The encounter between Mamgark and the tourists is where the real and practical world of the North confronts an idealized and romanticized Arctic. It’s an imaginary Arctic, part of an image sold for southerners’ consumption. That tension is underlined by an increasingly common phrase: “last chance tourism." This phrase refers to the threats posed by the rapid ebbs and flows of the Anthropocene. As for Churchill, the term could mean a tourist’s last opportunity to see the Arctic as it is now, before its iconic wildlife is gone, a relic of a colder era.

This week as Canada’s National Observer toured the refineries at the doorstep of Aamjiwaang First Nation, rotten egg and acrid chemical smells wafted over children playing ball hockey nearby. Air monitoring data revealed another spike of sulphur dioxide on Nov. 26, reaching 300 parts per billion — a level more than four times higher than the maximum hourly concentrations set by the federal government. Just another day in Chemical Valley.

Drew Bernard, the ambitious young energy leader from Lennox Island First Nation, graduated from community college with a mission to make his nation energy self sufficient. Now, the community of about 400 people is working toward large-scale renewable projects, a revamped greenhouse and a major retrofit campaign on every house.

$375 million in support has been announced for Indigenous-led conservation efforts across the territory.

“Aamjiwnaang will no longer be known as the community that is a victim of Chemical Valley, but we will be known for our environmental leadership,” said Chief Janelle Nahmabin, elected in September of 2024.

Friendship centres, which serve the needs of urban Indigenous people, are increasingly important in responding to climate disasters

While nation-states continue to negotiate at the international biodiversity talks, Indigenous Peoples continue to push for greater inclusion.

The Raven Indigenous Outcome Fund has embraced a new model for funding that eschews the “pan-Canadian” approach of other programs, which are not developed for the nuances of particular communities and often leave Indigenous nations pigeonholed.