“We protect the land by being on the land.”
This Dene saying anchored the message delivered by Dahti Tsesto, underscoring the idea that everything, including environmental stewardship, is “rooted in relationship.”
Last Thursday, the Bieler School of Environment hosted its annual Environment Public Lecture, with Tsesto serving as the keynote speaker.
Hailing from the Northwest Territories, Tsesto is the inaugural CEO of Our Land for the Future Trust. Speaking to an engaged audience, she explored environmental stewardship and how Indigenous-led conservation, grounded in relationships, is reshaping responses to the climate and biodiversity crises and offering a hopeful path forward.
Drawing on her own experiences, Tsesto emphasized that caring for the land extends far beyond Western conservation approaches.
“We must continue to connect elders with youth and youth with elders in order to preserve the foundation of both our traditional teachings and ways of living with the land,” she said.
Living with the land is a critical distinction. Western conservation models often focus on excluding people in an effort to protect ecosystems. While well intentioned, stewardship should be rooted in coexistence, rather than dominance, fostering mutual respect and supporting natural conservation of the ecosystems that sustain all life.
The lecture served as both a reminder of the invaluable knowledge embedded in Indigenous-led conservation and a call to work together to protect the planet.
“The Dene people already know how to care for the land — living on it is protecting it,” Tsesto said. “The land is telling all Canadians that we must change our habits."
So why not start today?