Pigeon Lake Ermineskin Residents came to voice their issues and ideas at the EIRD Annual General Meeting hosted this evening, coming together to provide valuable feedback on the cumulative effects within the area. A big topic of discussion was the water quality of the lake, the preservation of water sources and traditional lands as well as fishing sites, and overall quality of life within Mimiw Sakahikan. Citizens also expressed their concerns on how non-indigenous entities and peoples have had an increased presence on reserve.
NAIT representatives also had presentation on their partnership with EIRD, on an Indigenous Community-led Atlases Project, a geographic information system (GIS)-based program that visualizes data from an array of sources: both publicly available data, and data uploaded by Ermineskin Cree Nation.
This project seeks to blend technology with traditional ways of knowing to map culturally significant areas, place names, oral story, telling traditions, and important natural areas. In combination with data from the governmental, municipal, and other public sources, the Atlases Project creates a suitable visual interface that allows Ermineskin to interact with important data of Mimiw Sakahikan, faster.
Ay hay to EIRD for hosting the meeting, the NAIT representatives, and all of the ECN Citizens of Pigeon Lake who came out to engage with one another in the presentation.
photos by: kayla cutarm
ecn communications
