For Indigenous Peoples, the rights of nature have long been a foundational principle, going back to time immemorial. In recent years, that way of thinking has started to be reflected in law — both at home and internationally.

Five years ago, the Muteshekau-shipu (Magpie River) in Quebec became the first natural body to achieve legal personhood status in Canada. At the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, I announced that Ontario’s Pemadeshkodeyong (Rice Lake) had become the second, after Alderville First Nation granted it legal personhood status in November 2025.

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These initiatives are reconciliation in action, helping bridge the gap between two ways of understanding the natural world. First Nations governance requires us to plan for the next seven generations, ensuring that the environment can continue to sustain life well into the........

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