Accounting for intracultural variability in first nation environmental knowledge: A requisite for environmental monitoring and impact assessments |
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| Institution: | 1. École de psychologie, Université Laval and Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, QC, Canada;2. Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université Laval and Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, QC, Canada;3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA;1. Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada;2. Ecojustice Law Centre, Calgary, Canada;1. Faculty of Environment, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6;2. Hakai Institute, PO Box 309, Heriot Bay, BC, Canada V0P 1H0;3. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6;4. Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3;5. Department of Geography, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd E, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1;1. School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada;2. Health Studies, and the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;3. Axe Santé des populations et pratiques optimales en santé, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada;4. Public Health Department of the James Bay Cree Territory, Quebec, Canada;5. Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
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| Abstract: | In many environmental monitoring and impact assessment processes, Indigenous communities are treated as intellectually homogenous and intracultural variation in environmental knowledge often goes unaccounted for. This not only poses obvious risks to the effectiveness of environmental impact assessments but also gives standing to those who question the credibility of traditional ecological knowledge and its contribution to environmental monitoring and assessment programs altogether. In this paper we describe the steps that were taken to account for intracultural variability in First Nation knowledge of fish and the potential impacts associated with the Peace River oil sands development in Alberta, Canada. Involving the delivery of a household survey to 1,127 First Nation households in 11 Peace River communities, our approach was successful in identifying regional, community, and household variability in fishing activity, and has allowed us to differentiate novice from expert knowledge holders. This research demonstrates the need to account for intracultural variability in First Nations environmental knowledge in order for traditional ecological knowledge to make meaningful contributions to environmental monitoring and assessment programs. |
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