Indigenous Engagement
RPBO and Indigenous Partnerships
Rocky Point Bird Observatory believes that meaningful bird conservation depends on strong partnerships with Indigenous Peoples, whose stewardship of the lands, waters, and wildlife spans time immemorial. Birds move freely across territories, making collaboration essential to understanding and protecting the ecosystems we share. By working together, western scientific approaches and Indigenous Knowledge systems can complement one another, creating a more complete understanding of biodiversity while supporting conservation that is respectful, reciprocal, and grounded in place.
RPBO is committed to building long-term partnerships with First Nations that are based on listening, learning, and sharing. We seek opportunities to collaborate on research, monitoring, education, and stewardship initiatives in ways that respect Indigenous rights, knowledge, and leadership. Our goal is not simply to conduct research, but to build relationships that contribute to healthier ecosystems and stronger communities.
RPBO established the Indigenous Liaison role in 2024 to support Indigenous collaboration. The Liaison helps cultivate and maintain relationships with First Nations, facilitates opportunities for knowledge sharing, and provides insight and guidance on RPBO's approach to partnership. The role also helps ensure that RPBO approaches its work with cultural awareness, respect, and reciprocity, while identifying opportunities to support Indigenous-led conservation priorities.
We recognize that reconciliation is an ongoing journey. By strengthening our relationships with Indigenous communities, RPBO hopes to contribute to the conservation of birds, biodiversity, and culturally significant landscapes for generations to come.
Partnering for Seabird Conservation at ƛ̓ušiiʔaaʔaq / Swiftsure Bank
In May, 2026, RPBO partnered with the Pacheedaht Marine Mammal Team with funding from Indigenous Tourism BC to do a three day seabird training workshop. RPBO's Joachim Bertrands met the team in Port Renfrew and worked with them on seabird ID and survey methodologies before heading offshore to ƛ ̓ušiiʔaaʔaq /Swiftsure Bank. The training quickly became an opportunity for shared learning and discovery. Together, the team documented 1,200 Pink-footed Shearwater, 4,000 Red-necked Phalarope, and a staggering 22,400 Sabine's Gull.
ƛ ̓ušiiʔaaʔaq/Swiftsure is known to be one of the most important places on earth for Pink-footed Shearwater, listed as Endangered in Canada. Researchers satellite tagging Sabine's Gulls at their breeding grounds in the Arctic had suggested that their entire Pacific population was staging at ƛ ̓ušiiʔaaʔaq/Swiftsure during migration, but until this trip nobody had ever reported so many Sabine's Gull at one time, setting a new global high count record!
Over the coming year, RPBO, Sea View Marine Sciences and Pacheedaht Marine Mammal Team will continue to do surveys at ƛ ̓ušiiʔaaʔaq/Swiftsure Bank complementing Pacheedaht's existing marine mammal surveys initiated in 2020 by Port of Vancouver ECHO Program. Together, RPBO, Pacheedaht and Sea View, hope to increase understanding and awareness of how significant this area is to seabirds.
Black-throated Gray Warbler
"This design for the Rocky Point Bird Observatory's 30th Anniversary honours the Black-throated Gray Warbler using Coast Salish art. The artwork is representative of this unique bird species and also references traditional Coast Salish design. Coast Salish shapes flow through the bird's body and within the outer pattern, honouring the flow of movement and energy in these birds and on the land. It was a very fun challenge to draw them in a more figurative way than the more abstracted style I am used to. I am honoured to have been asked to do this design to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory and all the work they do."
Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun, 2024
Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun (he/they) is an artist and storyteller from the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, BC. His interdisciplinary art practice is rooted in honouring and celebrating the teachings and stories passed down by his family, community, and culture. He works across a range of mediums, including digital art, painting, sculpture, installation, creative writing, and curation. He currently resides on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.