It's expected to be another year of extreme weather. 

Global temperatures are on the rise and here in the north, Art Petahtegoose, an elder of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation near Sudbury, says he is worried about climate change. 

"We don't see the duration of the coldness in the way that was witnessed by my father and grandfathers time." said Petahtegoose.

He says he's seen the resources of the natural world degrade over the years.

"When you walk on the land, you notice that spruce trees, in particular, oak trees, they're dying, and we say it must be the climate, its shifting." said Petahtegoose.

He worries about mass migrations of people, requiring refuge from rising temperatures and sea levels, which he says could lead to further exploitation of his people and their land.

It's a concern partly rooted in his people's experience of colonization.

"With the coming of new populations of people, the animals and the life that we depended on shifted, because it began to be exploited." said Petahtegoose.

Will Morin is an Indigenous studies professor at the University of Sudbury, and shares Petahtegoose's concerns.

“It’s a form of ecological genocide.” said Morin.

He says the impact of climate change on First Nations touches the very root of the community.

"Our culture comes from the land, and so when the culture is at risk of being eliminated because the land is being eliminated or exterminated or evolving to the point where it's unusable, then so is that of the culture." said Morin.

Morin suggests a different approach to tackling climate change: changing the way children learn about the environment and incorporating more Indigenous understanding of the natural world.

"We can't be teaching what we taught before. We have to teach new ways, new materials, new methods and new pedagogies." said Morin.

Petahtegoose says he thinks education by example is the key.

"My parents used to comment ‘I can't teach you if I don't live what I want you to learn.’" said Petahtegoose.

The elder wants more people to understand climate change through the lens of traditional Indigenous teachings about nature.

He says he hopes that knowledge will be used to help the next generation better protect the planet.