Biocultural families and leaders: New metaphors, methods and members for environmental connectivity in Unama’ki

This study leverages an Indigenous-led call for connectivity research in Unama’ki (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia, as an opportunity to show the power of ‘connectivity science’ to serve Indigenous Peoples’ environmental priorities. In line with the directive of Elders Murdena and Albert Marshall to deactivate and replace inappropriate metaphors for conservation practice, we innovate and demonstrate a biocultural families and leaders approach to selecting species for geospatial modelling. As a research and author collaborative of scientists and Indigenous knowledge-keepers, we come to define biocultural connectivity as that bundle of forces—known and revered by local community—which sustain mutually enriching relationships between a people and their place. We utilize salience of life forms in Mi’kmaw placenames, oral teachings, workshop transcripts, and Indigenous-led biological surveys to indicate significance. We nominate beaver, spruce, berry, and water birds as biocultural leaders for pursuing greater connectivity with the Kluskap Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area. We subsequently identify major priorities for connectivity in Unama’ki territory as connection between generations, connection to Kepmej—or taking action toward a Mi’kmaw Way of Life—and connection to healing. Our work generates a novel relational model of connectivity in which candidate species operate as leaders for families, with leadership implying responsibility rather than hierarchy. These are spatially visualized in our companion paper in this issue. This work offers a ready approach for First Nations and Indigenous Peoples beyond the study area, while demonstrating unlearning’s power to advance the biocultural orientation to conservation.