In her TEDxNSCCWaterfront talk, Mi’kmaw Poet Laureate Rebecca Thomas explains Etuaptmumk: Two-Eyed Seeing. This concept encourages integrating the strengths of Indigenous and Western knowledges, using both perspectives for the benefit of all.

As Coordinator of Aboriginal Student Services and a spoken word artist, Thomas draws from her family’s residential school history to highlight the lack of First Nations perspectives in Halifax’s history. She uses her platform to bring a cultural voice to public discussion, believing poetry empowers the voiceless and fosters healing. “Poetry can give a voice to the voiceless. Poetry can make a powerless person feel powerful. This is why I speak,” she states.