miyo wîcêhtowin “good relations”: reckoning with the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and soil science in Canada

Abstract

I offer this perspective as hope that miyo wîcêhtowin (translated as “good relations” in Plains Cree) can be established between the discipline of soil science and Indigenous Peoples in Canada. This perspective reflects on the difficult truths of why the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and soil science is primarily one of exploitation and neglect, but also on how fostering a relationship built on reciprocity poses opportunities for Indigenous knowledge systems and soil science to improve land and soil stewardship. Soil science was borne in this country as an instrument of colonization of the plains, marginalizing First Nations from their lands and livelihoods through agricultural settlement. It is necessary to illuminate this fraught history to understand the contemporary realities of First Nations in the prairies, including the hopeful efforts First Nations are making towards conservation and restoration of prairie landscapes—and revitalization of Indigenous knowledge systems—especially though buffalo rematriation. This sharing is done in the hope that we can collectively work towards reciprocity in the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and soil science as a discipline for improved caretaking of the land.