By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer In the foothills of Quebec\u2019s Appalachian Mountains, a woman with M\u00e9tis heritage is working to return a parcel of land to a nearby First Nation, marking a step toward restoring Indigenous stewardship over ancestral territory. Since 2006, Fran\u00e7oise de Montigny-Pelletier has owned the land at the border of Sainte-Perp\u00e9tue and Tourville in southern Quebec. She bought it to protect its ecosystems as a tribute to her Indigenous heritage and the former owner who protected the land with the same concern for biodiversity. She doesn\u2019t see it as private property. \u201cWe don\u2019t own the land. It\u2019s our mother,\u201d said Montigny-Pelletier, who considers herself a guardian of \u201cMother Earth.\u201d \u201cI am here to protect it.\u201d For almost two decades, the forested land… <\/p>\n
By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer In the foothills of Quebec\u2019s Appalachian Mountains, a woman with M\u00e9tis heritage is working to return a parcel of land to a nearby First Nation, marking a step toward restoring Indigenous stewardship over ancestral territory. Since 2006, Fran\u00e7oise de Montigny-Pelletier has owned the land at the border of Sainte-Perp\u00e9tue and Tourville in southern Quebec. She bought it to protect its ecosystems as a tribute to her Indigenous heritage and the former owner who protected the land with the same concern for biodiversity. She doesn\u2019t see it as private property. \u201cWe don\u2019t own the land. It\u2019s our mother,\u201d said Montigny-Pelletier, who considers herself a guardian of \u201cMother Earth.\u201d \u201cI am here to protect it.\u201d For almost two decades, the forested land... <\/p>\n