“We are the ones that we are waiting for” - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 126

between the Indigenous leaders at the Gathering helps to identify these critical
areas. The objective is clearly stated in the literature put forth by the organizers of
the Gathering:
The objective of the Gathering was to provide a forum for Tribal and First
Nation leaders to collaborate on environmental issues and share that
information with governmental policy makers to assist them in making more
protective and culturally sensitive decisions concerning the future of this richly
endowed, yet fragile, region that we share, the Salish Sea.
(Coast Salish Gathering Program, 2008)
With a unified voice, the Tribal and First Nations leaders who participate in
the Gatherings have committed to meeting a series of goals. For example, through
the development of an environmental action plan, the Gathering aims to “Conserve
and restore the Salish Sea ecosystem to a level that ensures the sustainability of the
Coast Salish People and our cultural lifeways” (Coast Salish Gathering, 2008). A
number of priorities are identified in the plan, including the provision of adequate
clean air, water, and land to sustain and protect the health of the Coast Salish
people. These priorities represent the general pairing of environmental and cultural
protections in the contemporary Coast Salish governance model. It also highlights
how protecting water resources (both marine and freshwater) directly supports
subsistence, cultural, and economic activities.
Establishing consensus among the Coast Salish tribes and bands also helps in
coordinating with external agencies. The regional director of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency expressed this point of view at the Tulalip
Gathering: “The more unified your voice, the more support we can give you”.
The director further explained that although the department is “sensitive to the
needs of individual bands and tribes, establishing a common position aids in the
navigation through large bureaucratic systems”. Thus, the creation of a unified
voice among Coast Salish communities and a (re)constructed space serve important
roles both internally and externally.
Representative of this shift is a recent collaboration between Coast Salish
communities and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct water
quality sampling on the annual intertribal Canoe Journey (see Chapter 7) . The
Canoe Journey is listed on the USGS website as a unique new multijurisdictional
partnership, which “blends science and tradition”.
Indicative of this coordinated project, the Coast Salish Gathering website
provides an electronic link to the water quality sites and real-time information on
the data collection (as well as video clips of the daily progress of the Canoe Journey).
This is, perhaps, one of the first of many tangible outcomes of the creation of the
Gathering in terms of multijurisdictional collaboration. The partnership has occurred
on an annual basis since 2008, with increased participation and collaboration
reported by the participants.