Image: Aerial view of the North Saskatchewan River.
Photo credit: Parks Canada
Across the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, many ways of knowing flow together just as the waters do. These rivers carry stories from the land, plants, animals, and diverse peoples who have lived alongside them since time immemorial. We take care of the rivers, and they take care of us. As we consider how best to monitor and celebrate our rivers, braiding perspectives offers a powerful way to honour the many knowledge holders and caretakers who help these waterways thrive.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Potawatomi botanist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, reminds us that sweetgrass is often braided as an act of love and care for the Earth. Each strand remains distinct, yet the braid becomes stronger because of the relationships among its parts. This image has inspired community partners who are working to bring Indigenous knowledge systems and Western science into respectful conversation.
Image: Aerial view of the North Saskatchewan River highlighting its intricate braided channels.
Photo credit: Parks Canada
One approach rooted in this spirit is Two-Eyed Seeing; shared by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall. It encourages people to look at the world through both Indigenous and Western lenses, recognizing the strengths each brings. Other philosophies—such as ethical space, cultural interface, and Indigenous métissage—share a similar goal: creating room for dialogue, balance, and shared understanding.
Métissage, meaning “mixed like a cloth of many fibres,” offers a particularly rich way to think about collaboration. In a braid or woven fabric, no strand disappears into another. Instead, each moves in and out of view, contributing its own colour and texture. Métissage invites us to work in this way: bringing together different histories, worldviews, and experiences.
For the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, braiding perspectives is more than a metaphor. As a priority of our 2020–2030 Strategic Plan, this approach reflects a commitment to listening deeply, collaborating respectfully, and recognizing that rivers carry more than water—they carry relationships, responsibilities, and stories. As Kimmerer teaches, a braid is strongest when every strand is honoured.