Sky Parcels Essay

This story is meant to inspire others to think beyond the
boundaries imposed by history—to see the world as I do. I
know with certainty that the sky is unceded. The Treaty
Commissioners who came to negotiate on behalf of the
colonial empire did not arrive by air, but they could have. By
the late 19th century, they might have considered travelling
by hot air balloon or airship. Yet, to them, the sky was not a
resource to be measured or governed; it was simply an
expanse beyond their concern.
For the Indigenous Nations negotiating those treaties,
however, the sky was far more than empty space. It was a
rich and living resource. It provided aerial food, guided our
navigation day and night, and served as the realm of spirit—
the place where life begins and where it returns after death.
The sky was and remains deeply embedded in our clan
systems, traditional stories, and ancestral knowledge. It is a
domain we have governed since time immemorial.
This story is a call to recognize that the sky, like the land and
water, is part of our unceded sovereignty—a reminder that
our laws, our knowledge, and our spirits extend upward
beyond the horizon.