tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/traditional-knowledge-26892/articlesTraditional knowledge – The Conversation2024-03-12T19:15:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250882024-03-12T19:15:29Z2024-03-12T19:15:29ZPacific Islanders have long drawn wisdom from the Earth, the sky and the waves. Research shows the science is behind them<p>One afternoon last year, we sat in a village hall in Fiji chatting to residents about traditional ways of forecasting tropical cyclones. One man mentioned a black-winged storm bird known as “manumanunicagi” that glides above the land only when a cyclone is forming out to sea. As the conversation continued, residents named at least 11 bird species, the odd behaviour of which signalled imminent changes in the weather. </p>
<p>As we were leaving later that evening, an elder took us aside. He was pleased we had taken their beliefs seriously and said many older Pacific people won’t talk about traditional knowledge for fear of ridicule.</p>
<p>This reflects the dominance of science-based understandings in adapting to climate change and its threats to ways of life. Our <a href="https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.882">new research</a> suggests this attitude should change. </p>
<p>We reviewed evidence on traditional knowledge in the Pacific for coping with climate change, and found much of it was scientifically plausible. This indicates such knowledge should play a significant role in sustaining Pacific Island communities in future.</p>
<h2>A proven, robust system</h2>
<p>Our research was co-authored with 26 others, most Pacific Islanders with long-standing research interests in traditional knowledge.</p>
<p>People have inhabited the Pacific Islands for 3,000 years or <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Archaeology-of-Pacific-Oceania-Inhabiting-a-Sea-of-Islands/Carson/p/book/9781032486376">more</a> and have experienced many climate-driven challenges to their livelihoods and survival. They have coped not by luck but by design – through robust systems of traditional knowledge built by diverse groups of people over time.</p>
<p>The main short-term climate-related threats to island livelihoods in the Pacific are tropical cyclones which can damage food crops, pollute fresh water and destroy infrastructure. Prolonged droughts – common during El Niño events in the southwest Pacific – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03112-1">also cause</a> widespread damage.</p>
<p>Traditional knowledge in the Pacific explains the causes and manifestations of natural phenomena, and identifies the best ways to respond. It is commonly communicated orally between generations. </p>
<p>Here, we describe such knowledge relating to animals, plants, water and sky – and show how these beliefs make scientific sense.</p>
<p>It’s important to note, however, that traditional knowledge has its own intrinsic value. Scientific explanations are not required to validate it.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/secrets-in-the-canopy-scientists-discover-8-striking-new-bee-species-in-the-pacific-222599">Secrets in the canopy: scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific</a>
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<h2>Reading the ocean and sky</h2>
<p>Residents of Fiji’s Druadrua Island interpret breaking waves to predict a cyclone as long as one month before it hits. In Vanuatu’s Torres Islands, 13 phrases exist to describe the state of the tide, including anomalies that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2004.tb02856.x">herald uncommon events</a>.</p>
<p>These observations make scientific sense. Distant storms can drive ocean swells onto coasts long before the winds and rain arrive, changing the usual patterns of waves.</p>
<p>In Samoa, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/25148486211047739">ten types of wind</a> are recognised in traditional lore. Winds that blow from the east (matā ‘upolu) indicate the imminent arrival of heavy rain, possibly a tropical cyclone. The south wind (tuā'oloa) is most feared. It will cease to blow, it is said, only when its appetite for death is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-009-9722-z">sated</a>.</p>
<p>Many Pacific Island communities believe a cloudless, dark blue sky signals the arrival of a tropical cyclone. Other signs include unusually rapid cloud movements and the appearance of “short rainbows”. </p>
<p>These beliefs are supported by science. Rainbows are sometimes “shortened” or partly obscured by a distant rain shower. And Western science has <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-71543-8">long recognised</a> changes in clouds and winds can signal the development of cyclones.</p>
<p>In Vanuatu, a halo around a moon signals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/wcas-d-13-00053.1">imminent rainfall</a>. Again, this belief is scientifically sound. According to Western science, high thin cirrus clouds signal nearby storms. The clouds contain ice crystals through which moonlight is filtered, creating a halo effect.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-our-children-from-books-not-the-sea-how-climate-change-is-eroding-human-rights-in-vanuatu-192016">'Teaching our children from books, not the sea': how climate change is eroding human rights in Vanuatu</a>
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<h2>The wisdom of animals and plants</h2>
<p>As mentioned above, birds are are said to herald weather changes across the Pacific.</p>
<p>In Tonga, when the frigate bird flies across the land – unusual behaviour for an ocean species – it signals a tropical cyclone is developing. This traditional knowledge is captured in the logo of the <a href="https://met.gov.to">Tonga Meteorological Service</a>. Birds are similarly interpreted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2015.1046156">Fiji</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486211047739">northern Vanuatu</a>.</p>
<p>This belief stacks up scientifically. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.079">study</a> in North America, for example, showed golden-winged warblers dodged tornadoes by detecting shifts in infrasound. Another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41481-x">study</a>, which included data on frigate birds in the Pacific, found seabirds appeared to circumvent cyclones, probably by sensing wind strength and direction.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="plantain tree in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When the central shoot of the plantain is curled, people know a cyclone is developing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Nunn</span></span>
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<p>Traditional knowledge about insect behaviour in the Pacific Islands is also used to predict wet weather.</p>
<p>Bees, wasps and hornets usually build nests in tree branches. When nests are built close to the ground, Pacific Islanders know the forthcoming wet season will be wetter than normal, probably due to more tropical cyclones. This type of nest-building may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2015.1046156">prompt</a> residents to make appropriate preparations such as storing food.</p>
<p>Studies suggest insect behaviour can predict changes in weather. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2009.10.007">a study</a> of wasp nesting in French Guiana found their ability to quickly move nests to more sheltered locations may help them survive wet years.</p>
<p>Across the Pacific, common signs of impending wet weather are found in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01613-w">behaviours</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08100-210207">some plants</a>. The central shoot of the plantain, for example, will be conspicuously curled instead of straight.</p>
<p>This can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eru327">explained</a> scientifically by a process in which plant leaves close to protect their reproductive organs from extreme weather.</p>
<h2>Planning for a warmer future</h2>
<p>Since colonisation imposed Western worldviews around the world, traditional knowledge has been sidelined. This is true of the Pacific Islands, where in some places, traditional knowledge is all but <a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-our-children-from-books-not-the-sea-how-climate-change-is-eroding-human-rights-in-vanuatu-192016">forgotten</a>. </p>
<p>But both Western and traditional knowledges have their pros and cons. Science-based knowledge, for example, is generic and often can’t realistically be applied <a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-must-stop-relying-on-foreign-aid-to-adapt-to-climate-change-because-the-money-wont-last-132095">at local scales</a>. </p>
