Waabshkigan Shane Monague is the Organizational Lead for Anishinaabek Guardians from the 7th Fire (AG7F), where he supports Indigenous-led environmental stewardship and community capacity-building grounded in traditional Anishinaabek systems, responsibility, and intergenerational knowledge. His work focuses on restoring and strengthening the relationships between people, land, water, and governance that sustain Indigenous stewardship and collective wellbeing.

He serves as an Oshkaabewis, supporting ceremonial and community responsibilities alongside his professional work. He is also a second-generation Indian Residential School Survivor, and this intergenerational history has shaped his life, responsibilities, and commitment to cultural continuity, community wellbeing, and responsibility to future generations.

From a young age, Shane has been involved in Indigenous youth leadership and community governance. He served on local school and youth councils in his home community and became active in grassroots Indigenous movements, learning directly from Knowledge Holders and Indigenous women leaders who emphasized land stewardship, water protection, and collective responsibility. As a youth participant in the Our Water – Our Future (Water I <3 You) project led by the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), Shane travelled across so-called Canada in hia early years to build practical skills in water protection, leadership, and advocacy—an experience that helped solidify his path toward climate and environmental work rooted in Indigenous law and responsibility.

As part of an Indigenous youth internship, Shane also spent time in Colombia, where he worked alongside Muisca Indigenous communities, supporting community-led initiatives and learning from their approaches to land stewardship, cultural continuity, and Indigenous governance. This experience deepened his understanding of shared Indigenous struggles and responsibilities across Turtle Island and Abya Yala, and reinforced the importance of international Indigenous solidarity grounded in local leadership and self-determination.

With over a decade of experience in Indigenous youth leadership, community organizing, and climate and environmental initiatives, Shane has contributed to youth and community advisory councils at the local, provincial, national, and international levels. His work spans Indigenous governance spaces, policy-adjacent processes, and global advocacy forums, including the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and UN climate negotiations. Across these spaces, he centers Indigenous youth voices and traditional leadership, prioritizing meaningful engagement and the respectful inclusion of Indigenous peoples and knowledge systems in the development of long-term, sustainable solutions.

Professionally, Shane also works as a Digital Media Specialist with Sacred Earth, supporting partnerships with Indigenous communities across Turtle Island through digital storytelling, communications, and technical strategy. In this role, he works alongside an Indigenous-led team advancing a just energy transition toward a sustainable future where Indigenous peoples’ treaty, inherent, and internationally reaffirmed rights are upheld in so-called Canada.

Across all areas of his work, Shane is committed to strengthening youth-led systems change, advancing Indigenous stewardship and self-determination, and building bridges between generations and peoples. His leadership is grounded in Anishinaabek teachings, accountability to community, and responsibility to the generations yet to come.