Stewardship

The Stewardship Department works to protect and steward our lands, waters and resources through five key activities:

1. Monitoring
2. Enforcement
3. Restoration and Stewardship 
4. Cultural Programming
5. Cultural Policy

Monitoring

The Stewardship Department coordinates monitoring the removal of resources and ground disturbing land development throughout KFN’s traditional territory. We use the following definition of monitoring to guide our work:

Stewardship’s monitoring work falls within three categories:

1. Environmental Monitoring protects life forms, land, water and air resources.
2. Cultural Monitoring protects sites that do not have archaeological artifacts, but are valued because they have established spiritual, ceremonial, or historical significance. For example, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm recognizes certain sites as portals, harvests or battle grounds.
3. Indigenous Monitoring protects environmental, cultural and archaeological resources.

We achieve our Stewardship Monitoring efforts by focusing on:

• Installing Monitors - at active construction sites to safeguard site Archaeological and Environmental Management Plans.
• Collecting Data - photographs, water samples, waterflow rates and soil samples that support restoration efforts such as KFN’s Hatchery Program or Coquitlam River Restoration Program.
• Conducting Archaeological Investigations - Archaeological sites in kʷikʷəƛ̓əm traditional territory are valued cultural places. To date, over 30 sites have been found on the shores of the Coquitlam Lake during the last decade alone and hundreds more have been identified throughout the Watershed. The Nation employs the archaeological firm of Brown and Oakes to conduct our archaeological investigations.

The commitment to heritage protection has led to important advances in site protection, including an increased site record at key landscapes across the territory, including səmiq̓ʷəʔelə/Riverview, Colony Farm Regional Park, and Coquitlam Lake. Many of our heritage places have been disturbed by colonial activities. Finding and caring properly for heritage sites in areas previously disturbed by historic activities is especially important to honour and recognize our Indigenous history.

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Enforcement

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation is committed to advancing Indigenous-led heritage and habitat management. We employ “guardians” who complete ground and water patrols of our territory during which they record violations of Environmental and Archeological conservation laws. These Guardians pass on violations to government authorities who in turn pursue enforcement through ticketing and court actions.

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Restoration and Stewardship

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm have been stewards of the land and water since before remembered time. We are currently involved in dozens of habitat restoration and enhancement projects across the territory. At the core of all restoration work is protecting the Coquitlam Watershed, and restoring the sockeye salmon that once thrived there.

We work in collaboration with many other organizations including First Nations, Governments, Community Groups, NGOs, and Universities to help us achieve our restoration goals.

Stewardship and Restoration Projects 

kʷikʷəƛ̓əm Sockeye Hatchery

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm Sockeye Hatchery is a crucial next step in the Nation’s long-term goal of building a sustainable run of sockeye salmon back to the Coquitlam River and Coquitlam Lake Watershed.  This small-scale, conservation hatchery will hold broodstock, incubate eggs and rear juvenile sockeye to the smolt stage before they are released to the lower river where they can go out to the ocean, grow up to be adults and return back to the Coquitlam River to spawn in the Coquitlam Watershed. By raising sockeye in the hatchery environment, we hope to give the population a boost as we can generally get higher survival rates in this environment than in the wild.  

The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm Sockeye Hatchery is being led by kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation in partnership with BC Hydro, Metro Vancouver and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 

• kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation is responsible for operating the hatchery once completed, which is expected to be by early 2023. The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm Sockeye Hatchery will also highlight the Nation’s culture and history through cultural design elements as well as interpretive display areas around the hatchery.
• BC Hydro has committed funding to a 10-year program to design, build and operate the hatchery. The agreement will also include hatchery technical work experience to train kʷikʷəƛ̓əm members to assume hatchery jobs.
• Metro Vancouver is providing the land and water supply for the hatchery as well as land for the nearby cultural use area.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is providing technical support for the hatchery including review and technical guidance from DFO hatchery technicians, biologists and veterinarians.

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Sheep's Paddocks Wetlands

KFN, in partnership with Colony Farm Park Association, run stewardship events and a citizen science monitoring program around the Sheep Paddocks wetlands. The Sheep Paddocks phase 1 and 2 wetlands were constructed to provide side channel rearing habitat for salmon, primarily juvenile coho.

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Other Ecological Restoration Programs

KFN has also welcomed the help of various academics and students, such as those from the BCIT-SFU Ecological Restoration Program.

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Urban and Transportation Impacts

KFN has also participated in the environmental assessments of several pipeline projects, three Fraser River bridge replacements, various highway, Skytrain and rail improvement projects and other development projects and activities. To help assess risks to species of concern, like endangered white sturgeon and eulachon, KFN has commissioned, and participated in, studies of these, and other fish, and also been involved in many habitat offsetting projects.

Links to Reports:

• Fraser River Eulachon Study
• Kevin Hutchins' Modelling Potential Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on Fish Habitat Offsets Study
• White Sturgeon Bridge Passage Study

Stewardship Partners

We are also active members of several committees and work collaboratively with partners whose mandates align with the Nation’s stewardship interests. These include:

Watershed Watch Salmon Society

Watershed Watch Salmon Society works to defend and rebuild B.C.’s wild salmon and their habitats. Watershed Watch Salmon Society has provided considerable technical and administrative assistance to the Nation.

Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable

This collaborative watershed planning and stewardship process involves many governments and non-government members who have developed a watershed plan that looks at the health of the watershed, links between human and natural well-being and what can be done to improve the watershed for nature and people.

First Nation's Fisheries Legacy Fund

Established in 2013 by the Province of BC, this fund is co-managed by Katzie, Kwantlen, Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, Tsawwassen and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Legacy Fund members are helping KFN develop “bio-cultural water indicators” for the Coquitlam Watershed, in a project modelled after work done by the Maori in New Zealand.

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

The LFFA is a voice for the first Nations of the Lower Fraser River. They are involved in fish restoration, climate change initiatives and teaching others about Indigenous laws related to watershed management and fisheries governance in the Lower Fraser.

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Cultural Programming

In partnership with Brown & Oakes Archaeology (B&OA), the Stewardship Department offers education and training for individuals who are working on our territory. The Nation also employs a Cultural Advisor who plans numerous additional cultural activities for our members throughout the year.

Cultural Heritage Orientation Program (consisting of a series of 2.5-hour courses)

This program includes information on the history and culture of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm people and how to identify archeological artifacts such as culturally modified trees. This program is offered at the Nation’s administration office.

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Cultural Policy

Stewardship ensures kʷikʷəƛ̓əm cultural heritage is protected by developing appropriate policies. Through cultural and heritage policies, and best practice standards, KFN aims to ensure that ancestral places are properly identified and protected ahead of any developments on our territory. If you have information related to cultural or archaeological materials, please contact Nicole Oakes at Brown and Oakes Archaeology for further direction.

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Key Stewardship Staff

Lance Myers
Director, Lands and Resources
Email: lance@kwikwetlem.com
Phone: (604) 376-6001

Key Consultants

Nicole Oakes, Archaeologist
Nancy Joe, Cultural Advisor
Dr Craig Orr, Fisheries Ecologist
Kyle Robertson, Environmental Engineer