Naturalness Is in the Eye of the Beholder

World conservation discourse concentrates on forests of high naturalness, which are variously termed intact forest landscapes, primary forests, pristine forests, and wilderness. In this essay, we bring Amazonian Indigenous perspectives to this discussion, both because Amazonian Indigenous Peoples have the right to be in the discussion and because they have a lot to teach us about naturalness. It is essential to understand that Indigenous ontologies do not distinguish culture from nature, since all beings, humans and non-humans, are part of a network of social-ecological interactions. Hence, forests are not natural, but the domus of different beings who inhabit, care for and cultivate them. Each part of the forest mosaic in different stages of social-ecological succession has different owners: when people open swiddens, they must respect other – non-human – forest residents to do so, and when they fallow their swiddens, these other forest residents reassume their original roles as managers and conservers of that part of the mosaic. Each stage of the succession also contains cultivated and domesticated plant populations, so we can think of a different kind of conservation: that of genetic resources. From this perspective, swidden-fallow represents on farm conservation, while less anthropogenic parts of the forest mosaic represent in situ conservation. We believe that reframing forest conservation and learning from Indigenous People can inspire innovative conservation science and policies.

‘Creator gave us two ears and one mouth’

Acoustic ecology has served as a foundational theoretical field for many sound scholars to understand the soundscape as a signifier for environmental crisis. While sound theorists like R. Murray Schafer and those in the World Soundscape Project have developed ways in which to critically analyze environmental soundscapes, these methods have often excluded Indigenous narratives which offer complex understandings of sound through embodied experience. In this paper I employ a brief description of acoustic ecology, drawing attention to its benefits as a methodological approach to sonic ordering, while also demonstrating the possibilities for expansion of this field when examined in conversation with Canadian Indigenous perspectives and notable sonic activist movements. I address how Indigenous knowledge systems, futurisms, art, and activism can provide critical perspectives within the field of acoustic ecology, which lends well to understanding soundscapes of crisis. I identify a few case studies of sonic forward Indigenous environmental movements which include game design by Elizabeth LaPensée, Rebecca Belmore’s Wave Sound sculpture, and the Round Dance Revolution within the Idle No More movement. In sum, this paper works to bridge the work of acoustic ecology and Indigenous sonic movements to encourage a complex and nuanced relationship to sound, and to explore moments for understanding sonic intersections at the forefront of environmental crisis.

Boom and Bust Archaeology

As a discourse analysis of historical resource assessment documents and interviews with professional archaeologists, this study aims to inspect and critique the production of value in the Alberta historical resource value (HRV) system. The system of evaluation for historical value creates what can be described as a presence-absence model of archaeological significance that limits the ability for archaeologists to interpret and subjectively determine the historical value of materials. In addition, current systems often rely on a contractual relationship between archaeologists and industry to produce these reports, and rarely incorporate indigenous perspectives of significance. With a focus on the assumptions and functional result of HRIA assessments, we can examine the repercussions of the contemporary archaeological evaluative model within Alberta. A goal of this nascent assessment is to provide the opportunity for evaluation of a system that largely exists below the surface of public interest but has vast implications for future access to shared historical resources.

Decolonization of STEM in the Public Education System in Québec, Canada

Indigenous representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is crucial for reconciliation, self-determination, and inclusive and equitable science policy. Indigenous people continue to be underrepresented in Canada's STEM workforce, creating a substantial annual cost to the Canadian economy. Canada’s provinces and territories hold jurisdiction over education, and the majority, including Québec, do not include Indigenous perspectives in their elementary and secondary STEM curricula. This exclusion can alienate Indigenous learners and deter them from STEM careers. As a model for the decolonization of STEM in other provinces, we call for the amendment of Québec’s Education Act to create an Indigenous Education Steering Committee (IESC), which would collaborate with the Minister of Education to ensure inclusion of locally relevant Indigenous STEM content in compulsory curricula. We further propose that Québec include continued professional development training for teachers on Indigenous perspectives in STEM in the Ministry of Education’s strategic plan, thereby building capacity for the equitable participation of Indigenous peoples in STEM.

Identités sociomatérielles et création d’histoires plurilingues et numériques

In the context of this special issue offering new materialist viewpoints in the field of language education, a sociomaterial perspective allows me to question an anthropocentric definition of learners’ and teachers’ identities in a school context. Looking at two moments of plurilingual and digital story production that occurred in an elementary school located in a major city in British Columbia, I trace the trajectories of sociomaterial agencements which involved learners, languages, spaces, researchers and other materials. I adopt a post-qualitative inquiry stance and go back and forth between concepts from posthumanist, new materialist, Deleuzo-Guattarian and Indigenous perspectives and narrative descriptions, screenshots and other figures. Thinking with theories, I follow unpredictable lines of flight which lead to the rhizoanalysis of two moments lived in a French immersion classroom, and I invite readers to come up with their own questions and to take part in the inquiry process. The following concepts – spatial repertoires, agencements, body materiality, excesses and flows of affect – demand that we widen our gaze in research and in practice so that we can better understand the dynamic identity agencements that gather diverse human and material elements.

TECHNOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: EXPLORING THE INTERSECTION OF FREE SOFTWARE AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Questions of independence and sovereignty have long been present with regards to the Internet. In 1996, for instance, John Perry Barlow published his now well-known “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”. Twenty-five years later, notions like “digital sovereignty”, “data sovereignty” and “technological sovereignty” are increasingly used in public debates. This presentation will explore “technological sovereignty” but through the lens of Indigenous perspectives as well as those of social movements inspired by free software activism. These two perspectives seem to share what can be called an anti-hegemonic perspective on technological sovereignty. While they may reinforce each other, they also differ on many perspectives. It is noted for instance that the philosophy of information sharing in free and open-source software might foster the usage and misappropriation of knowledge held by Indigenous communities (Christen, 2012; Gida, 2019). This analysis will prolong a previous study by the authors which identified different discursive trends around sovereignty (anonymous reference). Methodologically, our approach is grounded in discourse analysis and reviews of academic and activist literature that has mobilized metaphors of digital sovereignty. What is the role of the metaphor of “sovereignty” in reconfiguring Indigenous and social justice activism, in relation to the Internet? What are the commonalities between these perspectives? How are they reinforcing or contradicting each other? We intend to contribute to the theme of this year’s AOIR conference – Independence – by looking at the critical discourses of Indigenous people and social activists through the lens of the metaphor of digital (technological/data) sovereignty.

O bem viver: uma proposta para reaprender a sonhar com o mundo

ResumoApresento neste ensaio a perspectiva indígena de Bem Viver como possível anúncio para desconstrução de aspectos coloniais que persistem em moldar de modo exploratório as relações entre seres humanos e meio ambiente, haja vista que cada vez mais tem se propagado sob o horizonte do Planeta Terra um véu de devastação e destruição pelo estímulo desenvolvimentista. Recorro à ecologia dos saberes para pautar um pensamento que renuncie a lógica de apropriação e violência empregada na anulação da diversidade epistêmica dos conhecimentos de diversos povos. Como anúncio, me valho de perspectivas indígenas frente aos sonhos como possibilidade de outro entendimento sobre a vigília, em virtude de neles serem transfigurados os contatos despertos com o mundo, transformando experiências e dotando as dinâmicas sociais com profundos significados.Palavras-chave: Sonho. Bem Viver. Ecologia de Saberes. Well-living: a proposal to relearn how to dream about the worldAbstractIn this essay I present the indigenous perspective of Well-Living as a possible advertisement for the deconstruction of colonial aspects that persist in shaping the relations between human beings and the environment in an exploratory way, given that a veil of devastation has spread under the horizon of Planet Earth and destruction by developmental stimulus. I resort to the ecology of knowledge to guide a thought that renounces the logic of appropriation and violence used in the annulment of the epistemic diversity of knowledge of different peoples. As an advertisement, I use indigenous perspectives in the face of dreams as a possibility for another understanding of wakefulness, as awakened contacts with the world are transfigured in them, transforming experiences and endowing social dynamics with deep meanings.Keywords: Dream. Well-Living. Ecology of Knowledge. Buen vivir: una propuesta para reaprender a soñar con el mundoResumenEn este ensayo presento la perspectiva indígena de Buen Vivir como un posible anuncio de la deconstrucción de aspectos coloniales que persisten en configurar de manera exploratoria las relaciones entre el ser humano y el medio ambiente, dado que un velo se ha extendido cada vez más bajo el horizonte de Planeta Tierra de devastación y destrucción por el estímulo del desarrollo. Recurro a la ecología de saberes para orientar un pensamiento que renuncia a la lógica de apropiación y violencia empleada en la anulación de la diversidad epistémica del saber de los diferentes pueblos. A modo de publicidad utilizo las perspectivas indígenas frente a los sueños como posibilidad de otra comprensión de la vigilia, pues en ellos se transfiguran los contactos despiertos con el mundo, transformando vivencias y dotando de significados profundos a las dinámicas sociales.Palabras clave: Sueño. Buen Vivir. Ecología de Saberes.

A Systematic Literature Review of School Science Programs Addressing indigenous Perspectives: Research Approaches and Opportunities (1999-2019)

This article is a systematic literature review of cross-cultural science education research articles published between 1999 and 2019. Programs and practices that seek to extend our understanding of implementing effective cross-cultural research are analysed. More research in elementary school contexts, particularly in rural and remote locations is recommended. Including cognitive outcomes into the data collection mix would allow for a clearer picture of student learning. Future research in the field of indigenous science education should also include culturally responsive methodologies that work in an agreed middle-ground space.