Erin Riccardo, Dr. Kelly Saunders, Dr. Janique Dubois (University of Ottawa)
The Red River Métis have long embodied the concept of miyeu wâhkôhtowin (good relations): a worldview of relationality centred on reciprocal obligations of tending to the well-being of all things as kin. With Canada seeking rapid energy production expansion and global market diversification, this timeless concept – guiding Métis governance, community, spirituality, and land stewardship – offers immense value to the development of new policy for collaborating with Indigenous nations and protecting their ancestral lands. This paper demonstrates an opportunity for Canada to evolve beyond passive rights-based consultation processes by embracing Indigenous Traditional Knowledge as a foundation for new collaborative nation-to-nation energy governance structures. Drawing on two case studies (the Manitoba Métis Federation’s involvement in Manitoba’s Indigenous majority-owned wind power initiative, and the Whiteshell Reactor WR-1 decommissioning project), we argue there are two streams of sustainable collaboration that integrate Métis Traditional Knowledge: ownership of energy projects as a modern manifestation of Métis traditional economies; and land stewardship through the formalization of land management roles that employ the place-based knowledge of Red River Métis community members in areas affected by energy projects. By exploring the expansion of Red River Métis ownership and stewardship of renewable energy projects in Manitoba, we assert that Reconciliation requires Indigenous self-governance to advance beyond the fight for rights recognition to achieve autonomous economic sustainability. This research contributes to critical gaps in Indigenous energy governance scholarship, which have largely overlooked the importance of policy actors, treating Métis participation as pan-Indigenous and confined solely to the consultation framework.