Approach . | Examples . | References . |
---|---|---|
Training and hiring Indigenous scientists as community-based monitors | The Indigenous Observation Network is an Indigenous-led community-based water quality monitoring network coordinated by the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC). Indigenous community members in Alaska and Canada participate in baseline water quality monitoring programs that acknowledge Indigenous knowledge systems in the Yukon River Basin. | Wilson et al. (2018); https://yukon.fieldscope.org/; www.yritwc.org/ |
The Indigenous Leadership Initiative has partnered with Dechinta Bush University in developing the Guardians Pilot Program, a training opportunity focused on core skills for Indigenous guardians to conduct land use planning, monitoring, and other management projects. | www.ilinationhood.ca/; www.dechinta.ca/; www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-funding/indigenous-guardians-pilot-program.html | |
Creating environmental baselines using traditional knowledge | Traditional Use and Occupancy Studies use GIS and interviews to document and visualize all the ways Indigenous communities use their lands, waters, and resources, in both historical and contemporary contexts. | Tobias (2009); www.ubcic.bc.ca/chief_kerry_s_moose |
Indigenous mapping is mapping by and with Indigenous peoples, where Indigenous knowledge systems and interests guide mapping approaches, implementation, and use. | Pearce and Louis (2008); https://umaine.edu/canam/publications/coming-home-map/; http://mappingback.org/ | |
Creating environmental risk baselines with Indigenous communities (e.g., reassessing multipathway exposure scenarios associated with Indigenous lifeways and foodways, as with the Spokane Tribe) works to create policies that prevent unsafe exposures to environmental contaminants for Indigenous peoples and the broader public. | Harper et al. (2002); www.spokanetribe.com/upload/FCKeditor/Final%20Revised%20Water%20Quality%20Standards.pdf; www.ciea-health.org/ | |
Community-based methodologies developed by the University of Victoria Indigenous Law Research Unit can establish new baselines for environmental regulation by understanding Indigenous laws regulating environmental use within a specific Indigenous community and territory. | Craft (2017); Napoleon (2007); www.uvic.ca/law/about/indigenous/indigenouslawresearchunit/index.php | |
Drafting planning documents with Indigenous communities as equal partners | Directly engaging with traditional knowledge holders/practitioners on policy and governance through a “knowledge-sharing framework” is an open, nonextractive knowledge exchange process among TK holders/elders, as with the Chiefs of Ontario approach to Great Lakes water quality governance. | Arsenault et al. (2018); www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/ |
Creating the policy space for Indigenous communities to work with other government agencies to co-develop and implement environmental plans and regulations based on customary Indigenous law, as with the Hā‘ena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area. | Vaughan et al. (2016); http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/announcements/haena-community-based-subsistence-fishing-area-rule-signed-by-governor/ | |
Supporting Indigenous communities in developing their own plans, assessments, and standards | Indigenous self-representation in policy negotiations is greatly enhanced when Indigenous peoples conduct their own Indigenous-led scientific assessments and land management plans, as with the Xaxli’p Community Forest planning process. This work requires funding for Indigenous communities to hire their own technical experts. | Diver (2017); www.xcfc.ca/ |
Legal and regulatory frameworks recognizing Indigenous governance authority provide essential support for Indigenous science and planning. Examples include the US Clean Water Act “Treatment as a State” provisions, enabling federally recognized tribes to establish their own water quality standards and management decisions. | Diver (2018); www.epa.gov/wqs-tech/tribes-and-water-quality-standards | |
Following Indigenous research methodologies and protocols | Conducting scientific assessments with Indigenous peoples requires respecting place- and people-specific protocols for conducting ethical research with Indigenous communities and recognizing distinct Indigenous ways of knowing. This also includes recognizing First Nations ownership, control, access, and possession of their own intellectual property. | Chief et al. (2016); Arsenault et al. (2018); https://fnigc.ca/ocapr.html |
Approach . | Examples . | References . |
