This research focuses on studying the intersection between the sovereignty of Aboriginal Nations and Canada. It builds upon an MA thesis in Indigenous Governance “The Tłı̨chǫ Agreement and Small Acts of Freedom: From Self-Government to Self-Determination”, which positions the Tłı̨chǫ Agreement, a modern treaty between the Government of Canada and the Tłı̨chǫ, as an instrument facilitating the eventual exercise of Indigenous self-determination. This research demonstrated that the Tłı̨chǫ are using the new political space created by self-government, as a framework for decolonizing by protecting, recovering, revitalizing, adapting and operationalizing ways of being that are uniquely Indigenous.

On September 19 to October 2, 2014, the Tłı̨chǫ Government, in partnership with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and the Canadian Polar Commission hosted a multi-event symposium to advance the understanding and uses of Traditional Knowledge in Canada’s North and in the nation as a whole.  The Festival comprised a number of inter-locking events: A traditional afternoon gathering in Behchokǫ̀ in honor of Aboriginal elders with a focus on the contributions of traditional knowledge to the structure and programs of the Tłı̨chǫ Government, “TEDx Sǫǫ̀mbak’è”, a one-day TEDx event,  and a one-day scholarly symposium  at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife, a TK exhibition including booth displays, cultural demonstrations and a book fair and a mentorship program at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre for northern graduate students. 

This project was a collaboration between Diavik Diamond Mines and Dedats’eetsaa to document and apply traditional knowledge in Diavik’s Soil and Sampling Program. The program examined if dust from the mining activities are absorbed into the lichen and ingested by caribou, by sampling soil and lichen at specific distances from the mine site. The purpose of the traditional knowledge study was to assess the type of landscapes caribou prefer for forage, use and migration, and to assess the lichen conditions at the sample sites to investigate how dust from the mine potentially affect caribou use of the area.