Perspectives on Prediction in Passamaquoddy Bay with Fred Page & Jack Fife
Fred Page, oceanographer and close collaborator of Chief Akagi, brings something special to our learning.
Fred has a practical yet heartfelt account of different knowledge systems as “perspectives.” This makes way for understanding how Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science fit together like the friendship of Chief and Fred.
This perspectival approach on “the role of Western science” is applied in the video below through a friendly but insistent questioning of the self-understanding of science in Oceanography.
In the videos that come farther down the page, Jack Fife arrives to speak for what the fish are fed by: Zooplankton, the nervous system and energy circuitry of the Bay.
Part 1 (11 min)
As you listen to Fred, write down anything he says that surprises you.
As discussed in Experience 2, purse seining has become legal again, after it was previously banned. Is there a role for Western science in addressing this regression back into purse seining?
Fred mentions the locations of 2 of the oldest ‘time series’ for water temperature change in Turtle Island (North America). Which location is in Passamaquoddy Bay?
Part 2 (10 min)
What is changing in the context of Western science?
When you’re deciding how to use Western science, how do you decide what will be most useful to society?
If you want the Bay healthier, what are the questions that Western science can contribute to?
What kind of knowledge is incredibly valuable when scientists are designing what science to do?
Part 3 (9 min)
Why do good conversations matter for doing good science?
Why does openness and transparency matter for doing good science?
What does Jack Fife yell at the end? (Drama!)
Part 4 (7 min)
When was the 1916-1920 zooplankton data rediscovered in modern times?
What kinds of animals are very happy to eat copepods in Passamaquoddy Bay?
This work and report was “[a] collaborative project involving Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, Passamaquoddy
people, and Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership.”