Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

In this study, we highlight perspectives underpinning the development of an ecological conscious environmental education within teacher education at the University of British Columbia. We consider ways to engage with scientific discourse through community, guided by the theme of ‘honouring our Elders’, and articulated through the lives of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. We story the lives of these critically endangered whales with whom we share the Salish Sea. Elder wisdom held and shared by Orca matriarchs is the lifeblood and Heart Knowledge of three related pods, J, K, and L. With the recent death of 105 year-old matriarch Granny J2, questions arise: Who will assume the role of knowledge keeper of the pods’ lived experiences? What is the future of the Southern Resident Orcas and the Salish Sea as matrilines diminish and disappear into Great Silence? (Saulitis, 2014). We present conversations embracing Elder Knowledge and Elder Wisdom in this Age of the Anthropocene, storied through the lens of how “place” is lived by Elders facing the threat of displacement from their homes, community, and traditional spaces. We share their lived experiences as Ki and Kin (Kimmerer, 2017), honour them with Respect, Reciprocity, Reverence, Responsibility, Rootedness (Archibald, 2008; Kimmerer, 2013, 2017), and nurture interspecies bonds through spiritual, corporeal, and cosmological connections (Fawcett, 1999; Jardine, 1998; Payne & Wattchow, 2009). We conclude with wisdom and inspiration from Robin Wall Kimmerer (2016): “To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it (p. 317)”.