Practices for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Western Sciences for Research and Monitoring of Biodiversity in Canada

TL;DR

This paper explores how to combine Indigenous knowledge and Western science for biodiversity research in Canada, offering practical guidelines and priorities for collaboration.

Contribution

The paper introduces nine pillars and priorities for braiding Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in biodiversity research.

Findings

Nine key pillars were identified for effectively combining Indigenous and Western knowledge in biodiversity research.

The literature shows varied implementation of these pillars, with indicators like engagement and governance being crucial.

The paper outlines roles for each knowledge system across different stages of a biodiversity project.

Abstract

There has been a widespread effort to braid multiple knowledge systems in biodiversity research and monitoring, yet there is further need to consider how to do so. We interviewed Indigenous Peoples and representatives of 12 Indigenous communities, completed a systematic review of biodiversity studies that utilized Indigenous knowledges (IK) and Western sciences (WS) in Canada, and then braided the outcomes of the conversations and literature review to address if, when, and how IK and WS can be brought together for biodiversity research and monitoring in Canada. Overall, there was a great deal of support for, and desire to, braid IK and WS among interview participants. A suite of nine pillars and priorities was identified for doing so from participants' responses. These priorities included: (1) build and foster relationships; (2) IK should guide projects; (3) Indigenous communities should lead projects; (4) IK must be respected equally with WS; (5) embrace reciprocity (focus on people) and (6) embrace responsibility (focus on land) to the land and one another; (7) ensure equal gender and age representation; (8) intergenerational knowledge transfer is important; and (9) language revitalization is critical. The extent to which the pillars and priorities for braiding were reflected in the current literature varied, and we identified indicators that may help project leads choose what to prioritize in design to fulfill the pillars. These indicators included engagement, relevance, governance, and accessibility. The stages of projects at which IK and WS were brought together (i.e., design, data collection, analysis, reporting, and decision‐making), the roles for each IK and WS at various project stages, and the methods for IK collation and WS data collection varied extensively across the literature. This work deepens our understanding of the practices of knowledge braiding in biodiversity research and monitoring in Canada and offers a toolkit for doing so.

Our research article addresses ‘if, when and how’ to bring together Indigenous knowledges (IK) and Western sciences (WS) in practice in biodiversity research and monitoring, though a combination of interviews/sharing circles with Indigenous Peoples, a systematic literature search, and then braiding outcomes from each. We provide nine pillars and priorities for bridging knowledges that come from the interviews/sharing circles, show how those pillars and priorities are reflected in the current literature, and what biodiversity project leads can focus on in order to meet those pillars and priorities (i.e., Indicators for braiding, shown in the Figure associated with this graphical abstract). We end by outlining the roles that each IK and WS can have across the stages of a project (from design to reporting and decision‐making).

Figures