THE CARIBOU GUARDIANS: TWO FIRST NATIONS PROTECT AN ANIMAL THAT HAS PROTECTED THEM FOR GENERATIONS

Text by David Moskowitz and Nyn Tomkins. Photography by David Moskowitz. Orion Magazine. Spring 2021.

HIGH ON A FORESTED MOUNTAIN in northern British Columbia, in the traditional territory of the West Moberly Dunne-za First Nations (WMFN) and Saulteau First Nations (SFN), Starr Gauthier is on patrol with a twelve-gauge shotgun slung over her shoulder and a laptop bag in hand. Starr is a Caribou Guardian charged with tending to the Klinse-za Caribou Maternity Pen built by these First Nations, as part of their effort to protect an animal that is vital to their cultures.