Samantha Noganosh and Alanna Smolarz
Samantha Noganosh smiles into the camera.
Alanna Smolarz smiles at the camera holding a baby turtle.
Samantha Noganosh is the Manager of the Lands and Resources Department at Magnetawan First Nation in Ontario, as well as an actively involved member of the community, and Alanna Smolarz is a Species at Risk Biologist for Magnetawan First Nation.
In this episode, Samantha and Alanna describe their connections to the lands and waters of Georgian Bay, describe their work at Magnetawan First Nation, and explain how the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership has opened the door to forming new relationships with others in similar situations to their own.
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Full Transcript
Kristy Tomkinson
Hello, kwe’, boozhoo, taanishi, oki, Atelihai , čačim hihak kʷaa, bonjour and welcome to Community Connections – a collection of stories from the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership that explores relationships that strengthen our work to support and elevate Indigenous-led conservation across what is now known as Canada.
My name is Kristy Tomkinson and I will be your conversation guide.
In this episode I am speaking with Samantha Noganosh and Alanna Smolarz. Samantha is the Manager of the Lands and Resources Department at Magnetawan First Nation in Ontario and an active member of the community, and Alanna is a Species at Risk Biologist for Magnetawan First Nation.
So grab yourself some tea, get comfortable, and join us.
Kristy Tomkinson
So, thank you very much, Alanna and Samantha for joining us today. I would like you both if you could both briefly introduce yourselves, and in doing so, perhaps you can tell us which lands and waters you have a deep connection with as you're introducing yourselves.
Samantha Noganosh
So, my name is Samantha Noganosh. I am the lands, resource and environment department manager at Magnetawan First Nation. Our community rests alongside the shores of Magnetawan river, which flows into Georgian bay which flows into Lake Huron. So, from our river to the great lakes, we are very connected to our waters.
Alanna Smolarz
Yeah, and my name is Alanna Smolarz. I'm the Species At Risk Biologists here at Magnetawan First Nation. This is my third year, coming up third year here, but I’ve been connected with Magnetawan fortunately for longer than that. I did my Masters research here as well, I had a site here, but yeah, I’ve always kind of been connected to the area. My family own a cottage near parry sound, which is where I’m currently living actually and yeah, so I grew up along Georgian bay on Georgian bay, spent summers here and just connected with the environment here, the lands here and to be able to now be working here is absolute blessing. So yeah.
Kristy Tomkinson
That's great, Alanna, thank you for, I think you've also kind of shared your journey to getting to this work, and I’m curious to know Samantha as well what does your journey look like in terms of working in Indigenous-led conservation?
Samantha Noganosh
I suppose this started in college. When I returned to the community, I started working in our Lands And Resource Department as our Lands Clerk and over the course of six years I’ve climbed the ladder and I’m the manager here now.
But I couldn't do any of what we do here without our team. We have an awesome team, and we have awesome programs that that we run and our connection to the community is there, and so we have support there too and it's a communal effort and a team effort, what we do here. But I’ve been doing this, yeah, six years. Six years, I think.
Kristy Tomkinson
And so, how did you first hear about the conservation through reconciliation partnership? How were you first introduced to the partnership?
Alanna Smolarz
I honestly, I don't know if it was an email forward from somebody who thought we may be interested in it. I can also think of the communities that's a little bit closer to parry sound Shawanaga First Nation and their IPCA project, I think as soon as they started developing that we that kind of tweaked our interest and that may be how we started to hear about it.
So I do honestly, I think it was an email forward about a Co-learning Circle and invitation to attend if we thought it would be of interest to us and of course I was like, "yeah, I’ll check it out" and yeah, I’m super glad that I did, but I’m pretty sure it was something like that. Or yeah, yeah, I mean you look back and you're like "oh yeah, how did I hear about you guys?" but yeah, somewhere along the lines, got connected that way.
Kristy Tomkinson
That's amazing, and so, Alanna, I know you've shared in an email that you've been, you've been able to benefit from the IPCA Co-learning Circle meetings and the resources or the Indigenous-led conservation, reading list and some of the webinars, so I’m curious to know for you both what opportunities have you found for learning within the CRP or from members within the CRP?
Alanna Smolarz
At least from my experience with the Co-learning Circles, and as I you know, explore your website just getting to hear people who are in similar situations, whether it's you know within their communities or with organizations that they're working with, some things that we can relate on, but that aren't identical issues. Like it's kind of an array of experiences that people go through, and being able to hear that and how they dealt with it, or how you know what resources were helpful to them that then allows me to be like, "ok, well, that those resources might be helpful for us and what we do here in our community" so I think just hearing from other people and what worked for them, what was what they thought was successful and how that can be applied here is something that we're always interested in because I mean conservation and environmental work in general is a collaborative effort.
We have to work together. If it's something already worked for somebody and we can continue to build off of what's worked for them and apply that here, then definitely I want to try doing that and the way you do that is you learn for people you hear from them, you hear their stories and you hopefully connect with them as well and form positive relationships that way.
