Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Waterways, Canada
Description
The Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Waterways (Little Pic River, Pic River, Steel River, Black River, White River, and White Otter River) are located on the north shore of Lake Superior in Northern Ontario, spanning parts of Thunder Bay and Algoma Districts. The area lies within the boreal forest on the Canadian Shield, with hard volcanic bedrock forming ridges and steep‑walled river valleys running toward Lake Superior. The ICCA protects a one-kilometre buffer zone surrounding each river, within the traditional territory extending far beyond the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg reserve boundary.
The Anishnaabe (Ojibway) of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg have lived on and cared for the lands on the shores of Gchi-gamig (Lake Superior), the inlands of the northern Superior region, and the rivers that flow through our ancestral lands since time immemorial. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg translates to “the place where the river erodes” and describes the unceded lands on which the community is located. The rivers have been a source of life for our people, providing food, travel routes to relatives and distant communities, and connection to our ancestors and to the Creator. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg has 1342 members, with 530 living on the reserve (316 hectares). Community administration and mining are the main source of employment, supplemented by subsistence harvesting to offset rising food costs and to pass on traditional knowledge.
We care for the lands and practice our Anishnaabe culture. The boreal forest and Canadian Shield support incredible biodiversity, from dominant tree species like black and white spruce, Eastern white cedar, balsam fir, tamarack, trembling aspen, poplar, and white birch trees, to rare and endangered wildlife, such as pitcher’s thistle, caribou, cougars, many species of bats, monarchs, peregrine falcon, snapping turtles, several migratory bird species, lamprey and fish. The rivers entrusted to us by the Creator are also home to endangered lake sturgeon, a species that is both culturally significant and nutritionally important to the people of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg.
History and Activities
Our people have lived on these lands since time immemorial. From the arrival of the first European explorers, fur traders, and settlers to the more recent onset of intensive natural resource extraction, our people have continued to care for, hunt, trap, fish, and gather food in the area around the six rivers.
Our Elders characterize these waterways as the arteries of our territory, the lifeblood and source of nourishment for all living things on traditional lands. These areas are not just biological resources providing riparian habitat for plants and animal species. They are landscape-scale cultural values, just as sacred as spiritual sites.
Conservation
Water is central to us. It represents culture, travel, and connection to the land, especially for younger generations, countering the impacts of colonial alienation from the land.
Our responsibility to care for the lands and waters so that they can continue to care for future generations is rooted in our language, our ancestral title, and in our historic use of the territory. We view the rivers that run through our territory not as resources to be used, but as living relations. We believe that protecting the rivers and lands for future generations means restoring relationships—getting people back onto the land and water in respectful ways—so that the community’s laws, stories, and responsibilities persist alongside the river’s own life. The First Nation actively uses the rivers for harvesting, connection to ancestral travel routes, intergenerational transmission of knowledge, and reconnection for future generations. Because of this, the support and involvement from the community to protect and continue to use the waterways is key to conservation. The establishment of an ICCA, and ultimately an IPCA, grew out of extensive research and community engagement.
To keep the ecosystem healthy for our future generations, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg is building our own community-based water monitoring hub to watch over key waterways, including Biigtig Ziibii (the Pic River), bringing Elders’ knowledge together with western science. The community will gather its own data, build capacity, and create its own decision-making tools so that restoration and protection efforts reflect the Nation’s priorities and adapt as conditions and threats change.
Management and Governance
Most of the lands that fall within the ICCA are Crown land, owned by the Province of Ontario. Resource extraction licenses for private companies wishing to operate anywhere on Crown land are overseen and granted by the Province.
Our community has been asserting our rights over our lands for decades through our Aboriginal Title case (the Pic River / Michano litigation), filed in Ontario Superior Court in 2003.This Aboriginal title and ongoing title-based negotiations means that Ontario is under heightened consultation obligations. But since there is no provincial mechanism for recognizing Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), government support for managing the ICCA remains minimal.
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg manages the ICCA through Chief and Council, with the Sustainable Development department - guided by the Chief Operating Officer- handling administration, monitoring, and public education.
There has always been an interest in the abundant natural resources in the area. The early establishment of industries such as forestry and mining has been joined by energy, transportation infrastructure, and tourism-related development. Mining and forestry industries are the greatest threats, and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg works with industries to maintain the 1-km buffer zone. Development impacts are already visible: the Pic River, once the community’s main drinking water source, is no longer safe to drink from since the 1990s, land-based education faces growing safety concerns, and overfishing has reduced species central to community harvesting and livelihoods.
The forestry industry in the area continues to serve pulp, paper, and lumber operations in Terrace Bay, and the closure of pulp mills has left brownfield waterfront sites. An open pit palladium and copper mine is being developed just north of Marathon, and, more broadly, the region is part of an emerging critical minerals belt. The corridor has also seen major transmission projects (such as the East–West Tie). Finally, there is an interest from people outside of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg in fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and using the waterways recreationally.
Next Steps and Lessons Learned
Through the establishment of this ICCA, our community has learned how to continue these protection methods and expand on them more broadly. We have continued to form meaningful relationships with people who have the same common goals in the region and foster partnerships with industry to support fair agreements that benefit our community, the environment, and the economic realities of the region.
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg hopes to work with the province of Ontario to establish the waterways as an IPCA and advance the Crown Land Use Policy Atlas (CLUPA) to recognize IPCAs. The community will continue to promote the protection of the waterways and educate industry and the public on the values of the waterways. Biigtigong Nishnaabeg will continue to fight for jurisdictional control of our lands for the community and protection of the local environment. The end goal is to achieve full protection of these waterways as Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, under the jurisdiction and authority of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg and for it to be fully recognized by Ontario and Canada. Obtaining ICCA recognition will be one solid step forward for the community.
This case study was originally published by UNEP-WCMC in 08/26. The content was provided by the custodians of this ICCA. The ICCA has been self-declared and has not yet been through a peer-review process to verify its status. More details on this process can be found here. The contents of this website do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UN Environment Programme or UNEP-WCMC.