Issues in Indigenous Environmental Studies 3630 Professor James Wilkes
Colonization, land dispossession, resource extraction, industrial contamination and climate change are a sampling of the Indigenous environmental topics students contemplate in Issues in Indigenous Environmental Studies.
But according to instructor James Wilkes, the course takes students’ understanding far beyond current events associated with Indigenous environmental issues.
“We are all treaty people, and we have all experienced colonialism to some degree. Through understanding decolonization and re-Indigenization movements, Indigenous Environmental Studies (IES) students realize and understand their roles as real human beings, working for the continuation of all life,” says Professor Wilkes, who is a Trent alumnus and professor in the Ecosystem Management and Ecological Restoration programs at Fleming College.
Rooted in Indigenous worldviews
Issues in Indigenous Environmental Studies was developed in 1998 and first delivered in 2000 as one of the foundational courses in the IES program. The course deals primarily with Indigenous environmental issues within the borders of Canada. Through lectures, seminars, guest speakers and discussions, it addresses
the ongoing colonization of Indigenous territories and nations that has contributed to environmental problems throughout Canada.
“Rooted in Indigenous worldviews, teachings and scholarship, and entwining principles of Indigenous and Western knowledges and sciences, this approach provides students with necessary skills, as well as critical and integrative thinking abilities, to address complex environmental issues facing communities around the world today,” says Prof. Wilkes.
And as students come to better understand environmental issues and their solutions, they are quick to share their perspectives, and to take on personal and collective responsibilities for social and environmental justice.
Current events and today’s issues
The course curriculum evolves in tandem with current events, and focuses on Indigenous responses to today’s environmental issues, including research, direct action, legal action, community education, restoration and revitalization.
It also offers an opportunity for students to engage in personal, meaningful and relevant research, on topics of their choice, ranging from autobiographical reflections to case-based studies and action-oriented projects.
“Through my own education and experience teaching university and college classes, I have been inspired by the response from Indigenous and non-
Indigenous students to the IES discipline and its capacity to help them recognize their personal and collective responsibilities for social and environmental justice, and to strengthen their inherent and intrinsic relationships with Mother Earth,” says Prof. Wilkes.
