Our sacred sites offer a unique testimony to the living cultural tradition of our peoples and this testimony must be recognized and transmitted. Thus, dedicating ourselves to the protection of our sacred sites implies repatriating knowledge, surveying territories and documenting all cultural aspects related to these sites. Even if we need the help of professionals in these domains to constitute a record required by the authorities that can offer us a protection status for our sacred sites, we want to remain masters of the process. Materials and information gathered through this process potentially becomes a tool for political claims in our different fights [or various struggles?]. We want to maintain the governance of our territories as our ancestors once did, this is a prerequisite for reconciliation. Our oral traditions are misunderstood by [non-Indigenous?] decision-makers and we need to train young leaders differently to be able to support each other, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in order to rebuild a rewarding and fulfilling relationship for each stakeholder.
