The memory of Indigenous Knowledge is as long as Science's is short

www.unesco.org/links

Dialogue on Knowledge workshopUsdub, Panama, 10-13 April 2012

Local & Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous knowledge systems are as diverse as the societies that sustain them.

May be passed down intact – - Moken know tsunami even though none experienced

themselves

But also empirically renewed & re-invented- Mayangna name invasive fish species and learn their

ecology and behaviour

Indigenous languages shape worldview- Sami 300+words for snow linked to reindeer herding

But knowledge also exists in action not words- intuitive knowledge or technique (seeing and doing)

IK transmission is not always ‘see & do’- Micronesian taught navigation in traditional schools

IK anchored in worldviews & epistemologies- Cree worldview influences their interpretation of

mercury pollution and the impacts of dams

IScience and Indigenous Knowledge

Scientists continue to indulge in false notions about IK (adapted to another time, barrier to development, anecdotal, immutable, the last elder, cultural rather than empirical, etc)

Scientists also perpetuate false notions about science Forget the historical relationship between the two systems

- Rumphius and SE Asian taxonomy Forget intellectual traditions in which scientific thought is rooted

- 13th to 18th C. animal trials – pigs, lawyers, executed or exiled Ignore the historical, social and cultural roots of science (history,

values, culture-based concepts)- Culture based scientific attitudes, values and concepts: Wilderness, Fire

Remain silent on the political and economic dimensions of science- Disciplinary limits, interdisciplinarity undermined, distortion of finance

etc.

ICulture-based notions about fire ecology

Case Study 1:

Scientists believe fire is destructive (rooted in biblical concept of ‘wilderness’ i.e. ‘The Desert’)

Indigenous use of fire to manage savannah ecosystems suppressed on several continents

Australia: CSIRO carried out decades of research to re-discover principles of Aboriginal firestick management Today re-instated as primary BD management tool in Uluru and Kakadu National Parks

US: Yellowstone National Park became powder keg due to complete fire suppression policy (Smokey the Bear)Destructive wildfire led to re-thinking of past assumptions

ILimits of science and

Inuit whaling

Case Study 2:Inupiat hunting quotas based

on erroneous science about whale behaviour

Inuit had to prove that whales don’t only migrate along shore nor at surface (also offshore and under ice)

Today controversy over polar bear numbers and quotas perpetuate the same adversarial relationship and false notions about IK.

ILessons Learned? Time to Change?

40 years of ‘re-discovery’ of IK• adversarial relations and mistrust• science setting terms of acceptance of IK i.e. validation (cognitive arrogance)

But innumerable case studies demonstrate valuable knowledge provided by IK

Growing understanding of Science as a cultural practice (no longer the gatekeeper of ‘truth’).

Can scientists acknowledge this growing body of empirical understanding, and move beyond false notions about IK and about science ?

ICo-production of Knowledge

Emerging paradigm: scientific and indigenous knowledge holders working together to co-produce new solutions to complex challenges: joint formulation of novel research questionscollaborative methods for data gathering flexible arrangements for interaction complementary data sets – qualitative & holistic along with quantitative and reductionist respect for different approaches, worldviews and epistemologies

I To build genuine dialogue between indigenous and scientific knowledge

Move beyond science-centred approaches

Accept IK on its own terms (abandon ethnocentric processes such as scientific validation)

Focus on processes, not on accumulation of ‘facts’

Seek new understandings and solutions in the co-production of knowledge that brings scientists and indigenous peoples together on equitable terms

Decentralize management processes to the local level so as to ensure frameworks that support equity in knowledge production and decision-making

I Transform mainstream education on indigenous knowledge and science

Replace Science Education with education on Diverse Knowledge Systems

Teach history, philosophy and cultural relativity of knowledge systems, including Western Science

Balance disciplinary education with interdisciplinary (natural & social science) and inter-cultural education

Equip students to critically analyze culturally-loaded notions such as ‘truth’, ‘objectivity’, ‘wilderness’ etc

Reinforce confidence of indigenous students in their language, knowledge and unique cognitive capacities

Build foundations for knowledge co-production