Taking Stock: My journey so far

Below is a series of voice memos that follow my journey from childhood to my entry into the Social Practice and Transformational Change Program at the University of Guelph.

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My Vision Statement

For over three years I've had the honour of managing the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP), an Indigenous-led SSHRC Partnership Grant that aims to 1) support the transformation of nature conservation in Canada, and 2) help Indigenous governments with the creation and implementation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Due to the efforts of grassroots Indigenous leaders and the recent national advocacy efforts of the Indigenous Circle of Experts, the policy landscape in Canada is shifting quickly in support of Indigenous-led conservation.

It has been incredible to witness this change in the past few years. Increasingly, local, regional, and national scale conservation organizations are approaching our team seeking guidance on how they can transform their practices to support Indigenous-led conservation more effectively. In trying to support our partners I've have found that there aren't many resources or stories that are publicly available to show how people and organizations are attempting to change to better partner with Indigenous governments and organizations.

As a non-Indigenous practitioner/becoming scholar, the PhD process is an opportunity for me to respond to this gap and to think critically about some of the big questions and entanglements that are emerging through the work of the CRP. This is also an opportunity to focus on my responsibilities, and the responsibilities of other non-Indigenous practitioners, in the conservation space. Through the PhD process, I hope to:

Deepen my ability to engage ethically and critically with and across multiple knowledge systems and theories, while working from within my own.
Develop skills, knowledge and abilities to use arts-based methodologies in my research.
Center Indigenous resurgence and land justice in my work.
Explore decolonial solidarity as a topic of my research and as a research practice itself.
Expand the academic conversation around Indigenous-led conservation by investigating settler responsibilities within the conservation sector.
Develop skills to become better attuned how research and learning is an embodied experience.
Develop strategies to prioritize my mental and physical well-being.
Be attentive to relationality in my process, expanding my personal and professional network and deepening my relationship to place.

Ultimately, I hope to make a contribution that helps move the sector forward in a good way, returning the gifts I have received through my engagement in this work. I am very fortunate to have a close relationship with Elder Albert Marshall, a Mi'kmaq Elder from Unama'ki (Cape Breton). Elder Albert always reminds me that when we learn something, we're transformed by that learning, and then we have a responsibility to act on it. This is one way I hope to enact that lesson, fulfilling my responsibility to him and to all the others who have helped me on my journey.

Cultivating the garden: Becoming scholar/practitioner

Skills, knowledge, and abilities reflection with goal setting

Through my learning with the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP), I was inspired to transform my backyard into a large garden filled with plants native to this territory. I see my intentional gardening practice as a way for me to extend what I was learning through the CRP by becoming familiar with plants and animals in the place where I live (the treaty territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation) while creating a multi-species space where we can thrive together.

There’s a lot that goes into creating a garden:

Researching different plants, the conditions they need to thrive, and other plants they like to co-exist with;
Learning which plants birds, insects and animals rely on;
Learning about my soil, the light my yard receives, where the wind travels; and
Planting seedlings, protecting them from hungry rabbits, and providing the right amount of water while they’re being established.

I’ve come to learn that quite a bit of knowledge, skill, and ability is required. More importantly, a garden requires careful attention, commitment, and love.

I use the metaphor of cultivating a garden to reflect on the different skills, abilities and knowledge I will need to achieve my vision for my PhD journey as a becoming scholar and practitioner. The seeds represent new areas of learning or skill development that I will need to dedicate time and energy to cultivating; the seedlings are areas that I have some experience with, but require nurturing and focused attention; the flowers and fruit represent areas of experience and strength with continued opportunities for growth; and the harvest represents the gifts I already bring to this work.

**Preparing the Soil**

2022 was a difficult year for my mental and spiritual health. While I find decolonial work deeply life-affirming, it can also be deeply painful. I have been seeking help through psychotherapy and have been gifted with medicines and help from Elders in my circle. I will continue to engage with these supports and will continue working to cultivate a **mindfulness practice**. I will aim to meditate for a minimum of 10 minutes before bed most evening.
I have not been prioritizing physical activity this year and I’m feeling the impacts of that. In December 2022 I will start working with a personal training again, making a commitment to moderate **physical exercise** at least 3 times a week in addition to daily walks and frequent bike rides.
I’m looking forward to broadening my personal and professional networks through my PhD journey. I will participate actively in the **SOPR student community and community of practice**. I will also participate in the **CRP’s** **student community**.

