Indigenous Relations and Engagement
Our Approach
We are grateful for the increased awareness, and the opportunities that are created for our communities. But for us, this is business as usual.
Indigenous relations and engagement have increasingly become important terms and operating principles for corporations across Canada and beyond.
Here at Shifting Mosaics Consulting we are grateful for this increased awareness, and the opportunities it creates for our communities. But for us, this is business as usual.
- We have always hired a majority Indigenous workforce: not to hit a target or quota, but to deploy the very best team for each project we undertake.
- We have always studied, promoted, and implemented traditional and cultural ecological practices, simply because these practices are effective (and have subsequently been scientifically proven).
Read on to learn more about our principles, practices, services, and inspiration.
Our Guiding Principles
Shifting Mosaics Consulting recognizes and supports meaningful reconciliation for Indigenous people. In practice, this means actively:
- Creating viable employment opportunities at all levels of our company
- Providing training and mentorship: both within our company and to communities across Canada
- Offering opportunities to reconnect with the land
- Learning, speaking, and preserving Indigenous languages
- Honouring and promoting traditional ecological knowledge, while seeking ways to incorporate it into our practices
- Being culturally sensitive when putting fire out on the land
- Listening to what the land is telling us it needs
Principles in Action: Our Practices
- Over the past decade we have trained, hired, mentored, and supported hundreds of Indigenous Community members for local and provincial employment opportunities
- The majority of our skilled workforce is hired from the Fort Nelson First Nation, as well as Acho Dene Koe and other Treaty 8 Nations
- Indigenous employment opportunities include vegetation management, ecosystem restoration, invasive plant management, professional, research, and labour positions related to the environment
- We provide in-depth training on ecology and natural resource management to Indigenous Communities across Treaty 8 including Prophet River First Nation, Fort Nelson First Nation, Blueberry River First Nation, as well as the following: ?Esdilagh First Nation, Kaska, Esk’etemc, Ts’il Kaz Koh and Lake Babine Nation
- We have been engaged by Indigenous Communities to contribute to strategic planning, negotiation technical support, mentorship and training, and review and response to referrals
- We have catalogued over 50 hours of interviews documenting oral history of cultural fire practices which resulted in the short book “Fort Nelson First Nation: Interaction with Fire and Wood Bison“
Leaders in the Field
Award Winning Results
Shifting Mosaics Consulting founder, Dr. Sonja E. R. Leverkus, has been honoured for her commitment to advancing opportunities for Indigenous community members.
On behalf of Shifting Mosaics Consulting’s sister company Northern Fire WoRx, she proudly accepted the Northeast Native Advancing Society’s “Committed Partnership Award” which was awarded for the company’s contributions to training Treaty 8 committee members, and providing employment opportunities over a 5 year period. Northern Fire WoRx Crew Leader and Danger Tree Faller, Isaiah Behn, accepted the “Student Leadership” award.