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

A new environmental science courserooted in Mi'kmaw knowledge and principlesis being expanded to 13schools across Nova Scotia this year.

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

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

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

Rod Francis,director of the Mi'kmaqServices branch ofNova Scotia's Department of Education and a member of the QalipuFirst Nation inNewfoundland, told CBCRadio's Information Morning hostSteve 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 EskasoniFirst Nation,promotes the integrationof Western and Indigenous knowledge systems and using both systems to understandthe world around you.

UINRalso producedsix videoshighlightingMi'kmaw teachings,both to support the course and to serve as a resourcefor the broader community.

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

Francis saidthe 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 thecourse recognizeourinterconnectedness withthe natural world.

That plays into parts of netukulimk, likehonouring the life and the landwith ceremonial offerings when peopleare extracting natural resources.

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

Denny believes thiscourse 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, saidintegrating the course into Nova Scotia classrooms gives Indigenousstudents the opportunity to see their values and knowledge systems reflected in their education.

"It's so important for Indigenous youth and Mi'kmaw youthto 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."