---|---|---|
Training and hiring Indigenous scientists as community-based monitors | The Indigenous Observation Network is an Indigenous-led community-based water quality monitoring network coordinated by the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC). Indigenous community members in Alaska and Canada participate in baseline water quality monitoring programs that acknowledge Indigenous knowledge systems in the Yukon River Basin. | Wilson et al. (2018); https://yukon.fieldscope.org/; www.yritwc.org/ |
The Indigenous Leadership Initiative has partnered with Dechinta Bush University in developing the Guardians Pilot Program, a training opportunity focused on core skills for Indigenous guardians to conduct land use planning, monitoring, and other management projects. | www.ilinationhood.ca/; www.dechinta.ca/; www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-funding/indigenous-guardians-pilot-program.html | |
Creating environmental baselines using traditional knowledge | Traditional Use and Occupancy Studies use GIS and interviews to document and visualize all the ways Indigenous communities use their lands, waters, and resources, in both historical and contemporary contexts. | Tobias (2009); www.ubcic.bc.ca/chief_kerry_s_moose |
Indigenous mapping is mapping by and with Indigenous peoples, where Indigenous knowledge systems and interests guide mapping approaches, implementation, and use. | Pearce and Louis (2008); https://umaine.edu/canam/publications/coming-home-map/; http://mappingback.org/ | |
Creating environmental risk baselines with Indigenous communities (e.g., reassessing multipathway exposure scenarios associated with Indigenous lifeways and foodways, as with the Spokane Tribe) works to create policies that prevent unsafe exposures to environmental contaminants for Indigenous peoples and the broader public. | Harper et al. (2002); www.spokanetribe.com/upload/FCKeditor/Final%20Revised%20Water%20Quality%20Standards.pdf; www.ciea-health.org/ | |
Community-based methodologies developed by the University of Victoria Indigenous Law Research Unit can establish new baselines for environmental regulation by understanding Indigenous laws regulating environmental use within a specific Indigenous community and territory. | Craft (2017); Napoleon (2007); www.uvic.ca/law/about/indigenous/indigenouslawresearchunit/index.php | |
Drafting planning documents with Indigenous communities as equal partners | Directly engaging with traditional knowledge holders/practitioners on policy and governance through a “knowledge-sharing framework” is an open, nonextractive knowledge exchange process among TK holders/elders, as with the Chiefs of Ontario approach to Great Lakes water quality governance. | Arsenault et al. (2018); www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/ |
Creating the policy space for Indigenous communities to work with other government agencies to co-develop and implement environmental plans and regulations based on customary Indigenous law, as with the Hā‘ena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area. | Vaughan et al. (2016); http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/announcements/haena-community-based-subsistence-fishing-area-rule-signed-by-governor/ | |
Supporting Indigenous communities in developing their own plans, assessments, and standards | Indigenous self-representation in policy negotiations is greatly enhanced when Indigenous peoples conduct their own Indigenous-led scientific assessments and land management plans, as with the Xaxli’p Community Forest planning process. This work requires funding for Indigenous communities to hire their own technical experts. | Diver (2017); www.xcfc.ca/ |
Legal and regulatory frameworks recognizing Indigenous governance authority provide essential support for Indigenous science and planning. Examples include the US Clean Water Act “Treatment as a State” provisions, enabling federally recognized tribes to establish their own water quality standards and management decisions. | Diver (2018); www.epa.gov/wqs-tech/tribes-and-water-quality-standards | |
Following Indigenous research methodologies and protocols | Conducting scientific assessments with Indigenous peoples requires respecting place- and people-specific protocols for conducting ethical research with Indigenous communities and recognizing distinct Indigenous ways of knowing. This also includes recognizing First Nations ownership, control, access, and possession of their own intellectual property. | Chief et al. (2016); Arsenault et al. (2018); https://fnigc.ca/ocapr.html |
Note. All URLs last accessed June 27, 2019.