2021 AGA Milestones

Milestones from the past year


The Lands Sector 2020-2021 year was a busy one with an exceptional amount of change and development rooted in the direction given from the Lands and Resources Sector Council and Ktunaxa citizens. The milestone from the past year are the direct outcomes from the collaboratively developed Sector Plan with the Lands Council and staff.

Lands and Resources Council Sector Plan


In Winter 2020, the Lands and Resources Sector Council created an Interim Sector Plan with major areas for change to guide the work being done. To show what the Interim Sector Plan looks like in action, the Lands Sector Milestones from the past year are provided below as concrete examples of how the plan is working.


The major areas for change are:

  1. Improve Sector Capacity Development,
  2. Improve community engagement with a focus on improved communication between KNC and band governments,
  3. Enhance jurisdictional clarity on how communities work with the Lands sector,
  4. Plan for organizational governance improvements with a focus on examining the sector charter.


Improve Sector Capacity Development


The reassignment itself stands as the beginning of capacity building within the Ktunaxa Nation Council: each Senior Manager (Director) learned knowledge from other Sectors and could pass this onto their families and citizens. Capacity building occurred predominantly with Ktunaxa sector staff, creation of working groups and committees, and the development of the ʔa·knusti program.


Increase Ktunaxa Sector Staff/Mentorship


The Lands sector increased Ktunaxa staff with an additional 11 citizens joining the 11 Ktunaxa already working in Lands. Each Ktunaxa is a citizen who all come with their own expertise and it is a matter of mentoring them into areas that they are interested in and that they believe they will be good at. This is vital for the Lands sector because each Ktunaxa has their own skill-set and are knowledge holders who help inform and guide the work done in Lands.


ʔa·knusti

In early fall 2020, the Education and Employment Sector collaborated with Lands for recruitment, onboarding and training coordination of the ʔa·knusti program. Originally, only 2 ʔa·knusti positions were planned for but with the incredible interest, the ʔa·knusti program on-boarded 7 Ktunaxa citizens in spring 2021. All the ʔa·knusti completed a 6-week training program designed to provide insight into;

  • various components of the Lands sector,
  • overview of contract based Land sector work and engagement agreements
  • seeing the ways Lands work can be transformed into a holistic ʔa·knusti strategy
  • traditional knowledge foundations
  • determining where their knowledge would best fit in the Lands sector


The ʔa·knusti program and strategy has links to numerous projects and every Sector in KNC. However, it is fundamentally rooted in Ktunaxa citizens being Ktunaxa on the land and doing work that is important to them and their communities. The Lands Council emphasized capacity development and implementation for the ʔa·knusti program with a long-term vision for 4-5 ʔa·knusti from each community to be mentored and trained to meet the needs of their communities.


Ktunaxa Working Groups/Committees


The creation of the Lands Advisory Committee, Elk Stewardship, and Huckleberry Stewardship Working Groups all with Ktunaxa members appointed by Chief and Councils exemplified Sector capacity building by having more Ktunaxa citizens with expert knowledge coming together to guide the work in Lands.

With the implementation of the newly developed ʔa·knusti program, all this capacity building aligns with the message that we heard and take very seriously from the Lands and Resources Council, the collective Ktunaxa leadership and citizens: Ktunaxa speak for Ktunaxa.


Improved Community Engagement and Enhanced Jurisdictional Clarity


These two areas are inseparable from each other and fundamentally asks ‘how do we all work together?’ and ‘what does a shared meaning of success look like?’ The Lands and Resources Council raised these questions and made strong recommendations to build relationships and improve communication between the Lands Sector and Ktunaxa communities and collective governance. This guided the operational changes we made in Lands.


Centralized Administration


The operations administration team was increased in size, reorganized, and became the central hub for all communications to Ktunaxa leaders and the Lands Sector Council. This team became the main point of contact, both internally and externally, to ensure consistent information and timely responses occur.


Point of Contact


Clear point of contacts in each of the Ktunaxa communities were provided to the Lands Sector Team Leads and they began to create and strength relationships. Specifically, we increased collaboration between the Lands Sector and the Ktunaxa Band Lands departments to make improvements to the Referral Process. Direct referrals from the Communities to the Lands Sector requesting assistance with comments and recommendations for local land matters is also occurring.


Sector Council Meetings


Due to Covid, the Lands and Resources Sector Council meetings occur online, were opened up, and encouraged citizens and leaders to attend.

The ways relationship building and improved communication happens is continually growing and changing as we work out the kinks and adapt to the expressed needs from Ktunaxa leaders and citizens.


Plan Organizational Governance Improvements


With the fast-paced growth of the Lands Sector, a plan for Organizational Governance Improvements was signaled as fundamental. The Lands Council emphasized the need for a holistic approach to Ktunaxa ʔamakʔis and to listen and take to heart the citizen and bands values, voices and concerns. A clear starting point was to have each community examine the Lands and Resources Sector Charter for alignment with their values and it is now sitting with them for review.

To accomplish the approach, work and goals laid out by the Lands and Resources Council, Ktunaxa leaders, governments and citizens, a bold amount of operational changes were made in the Lands Sector. From organization and team restructuring to the centralization of our Lands finance and administrative teams and operations, we created succinct internal systems to keep what does work, see what does not, and then create solutions for these malfunctioning areas. It remains an ongoing process that we are committed to improving.