Abstracts
Abstract
This paper explores a land claim case initiated by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) concerning their traditional territory in Ontario, integrating the principles of the two-eyed seeing approach by bringing the Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity (EFB) methodology into the case as support alongside cultural and Indigenous views. EFB is an environmental indicator used to understand the amount of Earth’s resources an area can provide to support human activities. Using geomatics and EFB research, we quantify the regenerative capacity and environmental significance of SON’s territory. The analysis reveals that cropland, distinguished by Ontario’s high yield factor and fertile soil, possesses the highest Biocapacity within the region, indicating its potential to sustain Indigenous livelihoods. The calculated Biocapacity of SON’s traditional territory underscores its ability to support a population of 594,572 people, emphasizing the vast number of ecological resources available within the territory. We look at the juxtaposition of Indigenous knowledge with scientific analysis within this case and how it can help support Indigenous land claims cases. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the paper contributes to the broader discourse on Indigenous land rights and environmental stewardship, advocating for the recognition and preservation of the ecological heritage of Indigenous lands within the framework of the two-eyed seeing approach.
Keywords:
- Ecological footprint,
- biocapacity,
- land claims,
- geomatics,
- environmental indicators
Appendices
Bibliography
- Atleo, E. R. (2011). Principles of Tsawalk: An Indigenous approach to global crisis. UBC Press.
- Bartlett, C., Marshall, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Two-Eyed Seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together Indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2(4), 331-340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-012-0086-8
- Bell, S., & Morse, S. (2008). Sustainability indicators: Measuring the immeasurable? Earthscan.
- Borrows, J. (2010). Canada’s Indigenous constitution. University of Toronto Press.
- Boyle, A., & Freestone, D. (Eds.). (1999). International law and sustainable development: Past achievements and future challenges. Oxford University Press.
- Bryan, J. (2011). Walking the line: Participatory mapping, Indigenous rights, and neoliberalism. Geoforum, 42(1), 40-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.09.001
- Brown, H. J., McPherson, G., Peterson, R., Newman, V., & Cranmer, B. (2012). Our land, our language: Connecting dispossession and health equity in an Indigenous context. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research Archive, 44(2), 44–63.
- Cajete, G. (2000). Indigenous science: Natural laws of interdependence. Clear Light Publishers.
- Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P., van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., Farber, S., & Turner, R. K. (2014). Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change, 26, 152–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.002
- Farrell, J., Burow, P. B., McConnell, K., Bayham, J., Whyte, K., & Koss, G. (2021). Effects of land dispossession and forced migration on Indigenous peoples in North America. Science, 374(6567), Article eabe4943. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe4943
- Footprint Data Foundation, York University Ecological Footprint Initiative, & Global Footprint Network. (n.d.). National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts (2023 ed.). https://data.footprintnetwork.org/?_ga=2.150923574.1228151488.1717165865-1914638284.1717165865#/
- Henderson, P. (2016). Worlds on the edge: The politics of settler resentment on the Saugeen/Bruce Peninsula [Master’s thesis, University of Western Ontario]. DSpace. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/7414
- Hendry, A. (2023). Ontario farmland: Productive and precious. Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://ofa.on.ca/ontario-farmland-productive-and-precious/
- Johnson, J. T., Louis, R. P., & Pramono, A. H. (2006). Facing the future: Encouraging critical cartographic literacy in Indigenous communities. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 4(1), 80-98. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v4i1.729
- Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.
- Kish, K., & Miller, E. (2024). Bridging the Ecological Footprint research to policy gap: A co-developed research agenda with Canadian stakeholders. Ecological Economics. Accepted with revisions.
- Koggel, C. M. (2020). Epistemic injustice in a settler nation: Canada’s history of erasing, silencing, marginalizing. In K. Watene & E. Palmer (Eds.), Reconciliation, Transitional and Indigenous Justice (pp. xx-yy). Routledge.
