Cited by 150Indigenous Studies and EcologyIndigenous Health, Education, and RightsEnvironmental and Social Impact Assessments

Bridging science and traditional knowledge to assess cumulative impacts of stressors on ecosystem health

Open access
Mantyka-Pringle, Chrystal S., Jardine, Timothy D., Bradford, Lori, Bharadwaj, Lalita, Kythreotis, Andrew P., Fresque-Baxter, Jennifer, Kelly, Erin, Somers, Gila +3 more·2017·Environment International

Abstract

Cumulative environmental impacts driven by anthropogenic stressors lead to disproportionate effects on indigenous communities that are reliant on land and water resources. Understanding and counteracting these effects requires knowledge from multiple sources. Yet the combined use of Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Scientific Knowledge (SK) has both technical and philosophical hurdles to overcome, and suffers from inherently imbalanced power dynamics that can disfavour the very communities it intends to benefit. In this article, we present a 'two-eyed seeing' approach for co-producing and blending knowledge about ecosystem health by using an adapted Bayesian Belief Network for the Slave River and Delta region in Canada's Northwest Territories. We highlight how bridging TK and SK with a combination of field data, interview transcripts, existing models, and expert judgement can address key questions about ecosystem health when considerable uncertainty exists. SK indicators (e.g., bird counts, mercury in fish, water depth) were graded as moderate, whereas TK indicators (e.g., bird usage, fish aesthetics, changes to water flow) were graded as being poor in comparison to the past. SK indicators were predominantly spatial (i.e., comparing to other locations) while the TK indicators were predominantly temporal (i.e., comparing across time). After being populated by 16 experts (local harvesters, Elders, governmental representatives, and scientists) using both TK and SK, the model outpu…

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.envint.2017.02.008

Cites

81 of 81 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • By bringing together interview transcripts, field data, existing models and expert judgement via participatory modelling, the team was able to provide a power-neutral approach to answering a co-developed set of questions and produce a co-authored report.

    “By bringing together interview transcripts, field data, existing models and expert judgement via participatory modelling, this team was able to provide a power-neutral approach to answering a co-developed set of questions and produce a co-authored report (i.e.Mantyka-Pringle et al., 2017 with the SRDP listed as senior author).”

    From “Two‐Eyed Seeing”: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management (2021) · cites this paper as Mantyka-Pringle et al., 2017

  • In Mantyka-Pringle et al. (2017) and Abu et al. (2019), Indigenous knowledge and Western science were clearly placed on equal footing, with both serving as evidence bases.

    “For instance, in Mantyka-Pringle et al. (2017) and Abu et al. (2019), Indigenous knowledge and Western science were clearly placed on equal footing, with both serving as evidence bases to inform”

    From “Two‐Eyed Seeing”: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management (2021) · cites this paper as Mantyka-Pringle et al., 2017

  • A viable explanation for the water quality discrepancy is that a Western scientific lens considers water with chemical contamination below a certain threshold safe to drink, whereas an Indigenous knowledge lens notes any departure from a past known state.

    “A viable explanation for this trend is that through a Western scientific lens water with levels of chemical contamination below a certain threshold is considered safe to drink (a universal truth based on objectivism), whereas through an Indigenous knowledge lens, any departure from a past known state is being noted so the substantial changes in water quality being signposted by Elders are strongly”

    From “Two‐Eyed Seeing”: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management (2021) · cites this paper as Mantyka-Pringle et al., 2017

  • In both Mantyka-Pringle et al. (2017) and Abu et al. (2019), water quality was found to be in a worse state based on Indigenous knowledge indicators compared with Western scientific indicators, which graded water quality more moderately.

    “For instance, in both Mantyka-Pringle et al. (2017) and Abu et al. (2019), water quality was found to be in a”

    From “Two‐Eyed Seeing”: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management (2021) · cites this paper as Mantyka-Pringle et al., 2017

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Authors
Mantyka-Pringle, C. S., Jardine, T. D., Bradford, L., Bharadwaj, L., Kythreotis, A. P., Fresque-Baxter, J., Kelly, E., Somers, G., Doig, L. E., Jones, P. D., & Lindenschmidt, K.-E.
Affiliations
  • University of Saskatchewan (CA)
  • University of East Anglia (GB)
  • Government of Northwest Territories (CA)
Venue
Environment International
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-05
Volume
102
Pages
125-137
ISSN
0160-4120 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2594465362
Cited by
150
References
94
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 3
FWCI
19.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environment International (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Lincoln Repository (University of Lincoln) (acceptedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Canadian Water Network (WSNWT2012-5)
  • Government of the Northwest Territories
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Indigenous Studies and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Environmental and Social Impact Assessments
Keywords
traditional knowledge, scientific knowledge integration, cumulative environmental impacts, anthropogenic pressure, ecosystem health, Bayesian networks, Two-Eyed Seeing, indigenous peoples, Northwest Territories, social-ecological systems, knowledge co-production, adaptive co-management, ecosystem resilience, mercury in fish, bird counts
MeSH terms
Bayes Theorem, Conservation of Natural Resources, Environmental Monitoring, Northwest Territories, Ecosystem, Knowledge

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