<b>WAABIZHESHIWAG (MARTENS AMERICANA) IN THE HEART OF ANISHINAABE-AKI</b>

<p dir="ltr">Waabizheshiwag (<i>Martes americana</i>) are indicators of healthy mature forests. Current waabizheshi geographic range in the Laurentian Mixed Forest (LMF) overlaps with that of ojiig (<i>Pekania pennanti</i>). Ojiigag have a relatively high foot-load, waabizheshiwag have a low foot-load adapted for deep snow conditions. Cost of movement may mediate these species niche partitioning in areas like the LMF. We do not know how climate change will impact species whose niches are mediated by mechanisms closely linked to climate, such as snow. I attempted to use agent-based modeling to project future waabizheshi population dynamics as impacted by future snow and land-use conditions. I predicted in simulations with shallow snow waabizheshi habitat and population levels will constrict. I was unsuccessful in coding a biologically relevant model in Netlogo. I described the troubleshooting methods and the limitations I encountered. I also collected camera traps data across the LMF. I modeled multispecies conditional and marginal occupancy for two species of interest. I found that forest management unit was the site covariate with the strongest effect on predicted site occupancy; however, this difference was not statistically significant. My results indicate that management goals may be a stronger mediating factor of niche partition than historical snow depth. Finally, I used story-telling methodologies to illustrate the tensions between my values of Anishinaabeg reciprocal kinship and the extractive nature of my work in conquistador-settler (King, 2019) natural resource spaces. My goal is to trace the tensions I feel and confront the delusions that provide me with comfort.</p>