home energized with a shared theory of change rooted in traditional Inter-Tribal Indigenous community building.

Our week-long, in-person Native Organizing Trainings are a part of our year-round efforts of growing a powerful ecosystem of Native leaders who will continue to build our collective community power.

We encourage Tribal and Native community leaders in rural, reservation, or urban communities — and the staff of Native nonprofits, service agencies, and Tribal entities — to apply.

Native Organizers Alliance is pleased to cover the cost of housing, transportation, and most meals. Participants are responsible for additional costs. Organizations, Tribal governments, groups, or individuals who can contribute to defraying the costs of this training will provide the opportunity to go beyond 30 participants.

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Grosvenor Arch, Grand Staircase-Escalante. Photo by Tim Peterson.

Tim Peterson

Today is World Nature Conservation Day, which is dedicated to protecting Mother Earth and ensuring a sustainable future. 

Here at Native Organizers Alliance, we work in partnership with Tribes and Native leaders to protect sacred and ancestral lands and waters, including these national monuments that are currently under threat: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and Pipestone Monument in Minnesota. 

Corporate polluters and government agencies are endangering these sacred places, along with nearby communities and people living downstream. Our communities are on the move against oil and gas sales, fossil fuel pipelines, and toxic mining.

Together, we’ve helped secure crucial Tribal-federal co-stewardship agreements, including plans for sustainable land, energy, and water management for generations to come. 

But some of those agreements — and the national monuments they protect — are currently under attack. 

Working with Tribes and Inter-Tribal Coalitions protecting these lands, we’re defending their inherent right to co-manage their ancestral lands and waters as their ancestors did — living in balance with the natural world. 

Tribes have played a big role in revitalizing the buffalo population of the U.S. They are vital to Indigenous identity, spirituality, and creation stories. Buffalo are also better for prairie ecosystems and land conservation than cattle, but the Bureau of Land Management is trying to deny our buffalo populations access to federal lands. 

We will keep supporting the movement to protect Mother Earth, all beings who depend on her, and Indigenous peoples’ rights and cultures. Strengthening Tribal sovereignty is a major pathway to effectively conserve natural resources and mitigate the impact of climate change.

Hawwih (thank you) for helping to defend Mother Earth’s sacred lands and waters, and all beings that depend on them. 

Together, we can keep building a powerful movement to re-Indigenize public lands and our society, including restoring our relationships with — and responsibilities to — Mother Earth and all living beings. 

The post On World Nature Conservation Day, We Protect Mother Earth appeared first on Native Organizers Alliance.

Organizing Fellowship Manager

The Native Organizers Alliance (NOA) is a unique Indigenous training and organizing network dedicated to building the capacity of tribal nations and Native communities to make transformational system change. It also provides a forum for tribal and Native leaders and organizers to collaborate and strengthen relationships with non-Native allies. NOA supports grassroots-driven social change rooted in traditional practices and values to advance sovereignty and the health and well-being of Native people across Indian Country.

The NOA Organizing Fellows program is a year-long on-the-ground organizers training program that contributes to building a durable, organized, and powerful Native grassroots movement. The goal of the NOA Fellows program is to support the development of Native leaders and organizers who will play a role in their state and communities in deepening a traditional values-driven strategy for achieving structural reforms that will lead to an end to systemic racism and the fulfillment of treaty rights and sovereignty.

Job Description

The Organizing Fellowship Manager reports to the Managing Director and is responsible for coordinating NOA’s Organizing Fellowship Program and Fellows.

In partnership with NOA staff members, the Organizing Fellowship Manager will mentor the NOA Fellows while facilitating co-learning opportunities with the cohort. The goal is to strengthen their commitment and skills in community organizing grounded in traditional practices and values.

