Protecting the Peel: Environmental Conservation in the Age of First Nations Self-Government, an Examination of Conservation in Yukon's Peel Watershed

Since the nineteenth century, conservation initiatives have been imposed on Indigenous populations across Canada, regulated traditional activities, and forcibly removed local peoples from long-occupied lands. In the twenty-first century, this seems to be changing. Recent scholarship envisions environmental conservation working with Indigenous peoples and some view this new conservation model as a path to reconciliation; yet in Canada, few examples can be identified. This thesis critically examines the engagement of environmental conservation with First Nations through an exploration of the Protect the Peel conservation movement in Yukon Territorys Peel Watershed. In it, I argue that the ways that environmental conservation engaged with First Nations throughout the Protect the Peel conservation movement provides insight for conservation across Canada, as it attempts to transcend its historically contentious relationship with Indigenous peoples, initiate a more collaborative conservation model, and help shape a path towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.