Written by: Adam Assimakopoulos
Edited by: Sunny Bell
It’s 1896. As frontierism begins to wane and Canada approaches its dirty thirties, the Klondike region in the modern-day Yukon Territories becomes a site of promise, wealth, and opportunity. Long disregarded by settlers for being nothing more than a frigid, empty partition, the Klondike rapidly draws in a rush of industrialists and lunch-bucket workers. And while they roll up their sleeves and stuff their pockets with gold, the native Han people of the Yukon Valley are axed and uprooted (Gates, 2009). In their place, Dawson City – the once vibrant hub of unprecedented Canadian fortuity, now known as little more than a sleepy mining village. Yet, a closer look at underrepresented Indigenous perspectives reconciles sustainable mining and local governance projects, such that the region can continue to support the Yukon’s economy without imposing environmental disaster.
Almost 3000 km from Vancouver, it’s no wonder why the province’s land use, mining, and extraction pitfalls go largely unnoticed by Canadians in the modern day. Heap leach mining has been favoured by mining companies in the Yukon for years. A cyanide-sodium solution is used to extract gold from its surrounding ore, liquifying the element for easy extraction (Xenos). The residual liquid waste is then dispensed into storage containers to prevent toxic spills into the nearby ecosystem. Indeed, corporations like Victoria Gold continue to profit off of Klondike gold reserves. It had long branded itself the golden child of mining, boasting its careful and ecologically-conscious mining practices. However, in June 2024, the heap leach system failed, draining upwards of 309,000 m3 of contaminated water into nearby reservoirs. 39 million tonnes of gold were contained within that heap (Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, 2024). The incident is currently under judicial review.
While the intricacies of Victoria Gold’s legal challenges provide a fascinating study in environmental compensation, this article focuses on how Indigenous stewardship in the Klondike region complements more sustainable and equitable mining practices. The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNND) occupied land bought from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1870, and became involved in land claim advocacy in 1984 (Council of Yukon First Nations). A year before the spill at Eagle mine, FNND called for a water quality study in a neighbouring river; they found detrimental levels of toxic chemicals that threatened native salmon populations (Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, 2024). In short, heap leach mining has both compromised local governance and inhibited vital resources native to the Klondike region (Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, 2024).
So, where to draw a link between sustainable mining and Indigenous governance? Of course, the incident at Eagle Mine cannot be a monolith for all industrial pursuits, nor the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun for all Native peoples. However, establishing a general code of conduct for the Canadian mining industry may serve to mitigate future disasters.
Firstly, it goes without saying that Indigenous communities, the native caretakers of contiguous North America, possess invaluable knowledge on land and water stewardship. Of course, innately extractive large-scale mining practices antagonize their traditional ways of knowing. It also goes without saying that the most adequate reconciliatory solution would be to remove mining practices altogether. Still, Indigenous peoples’ primary contribution is integrating land stewardship with social organization. Part of the ethos in the Klondike gold rush was to inextricably detach society from the natural biome. It is, of course, puzzling then why the mining infrastructure depends so heavily on a close proximity to the natural world it deems to be separate. Traditionally, Indigenous practices have utilized specific management practices, such as resource rotation—the strategic practice of periodically reallocating or redistributing resources such as personnel, equipment, or materials—to optimize their use, maintain efficiency, and address changing priorities (Richardson, 2008, 8). Secondly, Indigenous stewardship in Canada has long been community-led, with diverse and ever-shifting stakeholders assigned to resource management (McDonald, 2019, 5). This approach offers two critical benefits: first, perspectives are pluriversal and not blinded by a common, narrow objective; instead, they favour long-term and multifaceted approaches to resource optimization. Second, the approach is largely decentralized, making for more equitable and geographically widespread success (McDonald, 2019, 5). Notice that while the community-led approach does not place efficiency and profit at its core, the economic needs of Klondike’s communities are not wholly sacrificed. I wish to call further attention to how the Eagle Mine spill was brought about predominantly by resource mismanagement. Finally, I wish to emphasize how multi-generational sustenance is prioritized within and across Canada’s Indigenous stewardship practices. If the Eagle Mine disaster was a governance failure, it was also a mechanical misstep. The role of multi-generational satisfaction in Indigenous governance does not compromise the institution altogether, rather, serves to make it more sustainable and less susceptible to mismanagement (Reed, 2021, 13).
Overall, by returning to the Yukon’s long-executed governance practices, the Yukon’s mining operations can work toward becoming more sustainable and less disastrous for local communities. While mining practices remain unsustainable in their current form, the province ought to work on long-term approaches to their current economic model. Still, rectifying the spill from June 2024 must remain a chief priority to guarantee short-term sustainability and Indigenous reconciliation.
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References:
Council of Yukon First Nations. (n.d.). First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun – Council of Yukon First Nations. Council of Yukon First Nations. Retrieved January 21, 2025, from https://cyfn.ca/nations/first-nation-of-nacho-nyak-dun/
Gates, M. (2009, July 19). Klondike Gold Rush. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last edited March 4, 2015. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/klondike-gold-rush
McDonald, C. and L. Raderschall (2019), “Indigenous community capacity and multi-level governance”, OECD Regional Development Working Papers, No. 2019/04, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/8036b14d-en.
Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation. (n.d.). Emergency response. Retrieved from https://emergency-response.nndfn.com/
Richardson, B. J. (2008.). Sustainable development in a multicultural world: Challenges for law and policy. Osgoode Hall Law School. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1197&context=clpe
Reed, G., Brunet, N. D., Longboat, S., & Natcher, D. C. (2021). Indigenous guardians as an emerging approach to indigenous environmental governance. Conservation Biology, 35(1), 179-189.
Xenos, S. (2024, July 24). Heap leaching: What is it and why does the Eagle mine in the Yukon use it? CBC. Retrieved January 21, 2025, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/what-is-heap-leaching-1.7272908
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