Protecting the environment through Indigenous story

Learn more about the Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies. 

The postcard on the fridge

“I came across a…postcard of Royal Roads, and I put it on my fridge, and I just remember saying to myself, ‘I'm going to go there one day,” Katłįà (Catherine) Lafferty says.  

Katłįà is a Dene woman from Yellowknife Dene First Nation. She is a proud mother and grandmother, an author, and manager for the Relaw program at West Coast Environmental Law.  

Although Katłįà never graduated from high school, she attended Keyano College for Child and Family Services and went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies at Royal Roads and her Juris Indigenarum Doctorate from the University of Victoria.  

“For me to go to post-secondary was a really big deal, and it took a lot for me to get to that point of being able to walk through those doors,” Katłįà explains. “[When] I completed my diploma in Child and Family Services…I had a hunger for learning…and I put the picture of Royal Roads on my fridge.” 

“The day that it actually happened, when I was walking up to [Royal Roads], it looked exactly like the picture, even the weather was the same, and I was like, ‘wow…I'm here, and I can't believe I made it here,’ because I kind of beat the odds.”  

“Royal Roads really was the pivotal moment for me in my education.” 

Katłįà started her Master of Arts in Environmental Management at Royal Roads as well, but she says she had to take a break after the first year to go back home because affordability as a single mom was a challenge. 

“It was really, really hard… I had to give up and go home with my tail between my legs. I promised myself I would one day go back and further my education,” she continues.  

And she did. Ten years later she completed her law degree at UVic and created a diverse career for herself.  

Bringing Dene voices to the climate conversation

Outside of her environmental advocacy work, Katłįà is also an author, and has written five books so far. She says her latest book, Mother Earth is Our Elder was a labor of love.  

“It's basically my love letter to the North,” she says. 

The book brings together diverse voices to answer the call for help on the climate crisis.  

“It’s me going to Elders and Knowledge carriers [who] hold a lot of valuable insight into the state of the world…when we're talking about caring for the land and water, and capitalism, She says.  

“I wanted to do that work very…fluidly and not have to do it as a researcher. I wanted to do it in our own way and not bound by institutional formalities.”  

She says the three-year journey — one that required stepping away from her legal career — was well worth it for the time she was able to spend with her community. 

“It’s important to have our Dene voices out in the world.” 

A call to protect northern lands and waters

“A lot of people don't know who the Dene are…[and this book is] very educative and informative,” she says. “People need to know that [the Northwest Territories] has the largest freshwater basin in the world…and it needs to be protected.” 

Katłįà’s career has largely centralized around the environment. She chose to study justice after realizing her community had been victim to environmental injustice, and her recent work focuses on protecting the land and waters.  

“That's one of the big driving forces behind the book, too, is to talk about how important it is to protect our waters downstream.”  

Sharing knowledge with care

“One of our [Dene] laws is to share our knowledge but it's hard, because, when you're putting [knowledge] out there in the world, you don't have control over what people are going to do with it.  

“I feel like I'm going against the grain a little bit with putting some of that knowledge on paper.”  

“But I trust that it's going to go into the world in a good way, because there were good intentions behind it, so I'm just hoping that it will remain…a useful learning tool for people that want to know what they can do about climate change,” she concludes.  

Mother Earth is Our Elder is available at the Royal Roads Library.