<p>As climate change impacts worsen, optimal planning for island peoples should combine both approaches. This will require open-mindedness and a respect for diverse sources of knowledge.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick D. Nunn receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) via the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership (APCP), the Australian Research Council, and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roselyn Kumar receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) via the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership (APCP)</span></em></p>We reviewed evidence on traditional knowledge in the Pacific for coping with climate change, and found much of it was scientifically plausible.Patrick D. Nunn, Professor of Geography, School of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine CoastRoselyn Kumar, Adjunct Research Fellow in Geography and Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2167802023-11-09T14:09:01Z2023-11-09T14:09:01ZUbuntu offers lessons in how to treat people with disabilities – a study of Bomvana rituals<p>Research shows that people with disabilities have always been largely <a href="https://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/library/finkelstein-attitudes.pdf">excluded</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352486275_Disability_in_Africa_A_CulturalReligious_Perspective">marginalised</a> in societies across the world.</p>
<p>Over time, the language used to describe disability has generally become more positive and inclusive. Many activists advocate for the use of “people/persons with disabilities” and not the “handicapped” or “disabled”. But this language remains negative for many Indigenous people around the world. To them the word “disability” is stigmatising because they <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_396412.pdf">don’t have</a> such a term in their vocabulary. It’s also a misrepresentation of their traditional beliefs regarding impairments. </p>
<p>In traditional village life, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xhosa">Xhosa</a> community of AmaBomvane in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa do not see disability in a person. Their rituals do not allow people to discriminate – their worldview is based on collectivism and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HED4h00xPPA">ubuntu</a>. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:SPED.0000024428.29295.03">Ubuntu</a> is an African philosophy that promotes the common good of society and includes humaneness; each person is an integral part of society. </p>
<p>In many other cultures persons with disabilities are seen to <a href="https://ieas-szeged.hu/downtherabbithole/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Lennard-J.-Davis-ed.-The-Disability-Studies-Reader-Routledge-2014.pdf">differ</a> from the “norm”. </p>
<p>For my <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128429">PhD</a> in health sciences rehabilitation, I spent three years studying the experiences of people with disabilities when they underwent Xhosa rituals and traditions. I wanted to know how rituals contribute to health and wellbeing. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-philosophy-of-ubuntu-help-provide-a-way-to-face-health-crises-135997">Can the philosophy of ubuntu help provide a way to face health crises?</a>
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<p>I found that good health and wellbeing relies on rituals, which are the essence of life among the Bomvana people. And that good health is for everybody, including people with disabilities. They cannot be denied health, because everyone is equal. This offers lessons in the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities. </p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>For my study, 50 people were selected for interviews and focus groups from three rural villages – Gusi, Hobeni and Xhora in the district of Elliotdale – with the assistance of chiefs and community members. They included people over the age of 18 with disabilities (who were able to answer questions), indigenous knowledge holders (elders), caregivers and parents of persons with disabilities, traditional birth attendants, traditional healers, a traditional circumcision surgeon and a social worker.</p>
<p>The Bomvana people are associated with the red ochre they use to decorate their faces and the beautiful beaded red blankets worn when attending traditional functions. AmaBomvane have a strong <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/4c2431c5-5387-4697-a626-8d8a781b4c3f">belief system</a> which strengthens cultural continuity, ensuring there will be no lack in leadership to perform rituals and traditions. Their participation in social organisation ensures that traditional knowledge, transmitted orally, is not lost as it moulds the character of the people. </p>
<p>My study focused on three rituals which mark important stages in a person’s life:</p>
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<li><p><a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/f8f6b1ca-c078-4fc3-a398-df59af186a5b">Efukwini</a> (behind the door), which provides a sacred space for giving birth in which the mother and infant remain separate from the rest of the household for 10 days to protect the child from evil forces. When the nursing mother is in seclusion, AmaXhosa believe that the child is connected to the ancestors for its protection and recognition as a member of the family, including all people with disabilities.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83637195.pdf">Intonjane</a> (female initiation rite), marking a girl’s rite of passage to womanhood, performed between her first menstruation and her wedding. The ritual is done for all young women, regardless of whether they are disabled.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:3271?site_name=GlobalView">Ulwaluko</a> (traditional male circumcision), in which boys learn about acquiring their identity and social responsibility as men. A person with disability belongs to the community and must not be excluded from this ritual. All boys must be taught to become men, regardless of disabilities.</p></li>
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<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>AmaBomvane treat people with disabilities with dignity and respect within the context of their rituals. If they didn’t, it’s believed, the rituals would be rejected by the ancestors and misfortune would arise. The Bomvana also believe illness can be prevented through performing rituals to the ancestors, who are seen as intermediaries between God and people. The rituals confer health, stability and resilience. </p>
<p>I found that rituals provide a safe space for people with disability by virtue of being inclusive. This encourages respect and compassion. </p>
<p>The Bomvana understanding of disability is also linked to spirituality and traditional knowledge systems. Disability is <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128429">seen as</a> outside the body: </p>
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<p>Disability is like a blanket any other spirit is wearing. </p>
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<p>The Bomvana do not see disability as the real person, <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128429">saying</a>: </p>
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<p>The soul is not disabled.</p>
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<p>There are, however, also <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/37695">negative attitudes</a> towards persons with disabilities in the broader Bomvana village society outside of the rituals. This, I believe, is a result of colonial influence and <a href="https://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/vee/v33n2/12.pdf">western thinking</a>. AmaBomvane told me, for example, that in the old days missionaries were against men going for circumcision. They did not understand the importance of the ritual to the Xhosa. If one is not circumcised, one remains a “boy” and is forbidden from participating in communal decisions and social events.</p>
<p>Talking about these negative attitudes, one traditional healer <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128429">told me</a>:</p>
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<p>Their treatment is very bad in the community. At times they become projects of people they are living with. Their grant money is misused by their carers. </p>
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<p>The grant is given by the state to provide for the basic needs of persons with disabilities who are unable to work.</p>
<p>One caregiver <a href="https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/128429'">said</a>: </p>
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<p>They are not supported as they should be. For example, there are these children we are looking after, and when they go home for holidays, we buy them clothes, but when they come back, the clothes … have been taken by siblings that are not disabled.</p>