**Planting Seeds**

I am hoping to use **arts-based methodologies** for my research, which is a new area for me. To address this gap in my knowledge I have been curating a portfolio of artifacts, including relevant literature, that I will use to prepare a methodological plan for SOPR 6200 in my second semester.
During semester three I will take a **creative writing** course to develop the skills needed to undertake story-work as a methodology.
During my first semester I also created a **digital story** reflecting on my relationship to my research, through which I learned technical and creative skills. I will incorporate digital storytelling into my qualifying exams as well.
Throughout my PhD I’m hoping to learn how to ‘**think with theory**’ as part of my scholarly practice. I will seek out opportunities to practice this skill and weave this approach throughout all aspects of my work.
I have not had much experience with academic writing in the past 8 years. I will **co-author a paper for publication** on decolonial partnerships with Dr. Roth and Prof. Littlechild. The writing process will begin during my second semester, with a goal of submitting for publication by summer, 2023.
I will reach out to my contact at the Dechinta Centre for Land-based Learning to see if any of their short courses would be appropriate for me to participate in as a settler becoming/scholar. Their pedagogy centers Indigenous knowledge and prioritizes the arts.

**Caring for Seedlings**

There are several bodies of knowledge that I am hoping to become more familiar with: decolonial theory (including feminist decolonial theory), Black feminist theory, new materialism, and political ecology. Through semesters two, three, and four, as I will prepare for my qualifying exams with support from my committee, I will conduct **literature reviews** on each of these subject areas.
I will strengthen my scholarship and research skills by participating in **workshops** from the library on various research approaches and techniques. I will commit to 1 workshop per semester.
I will participate in the Two Row on the Grand in semester 3 and I will incorporate my reflections into my qualifying exams. This experience will help me think about decolonial solidarity and working across knowledge systems as **embodied practices**, with careful attention to the way affect moves between people and place.

**Flowers and Fruit**

I have strong management and leadership abilities. I currently manage a SSHRC partnership grant with over 50 institutional partners and a broader network of several hundred individuals. I would like to strengthen my **mentorship** and **‘people management’ skills**, supporting staff and others in their professional development and growth. During my 4th and 5th semesters I will approach other managers to talk about their approaches to supporting staff, and take additional professional development courses to strengthen my leadership approach.
I have formal education in teaching (B.Ed from Queen’s) and I spent a year developing curriculum and facilitating workshops on human rights, equity and inclusion at York University. I would like to learn more about **critical pedagogy** that centers Indigenous knowledge, and how digital education platforms might support decolonial solidarity efforts. I will add this content to my literature review in semesters two, three and four in preparation for my qualifying exams. I will also meet with like-minded educators to learn from their experiences creating digital platforms for learning and knowledge mobilization.
Through my time with the CRP I have encountered several different frameworks intended to guide **ethical engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge systems**. I am most familiar with the following frameworks:
Braiding frameworks (popularized by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer);
*Etuaptmumk* (Two-Eyed Seeing, a framework championed by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall);
Ethical Space popularized by Dr. Willie Ermine (Cree) and Dr. Elder Reg Crowshoe (Blackfoot); and
The *Guswenta* or Two-Row Wampum Belt Covenant (Dr. Elder Rick Hill speaks about this in relation to knowledge systems/sovereignty)
I would like to host a webinar inviting Elder Albert Marshall, Elder Reg Crowshoe, and Elder Rick Hill to explore these frameworks, including their similarities and differences. I would then like to collaborate with other scholars (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) to consider what specific practices follow from these frameworks - producing guidance for researchers and conservation practitioners. I am hoping to approach a team of scholars about the idea in the new year, aiming to complete the project and submit a paper for publication within a year (by spring 2024).

**The Harvest**

One of my gifts is **deep listening** - I’m able to pay close attention to what people share and am able to make sure that any emergent needs acted upon. I have a gift for listening to Elders and Knowledge Holders and thinking deeply about what those teachings mean for my practice. I hope to bring this skill to my work with research partners.
I am also deeply **empathetic** and understand the importance of relational practice in my work.
I am a **concise and clear writer**, but I have not been successful in attaining scholarship funding yet. This is a goal for the coming year. I will apply to the Ontario Graduate Scholarship in January 2023 and for the SSHRC competition in 2023.

Click the button below to see how I’m tracking my progress.

Goal tracking

Learning Together: Circle of support

This is a photo of my husband, Steven, holding my nephew, Owen.