- Latulippe, N., & Klenk, N. (2020). Making room and moving over: Knowledge co-production, Indigenous knowledge sovereignty and the politics of global environmental change decision-making. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 42, 7-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2019.10.010
- Lin, D., Hanscom, L., Murthy, A., Galli, A., Evans, M., Neill, E., Mancini, M. S., Martindill, J., Medouar, F. Z., Huang, S., & Wackernagel, M. (2018). Ecological Footprint Accounting for countries: Updates and results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018. Resources, 7(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources7030058
- Louis, R. P., Johnson, J. T., & Pramono, A. H. (2012). Indigenous cartographies and counter-mapping. In W. Wilson & M. Stewart (Eds.), Indigenous knowledge and the environment in Africa and North America (pp. 77-91). Ohio University Press.
- McCrossan, M., & Ladner, K. L. (2016). Eliminating Indigenous jurisdictions: Federalism, the Supreme Court of Canada, and territorial rationalities of power. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 49(3), 411–431. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423916000822
- McGregor, D. (2009). Linking traditional knowledge and environmental practice in Ontario. Journal of Canadian Studies, 43(3), 69-100. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.43.3.69
- McGregor, D. (2018). From “decolonized” to reconciliation research in Canada: Drawing from Indigenous research paradigms. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 17(3), 810-831. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v17i3.1335
- McGregor, D. (2023). Relationships and responsibilities between Anishinaabek and Nokomis Giizis (Grandmother Moon): An Anishinaabekwe perspective. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 19(1), 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231173114
- Métis-focused ecological footprint calculator. (2023, March 16). Métis Nation of Ontario. https://www.metisnation.org/news/metis-focused-ecological-footprint-calculator/
- Ontario Biodiversity Council. (2021). State of Ontario’s biodiversity [web application]. http://ontariobiodiversitycouncil.ca/sobr
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. (2014). Southern Ontario Land Resource Information System (SOLRIS) Version 1.2 and Far North Land Cover Version 1.4 [Data sets]. Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
- Rees, W. E. (1992). Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: What urban economics leaves out. Environment and Urbanization, 4(2), 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/095624789200400212
- Reid, A. J., Eckert, L. E., Lane, J. F., Young, N., Hinch, S. G., Darimont, C. T., & Cooke, S. J. (2021). “Two-Eyed Seeing”: An Indigenous framework to transform fisheries research and management. Fish and Fisheries, 22(2), 243-261. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12516
- Rundstrom, R. (1995). GIS, Indigenous peoples, and epistemological diversity. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, 22(1), 45-57. https://doi.org/10.1559/15230409578254056
- Sandlos, J., & Keeling, A. (2016). Aboriginal communities, Traditional Knowledge, and the environmental legacies of extractive development in Canada. The Extractive Industries and Society, 3(2), 278–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2015.06.005
- Simpson, L. B. (2017). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. University of Minnesota Press.
- Town of Saugeen Shores. (2022). Saugeen Ojibway Nation Land Claim Update. Retrieved from https://www.saugeenojibwaynation.ca/news/son-claims-update-newsletter-2022
- Townshend, O. K. (2022). Summary of Saugeen Ojibway Nationa Land Claim Decision. Retrieved from https://www.oktlaw.com/services/cases/son_titleclaim/
- Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1-40.
- United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
- Wackernagel, M. (1994). Ecological footprint and appropriated carrying capacity: A tool for planning toward sustainability [Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia]. DSpace. https://doi.org/10.14288/1.0088048
- Wagner, E. V. (2021). Extracting Indigenous jurisdiction on private land: The duty to consult and Indigenous relations with place in Canadian law. In R. Bartel & J. Carter (Eds.), Handbook on Space, Place and Law (pp. 182–194). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788977203.00028
- White, G. (2002). Treaty federalism in Northern Canada: Aboriginal-government land claims boards. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 32(3), 89–114. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a004961
- Whyte, K. P. (2018). What do Indigenous knowledges do for Indigenous peoples? In M. Nelson & D. Shilling (Eds.), Traditional ecological knowledge: Learning from Indigenous practices for environmental sustainability (pp. 57-82). Cambridge University Press.