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Since 1972, Eeyou Itschee, a territory east of James Bay, has been terraformed by the largest hydro-generation system on the planet, led by HydroQuébec and the Government of Québec. A territory 2/3rds the size of France has been diked, dammed, its rivers redirected, and criss-crossed by electrical transmission lines to the South and to the US. Due to the high levels of mercury released by the forests flooded for reservoirs the size of Belgium, health authorities recommend eating no more than two fish from the rivers each month. Fluctuating spring river levels led to the drowning of tens of thousands of Caribou. Learning only from newspapers, the resident Eenouch came together and negotiated the first land claims agreement in Canada, surrendering about 99% of their territory for promises of economic development. 50 years on, a settler-colonial geography, reinforced by a complex sociolegal framework, contain and constrain spatial relations in and of Eeyou Itschee through constant processes of renegotiation and reparation for land with money. Our research focused on a survey of the ways the science literature represents the region and its features. Our research ties with this territory are strongly linked to Nemaska, an Eenouch hamlet 2 days drive north of Montreal that was expropriated but managed to relocate and rebuild their community. Today, a lithium (spodumene) mine is being developed nearby. The community fears the impacts. However, the Nemaska band council approved the project due to the economic benefits it might bring. For more information: https://www.spaceandculture.com/2023/10/31/eeyou-istchee-old-nemaska/ 

Source

Shields, Rob, Cheryl Arnston, Nicholas Hardy and Juan David Guevara-Salamanca. 2023. "Eeyou Itschee and settler colonial terraforming." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

In Louisiana, governing elites have long found it more profitable to deny the connections between health outcomes and the structural inequities of an anti-Black petrostate. Their denial is made possible by the existence of data divergence–that is, inconsistencies between data sets or between a data set and the realities it purports to represent (Encyclopedia of Social Measurement 2005). These inconsistencies range from missing or “undone” (i.e. incomplete or ignored) data (Frickel et al. 2007) to the production of different measures (and the selection of different priorities) by institutional silos. Recognition of the need for public health capacities that address the systems and structures impacting health–especially children’s health–has motivated health equity advocates in Louisiana to fill the data gaps through collaborative datawork, that is, the work of making data meaningful across social and scientific communities. In 2022, a coalition of community organizations, academic researchers, and public health workers led by the Louisiana Center for Health Equity (LCHE), a community-based organization created by a registered nurse, worked together to examine the links between adolescent mental health and disciplinary practices in schools. Ensuring their agendas were informed by community priorities led them to incorporate the contributions of adolescents advocating for better access to physical and mental healthcare resources and the abolishment of discriminatory and punitive disciplinary actions in schools. Their collaborative datawork revealed how data gaps around adolescent mental health are a structuring component of schools’ discriminatory and punitive climates–much as gaps in environmental health data benefit polluting industries. They found that existing figures around adolescent mental health are inaccurate, as many youth are unable to receive an official diagnosis owing to lack of healthcare access. LCHE advocates at a house committee meeting in January 2023 reported that students who exhibit behavioral issues rooted in trauma or mental health more often receive punitive disciplinary actions rather than rehabilitative and restorative services. This work generated the support needed to pass legislation to expand public health infrastructure and access to mental health resources. In June 2023, House Bill 353 authorized the allotment of "mental health days" as an excused absence for students; introduced procedures for schools to connect students to medical treatment and services; and required the Louisiana Department of Education to develop and administer a pilot program for implementing mental health screening, among other changes. By mobilizing advocates and scholars from across the social and institutional silos, LCHE’s collaborative datawork tentatively expanded children’s public health infrastructures. 

Fisher, Margaux. 2023. "Collaborative Datawork and Reframing Adolescent Mental Health in the Deep South." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

Since 1972, Eeyou Itschee, a territory east of James Bay, has been terraformed by the largest hydro-generation system on the planet, led by HydroQuébec and the Government of Québec. A territory 2/3rds the size of France has been diked, dammed, its rivers redirected, and criss-crossed by electrical transmission lines to the South and to the US. Due to the high levels of mercury released by the forests flooded for reservoirs the size of Belgium, health authorities recommend eating no more than two fish from the rivers each month. Fluctuating spring river levels led to the drowning of tens of thousands of Caribou. Learning only from newspapers, the resident Eenouch came together and negotiated the first land claims agreement in Canada, surrendering about 99% of their territory for promises of economic development. 50 years on, a settler-colonial geography, reinforced by a complex sociolegal framework, contain and constrain spatial relations in and of Eeyou Itschee through constant processes of renegotiation and reparation for land with money. Our research focused on a survey of the ways the science literature represents the region and its features. Our research ties with this territory are strongly linked to Nemaska, an Eenouch hamlet 2 days drive north of Montreal that was expropriated but managed to relocate and rebuild their community. Today, a lithium (spodumene) mine is being developed nearby. The community fears the impacts. However, the Nemaska band council approved the project due to the economic benefits it might bring. For more information: https://www.spaceandculture.com/2023/10/31/eeyou-istchee-old-nemaska/ 

Shields, Rob, Cheryl Arnston, Nicholas Hardy and Juan David Guevara-Salamanca. 2023. "Eeyou Itschee and settler colonial terraforming." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

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