The Marian Watershed Stewardship Program Results Workshop was held in Yellowknife on March 22, 2017. The event was hosted by Tłı̨chǫ Government’s Lands Protection Department.

The objectives of the workshop were to:

1. Bring together elders and youth from each of the four communities, Lands staff and investigators to share results of “Marian 2016 trip” environmental monitoring; and
2. Provide a forum for discussion between investigators and communities. The workshop examined research conducted in September 2016 in the Marian River and it focused primarily on water, sediment, core and fish results as well as developing a plan for future sampling.

Scientists and Lands staff gave presentations. Interactive discussions were held to generate understanding of monitoring concepts and gather feedback on the future of the project. In addition to the monitoring results, several key points were discussed during the workshop: Communities want to be more involved in monitoring (identifying local questions, helping analyze data), which could lead to capacity building. Communities want to be informed throughout the monitoring process. It is important for investigators to communicate with community members in plain language before, during, and after their work is done. After analyzing the results, the general water and fish quality of Marian River is good at the times and locations that the samples were collected.