Interweaving Indigenous and Settler Knowledges for Environmental Protection in Resource Development and Indigenous Conciliation in Canada.

Canada has prioritized "reconciliation" with Indigenous peoples just as debates over the ecological impacts of extractive industries are rising in volume and vigour in the public sphere. While apparently distinct, these two substantial and pressing priorities—and their underlying harms of colonialism and extractivism—can be seen as intertwined issues of social, economic, and environmental justice and sustainability. Thus, interweaving—more than "integrating" or "bridging" as employed in the literature—Indigenous ways of living and knowing and Euro-Canadian knowledge systems in resource development projects stands to help Canadians advance both environmental protection and respect for First Peoples and their traditionally used and claimed territories. Building on these premises, this study by "a White person of consciousness" examines the needs, benefits, obligations, frameworks, and challenges of involving Indigenous ways of knowing in the current framework for approving and managing resource development projects in Canada. It notes imperatives and efforts to link Indigenous and settler systems of "knowledge" in such projects and lessons learned and suggests best practices for policies and practices aimed at encouraging both environmental protection and Indigenous conciliation, which can further each other. Finally, the study considers implications of such interweaving for Canada's international standing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]