The deadline for submissions to the ESAC 2012 Conference has been extended. Papers, panels and posters are now due February 20, 2012. The conference will be held May 30 – June 2 in Waterloo, ON. For further information on submissions please see the Call for papers.
Environmental Studies Association of Canada
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Proposed paper
Walking Back Into Creation: Environmental Apartheid and the Eternal
Joe Sheridan
York University
Roronhiakewen “He Clears the Sky” Dan Longboat
Trent University
Environmental Studies has grown consistently over 50 years in Canada Yet despite its relevance and popularity, the estrangement with Indigenous cultures has created lopsided and biased understanding of Indigenous Knowledges. Haudenosaunee tradition extends from the first treaty in North America, the Two Row Wampum, through renewals of the foundational principle of sharing land and knowledge. Honouring the spirit and intent of the Two Row Wampum is to recognize being dutybound to honour whatever treaty pertains to the traditional territory environmental studies now occupies. Unwillingness to extend this respect and to include Indigenous Knowledge practitioners in teaching and curriculum development constitutes environmental apartheid. The origins of environmental study in North America consisted of teaching settlers how to survive on Turtle Island, lack of due acknowledgement to this fact establishes and preserves colonial environmental studies.
I am glad to see this topic finally being explored. As a graduate from York (2000) BES, this was the exact issue that I was noticing. This led to my undergraduate thesis “The Kahswentah: Envisioning Indigenous Approaches to Environmental Policy and Action”. It was about the two-row wampum and my struggles to relate to the mainstream curriculum being taught at the time. I only ever heard one other prof giving some recognition of this wampum belt at York at the time, Deborah Barndt? I am glad to see that 12 years after I have graduated that this topic is now relevant. Maybe I just polish up my thesis that was homegrown at York Great topic and post.