(Received 24 October 1995; accepted in revised form 30 April 1996)

ABSTRACT. Increasingly, federal environmental guidelines require developers to consider the "traditional knowledge" of aboriginal people in assessing the impact of proposed projects on northern environments, economies, and societies. However, several factors have limited the contributions of traditional knowledge to environmental impact assessment (EIA) in the North, including confusion over the meaning of this term, who "owns" this knowledge, and its role in EIA. The term "indigenous knowledge," which comprises traditional and nontraditional, ecological and nonecological knowledge, is proposed as an alternative that should allow aboriginal people, and the full scope of their knowledge, to assume integral roles in EIA.

Experience gained in attempting to give aboriginal people a voice and an assessment role in the diamond mine proposed by BHP Diamonds Inc. at Lac de Gras in the Northwest Territories has led to the development of a multiphased, holistic approach to involving aboriginal people and their knowledge in EIA. Because of their in-depth knowledge of the land, aboriginal people have a particularly important role to play in environmental monitoring and distinguishing project-related changes from natural changes in the environment. However, the strengths of traditional and Western scientific knowledge in EIA will not be realized until both are recognized as parts of a larger worldview that influences how people perceive and define reality.

Key words: aboriginal people, indigenous knowledge, environmental impact assessment, traditional knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, valued ecosystem components, Western scientific knowledge, participatory action research

RESUME. De plus en plus, les lignes directrices environnementales du gouvernement federal exigent des responsables de projects de developpement qu'ils tiennent compte du <<savoir traditionnel>> des peuples autochtones en evaluant les incidences des projects a l'etude sur les milieux, les economies et les societes nordiques. Toutefois, plusieurs facteurs ont limite la contribution du savoir traditionnel a l'evaluation des incidences environnementales (EIE) dans le Grand Nord, y compris l'ambiguite entourant le sens de cette expression, la personne qui <<detient>> ce savoir, et son role dans l'EIE. On propose l'emploi de l'expression <<savoir autochtone>>, qui englobe savoir traditionnel et non traditionnel, savoir ecologique et non ecologique, comme une solution qui permettrait aux peuples autochtones, ainsi qu'a toute la dimension de leur savoir, d'assumer un role integral dans l'EIE.

L'experience acquise lors des efforts en vue de donner une voix et un role d'evaluateurs aux autochtones dans le projet d'exploitation de la mine diamantifere de BHP Diamonds Inc. a Lac de Gras (Territoires du Nord-Ouest) a conduit a une approche holistique, a facettes multiples, qui vise a faire participer les autochtones et leur savoir a l'EIE. En raison de leur connaissance approfondie de la terre, les autochtones ont un role particulierement important a jouer dans le controle de l'environnement et la distinction entre les changements environnementaux dus aux projets et ceux dus a la nature. Toute la force du savoir traditionnel et des connaissances scientifiques occidentales ne se manifestera toutefois que lorsqu' on admettra que les deux parties participent a une vision du monde elargie qui influence...