ILER: Indigenous-Led Ecological Restoration
My current work is increasingly interested in how to build conservation practice that is both ecologically and socially sustainable. Working with the Blackfoot Confederacy and a group of talented scholars, this work examines how Tribal-led initiatives like the Blackfeet buffalo project confront the spatial legacies of colonial settlement to bring back species like iinnii, or buffalo, that are both culturally and ecological important and require substantial habitat. What’s inspiring about the Blackfoot Confederacy’s iinnii-centered work is that it is also helping to build a better relationship between the Blackfoot and Glacier and Waterton National Parks. As iinnii return to the parks, which were built from Blackfoot territory, after being gone for over 100 years, the parks have become an important partner to both iinnii and the Blackfoot. This offers a profound opportunity for considering how parks can and are doing conservation in a fundamentally different way through robust Indigenous engagement. Our work supports these efforts by providing data and co-authoring with Blackfoot partners to highlight the profound work being done. In co-authoring outputs with Blackfoot partners, we also collaboratively explore how to engage in ethical and equitable co–authorship.
LIBBY LUNSTRUM 