Two-Eyed Seeing
Mi’kmaq educator Marie Battiste (2002) emphasizes that we should view Indigenous and Western knowledge systems not as oppositional binaries, but rather as concepts that complement each other, with Indigenous knowledge as a source to fill the gaps within Eurocentric models of teaching, learning, research, and education processes. Similarly, Elder Albert Marshall from the Eskasoni Mi’kmaq First Nation (2012) describes Etuaptmumk, the approach of two-eyed seeing, as a way to learn to appreciate both Indigenous and Western knowledges and ways of knowing, and he says that using these two perspectives can be to our benefit. He contends that by fostering an active engagement with both ways of seeing, we are providing all students with support systems to move toward a decolonized academy.
Additional Reading and Resources
ACCH Initiative: children’s pain and culturally appropriate assessment. Extensive research being done related to Indigenous children and pain https://achh.ca/about-us/our-approach-two-eyed-seeing/
Anderson-DeCoteau, M. Indigenous Knowledge to Close Gaps in Indigenous Health. TEDx U of Manitoba (18:35) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpKjtujtEYI
Connors, E. A. (n.d.). Two-eyed seeing: First Nation’s Perspectives of Crisis and Trauma from the Inside Out and the Outside In. Retrieved from http://trauma-informed.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Two-eyed-seeing-article.pdf
Marshall, A. (October 1, 2017). Two-Eyed Seeing. Retrieved from http://www.integrativescience.ca/uploads/files/Two-Eyed%20Seeing-AMarshall-Thinkers%20Lodge2017(1).pdf
Martin, D. H. (2012). Two-eyed seeing: A framework for understanding Indigenous and non-Indigenous approaches to indigenous health research. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 44(2), 20-42. Retrieved from https://achh.ca/about-us/our-approach-two-eyed-seeing/
