Our Mission and our Vision

The FNFN Department of Lands, Resources and Treaty Rights serves our community by protecting and asserting our rights to our traditional lands that have sustained us for countless generations. We strive to re-gain a central role in land and water governance in our territory and for responsible development in our land. The Fort Nelson First Nation Lands Department upholds the spirit and intent of our treaty by asserting our rights to our land and taking responsibility to ensure that our future generations are able to live their lives in our lands in a way that honours our ancestors and our cultural values. 

Our Land Use Vision (Reaching for our Vision, 2014)​

We are the Dene and Cree people of southern Denendeh, now known as the Fort Nelson First Nation. We are stewards of the land and we honour our Treaty rights and responsibilities for our future generations. We also recognise the need to balance economic security with respect for our traditions, culture and inherent connections to the lands, waters and creatures that sustain us.
 
The purpose of our Land Use Vision is to ensure that our Treaty is upheld and the voices of our people are heard, respected and remembered.

The Vision for managing our land includes two key elements:

• That our territory is protected and nurtured as a place where future generations will live and return to live as strong, healthy, proud and self-reliant Dene and Cree people.
• That resource development on our lands will not compromise the health of our land or people, while providing proportionate and meaningful economic benefits to our Nation and families.

Our lands have fueled, and continue to fuel, industries that have impacted our people, and in some ways, we have all benefited. Still, pressure from outside forces threatens the stability and continuity of our way of life. We will not be compelled by industry or government, including our own, to agree to the destruction of our territory.

Our Land Use Vision is not only about the protection of natural areas; it also recognizes past and present economic conditions that have impacted our territory and our people. In the past, development has damaged our territory, affecting our health as a people and our economic stability. This cannot and will not happen again. Our territory will not be disrespected and our people will not be impoverished for the economic gain of industry and outside governments.
 
We envision a sustainable and adaptable land-based economy where FNFN holds a central role in enhancing the overall health and well-being of our land and our Nation as a whole.
 
Without vision and action today, our newest generation may witness the last of our traditional land use and ways of being. We set this vision and will take action so we can thrive as healthy Dene and Cree people in our territory long into the future.
 
We have listened to collective voices and honour our members’ contributions from the past 15 years. Out of respect for those contributions, we share with you “Our Voice – Our Vision”.

"For as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow."

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Our Programs & Services

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The FNFN Harvester Support Program provides financial and other support to eligible FNFN band members who need supplies and equipment for harvesting and sewing.

Programs and services that support traditional harvesting include: 

Trapper Incentive Program provides financial assistance to FNFN Certified and/or Registered Trappers and to encourage FNFN members to take up trapping activities.

Hide & Fur Supply Program provides support to traditional crafters & artists by providing access to supplies including processed hides and furs.  

Harvesters Assistance Program provides financial support to assist individual FNFN members in traditional harvesting activities. 

Community Harvest Program provides financial support to assist FNFN members or organizations to host community harvesting activities that welcome FNFN families & youth and provide food for Elders. 

​Harvesters’ Association Program provides an annual financial contribution for the establishment and ongoing support of a FNFN community association representing the interest of hunters, trappers and crafters.

We are protectors of this land and have a strong presence which we are dedicated to increasing. We are also knowledge keepers and are utilizing our Ancestor's knowledge, as well as, modern science to help us balance industry and preservation."
~ RFOV, p. 38

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