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<p>While in the villages the old values are still respected, I found indications that with changing times and fractured family units, the concept of ubuntu is under threat. </p>
<h2>What this means</h2>
<p>The AmaBomvane belief in ubuntu – social justice and fairness – could be a model for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their rights. The Bomvana case could encourage others to embrace a spirituality that supports resilience and stability. It’s a humane way of viewing disability.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-archbishop-tutus-ubuntu-credo-teaches-the-world-about-justice-and-harmony-84730">What Archbishop Tutu's ubuntu credo teaches the world about justice and harmony</a>
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<p>This matters because ubuntu contains all the key aspects of South Africa’s constitutional <a href="https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/international-disability-rights/international-laws/south-africa-constitution-bill-of-rights/">bill of rights</a> that teaches that “all are equal before the law”. In the view of the AmaBomvane and ubuntu, disability is not seen as a problem which needs to be fixed but rather a state of being that must be treated with humanity and equality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nomvo Dwadwa-Henda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The philosophy of ubuntu means that good health is for everybody and disability is not regarded as a difference.Nomvo Dwadwa-Henda, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2134702023-09-15T13:13:15Z2023-09-15T13:13:15ZMorocco earthquake: why traditional earthen architecture is not to blame for the destruction communities have endured<p>The 6.9 magnitude <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-caused-moroccos-earthquake-a-geologist-studying-the-atlas-mountains-explains-213221">earthquake</a> that hit <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/09/morocco-earthquake-everything-known-so-far">Morocco</a> on Friday, September 8 has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/morocco-earthquake-hope-fades-of-finding-survivors-in-rubble">claimed</a> almost 3,000 lives. A further 5,530 people are injured, and the death toll is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/morocco-earthquake-hope-fades-of-finding-survivors-in-rubble">expected to rise</a>. </p>
<p>The epicentre was high in the Atlas Mountains. Entire villages have been flattened. Neighbourhoods in Marrakech, the Old City in particular, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66801789">suffered significant damage</a>. </p>
<p>Much of the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/13/morocco-reels-as-hopes-fade-for-any-more-survivors-under-quake-rubble">media coverage</a> has focused on the region’s traditional architecture. Antonio Nogales, head of Spain’s United Firefighters Without Borders NGO <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/moroccos-mud-brick-housing-makes-hunt-earthquake-survivors-harder-2023-09-11/">told Reuters</a> that the chances of survival are greatly reduced due to the traditional building materials turning to rubble and not creating pockets of air in the way that steel-and-concrete buildings can when they collapse. </p>
<p>Interviewed by the Washington Post, US earthquake geologist Wendy Bohon <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/11/morocco-earthquake-cause-geological-map/">said</a> these were not buildings “built to withstand the strong shaking from their base. So they are very likely to collapse and damage like we’ve seen.” These views assume these traditional structures are weak and liable to damage, ill-suited to an earthquake-prone region. </p>
<p>In the immediate aftermath of an earthquake, it is common for local building cultures to be blamed for their own destruction. <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/people/academic-staff/lu-cooke/#research-content">My research</a> into earth buildings shows, however, how this type of structure is in fact designed to be resilient. Vulnerabilities arise when patterns of knowledge transfer – and the traditional systems of repair and maintenance – are disrupted. Further, when <a href="https://theconversation.com/morocco-earthquake-experts-explain-why-buildings-couldnt-withstand-the-force-of-the-6-8-magnitude-quake-213245">new materials</a>, such as concrete and cement, are introduced, they can be incompatible and so can reduce the buildings’ seismic resilience. </p>
<h2>The resilience of earth buildings</h2>
<p>Earth has been used as a <a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/inhabiting-the-earth-a-new-history-of-raw-earth-architecture">building material</a> for at least the last 12,000 years. Ethnographic research into earth being used as an element of Aboriginal architecture in Australia suggests its use probably goes back much further. </p>
<p>The huge variety in earthen architecture – which encompasses everything from defensive, religious and elite structures to everyday housing – reflects local geographies, geologies and climates. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://archlsa.de/fileadmin/landesmuseum/alle/pdf/pdf_veroeffentlichungen/lehmglossar_klein.pdf">adobe</a> structures in the American south west and the <a href="https://archlsa.de/fileadmin/landesmuseum/alle/pdf/pdf_veroeffentlichungen/lehmglossar_klein.pdf">mudbrick</a> of Mali’s grand mosque in Djenne. <a href="https://people.bath.ac.uk/abspw/rammedearth/review.pdf">Rammed earth</a> or “pise” was used in both Yemen’s 11th-century tower houses in Sanaa and Shibam and 17th-century farm buildings in <a href="https://www.triest-verlag.ch/en/produkte/book-26/architecture-139/pise-rammed-earth-2911">Switzerland</a>. </p>
<p>The use of <a href="https://www.spab.org.uk/advice/unbaked-earth-walling">cob</a>, meanwhile, stretches from the Great Wall of China to 16th-century houses in south-west England. And <a href="https://www.engineshed.scot/publications/publication/?publicationId=dcc517c3-0ec4-434e-af68-a5c300a0a233">turf</a> is characteristic of traditional Scottish, <a href="https://archlsa.de/fileadmin/landesmuseum/alle/pdf/pdf_veroeffentlichungen/lehmglossar_klein.pdf">Icelandic</a>, Norwegian, Irish, Greenlandish and Faroese buildings. Used elsewhere as <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/training-skills/training/webinars/recordings/webinar-on-earthen-mortars-case-studies/">mortar</a>, <a href="https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/render-induced-cracking-of-earth-masonry">render</a>, <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/288869149.pdf">plaster</a> and <a href="https://www.spab.org.uk/advice/infill-panels">wall infilling</a>, earth is a resilient material. </p>
<p>These building cultures are uniquely adapted to their locality. In seismic regions in South America and north Africa, in particular, horizontal timbers, fibres or netting are often incorporated to resist the displacement and lateral movement and reduce damage. </p>
<p>In Morocco, both single story and multi-storey houses are constructed from mudbrick, rammed earth (where walls are built up with layers of compressed earth between wooden shutters), stone and timber. More recently breezeblock has been added into this architectural mix. The thermal properties of earth ensure these traditional buildings stay cool in the height of the summer. </p>
<h2>A history of mis-characterisation</h2>
<p>Too often, building materials wrongly characterised as “primitive” are equated with inevitable destruction. There is a long history of earthen buildings, and traditional construction methods, being labelled as <a href="https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/d3163ca5-cddb-4913-a30c-ea40852243e8/1/JSAH7804_02_Vellinga.pdf">“primitive”</a>. </p>
<p>In colonial accounts of discovery, this characterisation was used as a tool to discredit indigenous cultures and justify what was thought to be the “civilising” influence of colonisation. The British proponents of the Tropical Modernism architectural movement, among others, <a href="https://theconversation.com/venice-architecture-biennale-how-pioneering-ghanaian-architects-reckoned-with-tropical-modernism-202092#:%7E:text=Although%20Fry%20described%20the%20city,sexist%20notions%20of%20the%20time.">claimed</a> to have “invented” architecture in West Africa.</p>
<p>This resulted in a shift away from vernacular architecture to colonial architecture and its “new” materials. Earth buildings, today, are still often <a href="http://rammedearthconsulting.com/rammedearth-ukstandards-guidelines.htm">classified</a> “unsafe” with limited building codes or standards to enable the use of the material. This can be used to justify the shift from traditional building cultures to commercial building materials. You can make money from a bag of cement, but not from a bag of “free” earth. </p>
