Two-Eyed Seeing, known in Mi'kmaq as Etuaptmumk, is a way of viewing the world through both Western and Indigenous knowledges and worldviews together. It was introduced by the Mi'kmaq elders Albert D. Marshall and Murdena Marshall of Eskasoni First Nation, together with the professor Cheryl Bartlett. Albert Marshall describes it as learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing and from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both eyes together. The concept was first put forward as a way to encourage Mi'kmaq university students to pursue an education in science without having to set aside their own Indigenous knowledge to do so. Since then it has been taken up in the strategic plans, government policies and research programs of a range of institutions, among them the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. In education, Two-Eyed Seeing offers a model for teaching science and other subjects in a way that treats Indigenous and Western knowledge systems as complementary rather than requiring students from Indigenous communities to choose between them.
Facts
Core ClaimTwo-Eyed Seeing is an approach that draws on the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing through one eye and the strengths of Western ways of knowing through the other, and uses both together rather than favoring either alone. 1 FAQs
How did Two-Eyed Seeing become part of a university science program?
It grew into the Integrative Science program at Cape Breton University, which combines Mi'kmaw and Western knowledge.
The Mi'kmaq Elders Albert and Murdena Marshall and the professor Cheryl Bartlett began a grassroots effort in the 1990s to encourage Indigenous students to take part in science programs at Cape Breton University. They developed a science curriculum that brings Mi'kmaw and other Indigenous knowledges together with mainstream Western knowledge. This became the Integrative Science academic program, conceptualized in the mid-1990s and brought into being in 1999.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Two-Eyed Seeing
Wikimedia Foundationlead section
Albert, in 2004, brought to light the guiding principle of Two-Eyed Seeing.
lead section, Marshall quotation
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
In Group: Equity, Cultural Relevance and Inclusion Approaches, Lead
Two-Eyed Seeing (Mi'kmaq: Etuaptmumk) is a basis in viewing the world through both Western and Indigenous knowledges and worldviews.
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