values
At Firestone Policy Group, our commitment begins with putting people first. We deeply respect and integrate Indigenous traditional teachings into our core values. We strive to honor traditions while embracing innovation, guided by the principles of the 7 Grandfather Teachings and the Nehiyaw Plains Cree and Métis Settlement traditions in northeastern Alberta.
The biggest medicine in the world is sâkihiwêwin (love), and just behind it is nanâskomowin (gratitude).
-Elder Don Campbell, (Leading Thunderbird Man), Norway House Cree Nation
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At Firestone Policy Group, we are grateful to the Great Creator of all good things and the four sacred directions.
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We are committed to leading in the governance-policy space through okimâskwêwak nîkânastamâkêwin / Matriarchal Leadership.
This is a relational ethic, rooted in miyo pimâtisiwin - a Cree concept of living a good and balanced life - informed by our natural laws, and grounded in land-based kinship practices, honoring language and ceremony. It is a deliberative and generative type of systems thinking.
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We recognize the capacity of each human spirit and de-center colonized language, biases, entities, frameworks, tools and concepts that may keep us from living in alignment with natural laws.
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We aim to show up with humility, gratitude, and love for others. We do this by elevating grassroots voices and needs, embracing empathetic, respectful, nurturing, relational practices. We support Nations to return to their own Indigenous Wise Practices to empower their citizens.
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We deeply value justice, equity, the well-being, safety, and dignity of women and children. We aim to ensure our work leads to sustainable impact, across seven generations. We offer our approach not to privilege the Cree way, but as an adaptable framework to ensure we contribute our medicine (knowledge and skills) to help lift up others, in the best way we know how.
Land Acknowledgement | askīyi-wimamīhcītotamowin
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I acknowledge that this website was made in the unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. I extend my gratitude to the Snuneymuxw Mustimuhw (Snuneymuxw People) for their enduring stewardship and deep connection to their te’mexw (land), here in what is now known as Nanaimo. I am grateful to learn from those who carry kinship teachings rooted in the land, providing us a framework for relationality and reciprocity. I remain committed to ongoing learning, solidarity, and challenging the colonial default. I recognize the responsibilities and relationships embedded in the Douglas Treaty and affirm that we are all treaty people. ahâw