<p>Across the world – from <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/21142/">Mali</a> to <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/training-skills/work-based-training/heritage-apprenticeships/the-hamish-ogston-foundation-heritage-building-skills-programme/">the UK</a> – traditional patterns of what ethnographers term “<a href="https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/25438/">knowledge transmission</a>” have been disrupted. This is made particularly visible within <a href="https://www.routledge.com/World-Heritage-Concepts-Management-and-Conservation/Woodward-Cooke/p/book/9780367491642">cultural heritage</a> conservation. </p>
<p>When the knowledge and skills required to look after historic buildings, or build new ones using traditional methods is lost, the structures in question become more vulnerable. They can either suffer from inadequate maintenance or alterations – such as replacing earth plaster with concrete render – which makes them weaker. </p>
<p>Elsewhere, repairs from earlier seismic events have not always been made because the loss of traditional skills means no one knows how to do it properly. This can set in motion a negative cycle where structures are then much more vulnerable in subsequent seismic events.</p>
<p>As with the earlier colonial narratives of earth as a primitive material, the news coverage of seismic events needs to be sensitive to the local building cultures. This can lead to local communities being pressured into abandoning traditional methods in favour of modern cement block buildings. If these new buildings are poorly constructed, with little regard to seismic threats, they in turn become vulnerable to further damage. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large adobe citadel on a hill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548517/original/file-20230915-8684-q63lev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arg-e Bam, known as the Citadel of Bam, Iran, which was almost completely destroyed in the 2003 earthquake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Bam_Citadel%2C_Before_the_2003_Earthquake.png">Aliyeh41|Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, experts <a href="https://theconversation.com/earthquake-footage-shows-turkeys-buildings-collapsing-like-pancakes-an-expert-explains-why-199389">ascribed</a> the extensive damage to recent construction in concrete, steel and brick, that had been undertaken without regard to building codes, not to mention the region’s traditional building culture.</p>
<p>After the 2003 earthquake in Bam, <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-iran-iraq-earthquake-seismologists-work-to-fill-in-fault-map-of-the-region-87480">Iran</a>, in which 90% of the urban fabric was damaged and 34,000 people died, there was, similarly, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2003/dec/27/iran.naturaldisasters4">intense scrutiny</a> of the traditional building culture. Yet <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1208/">subsequent studies</a> revealed that the traditional earth buildings, had in fact fared much better than recent restoration work and more modern buildings of breezeblock and cement. </p>
<p>Seismic events are traumatic for local communities at their heart. Failing to understand the resilience of traditional building cultures makes the same communities even more vulnerable. </p>
<p><em>This article was amended on September 18 2023 to correct a typo in a picture caption which incorrectly placed Bam in Iraq, when it is, in fact, in Iran.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213470/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Cooke is a Trustee of Earth Building UK and Ireland - a charity promoting the understanding of earth as a building material.</span></em></p>Traditional earthen building cultures are often wrongly described as ‘primitive’ and blamed for their own destruction.Louise Cooke, Senior Lecturer in Conservation, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2016702023-03-30T21:55:02Z2023-03-30T21:55:02ZIndigenous knowledge offers solutions, but its use must be based on meaningful collaboration with Indigenous communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518352/original/file-20230330-362-8y7q6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C106%2C5455%2C3517&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Guy Hasler</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As global environmental challenges grow, people and societies are increasingly looking to Indigenous knowledge for solutions. </p>
<p>Indigenous knowledge is particularly appealing for addressing climate change because it includes long histories and guidance on how to live with, and as part of, nature. It is also based on a holistic understanding of interactions between living and non-living aspects of the environment. </p>
<p>However, without meaningful collaborations with Indigenous communities, the use of Indigenous knowledge can be <a href="https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009277&s=04">tokenistic, extractive and harmful</a>.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3521">newly published work</a> explores the concept of kaitiakitanga. This is often translated as guardianship, stewardship or the “principle and practices of inter-generational sustainability”. </p>
<p>We want to encourage Western-trained scientists to work in partnership with Māori and meaningfully acknowledge Māori values and knowledge in their work in conservation and resource management.</p>
<h2>Kaitiakitanga is more than guardianship</h2>
<p>Indigenous knowledge includes innovations, observations, and oral and written histories that have been developed by Indigenous peoples across the world for millennia. </p>
<p>This knowledge is living, dynamic and evolving. In Aotearoa New Zealand, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03036758.2016.1252407">mātauranga Māori</a> is the distinct knowledge developed by Māori. It includes culture, values and world view. </p>
<p>The concept of <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=kaitiakitanga">kaitiakitanga</a> is often (mis)used in the context of conservation and resource management in Aotearoa. In our <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3521">work</a>, we highlight how kaitiakitanga is inherently linked to other concepts. It is difficult to translate these concepts directly but they include <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=tikanga">tikanga</a> (Māori customs), whakapapa (genealogy), rangatiratanga (sovereignty) and much more. </p>
<p>One of the key conceptual differences between kaitiakitanga and conservation is that for kaitiakitanga, we consider being part of te taiao (the environment) and manage our relationships accordingly. Conservation is characterised by humans managing the environment as if they were separate from it. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-release-new-zealands-strangled-rivers-to-lessen-the-impact-of-future-floods-153077">Why we should release New Zealand's strangled rivers to lessen the impact of future floods</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Honourable Justice Joe Williams describes kaitiakitanga as “<a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.372781039597415">the obligation to care for one’s own</a>”, indicating the intrinsic link between people and the environment. </p>
<p>We caution against simplistic definitions of kaitiakitanga. They often divorce it from its cultural context. Simplistic definitions reduce the richness of the concept and also fail to recognise the differences in how kaitiakitanga is conceptualised and practised. </p>
<p>Instead, we encourage Western-trained researchers to gain a deeper understanding of concepts that underpin kaitiakitanga and work with mana whenua to further develop understanding. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-rehoming-wildlife-indigenous-leadership-delivers-the-best-results-143890">When rehoming wildlife, Indigenous leadership delivers the best results</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Kaitiakitanga and conservation in practice</h2>
<p>There is a growing number of examples of successful collaborations between mana whenua and researchers. Exploring these projects will allow researchers to gain insights into how to contribute in an effective and respectful way. </p>
<p>For instance, a <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/3384.pdf">study</a> of the traditional harvest and management of sooty shearwater in the Marlborough Sounds shows the importance of including cultural harvest in species conservation management. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/102421">putting Indigenous knowledge at the centre</a> of the translocation of rare species improves conservation outcomes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518598/original/file-20230330-130-xzv2wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rāhui to fight kauri dieback: biosecurity workers inspect and record information about a kauri in the Waitakere Ranges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rāhui in conservation</h2>
