Eating Berries Near the Oilsands: Fort McKay’s Observations on Quality and Quantity of Berries in their Traditional Territory

Fort McKay is a Cree, Dené and Métis community located in northern Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by oil sands development. The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA), a non-profit organization that monitors air quality and terrestrial ecosystems in the region, is supporting a community-led, TEK project on berry health in the region. This is a participatory approach that consisted of local community members and scientists working together to investigate the perception of community members on the potential impacts of oil sands development on berries, as a traditional source of livelihood. Fort McKay selected a group of traditional berry harvesters to visit and assess local berry patches. Together with WBEA, they designed a project where the Fort McKay berry group observes and monitors berry quality, expresses their concerns, and assesses indicators for berry health in their traditional territory. The berry group met with WBEA for a series of winter focus group meetings where they planned the project design and methods. During spring to fall 2012 the team picked berries and recorded observations and knowledge about the berry patches. The berry group verified the results in January 2013. We will present the results from this research.