The project monitors wildlife, environmental and human health issues
A new research project has launched at the University of Guelph, and it’s already begun monitoring environmental, wildlife, and human health issues.
U of G professor Dr. Diana Lewis is spearheading the initiative, and she’s working with a team of transdisciplinary researchers and Indigenous communities to get results.
The project came about as it did due to the current reliance of Western knowledge systems. Lewis said in a U of G release that while these systems are the basis for policies, risk assessments, and environmental monitoring, they fail to consider Indigenous ways of knowing and don’t always catch onto environmental health risks.
One such example is the environmental damage done in the Mi’kmaq community of Pictou Landing First Nation in Nova Scotia following the opening of a mill in the 1960s. Studies of the ecosystem showed no apparent problems.
However, community Elders recall watching fish swim to the surface of the water and gulp for air just after effluent started flowing from the mill.
“Indigenous Peoples recognize the interconnectedness of ecosystem, animal and human health,” says the release. “The relational worldview recognizes that human activities, such as pollution from industrial development, have widespread impacts, including biodiversity loss and increased respiratory illness for humans and wildlife.”
When Lewis began looking into the matter through an Indigenous lens in 2010, she collected health and cancer records from the Mi’kmaq community, other First Nations, and non-Indigenous populations.
She found higher rates of cancer in Pictou Landing First Nation that the government’s environmental risk assessment missed. She and Knowledge Holders from the area have since developed a cultural framework based on the fish story to explain how the Mi’kmaq community was impacted.
Lewis’ current research will expand on her findings at Mi’kmaq, and she is now looking for input on health concerns from Cree, Chipewyan, Métis, Haudenosaunee, and other Indigenous peoples across Canada.
She is also interested in collaborating with Indigenous and non-Indigenous students specializing in environmental science, math and statistics, and Indigenous research methodologies.
“While we are working towards more inclusionary policies and risk-based assessments that recognize community health from a holistic lens, updating assessment methods can benefit all communities, not just Indigenous communities,” said Lewis in the release. “Relational worldview is crucial for environmental sustainability and those that live here.”