This is a photo of Anna and I on one of our ‘friend vacations’ in Arrowhead Provincial Park.

This photo is from a recent CRP Leadership Retreat in Vancouver. From left to right, the photo include: Marilyn Baptiste (Dasiqox Tribal Park), Faisal Moola (UofG), Steven Nitah (Thaidene Nene IPCA), Robin Roth (UofG), and Lisa Young (Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources).

This photo is of Elder Albert Marshall and his daughter, Michelle. It was taken after a special ceremony that was held to honour Elder Albert.

The photo is by Steve Wadden Photography.

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Research Statement

“In Support of Indigenous-led Conservation: Towards a decolonial solidarity”

Research context: As noted by Curnow and Helferty (2018), extensive scholarship documents the ways in which conservation is a white, settler movement. Conservation discourse stems from colonial logics and can disconnect people from ecosystems, dispossess Indigenous peoples, and exploit labour (Agrawal & Redford, 2009; Binnema & Niemi, 2006; Whetung, 2016). The Indigenous Circle of Experts (ICE), a national advisory body and part of the Pathway to Canada Target 1 federal policy initiative, released the We Rise Together (2018) report which articulated how Indigenous-led conservation can help achieve national conservation goals while advancing reconciliation in Canada (ICE, 2018). ICE advocated for the advancement of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), which are “lands and waters where Indigenous governments have the primary role in protecting and conserving ecosystems through Indigenous laws, governance and knowledge systems” (pg. 35). Thus, IPCAs are both a conservation mechanism and a tool to advance self-determination and sovereignty for Indigenous Nations. ICE also called upon environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to partner with Indigenous governments in the design, implementation, and management of IPCAs (ICE, 2018). Since then, many ENGOs have expressed support for Indigenous-led conservation as a central part of their mandates (Nature Conservancy of Canada, 2022; Nature United, 2022; WWF Canada, 2022).

Research objective and questions: The willingness of the conservation sector to address its colonial roots and commit to supporting Indigenous-led conservation has transformative potential. However, given the pervasiveness of colonial logics and power dynamics in the conservation sector, there is risk that partnerships between ENGOs and Indigenous governments may undermine Indigenous governance and possibilities for Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty. One potential path forward is to cultivate decolonial solidarity within the conservation sector in Canada. Decolonial solidarity is both structural and processual: it focuses on decolonizing oppressive systems while also decolonizing the way solidarity is taken up (Kluttz et al, 2020; Land, 2015). The objective of my research is to describe and define decolonial solidarity with Indigenous-led conservation in Canada and explore how decolonial solidarity can contribute to the transformation of settler-Indigenous relations in Canada. Corresponding with this research objective, my research questions ask:

1) How are Indigenous Nations and their governments experiencing their relationships with ENGOs? Have those relationships changed over time? If so, how, and what are the implications for decolonial solidarity?

2) What, if any, staff training, communication tactics, and organization processes are ENGOs putting in place to support their solidarity efforts? To what extent are these practices making visible and transforming the colonial logics and power dynamics within the conservation sector?

3) To what extent are ENGOs using their public and political influence to advocate for Indigenous governance, sovereignty, and self-determination in nature conservation? What is the impact of this advocacy and what further actions can be taken by ENGOs (structural and processual) to support Indigenous-led conservation?

Methodology and ethics: To ensure respectful, ethical engagement with Indigenous peoples and to enable structural, systemic, and institutional change I will employ decolonial research methods (Kovach, 2009; Smith, 2012). In addition to requirements established by the REB at the University of Guelph I will seek ongoing guidance from Indigenous collaborators to ensure the research is relevant to their priorities and interests. I will use multimedia storytelling methods to conduct story-making workshops with diverse (gender, age, geography) Indigenous representatives from five IPCAs and their ENGO collaborators (Rice & Mündel, 2018). Each participant will create a short narrative video about their relationship and, to answer the first research question, we will watch the videos collectively to reflect on the similarities and differences between the stories of Indigenous participants and their ENGO collaborators. To answer the second and third research questions I will conduct semi-structured open-ended interviews with senior leaders and staff from five national ENGOs. I will also conduct a review of their internal documents and communications (internal and external) to assess the extent to which the ENGOs are adopting practices to challenge colonial and racial logics in nature conservation and promote support for Indigenous-led conservation. This approach provides opportunity to ask qualitative questions about perception and experience in nuanced ways that unpacks individual “evidence” alongside a heterogenous examination of systems of colonialism and racism, how they produce and frame our institutions, and our change-making processes (C. Rice, personal communication, September 19, 2022).