<p><a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/05-10-2020/what-really-is-a-rahui-and-can-political-parties-enact-them">Rāhui</a> is a customary process that can be used by mana whenua to restrict access to a certain resource or area of land to allow recovery. It includes an holistic understanding of the environmental problem, and social and political control. </p>
<p>Rāhui has been used to <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/comment-right-to-revel-in-outdoors-by-walking-in-waitakeres-means-were-loving-our-kauri-to-death/A4LZHMCLQ5K4JCZ3XK4V2J5YQE/">reduce the spread of kauri dieback disease</a> in the Waitakere Ranges. It has also been used to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/435470/two-year-rahui-for-waiheke-island-waters-to-protect-kaimoana">protect kaimoana</a> (including scallops, mussels, crayfish and pāua) on Waiheke Island. </p>
<p>Other examples include rāhui covering forests, lakes, beaches and marine areas for durations from days to decades. Rāhui are widely used but highly specific to local conditions. For iwi to be able to implement rāhui, they need to have <a href="https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?&keywords=rangatiratanga">rangatiratanga</a>, as kaitiakitanga is both an affirmation and manifestation of rangatiratanga. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-choose-our-words-more-carefully-when-discussing-matauranga-maori-and-science-165465">Let's choose our words more carefully when discussing mātauranga Māori and science</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An effective way forward</h2>
<p>Empowering Māori researchers and communities is central to worthwhile collaborations. We encourage non-Māori researchers to approach partnership with an awareness of the limits of their training and knowledge. </p>
<p>Embracing a mindset of <a href="https://www.templeton.org/discoveries/intellectual-humility#:%7E:text=Intellectual%20humility%20is%20a%20mindset,knowledge%2C%20truth%2C%20and%20understanding.">intellectual humility</a> will more likely create conditions for meaningful co-created work. While establishing and maintaining collaborations can be time-consuming, our collective experience is that taking time to develop trust and understanding is essential for successful outcomes. </p>
<p>We hope our work will provide some inspiration and guidance for established practitioners and students alike. </p>
<p>There are a number of other examples of how mātauranga and ecology can work together. The New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research has dedicated a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tnzm20/52/4">special issue</a> to mātauranga Māori and how it is shaping marine conservation. Others have explored how respectful collaborations can support <a href="https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/nzsr/article/view/7840/6981">better teaching of science</a> and better <a href="https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/j43_3">research outcomes</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201670/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tara McAllister has received funding from the Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cate Macinnis-Ng has received funding from Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund and Te Pūnaha Matatini. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Hikuroa has received funding from Marsden, MBIE, Te Pūnaha Matatini and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. He is UNESCO New Zealand Commissioner for Culture, member of Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao and interim Pou Herenga. </span></em></p>One key difference between kaitiakitanga and conservation is that the former considers people as part of the environment, while the latter manages nature as if people were separate from it.Tara McAllister, Research Fellow, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonCate Macinnis-Ng, Associate Professor in Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauDan C H Hikuroa, Senior Lecturer in Māori Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850932022-06-15T21:03:47Z2022-06-15T21:03:47ZBuilding bridges between scientific and Indigenous knowledge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469006/original/file-20220615-15-du1m1k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C8%2C2991%2C1886&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Men participate in a demonstration of rope making for dog teams, May 12, 2022, in Inukjuak, Que. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: This story is part of a series that includes live interviews with some of Canada’s top social sciences and humanities academics. It is co-sponsored by The Conversation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Check back later for the video recording of the interview.</em></p>
<p>More than 20 years ago, I participated in the founding of the <a href="https://reseaudialog.ca">Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Knowledge Network (DIALOG)</a>. Its mandate is to develop an ethical, constructive and sustainable dialogue between the academic world and the Indigenous world.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/results-resultats/prizes-prix/2021/connection_levesque-eng.aspx?wbdisable=true">This year the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) awarded us the Connection 2021 Award</a> on behalf of the network’s management team, recognizing the importance of DIALOG’s mission and its major contribution to reconciliation between Québec/Canadian society and Indigenous societies.</p>
<p>As a forum for sharing, meeting and learning, DIALOG connects Indigenous and non-Indigenous academic researchers, knowledge keepers, leaders, Indigenous intellectuals and students who are engaged in updating and renewing scientific and Indigenous research practices and knowledge.</p>
<p>The secret of DIALOG is that we did not try to bring Indigenous people to the university. We went to see them, in their homes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A hand holding a flower of a plant" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468787/original/file-20220614-24-r12wce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(DIALOG)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Renewing relationships</h2>
<p>DIALOG is characterized by its broad understanding of the driving role of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2019.03.011">co-construction in advancing and mobilizing knowledge</a>. Its mode of operation is centred on openness to multiple forms of knowledge, and its existence is rooted in long-term work and international outreach.</p>
<p>DIALOG’s mission has always been to renew the relationship between the university and the Indigenous world. It puts justice at the heart of its actions, as well as a desire to contribute to improving the living conditions of Indigenous people and the recognition of their rights, including the right to self-determination. The relationship between the university and the Indigenous people has for too long been one-sided, related exclusively to knowledge, and bringing about few benefits to Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>By building this space of reconciliation in which Indigenous voices, languages and knowledge can be expressed in their own way, DIALOG has recognized the existence and foundations of Indigenous knowledge systems and documented the contribution of Indigenous cultures to the common heritage of humanity.</p>
<h2>Fieldwork</h2>
<p>I am fortunate to be part of the first generation of Québec anthropologists who wanted, from very early on, not only to learn about Indigenous realities but also to get to know these people by working closely with them. I began working with Indigenous communities some 50 years ago, so I “grew up” working with them. </p>
<p>Being present in Indigenous communities and territories was an essential part of our training. I’m not talking about visits of a week or two, but years of sharing community life, staying with families that welcomed us and learning about the multiple dimensions of local cultures. I will have spent almost seven years living in Indigenous communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468786/original/file-20220614-13-bjpzkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kinawit cultural site, Val-d'Or.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(DIALOG)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The main difference between the time I began working as an anthropologist and today lies in the voice of Indigenous people, themselves. The words of Indigenous politicians have been relayed by the media for many years. However, today, other words are being heard, from young people, women and Elders — the words of citizens, carried by people of all ages and all genders who care about identity, education, culture.</p>
