Faro Mine: News Archives
Yukon First Nations attend Intertribal Nursery Council annual meeting
October 15, 2008
The Intertribal Nursery Council (INC) became the International Intertribal Nursery Council when representatives from Ross River Dena Council and Selkirk First Nation joined them for their September 2008 conference and workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Three representatives from Selkirk First Nation and five representatives from Ross River Dena Council attended the conference along with Deborah Pitt, Project Manager for the Faro Mine Closure Project.
The INC is an organization of First Nations who undertake the cultivation of native plants for use in reclamation and revegetation projects on their own lands. The Council is in the final stages of production of the first practical nursery manual created by Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people.
“It was really inspiring to meet with other First Nations people and see how advanced they are in creating their own native plant producing industries,” said participant Nora Ladue from Ross River Dena Council. “Using local native plants in different projects and teaching people about the benefits of their use is a great way to keep traditional knowledge alive in an ever-changing environment.”
The three-day conference included presentations, tours and workshops. Presentations covered a broad range of topics such as a diabetes prevention program which encourages First Nations people to rediscover and grow traditional native plants and food, the use of long-stem shrub transplants for restoration projects in arid areas, and the use of a new technology that will take 3-D computer images and create visuals of the Faro mine throughout various stages of reclamation.
“Seeing first-hand how native plants are used for so many different purposes really opened my eyes,” said Oprah Harper-Johnston, a grade 12 student at Eliza Van Bibber School in Pelly Crossing. “I know I want to pursue courses in biology once I graduate, and after attending the course, I’d like to learn even more about native plant cultivation and how local plants can be used for different projects.”
Stops on the tour included a Pueblo-run production nursery and retail garden centre, a native grassland and cottonwood bosque (forest) restoration project on the Rio Grande, a teaching greenhouse at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute and a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) research station where new production and revegetation techniques are developed and tested.
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