Key responsibilities include:

• Manage and mentor Fellows who will work with NOA staff and advance the organization’s goals.
• Collaborate with host tribes, tribal entities, or community groups to develop work plans and leadership development plans for their Fellow(s).
• Establish partnerships with tribes, tribal entities, host organizations, and other national Native organizations to expand outreach and mobilize support for C3 voter education and engagement.
• Work with the Managing Director, Policy Director, and Training Circle to coordinate weekly cohort meetings for Fellows, host organizations, and NOA staff, providing political education and skills building, and facilitating the sharing of challenges and learnings.
• Provide oversight and direction for fellows through potential national NOA projects or initiatives, such as C3 non-partisan voter engagement, National Indian Country initiatives or NOA projects like community surveying and advocacy.
• Lead the planning, coordination, and delivery of the annual NOA Fellows in-person training event, either in coordination with the NOA National Training or as a standalone training event.
• Lead the coordination and delivery, in partnership with the Director of Operations, in contract design and payment processing.
• Lead the development and implementation of data collection strategies for the Fellows’ work each year.

Qualifications:

• Strong supervisory and managerial experience—including demonstrated experience effectively managing teams and the ability to build rapport among their team while challenging staff to achieve ambitious goals.
• Commitment to NOA’s mission—Commit to racial and social justice and grassroots community organizing.
• Strong interpersonal skills, high emotional intelligence, and awareness of interpersonal dynamics to work with diverse colleagues, building support and consensus.
• Ability to work across multiple infrastructure and programmatic teams with staff.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including superior writing, copy editing, and proofreading ability.
• Highly organized and able to complete many tasks and priorities with solid adherence to detail. Work effectively on a tight schedule and be able to set and meet realistic deadlines.
• Honoring Native cultures and practices is the guiding principle of NOA’s organizational culture, ways of working with the staff, and all our relations.
• Deep knowledge of intertribal Native history and culture, and the politics and issues impacting tribal and Native communities.
• Understand the decisive role tribal governments play in achieving sovereignty and systemic change in nation-to-nation relations with the federal government.
• Experience as an organizer, campaigner, or in tribal government is a plus.
• Experience with G-Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, and project management platforms.
• A desire to grow and develop personally and deepen our collective Indigenous frameworks. You want to learn from others in an exciting moment in Native history with an organization committed to movement-building for transformational change.

Compensation

Salary: $70,000

Benefits include: health, dental, and vision insurance, paid holiday time off, and a generous vacation and sick policy.

Location: Remote (travel for staff gatherings, campaigns, and events)

Native Organizers Alliance is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for a Just Society (501c3) and is an equal opportunity employer and women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI people are strongly encouraged to apply. We do not discriminate based on race, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected under law. We embrace the full spectrum of humanity and the intersectional nature of our existence and imaginative energies. We embody diversity in our staff, board, the artists and partners we work with, and the audiences we attract.

All applicants will be considered for employment without considering race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability status.

Application Procedure

• Interested applicants are asked to please email:
• Cover letter
• Resume
• Three references

Please email the subject line “Your Name: Fellowship Manager” to jobs@nativeorganizing.org. Only those whose applications are being considered will be contacted. Position open until filled. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

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SINCE 2006, like other jurisdictions, the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) has received funding through Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) via the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program, established as part of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. Through organizations like the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS), the program offers cultural, emotional, and mental health support services, including counselling, to Residential School Survivors, Intergenerational Survivors, and their families.

The impact of residential schools continues to have a negative intergenerational impact on Indigenous Peoples across many aspects of their lives. Residential School Survivor funding support allowed me to attend a full year of counselling during the aftermath of a challenging intimate relationship. Through a trauma-informed lens, the program supported my healing alongside my diagnosis of acute post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and toward an autism diagnosis. Through intersections in disability advocacy around neurodivergence, colonialism, and medical feminisms in the mental health field, it helped me to make sense of decades of my own frustrating misunderstanding of my patterns, gifts, and limitations.

