Using two-eyed seeing to bridge Western science and Indigenous knowledge systems and understand long-term change in the Saskatchewan River Delta, Canada

Although researchers now recognize that Indigenous knowledge can strengthen environmental planning and assessment, little research has empirically demonstrated how to bring together Indigenous knowledge and Western science to form a more complete picture of social-ecological change. This study attem...

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Published inInternational journal of water resources development Vol. 36; no. 5; pp. 757 - 776
Main Authors Abu, Razak, Reed, Maureen G., Jardine, Timothy D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Guildford Routledge 02.09.2020
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Dams
Environmental assessment
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental planning
Esox lucius
Indigenous knowledge
Indigenous Peoples' knowledge
Knowledge
pike
Residents
river deltas
Rivers
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan River Delta
Social interactions
social-ecological system
summer
two-eyed seeing
water
Western science
Canada
Saskatchewan River
Saskatchewan
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Summary:Although researchers now recognize that Indigenous knowledge can strengthen environmental planning and assessment, little research has empirically demonstrated how to bring together Indigenous knowledge and Western science to form a more complete picture of social-ecological change. This study attempts to fill this gap by using 'two-eyed seeing' - an approach that brings together Indigenous and Western perspectives on an equal basis - to collect and analyze changes in the Saskatchewan River Delta since upstream dams were built in the 1960s. Results found corroboration across the knowledge systems that operation of dams has lowered summer flows and created unnaturally high winter flows. The knowledge systems, however, diverged in some areas, such as the production of northern pike, where local residents observed abundant pike but records showed the pike commercial harvest declining to near zero. Indigenous knowledge alone provided information about berries and berry seasons. This two-eyed seeing approach can enhance environmental assessment and planning by providing a more accurate and coherent narrative of long-term social-ecological change.
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ISSN:0790-0627
1360-0648
1360-0648
DOI:10.1080/07900627.2018.1558050