<p>Today, we rightly insist on the importance of researchers favouring the co-production of knowledge. Research is done with Indigenous people, not on Indigenous people.</p>
<h2>Respect, equity and sharing</h2>
<p>The values of respect, equity, sharing, reciprocity and trust animate the network members, whoever they may be, according to their respective trajectories and their specific contributions to knowledge. Together, these researchers explore diverse paths of knowledge and draw on Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies to provide new responses to the community challenges their populations are facing.</p>
<p>DIALOG also focuses on the potential for innovation and social transformation within the organizations that work toward the well-being of Indigenous people, whether living on-reserve, off-reserve or in urban areas, where the Indigenous population is growing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A crowd of protesters wearing orange shirts" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468500/original/file-20220613-14-ecqcbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">March for the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, on Sept. 30, 2021, in Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building bridges</h2>
<p>From this perspective, the <a href="https://reseaudialog.ca/la-coconstruction-des-connaissances-en-contexte-autochtone-modalites-contraintes-perspectives/">knowledge co-construction process</a>, which is the source of the bridges that need to be built between scientific and Indigenous knowledge, must be a collective work rooted in relationships, not a predetermined direction dictated by an impersonal, distant, dominant science.</p>
<p>The first characteristic of co-construction in social research is to recognize the essential role proximity plays in uniting people to work towards new ways of understanding and decolonization.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468788/original/file-20220614-12-v59wi2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kinawit cultural site, Val-d'Or.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(DIALOG)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second characteristic is to consider skills and expertise, which are often complementary.</p>
<p>Finally, there can be no co-construction of knowledge without the participation of everyone in the regeneration of cultural and pedagogical legacies, ways of thinking, learning and transmitting, and the social markers that underlie collective life. Indigenous value systems and actions have been badly shaken by colonialism, yet their guiding principles and very essence have transcended time and generations.</p>
<p>I am now a <em>kokom</em> who wishes to learn more about humans in general and Indigenous cultures in particular. I feel privileged to be able to pursue research projects that are as interesting as ever, to work every day with people who inspire me and to continue to spend a great deal of time in Indigenous communities, which is essential to my life as a woman and an anthropologist.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185093/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>During her long career, Carole Lévesque has received funding from a number of organizations including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fonds de recherche du Québec, government agencies, paragovernmental organizations, Aboriginal organizations and philanthropic organizations.</span></em></p>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.Carole Lévesque, Professeure titulaire, INRS, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1755782022-02-28T18:59:14Z2022-02-28T18:59:14ZIPCC report: Half the world is facing water scarcity, floods and dirty water — large investments are needed for effective solutions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448701/original/file-20220226-74611-3pbs1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C22%2C4940%2C3046&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500323">half the world’s population faces water scarcity for at least one month every year</a>. Meanwhile, some people have to deal with too much water, while others have access to only poor water quality. That’s billions of people <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-695-2020">living with drought in Africa and India</a>, facing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104868">flood risks in Bangladesh</a> or lacking clean water due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR020448">excessive fertilizer use</a> in the United States, Brazil, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b03191">China</a> and India. </p>
<p>Climate change exacerbates global water insecurity because it contributes to more frequent and severe droughts, floods and extreme rainfall, accelerated glacier melt, rapid declines in groundwater and the deterioration of water quality. These water-related risks of climate change have negative repercussions for agriculture, energy production, water infrastructure and economic productivity, as well as human health, development and well-being around the world. </p>
<p>Water is central to the discussions about how societies, economies and governments adapt to climate change, and the vast majority of adaptation strategies already in place are water related. Yet researchers know little about how effective they are. </p>
<p>As a researcher in the field of climate change and sustainable food systems, I was part of a team that reviewed more than 1,800 case studies for the “Water” chapter of <em><a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/">Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability</a></em>, the second part of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). This newly released report is the most comprehensive review of climate impacts and how much we can adapt to them <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar5/">since 2014</a>. </p>
<h2>Water at the centre of climate change strategies</h2>
<p>The United Nations defines <a href="https://www.unwater.org/publications/water-security-infographic/">water security</a> as having sustainable access to enough water of adequate quality to support people’s well-being, livelihoods and health, without jeopardizing ecosystems. Water insecurity covers a spectrum of issues — too much, too little, too dirty. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women wade through waist-deep water in a wetlands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448698/original/file-20220226-42662-ytnv1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women harvest a salt-resistant rice variety in a Pokkali farming system at a wetlands on the Arabian Sea coast in Kochi, India, in October 2021. The same field is used for prawn farming outside of the rainy season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/R S Iyer)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unsurprisingly, a large majority of countries have listed water as the priority for adaptation in their climate change plans. In our review of more than 1,800 climate change adaptation strategies, we found that over 80 per cent were water-related. Some were in response to water hazards (droughts, floods, groundwater depletion, glacier depletion). In others, the response itself was water-related (irrigation, rainwater harvesting and wetlands conservation). </p>
<p>Yet when we looked at the outcomes of these water-based adaptation strategies, we found that only 359 had been analyzed for effectiveness, meaning that we do not know if most of these strategies actually reduce the impacts of climate change and improve health, well-being and livelihood. </p>
<p>Adaptation strategies that are enacted without adequate investigation of their effectiveness not only waste scarce resources, but can also distract us from taking more relevant actions that carry larger benefits for the affected population.</p>
<h2>Are the strategies working?</h2>
<p>Of those 359 strategies, most targeted the agriculture sector. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1109936109">Agriculture accounts for 80 to 90 per cent of total water consumed globally</a> and <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS">provides water for to 70 per cent</a> of people in developing countries with their livelihoods. </p>
<p>Many of these water-focused approaches included changing the timing and arrangement of crops, choosing better crop varieties and farming techniques, expanding access to irrigation and adopting water conservation practices. </p>