So yeah, and everything like I’ve kind of been, then I did a deep dive a few months ago and looked at some of your other series virtual campfire series. Obviously, we also know Elder Marilyn here at Magnetawan as well, so hearing her speak and share is incredible. And then I also I’ve, the wonderful thing about your website and the resources that, the resource section that you guys have as well is when people come to us asking questions and even like where to start or even if they just contact us, we could be like "here's some things that you can check off your list. Just check out these resources."
Some of our research partners as well, that reading list that you guys released in November last year just blew me away like that must have been so much work, but it's those resources are super, super valuable not only to us but for a lot of the people that we work with. So, yeah, it's been super helpful to connect with people and to utilize the resources that you guys have available.
Kristy Tomkinson
Great Samantha, do you have anything to add to that or?
Samantha Noganosh
I was just thinking I totally agree with Alanna.
I think that a resource itself, besides what you've provided, is also the people that we're connecting with. I think that being able to meet nationally with people across Canada, just like Alanna said, we have similarities that aren't particularly exactly the same, but things that we can learn from each other and how we cannot have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak and learn from one another and yeah, shared trials and errors and successes and that huge resource in itself is to be able to learn from other people and other organizations.
Kristy Tomkinson
And I’m curious to know, would there be a specific example where these resources have helped a certain project, or a certain part of a project move forward?
Alanna Smolarz
I'm not sure like it's hard to say because projects moving forward, we think they're always evolving. Obviously, the hope is that they're moving forward, but even our for example, our longest standing reptile monitoring program. It's kind of changed and evolved over the years. But I just think the incorporation of different knowledge systems and ways of knowing that we're emphasizing in a lot of our programs and new programs that we're adding, that's kind of what you guys are there for as well is the resources and sharing and stuff like that that we often just a lot of our technicians that kind of start with us it's resources that we can provide to them again as a starting point.
Like Sam said, we're not trying to reinvent the wheel, but being able to share in a very organized and compiled and something that makes sense online to share that with someone or some of our staff or even ourselves to learn from that certainly helped it move forward I guess in that way.
Samantha Noganosh
I also think that that a benefit is empowering Indigenous people and empowering these projects themselves, so by just acknowledging that this is happening and by acknowledging that these systems are here and that they benefit western systems, I think it's empowering for Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led conservation programs because we're being acknowledged and we're having a platform to share, and that's also really important.
Kristy Tomkinson
So, you've both talked a lot about how these resources and being a part of the CRP has really meant a lot to your work and strengthened your work. I'd like to know what you hope to gain from your participation with the CRP. What relationships would you like to build going forward and why?
Alanna Smolarz
Yeah, well, I think being fairly new to this and we're at whenever that email was sent that initiated that invitation to the Co-learning Circle I think it's just going more about exploring some of the other streams that you guys have and seeing how we might be able to incorporate some of those streams into our work and the leaders of each of those circles for those streams, potentially, you know, utilizing their knowledge and wisdom that's already been established and are obviously the leaders of that stream to build our programs to build our department.
I think yeah, continuing to explore the incredible wealth of knowledge that is the CRP is certainly something that I’m looking forward to and continuing to attend those Co-learning Circles. Maybe not necessarily participating in a level that you know I could present on but hearing from other people listening to other people. I truly enjoy that, and again, being able to then come back and apply that to the community that I work in is super important.
Samantha Noganosh
I could not have answered that question any better.
Alanna Smolarz
Well, I think it's I mean you guys do such an incredible job of being so inclusive and you know putting out those or the opportunities to share and to speak with each other and provide that safe space as well that we can connect on things that we can all relate to, like Indigenous land conservation like lands based work like all those things that that allows us to connect. And of course, the one main thing being our connection to land our connection to mother earth. So, yeah, being able to speak with and learn from likeminded people is amazing.
Kristy Tomkinson
Right, that's really great to hear because that is, you know, kind of the impetus behind a lot of these Learning Circles is that people can learn and share in a comfortable, safe space and take that with them into their work.
You may know that the CRP Elders Lodge shares with us the gifts of the Seven Grandmother and Grandfather teachings. So, they are love, respect, bravery, truth, honesty, humility and wisdom. These frame our work; they frame our governance structure, and we'd like to know which of these gifts or series of gifts have been present for you either throughout your work or through your relationship building processes.
Samantha Noganosh
So, I was just going to say I think that our community holds us to those teachings. I think our, you know, we work for our community, and I think that's a huge value of our community, and I think that's also something that governs and guides us as well. I if you had something in mind to speak to, one particularly, but ultimately that is an expectation for us to uphold those values and we do for the sake of the community and their values, of course. So, to speak to specifically to one, it’s hard. We love what we do.
Alanna Smolarz
Yeah, yeah.
Samantha Noganosh
We love our community and we I think we reciprocate that same love.
Respect is something that sometimes we have to assert when it comes to maybe other ministries or governments or maybe proponents. But respect is something that we constantly and always act with on. We always act with respect. Again, like I said, it's something that we have to assert to receive sometimes.
Bravery. Can I just say this girl wrangles massasauga rattlesnakes?
Alanna Smolarz
So, I don't necessarily see that as brave; it's more so like they're my buddies
Samantha Noganosh
Some people would think that's terrifying.
