Nitassinan is the ancestral homeland of the Innu people. It covers much of the sub-arctic forest and interior barren lands of the Quebec-Labrador peninsula. The idea of Nitassinan is closely linked to Innu identity. It reflects the physical space that people occupy in the hunting, fishing and trapping activities that sustain them. Through these activities, Nitassinan comes to embody and reflect the principles of Innu culture to those who are born to and live it. The relationship between people and the land in Nitassinan is often described as a moral one where people continually respect and nurture the land and the animals so that they will continue to provide for people. Nitassinan is thus a combination of physical and cultural landscapes. This notion of multi-dimensional landscapes has come to form the basis of a productive and collaborative research partnership in Labrador.

Over the past two years, the Innu Nation, Environment Canada, the Gorsebrook Research Institute of Saint Mary's University and Natural Resources Canada have been exploring new ways to connect Innu knowledge and western science. The approach uses the conceptual category of a Cultural Landscape Unit (CLU) as the basis for generating new knowledge about the biophysical make-up of Labrador. This method starts with Innu knowledge and terminology for an element of the landscape that has value and meaning for them and then builds a knowledge base of that feature from a number of perspectives. The hypothesis is that a combined form of ecological knowledge can be developed that recognizes the qualities and limitations of Innu and Scientific knowledge systems and situates both within the specific context of the times they are produced in.

Seal Lake, Nitassinan (Labrador) – May 2000

The research undertaken to date has included a case study to examine the feasibility of the CLU approach. Fieldwork conducted by an Anthropologist from the Gorsebrook Research Institute with Innu from Sheshatshiu examined areas known as ashkui in the Innu language. Ashkui are areas of early or permanent open water on rivers, lakes and estuaries. These are frequently the sites of contemporary Innu family camps. Innu oral history and archeological evidence suggests this has been the case for many generations. Ashkui are critical habitats for migratory birds, fish and other animals. The dynamics of the relationship of ice, ashkui and animals are well known to Innu. Working together we are trying to understand how these elements of the landscape work and what they indicate about ecosystem vitality and change.

The original concept for this initiative was developed at a planning meeting in Sheshatshiu hosted by the Innu Nation where the ashkui landscape element was identified by Innu elders as being of primary importance. Subsequent to this original meeting comprehensive project proposals have been developed, the indigenous knowledge and oral history research mentioned above was initiated and several additional planning meetings have taken place. In August of 1998, the Innu Nation hosted an in-country, camp based meeting at an ashkui that brought together approximately 20 researchers with Innu elders to further discuss and develop the project. In the spring of 1999, co-researchers from the Innu Nation and scientists from Environment Canada initiated a water chemistry monitoring program at selected ashkui sites. During the spring of 2000, this work expanded to include research on fish and waterfowl patterns and abundance at these sites and through a partnership with the Canada Ice Center, satellite system Radarsat was used to map spatial and temporal patterns of ashkui in Labrador.

An ashkui based research workshop was held in May 2000 at Seal Lake. The workshop included Innu elders, project partners from the CCRS, Environment Canada, and the Gorsebrook Research Institute as well as observers from Innu Environmental, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and the Atlantic Veterinary College. This workshop provided an opportunity for sharing information, generation research questions, and building on existing relationships. Invigorated by the workshop Innu and non-Innu researchers have spent the subsequent moths gathering new data, and doing analysis. In the months that followed, the Gorsebrook Research Institute has produced reports based on the meeting and publications from fieldwork on ashkui. Additionally, the Institute organized a symposium in January 2001 on Innu and scientific perspectives on the landscape of Labrador.

The research partnership focuses on the three following elements:

Collection of information from Innu experts about ashkui. This work has already been started and will collect Innu knowledge on the biological and environmental components of ashkui, the conceptual boundaries of the ashkui, the land use characteristics of the ashkui and the sociological importance of the ashkui. In addition work will be directed at identifying other CLUs that make up the larger landscape that is Nitassinan.

Directed science initiatives based on the Innu knowledge of ashkui. Specific science initiatives will be undertaken to try to understand the distribution and function of ashkui from a western science perspective. Hypotheses will be generated in concert with the Innu people in order to address issues and concern of relevance to them. For example, climate change research will investigate the impacts of modified timing of ashkui formation from physical, biological and cultural perspectives.

Development of Hybrid Knowledge Products. The design of this project attempts to develop natural linkages between Innu knowledge and western science and as such it is expected that a number of standard output products (i.e. reports, publications, newsletters etc) will be produced that will focus on presentation of the hybrid knowledge. In addition, based on needs expressed by the Innu Nation, we plan to develop an interactive CD-ROM based multi-media application for use in the Innu school system that combines Innu and western science voices, faces and knowledge to describe the importance of the ashkui in the Labrador landscape.

In principle it is possible to produce a comprehensive mapping of the landscape of Labrador based on Innu concepts. This mapping effort could then be augmented by a wide range of scientific and indigenous knowledge techniques to create a dynamic database that would serve the needs of a variety of users. From the outset our research in Labrador has been based on a philosophy of shared interest in which all participants are equals who bring different perspectives and skills to the research agenda. This is, without a doubt, a challenging approach to researchers and Innu alike. It is nevertheless highly rewarding.

Related Links:

• Combining Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science