Research
We are interested in working with outside researchers and their organizations on projects that are of value to our initiative.
Pikangikum First Nation has an active in-house research program to support the Whitefeather Forest Initiative including the development of a land use strategy, and resource management and enterprise planning and development. For example, in the process of our Community-Based Land Use Planning we have undertaken extensive Indigenous Knowledge documentation and completed a state-of-the-art Vegetation Resource Inventory. This information is being used to support decision-making for various potential uses such as recreation, future all-weather road alignments, and commercial forestry as well as planning for interpretive eco-cultural tourism opportunities. We have also begun cooperative heritage resource fieldwork (archaeology) with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to ensure that the cultural legacy of the planning area is celebrated and protected for future generations.
In response to our growing partnership with universities and colleges in support of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative, we have developed a formal partnership with institutions interested in undertaking research in cooperation with our community. This partnership, the Whitefeather Forest Research Cooperative, is based on an understanding that all research must be collaborative and bring benefits to Pikangikum. The Research Cooperative Agreement was signed in 2004. Current members of the WFRC include: University of Manitoba Lakehead University, University of Winnipeg and Sault College . University faculty with active research interests in the Whitefeather Forest Planning Area include: 
• Dr. Iain Davidson-Hunt (Natural Resource Institute, University of Manitoba)
• Dr. Micheline Manseau (Parks Canada & University of Manitoba)
• Dr. Scott Hamilton (Anthropology, Lakehead University
• Peggy Smith (Forestry & Forest Environment, Lakehead University)
Following are some of the research topics that the community is working on with our partners in the WFRC:
• customary ways of noting environmental changes that can contribute to a Criteria & Indicators system for integrated forest management of the Whitefeather Forest
• the Whitefeather Forest Initiative as a means of renewing the Pikangikum cultural landscape, including through the use of new media technology.
• looking at the customary stewardship approach of Pikangikum people, understood within the context of our historical experiences with state resource management systems
• Elder-youth interactions, and especially the transmission of knowledge from Elders to youth.
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Slide Shows
