New class lets N.S. students explore environmental science through a Mi'kmaw lens

A new environmental science course rooted in Mi'kmaw knowledge and principles is being expanded to 13 schools across Nova Scotia this year. 

Schools including Mi'kmaw on-reserve educational organizations as well as Acadian and English school boards are part of the second phase of the Netukulimk 12 pilot.

The course gives Grade 12 students the opportunity to engage with the concept of netukulimk — a Mi'kmaw term describing sustainable use of the natural bounty provided by the Creator, while ensuring the land's prosperity for future generations. 

Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR), which represents Mi'kmaw communities in Cape Breton on natural resources issues, partnered with the Nova Scotia school board to develop the course. 

Rod Francis, director of the Mi'kmaq Services branch of Nova Scotia's Department of Education and a member of the Qalipu First Nation in Newfoundland, told CBC Radio's Information Morning host Steve Sutherland that the course was co-developed by elders, knowledge holders and practitioners of netukulimk.

"The course is guided by the principle of etuaptmumk — two-eyed seeing — while also honouring the core values of netukulimk — relationships, respect, responsibility and reciprocity," he said.

Etuaptmumk, a philosophy developed by Elder Albert D. Marshall Sr. from Eskasoni First Nation, promotes the integration of Western and Indigenous knowledge systems and using both systems to understand the world around you.

UINR also produced six videos highlighting Mi'kmaw teachings, both to support the course and to serve as a resource for the broader community.

Topics in the videos include Mi'kmaw conservation principles, a salmon honouring ceremony, species at risk work, sweetgrass harvesting, a community feast, and Indigenous protected and conserved areas.

Francis said the videos from UINR are essential tools for both teachers and students, enhancing their understanding of the Mi'kmaw knowledge and themes embedded in the course.

Eskasoni First Nation Chief Leroy Denny, a board member of UINR and education lead for the Union of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq, told Information Morning the teachings that inform the course recognize our interconnectedness with the natural world.

That plays into parts of netukulimk, like honouring the life and the land with ceremonial offerings when people are extracting natural resources.

"If hunting or fishing or gathering, take what we need and we respect the land and put offerings out," he said.

Denny believes this course will equip students with a two-eyed seeing approach that will serve them well in their future scientific pursuits.

Lisa Young, director of UINR and a member of Membertou First Nation, said integrating the course into Nova Scotia classrooms gives Indigenous students the opportunity to see their values and knowledge systems reflected in their education.

"It's so important for Indigenous youth and Mi'kmaw youth to see themselves in the classroom and the materials, and be able to connect with it and have it resonate with their own understandings of who they are and their culture," she said.

"These understandings are really going to help shape our future in terms of how we are going to respond to things like biodiversity loss and climate change ... there's some viable lessons to be learned from Indigenous perspectives that everyone could benefit from."