In the 2025 Budget breakdown, the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program received $48 million dollars from ISC. According to Cabin Radio, ISC approved a renewal of funding in March 2026 for $630 million over two years, designated to support the availability, accessibility, quality, and effectiveness of mental wellness services for Indigenous Peoples across the country. 

Yet, as of May, despite the approval and flurry of new funding announcements, patients, therapists, and service organizations have been put on hold — waiting for administrative renewals, intakes, and funding approvals for IRS counselling supports to resume. The Politics of Healing

When my cousin, Catherine Blondin, posted a personal account on Facebook regarding the impacts of the pause in funding, it went viral: 

The IRSS counselling program is on HOLD. For those who don’t know, this is the mental health support meant for survivors of the residential school system and their families. It exists because that harm didn’t stop when the schools closed. It moved into our homes, our bodies, and into the next generation.

My dad is a survivor. My grandparents were survivors. I grew up with the after shocks of this. Counselling through this program has been one of the only supports that actually understood what I was carrying and where it came from. I have been seeing a psychologist for the past 2.5 years [who] is amazing. She’s helped me heal deep seated trauma and change patterns within myself I could have never done on my own. I can’t access this program right now. Soon, my child won’t be able to either.

This isn’t a policy debate to me. This is my dad. This is me. This is my kid. This is a program that exists because of a documented, government-acknowledged harm, and it’s not there right now.

Dozens of cousins, aunties, uncles, and parents shared and reshared Catherine’s post. The post called attention to what Indigenous Peoples have become familiar with — seeing a necessary, beneficial program focused on our needs and healing being revoked by the very system that created those harms to begin with. This interruption of services is one more devastating moment of many, and the quick uptake of Catherine’s post demonstrates the frustration that so many have lived with for generations. 

Survivors Need Support 

In late May 2026, IRSSS presented a petition to the House of Commons calling on the federal government to honour its commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action:

IRSSS programs provide critical support during moments of profound vulnerability, including mental health and emotional crises, community emergencies, and environmental disasters — services that are uniquely tailored to the needs of Survivors and Indigenous communities. Any disruption or loss of these well-established supports would significantly impact community wellbeing and undermine reconciliation efforts.

This funding crisis is coming to the fore as First Nations across Turtle Island bear the brunt of climate injustice in their home communities — like my cousin, whose original post was made during an evacuation of her home community, Lı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́, due to wildfires. Lı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ was evacuated to my hometown of Yellowknife at the end of June, and community members were finally able to return to their homes over the third weekend in July. 

This is just one of multiple evacuation orders that have been issued for many of our communities (Yellowknife included) over the last four years — a pattern that persists across the country as First Nation communities in Northern Ontario are evacuated at best, and burned to the ground at worst.

As a part of the relief effort, I put Lı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ organizers in touch with the IRSSS to seek emergency funding for mental health support for evacuees. I later heard that those organizers were not only denied, but informed that there was no support available at the time — not even emergency relief.

Bureaucratic Reconciliation Indian Residential School Survivors have been pushed into bureaucratic processes where the reality of support begins with invoices, budget lines, and the limitation of “the fiscal year.”

In this space of bureaucratic reconciliation, what is the function of governments when our systems fail us in such simple, practical, human ways and which, in turn, have such devastating, wide-spread results?

The funding will continue, but for how long and through which criteria and eligibility frameworks remain to be seen. For Canada to take reconciliation seriously, dedicated, ongoing mental health support for Indigenous Peoples must be stable and predictable. Otherwise, the flames of colonialism continue on, one spreadsheet at a time. 

Citation:

Blondin Burt, Cassandra.”Reconciliation on Hold: The Impact of Pausing Residential School Survivor Funding,” Yellowhead Institute. July 28 2026. https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2026/reconciliation-on-hold-the-impact-of-pausing-residential-school-survivor-funding/

Artwork by Bree Island @bree.island, Miyonakwan Studio, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation

 

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Kawahiva Rio Pardo territory demarcated on the ground. All that remains is President Lula's signature. #