The lands, water, and air known as A’se’k (or Boat Harbour, in English) have provided for the Mi’kmaq of Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN) since time immemorial. But in 1967, a pulp mill began piping its waste effluent into the water and pumping its particulate matter out the stacks into the prevailing winds, which directly targeted PLFN. This is a clear-cut case of environmental racism and a clear-cut case of activism and research. Worried for their children’s health and all their relations, the Pictou Landing Native Women’s Group (PLNWG) approached Dr Castleden and Dr Diana Lewis in 2010 to use Indigenous and western sciences to address their concerns. The PLNWG worked tirelessly for five years, engaging their community’s youth and Elders in research and community activism and by 2015, the Provincial Government passed the Boat Harbour Act, requiring the mill to cease the effluent flow by 2020 and determine an alternate treatment handling system. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
