Over five years, restore five hectares of the northern portion of Horseshoe Lake to develop a healthy, functional wetland. The project will create habitat for at-risk and culturally important western painted turtle and improve wetland quality by restoring the function of the aquatic, riparian and upland plant communities.
“We hold a covenant with the Creator to be the caretakers and stewards of Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it lands,” said Nasuʔkin (Chief) Heidi Gravelle. “With that we have an obligation to restore, protect and be the voices of our lands. To achieve this, we are guided by our “ʔa·knumuȼtiⱡiⱡ” (natural law), given to the Kootenai Peoples by our Creator. It is a powerful word and speaks to why we were put here on this land. In return, our lands provide us with an ecosystem where our waters, plants and animals work together to provide us with the sustenance to maintain our ways of life since time immemorial. For there to be complete reconciliation with the land, there needs to be healing, and there is work to be done. For this to happen the people of this land (in this instance ʔakanuxunik̓) need to be involved at every level. We look forward to all the projects coming to fruition.”