<p>Non-agricultural water-based adaptations to climate change included <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1070496519852992">adopting better fishery techniques in Ghana</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-02-2017-0026">planting salt-resistant trees in Bangladesh</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010093">setting up desalination plants for urban water use in Spain</a>, building <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2014.07.009">flood-resilient housing in Guyana</a>, among others. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A beach packed with boats, with fishers and people sorting and buying fish." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448699/original/file-20220226-15239-1bl9e59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fishers sort their catch from nets in James Town, Accra, Ghana, in July 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also found that local, traditional and Indigenous knowledge play an important role in shaping many adaptation responses. For instance, some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2016.10.003">farmers in Sri Lanka successfully adapted to the 2014 drought by practising <em>bethma</em></a>, a traditional technique where the community temporarily reallocated agricultural land among farmers so that each would have similar access to the limited water supply.</p>
<p>Combining local, traditional and Indigenous knowledge with a technical understanding of climate change can lead to the development and implementation of more acceptable and successful climate change adaptation strategies. This not only ensures <a href="https://www.idrc.ca/en/perspectives/adaptation-climate-change-must-be-inclusive-equitable-and-representative">equitable and inclusive adaptation actions</a>, but also increases the proposed solutions’ effectiveness at minimizing climate change impacts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Water gushing out of a wide pipe into a reservoir." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448703/original/file-20220226-32564-1o5obu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tubewell pumps groundwater to irrigate rice fields in Punjab, India. Exploitation of groundwater for irrigation has made this region a major hotspot of groundwater depletion in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Diljot Jatana)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Largest number of the adaptation responses, especially those in the agriculture sector, were implemented and led by individual households and civil society bodies. Schemes by governments at various levels of administration — from local to multi-national — comprised the second largest chunk of adaptation strategies.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-ancient-water-management-techniques-may-help-prairie-farmers-experiencing-drought-168920">How ancient water management techniques may help Prairie farmers experiencing drought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So far, the role of the private sector has been negligible. Private financing is a minor source of adaptation financing that has mostly focused on developed and emerging economies. Local needs, especially those of the economically disadvantaged communities, have not been adequately addressed by private financing until now. </p>
<p>At the recent climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/wrapup-politicians-exit-cop26-130tn-worth-financiers-take-stage-2021-11-03/">global financial firms agreed to fund projects that address climate change mitigation</a>. The translation of these promises into action remains to be seen, but adaptation projects in low- and middle-income countries could benefit a lot from this.</p>
<h2>Limited utility and unintended consequences</h2>
<p>But we also found that the strategies that work now, might not work in the future. The success of irrigation, soil and water conservation or other agricultural adaptations is contingent on how much warming occurs. </p>
<p>The benefits of these practices are mostly incremental — the have short-term rewards — and may not always lead to transformative outcomes, such as enabling a community to shifts its livelihood to one with reduced exposure to climate hazards.</p>
<p>We found that some responses have co-benefits: they not only help adapt to ongoing climate change, but also help mitigate (or reduce) future climate change. For example, reusing wastewater for irrigation can have adaptive and mitigative co-benefits. If implemented properly, such projects can not only provide a reliable water source throughout the year, but also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-019-0283-0">reduce the pressure on water treatment infrastructure</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Farmers carry earthen pots to water their fields." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448700/original/file-20220226-32551-19f8ldi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A farmer waters his fields in a dried river bed on the Ganges, in Allahabad, India, in April 2016, when decades of groundwater abuse, flawed water policies and poor monsoons turned large parts of central India into an arid dust bowl.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some adaptation strategies, however, can have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.09.014">long-term negative impacts, called maladaptations</a>. An often-quoted example is that of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126103">groundwater overuse for irrigation in India</a>, which currently supports intensive agriculture but is depleting the limited groundwater reserves at a rapid pace.</p>
<p>Adaptation strategies can work, but we need to have a better understanding of their costs and benefits. If the world continues down a high-emissions pathway, these adaptation strategies will start becoming less effective in response to increasingly complex and severe water security issues. </p>
<p>Water is central to everyone’s health, well-being and livelihood. We must focus on adapting to climate change and mitigating its effects immediately and simultaneously if we are to lessen the hardships of the world’s 10 billion people by 2050. The longer we delay aggressive actions, the higher will be the adaptation costs and smaller will be the opportunity window to undo past actions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Balsher Singh Sidhu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Balsher Singh Sidhu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1677682021-11-01T18:53:59Z2021-11-01T18:53:59ZFrom the Amazon, Indigenous Peoples offer new compass to navigate climate change<p>Universities in western Canada began another school year under the cloud of two imminent threats: wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. These are not just local issues, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/09/fires-rage-around-the-world-where-are-the-worst-blazes">global issues</a>, not only because they are happening all over the world, but also because <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-disease-amazon-deforestation-t-idUSKBN2741IF">some of their root causes</a> — including ecological destruction and dispossession of marginalized, especially Indigenous, peoples — are not concerned with borders.</p>
<p>We know many wildfires aren’t just a result of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-wildfires-affect-climate-change-and-vice-versa-158688">drier conditions and rising temperatures</a> from climate change, but also the forced removal of Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral lands and disregard for traditions that support ecological integrity, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-burning-practices-can-help-curb-the-biodiversity-crisis-165422">prescribed burns</a>. And deforestation, which displaces human and other-than-human communities alike, makes pandemics like COVID-19 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02341-1">more likely</a>.</p>
<p>Many universities have committed to addressing global challenges. But society-wide, our universities are ill-prepared to help deepen our collective capacity to face today’s interconnected “<a href="https://theconversation.com/wicked-problems-and-how-to-solve-them-100047">wicked problems</a>” — those that are hyper-complex and cannot be solved with simple <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/">individualistic solutions</a>. These problems include <a href="https://theconversation.com/environmental-laws-in-canada-fall-short-of-addressing-the-ongoing-biodiversity-crisis-162983">biodiversity loss</a> and our <a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-eco-anxiety-means-we-should-address-mental-health-alongside-food-security-123739">global mental health crisis</a>. </p>
<h2>Deeper changes needed</h2>
<p>As scholars of Indigenous studies, global education and food systems, we often get asked what kind of education and research are needed to address such wicked problems. This question usually comes from a well-meaning place; it’s also often motivated by a desire for ready-made alternatives. </p>
<p>But complex problems cannot be addressed with simplistic solutions. This is not due to educators’ or researchers’ lack of effort or ingenuity. Rather, our inability to address these problems with the depth of engagement required is a product of the educational models we have inherited and (mostly) reproduce. </p>