Alanna Smolarz
To speak to, you know, very generally those teachings, yeah, we absolutely spend our days thinking of that and working through those values. Yeah, and I think again speaking from the perspective of a non-Indigenous person working in a community that's as amazing as Magnetawan. Being able to uphold those teachings, learn those teachings.
And regardless of what I’m doing and what I do in the future, what I’ve done in the past, those teachings and their meaning when it comes to working on the land, land-based where the animals we get to interact with the environments you get to work in, I, I think all of those teachings when I think about it.
I can think of every single day there being an application or a moment where I did, you know, have to exhibit love or respect, not have to but I did exhibit those things, or learn from those things based on an interaction I had with an animal or a moment that I shared just with myself in the field one day. And it just it's a different kind of the feeling that resonates is incredibly powerful.
And again, I don't always necessarily think of those teachings that they're related to those teachings but when you sit and think about it for a moment and realize that that's what's guiding your work, that's what's leading what you do that's what really makes it sink in.
And then of course, like Sam said, the community that expects us to uphold those that's very important to us as well. Beyond myself and Samantha like she said, we have a very large, not large, but it's the largest it's ever been team here that also uphold those teachings as well.
Kristy Tomkinson
Great, thank you.
Yeah it is very very hard to separate them out and many people have shared that as well within these conversations, but I think it's the first time I’ve heard you talking about these in relation to your actually your actual field work and connecting with you know the natural world, so it was, it's really lovely to hear that as well that they exhibit themselves and present themselves in those ways and not just in relation with each other with our with our human relations.
Alanna Smolarz
Yeah I said it a few times and for people who are brave enough to want to interact with massasaugas, I’ve been lucky enough.
There's been a few moments where, my favorite times of fieldwork are the spring and fall because there's no bugs and the weather, the temperature is usually perfect, but there's been a few, there's very few days where just everything just seems to align wonderfully.
The weather, the animals were able to interact with, you know ease of access to a site and stuff like that. And every time that happens, and even in the bad times as well, you take a moment and it's just I, I feel this overwhelming sense of connection to that land, or that animal that I’m taking a measurement of, or anything and just realizing I’m here for a reason.
This moment I’m this, you know something is happening that I, just, I, you just soak in it for a minute and I wish I could share that feeling with everyone that you know questions what I do and why I do it. Because it's for those moments if it's for those feelings and I believe that that comes from again, the connection from land to land that has grown over the years.
It's just these you just soak in this wonderful warmth of just, I don't know, joy again taking random measurement of a venomous snake in the middle of a forest, but it's yeah, it's a wonderful feeling.
Kristy Tomkinson
That's lovely, thank you for sharing.
Yeah, it's important to take those moments and just pause and take in all of those feelings and be mindful of where we are at the time.
So yeah, my last question is around what your hopes are for Indigenous-led conservation and how the partnership might be able to support that vision?
Alanna Smolarz
Uhm, I think it's kind of what you guys are doing, what you guys put out into the world, like Sam said, empowering Indigenous-led conservation providing that safe space and making us making communities feel that they should be able to, you know, ask for respect from whatever governing agencies. And stuff like that or anybody that works with communities is to make sure that they feel empowered enough to do that. I think, you know the spaces that you guys provide the resources that you guys put out they're already helping so much and just continuing to do that is super important.
Samantha Noganosh
I might also add that I hope if anyone was needing any support or expertise or information, but now that we're a part of this network that we could share and we could help to support others also and vice versa.
Kristy Tomkinson
Thank you, that's all the questions I have, but if you have any additional thoughts you'd like to share in terms of building connections and your connection to the partnership overall now so now is the time I’ll leave some space for you to add your thoughts.
Alanna Smolarz
I don't really have much to add, I just want to say thank you, miigwetch for thinking of us to do this.
It's yeah, it's pretty amazing to see how far this department and a lot of our programs have come. Again, I’ve only been here for three years, but as an outsider looking in for years before that, just having so much respect for this department for people like Sam who do this this work in their community, but also beyond. One of the greatest kind of accomplishments that I see obviously, maybe it's because it's happening in a month, but our conference, being it's grown to this wonderful thing that we're able to connect with a lot more people than I think it started with the few partners at the band office hall and now it's grown to I hope really, one day being in person again, but a gathering of individuals who are like-minded with this you know land based conservation work, Indigenous-led conservation work. And yeah, giving them also a platform to connect.
We're a little bit more Ontario focused than the CRP, which is on a whole other national level, but, uh, yeah, giving that platform. Also, providing that space to connect and discuss with other people again what their successes were, you know things that worked for them, how they can help and how we can help each other. That's also kind of come up in the last few years is, you know, we now get contacted about people who want to start a reptile monitoring program and or you know who can they reach out to do this or help them out with that?
So being able to provide those resources and share resources that have already been compiled, like a lot of the stuff on your website as well, I think that's super important and it's great to see and it's incredible to be a part of.
Kristy Tomkinson
Great, thank you so much Alanna and Samantha it was a pleasure having you on here and for you to share your stories with us today.
Samantha Noganosh
Miigwetch