Stewardship & Territorial Land Management
“We, the shíshálh Nation, openly and publicly declare that we have Aboriginal Title and Aboriginal Rights to our Territory, including the lands, waters, and resources that have been ours since time immemorial. We have been given the responsibility from the Creator to care for our Territory. Our Territory sustains our people, maintains our indigenous way of life, and is integral to our identity as shíshálh. We have always governed ourselves and our Territory and have never relinquished our authority or jurisdiction over such. We assert our collective right to live as a distinct people.”
shíshálh Nation Declaration
Vision
A self-reliant and independent shíshálh Nation governing the land and resources of our territory consistent with our culture and way of life.
Mission
shíshálh Nation is a governing entity responsible for the stewardship and protection of the shíshálh people’s relationship to the lands and resources of our territory. We undertake this work in a manner which enhances our way of life, maximizes our people’s self-sufficiency, and respects our customary laws, the exercising of our Title and Rights, international legal standards, and the common law.
The Stewardship and Territorial Land Management Division includes the following departments: Rights and Title, Resource Management, and Culture.
Rights & Title
shíshálh Nation is a governing entity responsible for the stewardship and protection of the shíshálh people’s relationship to the lands and resources of our territory. We undertake this work in a manner which enhances our way of life, maximizes our people’s self-sufficiency, and respects our customary laws, the exercising of our Title and Rights, international legal standards, and the common law.
Resource Management Department
The shíshálh Nation Resource Management Department is actively involved in many cooperative fisheries, wildlife and environmental stewardship activities throughout its swiya. The main goal of the department is to protect, conserve and manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.
The Resource Management Department provides shíshálh Governmental services that includes assessments of salmonids, wildlife harvesting, as well as developing long term management goals that aid in the enhancement/restoration of fisheries, wildlife and forestry resources.
Culture
The shíshálh people have a distinct language and a unique world view. Our people have always maintained a strong connection to one another as people and to the land and continue to practise our traditions such as harvesting and fishing. The Culture Department’s goal is to revitalize culture and language through cultural programing and activities.
Preserving, protecting and restoring sacred, historical, archeological and cultural sites that are significant to the shíshálh Nation is also a goal of the Culture Department. Objectives of the Culture Department include enhancing Nation members knowledge of oral history through story-telling events and community cultural nights and to work with Elders for proper pronunciation of shíshálh language.
The shíshálh culture department is part of the Stewardship & Territorial Land Management division.
