Subscribe!
Comment on this Story
Clayton Thomas-Müller
Discovering boreal power: Clayton Thomas Thomas-Müller and his experience with indigenous conservation
By Ksenia Prints
While he did not know its English name at the time, Clayton Thomas-Müller discovered his interest in boreal forest conservation as a teenager growing up on the streets of Winnipeg.
“For me, the most sacred and beautiful memories came from the time I was able to spend out on my family’s indigenous trap line,” he said. “There’s a profound connection there for me.”
Involved in drugs and gang life in the city, Thomas-Müller felt disconnected from the community at his native Pukatawagan reserve and his Cree Nation heritage.
The solution came to Thomas-Müller unexpectedly, when his brother decided to go back to his community and raise a family based on traditional indigenous values. Inspired by his brother’s commitment, Thomas-Müller left street life and became involved with the youth justice movement in the city.
But his heart remains in his native Pukatawagan. A predominantly fishing community of almost 1,500, Pukatawagan is located on the 56th parallel by the Pas, Manitoba.
“There’re still a lot of folks living off the land up there,” Thomas-Müller said. “Where I come from is the centre of Turtle Island and the Boreal.”
The community is embroiled in battles with Manitoba Hydro and clear-cut logging industries. The companies’ developments are rapidly encroaching on Pukatawagan’s territory—the boreal forest, the Churchill River and its broader watershed—which provide sustenance to many local people.
To better help his own community fight for boreal forest conservation and other First Nations facing natural destruction, Thomas-Müller became an environmental justice activist.
“There are a lot of young leaders stepping out in our community,” he said.
Thomas-Müller is now the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign (CITSC) organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), a North American environmental justice organization battling for the protection of indigenous lands and rights.
Voted as one of top 30 under 30 activists in the United States by the alternative publication Utne Magazine, Thomas-Müller is anything but uninspired.
“My organization has been working to protect Mother Earth,” he said. “Our work is focused on ensuring our communities are speaking for themselves, that policy changes are connected to First Nations and their needs, so that solutions don’t exacerbate the problems First Nations are currently facing.”
IEN receives no government funding, but is financed completely by private donors and foundations.
As part of his work with IEN on environmental justice gatherings, Thomas-Müller has connected youth involved in gang life in the city with boreal forest conservation through retreats in the forest.
Thomas-Müller remarks that for many of the kids, it is their first time getting out to the bush and encountering their indigenous lifestyle. But once the seed is planted, there is no going back for them.
“A lot of the young people I worked with, today are organizers and activists themselves.”
Thomas-Müller sees inspiring youth to boreal forest conservation as one of his greatest callings.
“Aboriginal youth involvement in boreal conservation takes on a whole new meaning that is different than other Canadian populations. We are the land.”
Aboriginal youth are the fastest growing youth population in Canada. Half of Canada’s First Nations members are currently under 25, reports Service Canada.
And Thomas-Müller wants to harness this power towards boreal forest conservation.
“A lot of the work I do now is based in building social movements around native and non-native Social, economic and environmental justice issues in Canada. In recent years we’ve been connecting with a lot of First Nations who are facing issues in the boreal forest.”
