Indigenous community-led energy governance as environmental sustainability

Indigenous energy sovereignty allows First Nations to reshape energy systems to align with their lands, cultures, and collective futures. In Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation, however, energy sovereignty is hindered by systemic barriers: limited infrastructure, technical capacity gaps, and persistent exclusion from regional decision-making. This paper argues that community-led governance, the exercise of local authority over energy decisions, is the primary route for achieving energy sovereignty, defined here as the inherent right of a Nation to determine its own energy path. Central to this transition is a shift in how energy is understood. Rather than a technical end-state, energy sovereignty is an ongoing relational process rooted in Cree principles of self-determination and intergenerational responsibility. We explore this through a community-led approaches including a land-based research framework and co-developed by the Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation in partnership with our research team and guided by Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Using sharing circles and land-based learning, we show how energy needs are inextricably linked to the health of the land and community relationships. We situate these findings within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) Calls to Action, the primary policy framework for addressing Indigenous justice in Canada. While the TRC is a Canadian-specific mandate to redress colonial harms, its emphasis on equitable partnerships and the recognition of Indigenous law provides a scalable model for decolonizing energy governance globally. This work demonstrates that culturally grounded, environmentally responsible energy futures are only possible when Indigenous Nations lead the governance processes that define them.