Health Wellbeing

Health & Wellbeing

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Habitat & Species

Changes in aquatic ecosystem health in the Liard sub-basin are having moderate impacts on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous communities. Health and wellbeing are closely linked to access to traditional foods, and some Indigenous communities report consuming less country foods than in the past. Maintaining access to preferred traditional foods is viewed as essential to many Indigenous communities because of the nutritional, cultural, and spiritual values linked to these resources and the associated benefits they offer for health and wellbeing. Although fishing, hunting and trapping for country foods are still valued as core cultural practices, some Indigenous communities report consuming less country foods and having less confidence in the quality of harvested plants and animals. Access to fishing and trapping areas is also disrupted by lower populations of harvestable species, higher costs of transportation and increased competition for resources. Low availability of scientific data was found for levels of country food consumption in the Liard sub-basin.

Information Availability

The following table summarizes the availability of information for each Health and Wellbeing indicator.

Signs and Signals

Indigenous Knowledge Information and Data

Indigenous Knowledge Availability in Public Sources1

Science Information and Data

Science Data Availability2

Food sources

Decrease in country food consumption (overall or specific species); access or safety considerations

Some observations from few locations.

Statistics on number of people eating wild food versus store food

Low data availability, inconsistent monitoring.

1 Qualifiers for the availability of local and Indigenous Knowledge observations in publicly available sources: Limited = 1-2 observations; Some = 3-4 observations; Many = 5 or more observations
2 Qualifiers for the availability of science data in publicly available sources: Low = Individual studies or locations; Many = Network of monitoring stations across the basin

Food Sources

Reduced consumption of country foods and access and safety concerns have been reported by Indigenous communities in the Liard sub-basin.

Some Indigenous communities in the Liard sub-basin are consuming less country foods:
The community of Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN) consumes less country foods than in the past. A study with FNFN members in 2008-2009 found that the proportion of country foods in local diets has declined and many families face shortages in their supply of traditional foods, with 27% of the households participating in the study rated as “food insecure”.

At the time of the FNFNES in 2008/2009, more than half of the participating households indicated that their traditional food supplies ran out and that they would not be able to access more that year, and 27% of FNFN families were rated food insecure,

Fort Nelson First Nation, 2017

Some Indigenous communities report reduced access to traditional harvesting areas and concerns over the safety of country foods
Reduced access to harvesting areas and a loss of confidence in the safety of consuming harvested plants and animals are reported by some Indigenous communities in the Liard sub-basin. Increased land development for oil and gas, forestry, and mining as well as a general lack of access to equipment or transportation to harvesting areas are identified as key barriers that limit Indigenous communities in the Liard region from using more traditional foods. A study with Fort Nelson First Nation members identified the main barriers in accessing country foods as the loss of wildlife habitat and harvesting areas, reduced populations of harvestable species, higher costs of transportation and the need to travel farther to reach harvesting areas. Fort Nelson First Nation members have also expressed they no longer feel safe consuming harvested plants and animals due to concerns relating to contamination. Similarly, the potential contamination of surface water bodies in the Watson Lake area has raised concern among some members of Liard First Nation and casts uncertainty over the quality of country foods.

References