Two-Eyed Seeing developed
from the teachings of Chief Charles Labrador of Acadia First Nation. Mi'kmaw Elder Albert
Marshall (Eskasoni First Nation) was the first to apply the concept
of Two-Eyed Seeing in a Western setting.
The Institute for Integrative Science and Health had Two-Eyed Seeing or Etuaptmumk in the Mi’kmaw language as it’s Guiding Principle since Elder Albert Marshall introduced it there in 2004. In a video on the institute website, founder, Dr. Cheryl Bartlett explains that Western science pulls patterns apart to understand them and find the mechanisms by which they work. Indigenous science, rather than picking things apart, looks at patterns within patterns and a weaving of yourself and your understanding into the world in which you live.
I have been hearing more
people talk about Two-Eyed Seeing and I thought that I’d share some of those examples
from my experience. The first one comes
from the land where I now live on the edge of Georgian Bay in the community of
Wauabuashene. The first reserve set up
by the government in what is now known as Canada was the Coldwater Narrows
Reserve. Part of this reserve was in Waubaushene. It was created to gather the Anishinaabeg in
what is now known as Simcoe County onto a reserve to allegedly keep them safe
from the influx of European settlers into the area. The Anishinaabeg who were traditionally
hunters, fishers and gatherers who moved from region to region during the
seasons to access the food they needed, were told by the government that they
had to clear the land of trees, farm in a European way and stay on this reserve. The Anishinaabeg learned how to do this with
very little help from the government. In
fact they got so good at it that the government forced them off of the land
after six years to give it to the settlers.
I recently heard a local Anishinaabeg Elder, John Rice, explain that
this was an early example of Two-Eyed Seeing.
The Anishinaabeg learned how to farm in the Western way while maintaining
their own Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing.
The second example comes
from the CBC Ideas Massey Lectures 2022, in which Cree author and musician
Tomson Highway explained that when the Cree moved off of the reserves into
Western society, they had to go from a circular worldview to a linear worldview. This would be another example of Two-Eyed
Seeing that Indigenous Peoples have had to adopt in order to survive the
dominant Western culture.
A third example is our Community Garden in which we are using both Indigenous and Western ways of gardening. The garden is circular as opposed to the rectangular shape of Western garden with long straight rows. The shape is symbolic of a circular worldview. It also allows us to use some of the principles of permaculture which has been developed by non-Indigenous people who are influenced by carefully observing nature. In the Community Garden, we have the Three Sisters (corn, beans and squash) in the centre of the garden. This is based on a traditional Indigenous way of growing these three vegetables together. The corn provides a stalk to support the pole beans and the squash covers the ground with prickly leaves that keeps away predators. Together, these three vegetables provide complete proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins and can sustain people for long periods of time. The story of the Three Sisters can be heardhere.
Western scientific knowledge
tells us that the beans have nodules on their roots that contain a bacteria
that can absorb nitrogen from the air.
In this symbiotic relationship, the beans provide the bacteria with
carbohydrates and once the plant dies, the nodules open and release the
nitrogen into the soil. Corn is a high protein plant that needs lots of nitrogen to
grow well. While corn provides a stalk
for beans to grow on, the beans through their relationship with the bacteria,
provide the nitrogen that the corn needs.
The squash’s leafy cover, prevents evaporation of moisture from the
soil, thus helping all three plants to have enough water.
Understanding from a relational point of view as well as the
Western view of pulling things apart gives us a fuller understanding of the Three
Sisters. It has been found that when
planted together, there is a 30% increase in yield as opposed to planting them
separately. In the Western way of
knowing we call this companion planting. In the Indigenous way of
knowing, we have a teaching story about sisters. These two ways of knowing are a good example
of Two-Eyed Seeing.
With Two-Eyed Seeing, a person doesn’t have to give up their
own worldview. Instead, they just have to realize that there are many points of
view and make space within themselves to entertain another point of view. It is the best of both worlds kind of
approach that just seems to make sense especially when we are facing so many
challenges in the world today.
Another example of Two-Eyed Seeing from the Community Garden
is how we share the food. In a
traditional Western community garden, each person has their own little plot. They can grow whatever they want and the food
is all theirs. I know that people in
these kinds of gardens do share what they don’t need with each other and
sometimes help each other with watering.
In a traditional Indigenous way of knowing, all the food is shared with
everyone in the community. And so, at our Community Garden, we decided to take
that approach and share the food with whoever wanted it or needed it. People were encouraged to stop by and pick
something for their supper. At times we took ripe produce to various people in
the community and it was shared through the library as well. Some was used for food at community
events. Visitors to the park were
invited to come and pick something for their lunch. Kids were really excited to do that. This worldview took some people by surprise
but almost everyone was happy to take part.
I have been studying Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) for
the past four years. It is challenging
to learn but also intriguing as the culture is embedded in the language. Speaking the language requires using my mouth
and throat in a different way and so I am embodying the culture as I do so. It
is a softer language than English and does not use inflection to add
meaning. It is also highly descriptive
and based on observation. From an
Indigenous way of knowing, this is the language that emerged from the land
where I live. When I speak it, I feel an
added closeness to the land, water and other life forms that I share this space
with.
If Indigenous Peoples who moved from reserves into cities had
to go from a circular worldview, to a linear one, then perhaps I can learn to
understand a circular one. I have been
experimenting with this for a number of years and it is challenging. The old “time-line” in which birth is at one
end and death at the other, is firmly embedded and embodied in me. However, I keep on trying. One way to do this is to think of the seasons
as going around a circle so that there is no beginning and no end. That is fairly easy. What about the life-line of events from birth
to death? In this case, the past can
seem very far away and impossible to access and heal traumas from that
time. If I think of time in a circular
or cyclical way, then, the past is never too far away. In fact, I may bump into the traumas from
that past from time to time. I can
access them more easily and perhaps digest and heal from them as well.
My parents were immigrants to Canada from England and
although they spoke the same language as Canadians, they had a different
accent, used different words and phrases and had different customs and foods. As a child, I was sent out to discover what
Canadians did for certain holidays, to understand customs. So, from an early age, I knew that there was
more than one way of doing things. I
wove between English and Canadian culture quite easily. Working in health care in the cosmopolitan
city of Toronto, I met people from many countries and cultures. I learned how to weave there as well. And so, I suppose, for me, Two-Eyed Seeing
seems natural and obvious. I just can’t
believe that other non-Indigenous Peoples aren’t up for the task of learning to
weave these two knowledges as well. In fact, I believe that we can do what it
takes to solve all the problems we are facing through collaboration.
My vision of Canada in the future is one in which Two-Eyed
Seeing is applied in schools, in medicine, in government, in land management
and in communities. I believe that seeing through the lens of Indigenous
knowledge and ways of knowing can open up a wealth of sustainable practices and
ways of renewing our relationship with the land, waters, animals, insects, fish,
birds, rocks, trees and plants.
Bartlett C, Marshall M, Marshall A. Two-Eyed Seeing and other
lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together Indigenous
and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. J Environ Stud Sci
2012;2:331-340.
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