Going to the Source
Incorporating traditional knowledge in a scientific study
by Scott Rollans

How do you determine the health of a river system? Well, you might analyze water samples, study fish populations and check the sedimentary layers for contaminants. Or, if you want to try the direct approach, simply talk to the people who have relied on the rivers for generations.

A current major study of northern rivers recently added that tactic to its agenda. Responding to the concerns of northern communities and aboriginal board members, the Northern River Basins Study decided last year to include a traditional knowledge component. As a result, first-hand accounts from aboriginal elders and other traditional river users will appear alongside more conventional scientific data.

Now in its third year, the Northern Rivers Basin Study is examining the Peace, Athabasca and Slave river basins, in order to further understand the impact of industrial development in the region. The subject can be a touchy one. In 1990, an earlier review board held hearings to assess the environmental impact of the then proposed Alberta-Pacific project near Athabasca. When their findings (which reflected grave misgivings over the mill) were not accepted by the Alberta government, the review panel walked away in disgust.

The resulting furore led to the massive new $12.3 million study, funded equally by the governments of Canada and Alberta (with the added participation of the Northwest Territories), and administered by a 25 person Board made up of aboriginal leaders, government and municipal representatives, and specialists in the environment, health, agriculture and the public sector. The result, it is hoped, will be a completely independent and comprehensive picture of the health (both present and future) of our northern rivers.

As the study began to take shape, aboriginal study board members and community leaders argued that traditional knowledge must play a prominent role. The Board eventually agreed, forming a First Nations Committee to oversee this new component of the study, and to develop an appropriate protocol for working with aboriginal communities.

Not surprisingly, this process has led to some delays. "They have been working on this protocol now for several months, and hopefully it will be completed within the next few weeks," explains traditional knowledge Project Manager Lea Bill. "It has interfered with our project a little bit, in that we have had to postpone until the protocol is completely finished and in place before we can go forward."

Overall study Director Betty Caldicott agrees. "Traditional knowledge is a little bit slower in starting, mainly because we're dealling with very personal things, we're dealing with people." Like Bill, however, she recognizes the importance of taking the time to do it right. "Some of the knowledge that they have, or some of the information that they may want to share, may have a very strong spiritual connection for them. So you have to know how to treat that. They also have the right to withold knowledge that they don't want to give too, because of its very personal nature. You're getting down to the heart and soul of the matter."

To help minimize the potential barriers, the study chose two people with traditional roots to lead the component. Sonny Flett, the Group Leader for the component, serves as president of the Fort Chipewyan Metis Local. Bill, a registered nurse who specializes in traditional healing, will handle the project's technical design.

The appointments of Flett and Bill should avoid what study board member Lucille Partington calls the "white-man-with-a-briefcase syndrome", an approach which has crippled traditional knowledge studies in the past. "When you send somebody in there, and he's got a computer and a briefcase, and he's looking for a certain answer, they may just give it. If that's what we say we want, they'll be polite and tell us that." Under the guidance of Flett and Bill, says Partington, "Deeper questions can be asked."

With the protocol in place, component researchers will travel to ten key northern native communities, interviewing elders and sifting through their responses. The topics covered, says Bill, will include such things as "what they experienced prior to industry coming in, the changes they have observed over the years, what significant changes they've seen in cycles, for example migratory birds, whether they have depleted or increased, fur-bearing animals, large animals like moose and deer."

Chief Johnsen Sewepagaham of the Little Red River Cree Nation (and a study board member) feels that the Northern River Basins Study might be pointless without this kind of full native participation. "There have been other studies, in terms of the environment, or native studies, or other kind of studies, that have never proved beneficial to the communities." He has seen his concerns reflected among other aboriginal leaders: "They're saying, 'Why another study?' and, 'What makes you think that this time the study is going to be different?'"

Bill encountered similar skepticism, especially in light of the earlier failure of the Al-Pac review. "There's a lot of distrust. Some of the leaders, and also the community people are saying 'Well, here you are coming to ask me all these questions, and yet they're still going ahead. What's the point in me telling you anything if they're not going to do anything about it?'"

As the traditional knowledge component takes shape, however, much of that resistance seems to be softening. At a meeting with community leaders, says Sewepagaham, "Everybody was saying that it's time to try to get something like that in place so that we're involved in every sense of the word, rather than have people coming in, and us looking on as outside observers."

Excitement for the component has also spread to the study's non-aboriginal participants, in part due to their own experiences. At a conference in Banff, Collicott stepped on a sharp piece of wood during a walk, and found herself in considerable pain. Bill, who was with her at the time, located an appropriate medicinal herb growing nearby, and applied it to the wound. The pain stopped. Collicott instantly became more convinced than ever of the value of traditional knowledge.

Partington has an equally powerful anecdote of her own. At a meeting in Peace River, Dene Board Member Danny MacDonald told the mayor that the river was going to flood. "Everybody around there kind of laughed a little bit," says Partington, "but I've always been interested, having lived in the north and having lived with and taught a number of aboriginal people, and knowing how brilliant these people are in non-written types of observation. And so I asked him a few questions. He told me he could tell from looking at the position of the ice jams. A few weeks later they had this huge flood in Peace River, and it caused $5 million damage. If we had paid more attention, precautions could have been taken that may have saved a lot of money and a lot of damage. If we say, 'What scientific basis do you have for telling us this?' he's not going to be able to give us a lot of data. But he knew. "

That kind of insight represents huge potential benefits to the study, observes Partington. "We're trying to collect scientific data or samples, and the fact that the aboriginal people alone know where to go to find these samples is a tremendous advantage. The aboriginal people won't use the terms dioxins, furans or organochlorines; what they'll say is that in a certain part of the river the fish are mushy, or the fish are discoloured. They don't know what that means, but they've observed it. If we go as scientists into the same area and check that particular area for fish samples, then that's the right thing to do. Because you can take a lot of fish samples in a lot of wrong areas, and spend a lot of money, and then say the results are inconclusive."

You might expect the scientists working on the study's other components to be less than enthusiastic about changing their methods. However, if they're reluctant to embrace tradtional knowledge, they're not showing it. "They have been absolutely fantastic," proclaims Partington. "They've taken the approach that what can save money, and what can help, has to be good. This is really the first time that they have attempted to work in this fashion. But Dr. (Fred) Wrona, the Science Director, understands the importance of this, and has really taken the idea and run with it."

Will the inclusion of traditional knowledge contribute to a meaningful outcome for the Northern River Basins Study? Only time will tell. Speaking for the people who know the rivers best, however, Chief Sewepagaham points out, "At least we're involved. Whether that creates a difference or not, and we're hoping it will, we'll know at the end of the study. In our opinion, it's worth a try."

Return to Scott's Environment Views articles

| home | writing | editing | music | personal | weird stuff | rollans.com |