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Leave a legacy of healthy lands with us.
ILS brings together Nations, land leaders, forestry professionals, governments, industry, and partners to share knowledge, build relationships, and advance sustainable forestry. Come to the fire to exchange ideas, spark new possibilities, and carry knowledge, connections, and action back to your community and the land.
2027
Full Circle Highlights.
ILS is a living cycle of knowledge, relationships, and action — bringing people together, carrying what is shared back to the land, and returning with the experience that fuels what comes next.
DAY 1 | BUILDING
From building → to action.
Come together to strengthen relationships, and advance rights, jurisdiction, and future priorities.
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Opening Ceremony
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Keynote: East, West, North, South
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Panel: UNDRIP
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Panel: Revitalizing Governance
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Panel: Forest Degradation
DAY 2 | BURNING
From burning → to practice.
Share applied knowledge, lived experience, and Nation-led practices in action across territories.
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Opening Ceremony
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Session: The Good Fire
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Panel: Community Voices
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Panel: Climate Change Adaptation
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Tours: Themed & Exclusive Activities
DAY 3 | BLOOMING
From blooming → to outcomes.
Explore innovation, partnerships, and initiatives that deliver outcomes, opportunity, and impact.
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Opening Ceremony
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Panel: Circular Economy
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Panel: Food Security & Sovereignty
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Panel: Youth and Water Stewardship
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Gala: First People's Hall Exhibit
Meet
the Artist.
TESSA SHANK
Tessa Shank is an Anishinaabe multidisciplinary artist and member of Nipissing First Nation. Migiisii Mndookwe — Eagle Spirit Woman — and of the Turtle Clan, Tessa’s practice weaves Anishinaabeg language and traditional stories with teachings of nature and ethnobotany.
She reinterprets traditional Anishinaabeg teachings through contemporary mediums and concepts, bringing together the past, present and future. Working primarily in digital vector illustration and public art, Tessa explores and experiments with materials, mediums and processes, and is particularly interested in the juxtaposition of technology and nature — traditions of time immemorial through an ultramodern lens.
The heartbeat of her artwork is guided by Anishinaabeg culture, with an intention to highlight traditional knowledge and teachings and our connections to water, land and sky — the things that connect us all.
2027
Venue & Stay.
The Indigenous Lands Symposium will take place at The Westin Ottawa.
A room block at the Westin is available for guests travelling for the conference.
GROUP RATE
$259
*Starting At
BOOK BEFORE
JAN 28
*5:00PM January 28, 2027
Connect in purpose, practice, and culture.
The Indigenous Lands Symposium (ILS) brings together hundreds of stakeholders connected in shaping our future lands.
This annual gathering, has focused attendees in 3 days of programming centralized on themes of circular economy development, land stewardship and conservation, and cultural revitalization.
