Although CIER hired Jason Cook as a Climate Change Associate in late 2023, this wasn’t Jason’s first encounter with CIER.
When CIER shared the Environmental & Education Training Program (EETP) magazine this spring, attentive readers may have noticed Jason’s name within the pages. CIER asked Jason to share more about his experiences and the outcomes of life after EETP, and this is what he shared:
“CIER came into my life at the perfect time. It was particularly important for my own development and decolonization path—by once again remembering my own stories and teachings of being Niheyew Anishinaabe Siksika Endow. I’m very grateful to CIER and all the helpers within for this training. EETP was a huge influence on my life and formed who I am today.
I was also very fortunate to work within the environmental field, and as environmental professionals, we helped trail-blaze, as many Indigenous Nations were not in the field at the time. The goal was to help instill and provide knowledge, and be at the table within the environmental field. This helped us become trained and become a voice within environmentalism. As Indigenous Nations, we need to be at those tables so that our voices are added to the conversation.
Our world and the footprints we leave will hopefully enable us to help in the protection of Ni Mama Aki (Mother Earth). I have a deep respect for all creation stories of spirituality and peoples’ traditional territories. I am deeply passionate about the protection of this part of the world and creation—fulfilling who we are and empowering us. I have pursued my education and life experiences around these aspects. I want to thank CIER for helping restore that, and for everyone who experienced it.
Nikauniginah blessings all my relations.” – Jason Cook, Climate Change Associate, CIER
