51ÁÔÆæ

For Paulina Johnson, sîpihkokîsikowiskwêw (Blue Sky Woman), many conversations about climate change are missing an important perspective: that of Indigenous communities, and more specifically, Indigenous womxn.

“When we look at the history of Canada — the patriarchal structures and systems that are in place — Indigenous women’s voices often aren’t in the historical record,” she says. 

As an assistant professor of sociology at the 51ÁÔÆæ, Johnson is working to change that. She’s the lead researcher behind an international consortium looking at the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities. The project, titled “Relational Accountability of Mother Earth: Revitalizing and Restoring the Land and Water,” received a of $2.75 million, which will be used to engage Indigenous communities in Canada, Mexico, Australia and South Africa.

“We’re really trying to emphasize how climate change impacts these communities that are often at the forefront of climate change discussions and experiences, but also sidelined on the truth of what’s really happening,” she says.

When Johnson received word of the funding, the feeling was surreal. Months of work had paid off. Her goal with this research was to create long-term impact.

“It was a next-level experience where everything was set in motion,” she says.

“When we first started this research, especially when we were writing the grant, we took it to ceremony and we were saying in our prayers, ‘We hope that what comes from this is something that’s significant for the people — not only just the people present, but the people that come after us, the generations that follow — that they can utilize this knowledge, utilize this material that helps them.’”

Amplifying under-represented voices

The main objective of her work, Johnson explains, is to better understand how climate change affects marginalized and traditionally under-represented populations. In particular, the project focuses on the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples regarding climate change through researching water and food security in Indigenous communities in Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Australia. Her team’s particular focus is amplifying Indigenous womxn’s voices. 

“Many Indigenous communities are matriarchal and place great value on the role of women in the community,” she explains, adding that women in her home community of the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alta., play an important role in her research. 

“So this is really a liberation kind of project, to share those truths and share that power, but also the beauty of Indigenous women. I think, for me, what is really profound and significant is that you start to see these women in a way that doesn’t always get to be presented.”

Indigenous womxn, she explains, hold valuable knowledge of how environments and animals have changed over time. For instance, they might have a unique perspective on how wildlife behave — and any differences that develop over time.

“It’s the Indigenous woman who said the fish look sick, and it turns out they are sick, because when we started to gut them, there was a difference,” she says. “Their in-depth knowledge through observation is going to inform how climate change is impacting fish. For instance, they were impacted because of the runoff from the local fields, blue-green algae, the different pH balances and the like. Our stories inform these changes through observation.”

Changes in plants and animals are only part of the knowledge held by Indigenous womxn. Other environmental changes may also hold hints to climate change.

“When you start to look at water, if our relative water is sick, how does that play into the role of women? Because we have a belief that all of us are connected to the land and the health of the land is connected with us as Indigenous people,” she says.

One of the biggest challenges Johnson faces is how Indigenous knowledge and understanding is traditionally perceived as less valid than western scientific knowledge and data.

“It’s often sidelined and it’s not taken as real, evidence-based science or knowledge. And so there’s that tension that exists, but I feel like within this project we get to validate it as actual science,” she says. “This is Indigenous science and a very different scope. There’s always going to be that tension that exists and failure to actually integrate it or see it as something with merit. But I think within this project, we have to let the knowledge stand for itself, and people can learn from it and see it as something really powerful.”

Johnson notes the consortium members are also learning to work together as an international and multi-disciplinary group of researchers. “Our consortium partners include the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, University of Liverpool and Nelson Mandela University. And we are working together to bring our research forward through international Indigenous worldviews and lenses.

Changing the way research is done

In addition to her research project, Johnson is working to change the relationship between academia and Indigenous communities as one of the co-research directors for , a national organization working to integrate Indigenous knowledge into western scientific practices. The U of A is the host institution for the organization, which works to emphasize the importance of Indigenous knowledge. 

“For me, it’s righting a wrong, and allowing communities to be in the institutions that have usually taken their knowledge and never given it back,” she says. “This is how I give back as an academic: research that is important to me, but also important to my family, my Nation and the generations not here — those without faces. And for me, that’s integral to my research.”