Power With: Indigenous Knowledges, Environmental Practice, and the Strength of Collaboration calls for a paradigm shift in environmental science and education. This groundbreaking collection advocates for ethical and effective collaborations between Indigenous Peoples and communities and environmental practitioners working at the intersection of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing, and Eurocentric environmental sciences. Through case studies grounded in community-based research and dialogue from a gathering of contributing authors, this volume asks urgent questions: How does the status quo in environmental sciences support ongoing colonial impacts? How can we stand with Indigenous science? And how can collaborative work at the intersection of Indigenous and Eurocentric sciences help address "wicked problems," such as conservation and sustainability in the context of the climate crisis? This 16-chapter volume brings together 43 Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors, academic instructors, emerging scholars, community members, government scientists, researchers, youth, and practitioners, along with three research collectives. It offers concrete examples of collaborative research projects and amplifies the voices of those most affected. The editors and authors provide tools, guidance, and advice for creating a lasting impact for healthier people and planet. Power With is designed to be accessible for 200- to 300-level students as well as environmental practitioners. It includes several dialogue-based chapters to enhance engagement and forward Indigenous epistemologies. This timely collection offers a clear and accessible resource for courses in environmental sciences and studies, Indigenous studies, sociology, anthropology, geography, forestry, gender studies, and health studies.
Barbara Moktthewenkwe Wall is an associate professor within the Indigenous Environmental Studies and Sciences program and the Indigenous Studies PhD program at Trent University. She is a mixed-ancestry Potawatomi woman of the Deer Clan, and an enrolled member of the federally recognized Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Shawnee, Oklahoma. An Indigenous scholar with strong ancestral and spiritual ties to the Great Lakes Basin, Barbara lives and works in Treaty 20 and the Williams Treaty territory, the traditional lands of the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe in Ontario, Canada. Her personal and professional journey has taken her across several regions, including northern New York State, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the San Francisco Bay Area. These diverse lands and waters continue to shape her scholarship, community engagement, and deep commitment to Indigenous language, culture, and land-based knowledge. Mary-Claire Buell is an assistant professor, cross-appointed with the School of Environment and Department of Forensic Science at Trent University. Dr. Buell's research interests include investigating the source, fate, transport, and impacts of legacy and contemporary contaminants, examining the connections between contaminants and environmental justice, treaty rights, and food security. Her research is trans-disciplinary, bringing together environmental toxicology, chemistry, and community knowledges. Dr. Buell is a settler Canadian of Italian, German, and Irish ancestry, and was born and raised in Nogojiwanong / Peterborough, Ontario. She is also the founder of Collective Environmental; a consulting and independent research firm focused on collaborative approaches to investigating environmental issues impacting Indigenous communities. Dr. Buell holds a PhD and MSc from Trent University and a BSc from the University of Guelph.
Foreword Preface: The Inspiration and Roadmap for This Book Part I: Disrupting the Environmental Discourse Paradigm Chapter 1: A Need for Change: Conversations on Knowledge Inequities in Environmental Science and Practice Chapter 2: (Un)Learning Our Connections to Nature Chapter 3: Standing with Indigenous Science Chapter 4: Positionality: Situating Oneself within the Context of Land, Water, Identity, Privilege, and Power Chapter 5: Knowledge Equity and Ethical Space Part II: Evidence of the Shift: Examples from Various Environmental Science and Studies Fields Chapter 6: Braiding Knowledges in Landscape Science: Towards A More Holistic Understanding of Landscape Change Chapter 7: What Rivers Can Teach Us About a More Relational Approach to Water Science Chapter 8: Indigenous Kinship with Fire Chapter 9: Uprooting Colonial Conservation: Returning to Kinship Chapter 10: Expanding the Circle: Meaningful Collaboration toward Caribou Conservation in Canada Chapter 11: Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Conservation in the Peruvian Andes Chapter 12: Reframing Fisheries Research Part III: Actioning the Paradigm Shift Chapter 13: Visual Methods in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Environmental Research Collaborations Chapter 14: Reframing and Applying Natural Science as a Tool for Ethical Collaborations Chapter 15: Language Matters: The Words We Choose Chapter 16: Tools for Transformative Change in Environmental Discourse and Practice The Words We Choose to Use: A Glossary of Terms About the Authors
