Carole Lévesque, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
The DIALOG network forms a bridge between scientific and Indigenous knowledge. It renews the relationship between the university and the Indigenous world, which has for too long been one-sided.
The old village of Aceredo, submerged 30 years ago when a hydropower dam flooded the valley, emerged during a drought in northwestern Spain, in February 2022.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Water is central to adapting to climate change, but very few of the strategies put in place to respond to water hazards or ensure its availability have been evaluated.
Indigenous Peoples protest the Brazilian government’s efforts to exterminate their rights and legalize destruction of the Amazon forest at the ‘Luta Pela Vida’ (struggle for life) protest, in August 2021, in Brasilia, Brazil.
(Vanessa Andreotti)
The climate emergency can’t be addressed with simplistic solutions. A network of Indigenous communities in Brazil invites us to reorient colonial approaches and embrace deeper change.
Research reveals a connection between Indigenous languages, bears and their terrain.
(Michelle Valberg)
Genetic analysis of grizzly bear populations in British Columbia has revealed a connection in how bear and human cultures may have responded to the landscape.
Restoring the mosque of Djenné in Mali.
MICHELE CATTANI/AFP via Getty Images
Children in an Oji-Cree northern First Nation are learning traditional teachings about ‘Namebin’ (suckers) and working on literacy skills at the same time through a community literacy project.
Traditional ecological knowledge involves an interaction between cultural practice, cultural belief and adaptive capacity to deal with climate impacts.
Wengky Ariando
The extent of this achievement is staggering, almost incomprehensible in a southern Australia context after the summer’s devastating bushfires.
The keeper of hundreds of Kwakwaka’wakw songs, Kwaksistalla Wathl’thla (Clan Chief Adam Dick), chanting at a feast (qui’las) with Mayanilh (Dr. Daisy Sewid-Smith).
(Bert Crowfoot)
Ancestral Indigenous songs often encode territorial responsibilities and rights, such as in relationship with ‘lokiwey’ (coastal clam gardens) on the Pacific Northwest Coast.
A storm blows over the Tsá Tué Biosphere Reserve.
UNESCO/Destination Délįnę
A holistic approach to conservation finds people have a place in the natural world and a responsibility to maintain it.
The study of caribou ecology in the Sahtú region of Canada’s Northwest Territories shows how western science and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge are used together.
Shutterstock
Many Native languages are dying, and their loss has deep and profound implications for our world.
A team of researchers in northern Australia have documented kites and falcons, “firehawks,” intentionally carrying burning sticks to spread fire: It is just one example of western science catching up to Indigenous Traditional Knowledge.
James Padolsey/Unsplash
A double standard exists concerning the acceptance of Traditional Knowledge by practitioners of Western science.
Members of the James Bay Cree gather around the fire as part of a week-long celebration called ‘wellness week,’ aimed at improving personal health and wellness in their community in northern Québec.
(David DyckFehderau)
Like many Indigenous groups around the world, the James Bay Cree of northern Québec have a disproportionately high rate of diabetes. They’re facing it down with a decidedly Indigenous solution.
A bunch of Khasi children fire-fighters watch on, as the flames erupt in a slash and burn episode.
Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman
In north-east India, children of the Khasi Hills (Meghalaya) learn slash and burn cultivation, an intergenerational yet controversial indigenous practice.
Ancient fermentation techniques are an example of African chemistry in action.
James Akena/Reuters
Knowledge is power. If you own it, you can control those without it. Since so much knowledge about Africa doesn’t sit on the continent, it’s apparent that Africa lacks power in this regard.
The decolonisation of South Africa’s university curriculum seems to have fallen off the agenda, overtaken by the push for free higher education.
Shutterstock
Traditional knowledge that drives indigenous communities’ innovation in agriculture, medicine and conservation is not protected by existing international law.