Northeastern British Columbia is decorated with vast forests, grasslands, and rocky escarpments. Within this vast, resource-rich landscape is an abundance of life.
It is home to Simone Chipesia, President of Asiskiy Construction, who has built the company to be one deeply rooted in her ancestral family lands and the traditional territory of her community, Blueberry River First Nations.
The company, which is member-owned, has an official motto of “Building a Sustainable Generation.” Operating throughout the region, Asiskiy provides essential services across the energy, industrial, and mining sectors. It specializes in civil earthworks, as well as decommissioning and demolition, and reclamation and remediation.
Chipesia is a leader both in her company and her community, and one who understands the reciprocal relationship between both the land and her people, and that philosophy is a pillar of her leadership.
Fort St. John is the largest urban centre in the Northeast, and one of the oldest European settlements in British Columbia, but it has always been home to Indigenous peoples. Thriving from the land and its resources, and for Chipesia especially, building upon it, is a family tradition.
“My roots are deeply embedded in the construction world,” Chipesia explains. “I was shaped by the resource development industry. It has profoundly impacted my family, my community, and our lands, dating back as far as the 1700s.”
This history, unique to northeastern BC, continues to inform and guide her approach to heading an Indigenous-owned enterprise in an industry where they have historically not been able to establish a strong presence.
There are many challenges that Chipesia is not shy to admit, such as barriers borne of the Canadian state’s relationship with Indigenous peoples, both in the past and present.
“First Nation-owned businesses face a range of complex and deep-rooted challenges that come from both historical and ongoing injustices. These include lateral violence within communities, which can undermine unity and progress, as well as the need to break through systemic barriers that were never designed to support Indigenous success.”
Furthermore, Chipesia says another challenge is the growing public fatigue regarding social justice initiatives, which is paradoxically growing alongside an energized younger generation of Indigenous people who want to reclaim a space for themselves and have a greater voice.
“All of this is compounded by an increasingly aggressive and polarized political climate, making the path forward even more difficult for Indigenous business owners striving to create sustainable futures for their communities.”
However, Chipesia built Asiskiy into a thriving force by anchoring its identity in Indigenous values, as well as a commitment to sustainability, and does not plan on changing course. At Asiskiy, environmental stewardship goes far beyond corporate policy, and Chipesia says that it is a cultural necessity.
“Environmental stewardship in the context of resource development means staying compliant and up to date with the latest mitigation policies, procedures, and sustainability targets,” she says. “Indigenous and environmental stewardship are synonymous. We belong to the land, and the land belongs to us, and any good relationship is built on reciprocity.”
One nugget of wisdom that Chipesia brings to the table is the law of equivalent exchange.
“As hunters, gatherers, and gardeners, we’ve always known that you must sustain the environment you take from to ensure its ability to renew. It’s that respect and consideration that I breathe into Asiskiy Construction.”
This is an approach that Chipesia also blends into her daily routines.
“Many Indigenous practices begin with prayer and gratitude, giving thanks for the day, and the privilege to experience it,” she says. “Because these practices are part of my everyday life, they naturally influence how I lead projects and engage with communities. As a result, community relations and positive project outcomes aren’t something that need to be manufactured, because they’re built through genuine connection and consistency.”
The role of technology is key to achieving Chipesia’s vision. However, she still cautions against mistaking technology for mere digitization.
“At its core, technology means scientific knowledge,” Chipesia clarifies. “Technology and innovation are the driving forces for finding balance between industry and the environment. But ultimately, it’s up to us to utilize it wisely and with purpose.”
Chipesia’s principles of restorative justice are also present in how she leads at Asiskiy.
Restorative justice is a different way to do justice that focuses on compassion, respect, and accountability. It uses healing circles with victims, offenders, and community members to deal with the harm caused by crime. Offenders take active responsibility by agreeing to and completing reparative actions. If they are successful, they get closure, but if they fail, they go back to the regular court system.
“It emphasizes listening, understanding harm, and finding paths forward through accountability, empathy, and mutual respect,” she says.
Chipesia insists on embedding these Indigenous practices of conflict resolution to ensure that Asiskiy’s culture fosters genuine collaboration, rather than purely transactional interactions.
Despite her successes at Asiskiy and elsewhere, Chipesia remains vigilant regarding the barriers still faced by Indigenous participants in the Canadian energy sector. There are still limits on capacity, constraints on finance, limited access to capital, and higher-than-average insurance rates, all of which pose substantial obstacles. Another challenge is the lingering double standards.
“On one hand, we’re told we must achieve success independently, and then on the other, we’re forced to depend on processes that require external approval, gatekeeping, or consent just to participate,” Chipesia observes. “This limits our autonomy while holding us to standards that others are not equally expected to meet.”
If an Indigenous business is owned by a registered member, it should be given the opportunity to enter the market and compete alongside established institutions that have long benefited from opportunities rooted in Indigenous lands and resources.
She is an advocate for cutting out these double standards by genuinely adhering to policies that promote diversity and inclusion.
Additionally, construction and natural resources remain male-dominated industries. For Chipesia, being a visible leader in those sectors is a way to promote a greater space for both women and Indigenous people.
“At Asiskiy, leadership begins with me. Each time I speak out against inequities, exclusionary practices, or prejudice, I aim to model what it means to be an advocate and to show that it’s not only acceptable, but necessary, to support others in a vocal and visible way,” she says.
Added to this is her willingness to have conversations about realities that make people uncomfortable but are still necessary, such as health, education, and governance issues in First Nations communities. This is crucial to Asiskiy Construction’s goal of helping to build a “Sustainable Generation.”
