Rethinking Transformation Project

MSIT NO’KMAQ

Msit No’kmaq, which loosely translates to ‘all my relations’, as described in these resources, is the guiding principle beneath every part of this project. It asks whose worldview research starts from, centring Mi’kmaw relationships to land, water, and community as the foundation for climate action. Non-Indigenous researchers and institutions are invited to enter as guests, building long term, accountable relationships, slowing down to honour Knowledge Keepers and Elders, and letting community priorities and protocols shape the direction of the work from the
outset.

SCIENCE & KNOWLEDGE

Rethinking Science and Knowledge asks how Mi’kmaw and Western knowledge systems can meet on equal footing. Drawing on Etuaptmumk (Two Eyed Seeing), developed by Mi’kmaw Elders Drs. Albert and Murdena Marshall, the project treats this as an ongoing practice of reflection and relationship, continually asked of every study, method, and finding. Researchers and community partners work to bridge knowledge systems in ways that value storywork, ceremony, and lived experience alongside conventional scientific data.

POLICY & PLANNING

Rethinking Policy and Planning asks what fisheries, ocean, and coastal planning, policy, and governance could look like when community relationships shape the process from the start. Fieldwork and engagement in Burgeo, and upcoming work in Bay St. George, are testing what is

possible when planning begins with community priorities and Mi’kmaw protocols, built in from the outset. Nationally, the project helps lead through the Ocean and Coastal Social Science and Humanities Network, a platform that channels community and academic perspectives directly and through the Canadian hub of Too Big To Ignore: A Global Partnership for Small-Scale Fisheries Research which is sharing lessons about how engage community for government agencies like Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Rethinking Training and Education asks how research and education can be built with communities, moving learning out of the classroom and into the community, where leadership renewal and youth co-leadership are most needed. In partnership with Royal Roads University’s Professional and Continuing Studies and Conservation Corps of Newfoundland and Labrador,
the project has now delivered two years of the Rethinking Training and Research Internship Program, embedding student interns directly in community fieldwork. A Burgeo pilot, the Leading Around You course, extends this model in fall 2026, offering an intergenerational, land and water based course in collective leadership grounded in the spirit of Msit No’kmaq and western approaches for transdisciplinary leadership.