Conceptual framework and contributions: I will engage decolonial theory to examine settler colonialism (Asch, Borrows & Tully (Eds), 2018; Corntassel & Holder, 2005; Coulthard, 2014; Regan, 2010; Wolf, 2006) with attention to the ways decolonization is treated as a metaphor, as this acts as a barrier to more meaningful alliances (Tuck & Yang, 2012, pg.1). I will also draw on the insights from the political ecology of conservation (Adams & Hutton, 2007; Braun, 2002; Carrol, 2015; Whyte, 2018; Moola & Roth, 2019) to examine the colonial dynamics of conservation, how power over land and water is exercised, and how environmental discourse is shaped. This field provides important theoretical context for understanding why mainstream conservation is problematic for Indigenous peoples. Finally, I draw on a variety of diverse literatures that address solidarity, including philosophy and political theory (Hooker, 2009; Land, 2015; Scholz, 2008), feminist theory (Dean, 1996; hooks, 1986; Mohanty, 2003), and social movement learning (Hall & Clover, 2005; Kluttz, Walker, & Walter, 2020). While there has been extensive scholarship on solidarity in various contexts, Curnow & Helferty (2018) note that academic literature does not substantively explore “how race and colonialism shape the context of environmental solidarity or reflect on the ways in which solidarity may remap racial and colonial logics” (pg.150-151). My research responds directly to this gap by interrogating the extent to which ENGOs are aware of race and colonialism in their solidarity efforts, as well as the potential of decolonial solidarity for transforming Indigenous-settler relations. My research will contribute to emergent literature on decolonial solidarity, respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (2015) Calls to Action calling for research to advance reconciliation, and ICE (2018) recommendations to build capacity within the conservation sector.

Place of tenure and goals: I am a first-year doctoral student in the Social Practice and Transformational Change Program at the University of Guelph. My research builds on my MA from the University of Victoria (2014) and eight years working at the intersections of policy and practice with a focus on gender-based violence, anti-racism and conservation. I am supervised by Dr. Carla Rice, who holds a Tier I CRC in Feminist Studies and Social Practice and is an expert in storytelling methodologies. My work is embedded in the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP), a seven-year SSHRC Partnership Grant which aims to elevate Indigenous-led conservation and support the transformation of the conservation sector. As manager of the CRP my project emerged, in part, from questions brought forward by members of our partnership. A SSHRC scholarship will support my full program of study (2023-2026) during which I will write at least two peer-reviewed manuscripts for publication and will produce arts-based curricular modules that will be publicly available on the IPCA Knowledge Basket website, one of the legacy projects of the CRP. These resources will help facilitate change within the conservation sector and support the transformation of nature conservation in Canada.

Relationship to SOPR Program Pillars: My proposed research will touch on all six of the SOPR program pillars, with particular emphasis pillars 1-3: “intersectional and decolonizing approaches and the ‘unsettling’ nature of change”; “Feminist, Gender, Sexuality, and Other Critical Perspectives for Rethinking Difference and the Human“; and “Indigenous Knowledge Systems”.

Works Cited

Adams, W. M., & Hutton, J. (2007). People, parks and poverty: Political ecology and biodiversity conservation. Conservation and Society, 5(2), 147–183.

Agrawal, A., & Redford, K. (2009). Conservation and displacement: An overview. Conservation and Society, 7(1), 1-10. doi:10.4103/0972-4923.54790.

Asch, M., Burrows, J. & Tully, J. (Eds). (2018). Resurgence and reconciliation: Indigenous-settler relations and earth teachings. University of Toronto Press.

Binnema, T., & Niemi, M. (2006). 'Let the line be drawn now': Wilderness, conservation, and the exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada. Environmental History, 11(4), 724-750. doi:10.1093/envhis/11.4.724.

Braun, B. (2002). The intemperate rainforest: Nature, culture, and power on Canada’s west coast. University of Minnesota Press.

Carroll, C. (2014). Native enclosures: Tribal national parks and the progressive politics of environmental stewardship in Indian Country. Geoforum, 53, 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.02.003.

Corntassel, J., & Holder, C. (2008). Who’s sorry now? Government apologies, truth commissions, and indigenous self-determination in Australia, Canada, Guatemala, and Peru. Human Rights Review, 9(4), 465-489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-008-0065-b3.

