Indigenous co-stewardship of North American moose: recommendations and a vision for a restoration framework

Moose (Alces alces; mooz [singular], moozoog [plural] in Anishinaabemowin, Ojibwe language) are an important species to many Indigenous rights-holders and stakeholders throughout their circumpolar range. Management of moose can often lead to conflict when various perspectives of Indigenous nations are not recognized or appreciated. During the 55th North American Moose Conference and Workshop held in Grand Portage, Minnesota, USA, we held a workshop with 145 participants centered around co-stewardship of moose among various Indigenous nations, federal, state, and provincial governments, academia, and non-governmental agencies. Using a facilitator, the participants identified opportunities and challenges surrounding issues related to moose management. Participants then further identified priority improvements and action steps for co-stewardship. Six core principles of Indigenous co-stewardship were developed: 1) recognition of Indigenous Sovereignty, which specifies that co-stewardship must begin with a recognition of the sovereignty of Indigenous nations and their inherent rights to manage, conserve, and preserve natural and cultural resources within their ancestral lands; 2) shared responsibility, where co-stewardship is a shared responsibility between Indigenous nations, federal governments, and state governments; 3) cultural and ecological respect, which stipulates that co-stewardship should honor the cultural significance of moose to Indigenous nations and recognize the ecological importance of moose within the broader ecosystem; 4) inclusive decision-making, which details that co-stewardship requires inclusive and equitable decision-making processes that involve meaningful consultation and consent from Indigenous nations; 5) resource sharing and capacity building, where co-stewardship involves the sharing of resources and knowledge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners; and 6) adaptive management and sustainability, specifying that co-stewardship should embrace adaptive management principles, where management strategies are continuously evaluated, adjusted, and improved based on new information and changing conditions. Some of the key takeaways from the workshop included that it will be essential to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing into an equitable and inclusive management system, there are existing models of co-stewardship that can be built upon, it is critical to build trust among all key stakeholders and rights-holders, and it will be important to establish formal and informal collaborative systems among all partners to support co-stewardship at all levels. We discuss a study and synthesis on Indigenous co-stewardship of moose and offer a synopsis and recommendations to advance restoration of moose in North America.