Caribou Guardians Coalition (CGC)

While Indigenous people know caribou to cycle in abundance, there has been a recent dramatic decrease. Community members report fewer caribou than seen in living memory, caribou in poor health, and a damaged relationship between people and caribou. It is uncertain whether anything can be done to bring back the caribou but supporting Indigenous communities to implement a co-ordinated guardianship network is a start towards enhancing the survival of both the caribou, and the communities that are dependent upon them. Developing a regional network of guardian programs to care for caribou builds on what Elders and community members have been advocating for generations and what was recommended in the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan (BCRP), i.e., support Aboriginal groups in the coordinated development and use of integrated Community Guardianship Programs across the range of the Bathurst herd. The first formal gathering of the CGC took place in Yellowknife from January 21-23, 2020 as the Caribou Guardians Coalition Visioning Workshop. A second CGC gathering took place virtually from February 16-18, 2021 as the Caribou Guardians Coalition Program Design Workshop, Part 1. These workshops are envisioned to be a series of planning workshops for Indigenous people across the range of the Bathurst caribou herd to collaboratively develop a regional guardians network.