Coulthard, G. (2014). Red skin, white masks: Rejecting the colonial politics of recognition. University of Minnesota Press.

Curnow, J. & Helferty, A. (2018). Contradictions of Solidarity: Whiteness, Settler Coloniality, and the Mainstream Environmental Movement. Environment and Society. 9(1), 145–163. https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2018.090110.

Dean, J. (1996). Solidarity of Strangers: Feminism after identity politics. University of California Press.

Hall, B., & Clover, D., (2005). Social movement learning. In English, H. (Ed). International encyclopedia of adult education. (pp. 584-589). Palgrave MacMillan.

Hooker, J. (2009). Race and the Politics of Solidarity. Oxford University Press.

hooks, b. (1986). Sisterhood: Political solidarity between women. Feminist Review. 23(1):125-138. DOI:10.1057/fr.1986.25.

Indigenous Circle of Experts. (2018). We rise together: Achieving Pathway to Canada Target 1 through the creation of indigenous protected areas in the spirit and practice of reconciliation. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e007452e69cf9a7af0a033/t/5ab94aca6d2a7338ecb1d05e/1522092766605/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf.

Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership. (2022, 17 September). IPCA Knowledge Basket. (2022). https://ipcaknowledgebasket.ca/.

Kluttz, J., Walker, J. & Walter, P. (2020). Unsettling allyship, unlearning and learning towards decolonising solidarity. Studies in the Education of Adults. 52(1_, 49-66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2019.1654591.

Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: characteristics, conversations, and contexts. University of Toronto Press.

Land, C. (2015). Decolonizing solidarity: Dilemmas and directions for supporters of Indigenous struggles. Zed Books.

Mohanty, Chandra. (1988). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. Feminist Review. 30(1): 61–88. https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.1988.42.

Moola, F., & Roth, R. (2019). Moving beyond colonial conservation models: Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas offer hope for biodiversity and advancing reconciliation in the Canadian boreal forest. Environmental Reviews, 27(2), 200–201. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2018-0091.

Nature Conservancy of Canada. (2022, August 27). Working Together on the Land. Indigenous Conservation. https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/what-we-do/indigenous-conservation/?_ga=2.5324979.1665235291.1661637627-210734982.1660609013.

Nature United. (2022, August 27). We Are Committed to Working in Respectful Partnership. Indigenous-led Conservation. https://www.natureunited.ca/what-we-do/our-priorities/indigenous-led-conservation/.

Regan, P. (2010). Unsettling the settler within: Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada. UBC Press.

Rice, C., & Mündel, I. (2018). Story‐Making as Methodology: Disrupting Dominant Stories through Multimedia Storytelling. The Canadian Review of Sociology, 55(2), 211–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12190.

Scholz, S. J. (2008). Political Solidarity. Penn State University Press.

Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. (Second edition.). Zed Books.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (2015). Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final Report of the truth and reconciliation commission of Canada. Winnipeg, MB. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/trc/IR4-7-2015-eng.pdf.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, & Society, 1(1), 1–40.

Whetung, M. (2016). “Nishnaabeg Encounters: Living Indigenous landscapes.” MA thesis, University of Toronto.

Whyte. (2018). Indigenous science (fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral dystopias and fantasies of climate change crises. Environment and Planning. E, Nature and Space (Print), 1(1-2), 224–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848618777621.

Woolfe, P. (2006). “Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native”. Journal of Genocide Research. 8(4), pp. 387-409. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240.

WWF Canada. (2022, August 27). “Indigenous-led Conservation”. World Wildlife Foundation of Canada. https://wwf.ca/about-us/indigenous-led-conservation/.

Pedagogical Interests

I have experience teaching in a classroom setting and, while it is something I enjoy from time to time, I do not plan on teaching regularly as an outcome my PhD program. However, I am interested in learning more about critical pedagogical approaches to digital curriculum. Rather than producing a traditional dissertation, I am hoping my PhD will result in digital curricular modules that will be publicly available via the IPCA Knowledge Basket.

I will review critical pedagogical approaches to digital curriculum, with a focus on decolonial pedagogy, as part of my QE preparation. This will include reviewing literature, and digital teaching/learning platforms such as:

I will also revisit Four Directions Teachings and the book “A Digital Bundle: Protecting and promoting Indigenous knowledge online” by Jennifer Wemigwans (2018). This book explores how digital spaces can be created to support ethical knowledge sharing in support of Indigenous resurgence and nation-building.

My Individual Development Plan