“Put it near the Indians”: Indigenous perspectives on pulp mill contaminants in their traditional territories (Pictou Landing First Nation, Canada)

Abstract

Background: Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), a small Mi’kmaw community on the Canadian east coast, has had a relationship with a tidal estuary known as A’se’k for millennia. In the 1960s, it became the site of effluent disposal from a nearby pulp mill. Almost immediately, health concerns regularly and consistently reverberated throughout the community. Objectives: The Pictou Landing Native Women’s Group (PLNWG) formed a community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership with an academic team to conceptualize community well-being in the context of environment and human health connections. This paper documents Mi’kmaw Elders’ stories of A’se’k before it became contaminated. Methods: Using narrative inquiry vis-à-vis oral histories, we carried out conversational interviews with 10 Elders from PLFN. These interviews were thematically analyzed and ‘restoried’ through a process of (w)holistic content analysis. Results: Our findings present four broad story layers, recounting the themes that emerged through analysis and presenting a broad Mi’kmaw narrative of A’se’k. These story layers share: what A’se’k originally provided, the historical/ cultural context of PLFN, changes to land and health after the mill was put in, and reflections on the past and future of A’se’k. Conclusions: Our research offers a novel contribution to the literature by showing how Mi’kmaw perspectives on the pollution at A’se’k reveal the close connection between Mi’kmaw livelihood, local ecologies, and health and well-being. Our research also provides insights into the way the research relationship developed between the PLNWG and the academic team, providing a pathway for others seeking to decolonize the research landscape.