**2. Decolonizing Environmental Education from Indigenous Perspectives: What Is Known?**

As noted in the introduction, the number of publications on the topic of IKS in the EE field continues to be on the rise across the globe. The Nishnaabeg scholar Simpson [11] argued for grounding Indigenous EE programs within IKS because it strengthens cultures; promotes environmental protection, including sustainable local economies; and supports students "through healing and decolonizing processes" [11] (p. 16). Many Indigenous scholars are proponents of decolonizing education in general, and Indigenous EE programs in particular. They address key factors of the decolonization process: centering programs in Indigenous philosophies of education, revitalizing Indigenous languages, engaging Elders as experts, privileging Indigenous voices, employing Indigenous ways of teaching and learning, creating space for resistance; connecting to the land, having Indigenous education controlled by Indigenous communities and promoting two-eyed seeing [2–21,27,28]. These scholars emphasized the importance of content, as well as process. For instance, Cajete [21], Graveline [29] and Simpson [30] stated that incorporating Indigenous ways of teaching and learning, such as learning-by-doing, observing, storytelling, creating, reflecting, ceremonies, dreams, visions, and fasting, provides opportunities for students to share and learn in a culturally inherent manner and also supports the idea that Indigenous knowledge is not only content but also a process.

Many of the decolonizing factors were apparent in Conrad et al.'s research [31]. In their four-year study to foster the success of young Indigenous students, the authors found that ethical relationships guided by the Cree wisdom teachings of wîcihitowin (lifegiving energy) and wahkohtowin (kinship relations, which include the more than human) among Elders, the research team and students throughout the study were fundamental for decolonizing practices to emerge. Such practices included integrating Cree language into lessons; incorporating land-based activities, ceremony and storytelling; remaining open and intuitive; letting go of power and control; and creating a welcoming space. Similarly, Ragoonaden & Mueller [32] incorporated Indigenous traditions of teaching and learning in an introductory university course and found that students appreciated the peer mentoring, circles of learning and relationship with instructors. Indeed, engaging students in Indigenous pedagogies opens the opportunity for students to understand that transformation can take the form of disrupting dominant discourses, which is a key strategy for decolonizing education [33].

An example of connecting with the land is illustrated in Simpson's work [13] in which she advocates for land as pedagogy by using Nishnaabeg stories as a process and context

for Nishnaabeg intelligence. She starts with the Nishnaabeg maple sugar origin story she learned from an Elder. The story illustrates the basic foundational Nishnaabeg values of "love, compassion and understanding", which were missing in Simpson's education experiences from kindergarten through to graduate school [13] (p. 6). Nishnaabeg intelligence encompasses embodiment and conceptual thought—one learns "*from* the land and *with* the land" [13] (p. 6), emphasis in original). Nishnaabeg ancestors were practitioners of Nishnaabeg intelligence:

Our ancestors' primary concern in "educating" our young people was to nurture a new generation of Elders—of land based intellectuals, philosophers, theorists, medicine people, and historians who embodied Nishnaabeg intelligence in whatever time they were living in because they had lived their lives through Nishnaabeg intelligence. [13] (p. 13)

Indeed, land-based education uses an Indigenized and environmentally focused approach to education by recognizing the physical, mental, cultural, social and spiritual connection to the land [6,34–38]. It is a possible solution to addressing the impacts of climate change, particularly on children and youth [39]; improving the lives of Indigenous youth by helping to create connections to land and developing resilience and wellbeing [40]; and directly challenges settler colonialism because its goal is to sustain Indigenous life and knowledge [41].

Mi'kmaq Elder Albert Marshall developed the concept of *Etuaptmumk* "Two-eyed seeing", which means learning "to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and to see from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both of these eyes together" [27] (p. 335). Two-eyed seeing is illustrated in a multi-year community-based participatory research project initiated by the women of the Pictou Landing Native Women's Group (PLNWG) in Nova Scotia, who were concerned about the health impacts of dumping effluent from the pulp and paper mill's operations into their waterways. This approach made room for Indigenous ways of knowing (e.g., oral histories, sharing circles, documentary film-making) to work in tandem with Western ways of knowing (e.g., conducting a variety of monitoring techniques—water, air, soil, and sediment sampling and analysis). The result was a broader assessment of health concerns and informed a holistic understanding of individual and collective health in Pictou Landing First Nation. For this research, "two-Eyed Seeing has been central to the project as the PLNWG and their university partners have sought to conduct relevant, respectful, responsible, and reciprocal research" [42] (p. 8). As of 2020, the mill was shut down [43].

Another example is Bartlett's work [44]. She posits that Western sciences focus on matter and energy and promote object-oriented minds; on the other hand, at the heart of Indigenous sciences is consciousness. According to Bartlett, learning to attribute consciousness to natural objects has the potential to change students' attitudes toward nature by nurturing respect and reverence. She describes an exercise on solstices and equinoxes that uses the "Two-eyed seeing" concept. The exercise teaches the Western science concepts on the seasons and Indigenous ways of knowing. In particular, learners are encouraged to shift their consciousness to animate the Sun to become "Grandfather Sun which enables him to see Mother Earth."

We join the conversation on ethically and respectfully teaching and learning Indigenous knowledge systems. In particular, our work responds to an area of research Lowan-Trudeau [6] identified as needing further exploration, which is the role of non-Indigenous people in Indigenous EE and how to engage with and share Indigenous knowledge in a respectful manner.
