Thanks, Jamie.
Bringing up the constitution, in the Haida Nation constitution, our mandate is to steward the lands and waters but also to continue to strive for sovereignty and self-sufficiency for the nation and the island.
I'll reel it back a little bit, and then get more into your direct question. The self-sufficiency part is maybe threefold. One part is that, as a government and as a nation, we need to get to the place where all of those revenues aren't leaving Haida Gwaii and going to Victoria or Ottawa. We need to figure out that equation of what's needed to run government on the island, the nation and local governments and continue to build towards that self-sufficiency, but also recognize that part of this process is coming to terms with the fact that we are part of Canada and British Columbia and this Confederation, and how does all this work?
You know, we've been in this period without agreements and without formalizing it. Sometimes it's been like we're acknowledging each other but not acknowledging each other, and we have still found ways to navigate it. It starts to get more formal as we continue down this path. Also, at an individual, household, community and clan level, our benchmark is our ancestors. The Haida Nation, before the coming of outsiders and the imposition of Crown governments, was self-sufficient and sovereign. We had vast cedars and an ability to build all our own housing, make our own canoes for transportation and add value. Haida art is known around the world. Totem poles come from Haida Gwaii and are known globally.
Our people were using the resources in a respectful and sustainable way, adding value, bringing them to the mainland for trade for things that we didn't have on the island that could come from across Canada to the coast, and we traded beyond the coast down into California and part of that extensive trade network. We have a history of being self-sufficient and knowing how to use Haida Gwaii to sustain ourselves. That was disrupted with the Indian Act system. We became dependent on government for services, and they restricted our use of the territory to meet our needs. A lot of this is about continuing to heal and unpack those learned behaviours to get back to that self-sufficiency that we had at clan and village levels and on a national level.
With that said, a lot of the value has been extracted, so the environment we're working in now is in a big deficit. There are a lot of environmental and ecosystem damages and challenges that need to be repaired.
We are also in this reconciliation process with the province and taking them to court over a tree farm licence transfer. We came to acquire the largest tree farm licence on Haida Gwaii, so we're one of the largest employers in the forest industry currently. We've encouraged many of our members to become contractors and small business owners. We are right in the middle of this web of trying to find a balance between creating meaningful careers and the restoration of Haida Gwaii through the stewardship economy. We have a number of different trusts that provide resources for stewardship work and work at the nation, as well as carbon credits. We're part of the largest—