<p>We cannot solve wicked problems from within the same paradigms that created them. For example, many universities have <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/when-good-intentions-are-not-enough-how-sustainable-development-goals-at-universities-can-perpetuate-the-issues-theyre-aimed-to-address/%22%22">embraced the UN Sustainable Development Goals</a> for addressing climate change and sustainability. However, the goals have also <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-new-sustainable-development-goals-wont-make-the-world-a-fairer-place-46374">been critiqued</a> for presuming that we can continue to operate within an economic system premised on infinite growth.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, proposals to shift away from dominant educational models and viewpoints prompts a follow-up question: If not this, then what? </p>
<h2>Learning from mistakes</h2>
<p>Our own <a href="https://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue/issue-26/mobilising-different-conversations-about-global-justice-education-toward-alternative">research has led</a> us to approach this question with caution. We have <a href="https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.3518">learned that if we jump too quickly</a> to solutions, we rarely take adequate time to assess the mistakes that caused the problems. When this happens, we end up reproducing those mistakes and reproducing harm. </p>
<p>We first need to identify and <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/facinghumanwrongs/">learn from</a> <a href="https://decolonialfutures.net/portfolio/the-gifts-of-failure/">mistakes before</a> we can <a href="https://decolonialfuturesnet.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/decolonizing-he-workbook-draft-march2021-2.pdf">move toward truly different educational futures</a>.</p>
<p>This is a key insight from our community research collaborations <a href="https://blogs.ubc.ca/teiadas5curas">with the Teia das 5 Curas network of Indigenous communities in Brazil</a>. These communities offer a different diagnosis of the root causes of our current environmental and social crises, and propose different responses than those generally offered in mainstream academic debates. Yet Indigenous Peoples’ analyses remain under-addressed in research and practical approaches to wicked problems.</p>
<h2>Indifference as denial of interdependence</h2>
<p>The communities that make up the Teia das 5 Curas network suggest that the primary cause of both ecological destruction and colonial violence is an individualistic and extractive mode of existence rooted in a false assumption of separation — of humans from each other, and of humans from nature. </p>
<p>They argue that this denial of ourselves as interdependent beings, part of a living planetary metabolism, feeds indifference to the suffering of others that we also create. They also believe that what contributes to this problem is our intellectual and emotional incapacity to confront our complicity in a harmful, unsustainable system.</p>
<p>Indifference to violence against both Indigenous Peoples and the Earth is evident in events currently unfolding in Brazil, where the government has launched a <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/if-we-lose-the-amazon-our-world-will-lose-its-future/">co-ordinated attack</a> against Indigenous rights and ecological protections. </p>
<h2>Perceiving root causes</h2>
<p>Despite centuries of genocidal efforts by governments around the world, many Indigenous communities have preserved their alternative social and educational systems. They have also preserved <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/can-indigenous-land-stewardship-protect-biodiversity-">80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity</a>, despite being only four per cent of the world’s population.</p>
<p>Increasingly, non-Indigenous researchers recognize the wealth of knowledge and practices <a href="https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-41.2.144">held by Indigenous peoples</a>. Unfortunately, non-Indigenous scholars and policy-makers often <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26372211">selectively engage</a> Indigenous knowledges and practices in order to bolster existing systems, <a href="https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild/the-problem-with-the-ecological-indian-stereotype">or they romanticize</a> Indigenous communities in unrealistic and unsustainable ways. </p>
<p>The challenge that stands before us is to <a href="https://decolonialfutures.net/portfolio/mapping-indigenous-engagements/">unlearn colonial modes of engagement</a>, so that we might learn how to ethically <a href="https://decolonialfuturesnet.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/braiding_reader.pdf">weave together</a> the gifts of different traditions of human wisdom. Our collective survival <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20210809135158-5sro6">depends on it</a>.</p>
<h2>The invitation</h2>
<p>Indigenous communities, especially those in the Amazon, are putting their lives on the line to protect everyone’s future. The Huni Kui people of Acre are part of the Teia das 5 Curas network. As part of their <a href="http://lastwarning.org/">Last Warning</a> campaign against deforestation and the attack on their rights, the Huni Kui caution, “if we lose the forest, we lose our future.” This is true for all of us: further deforestation of the Amazon <a href="https://www.livescience.com/amazon-rainforest-accelerate-climate-change.html">will accelerate</a> global climate change.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Last Warning campaign video on YouTube.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the Last Warning campaign has many suggestions about how people can support this fight for our collective survival, its primary offering is an educational invitation and accompanying call to responsibility. This is an invitation for us to wake up from the fantasy of separation and to un-numb to the pain we inflict on one another and the planet in order to sustain modern consumerist lifestyles. </p>
<p>We are asked to expand our capacities to hold space for <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/675703/hospicing-modernity-by-vanessa-machado-de-oliveira/9781623176242">difficult, painful and uncomfortable things</a>. These include the truth about our complicity in systemic violence and unsustainability, and how our socially sanctioned behaviours and desires contribute to the unfolding ecocide and genocide in Brazil and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Last Warning does not tell us how to shift away from our current paradigm and make space for a wiser one to emerge; it does not claim to have the answers. Instead, it offers a new educational compass — a way of orienting ourselves away from reproducing harm and toward fostering more generative possibilities for co-existence, without glossing over the difficult elements of this work.</p>
<h2>Reorienting ourselves</h2>
<p>This is a compass oriented by maturity (the imperative <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/preparing-end-world-we-know-it/">to grow up</a> in order to become good elders and ancestors); <a href="https://decolonialfutures.net/portfolio/radars-i-learning-to-read-and-to-be-read/">discernment</a> (how we can most generatively intervene in any context to foster collective well-being) and responsibility. </p>
<p>Responsibility here is understood as an affirmation of our interdependence, including the debts we have to specific communities and to the Earth. It also involves facing humanity in all of its complexities and paradoxes: the good, the bad, the broken and the messed up within and around us.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-solidarity-during-coronavirus-and-always-its-more-than-were-all-in-this-together-135002">What is solidarity? During coronavirus and always, it's more than 'we're all in this together'</a>
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<p>For those seeking simple, universal solutions to wicked problems, this educational compass is unlikely to offer much guidance. </p>
<p>But for those seeing the raging wildfires and shape-shifting COVID-19 pandemic as indications of a deeper systemic illness in our institutions and ourselves, this work may offer some guidance for the divesting from harmful systems so we might learn to co-exist differently.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167768/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Stein receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa Andreotti receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Valley receives funding from United States Department of Agriculture Higher Education Grant program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cash Ahenakew and Dallas Hunt do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Dallas Hunt, Assistant professor of Indigenous Literatures, Department of English Language and Literatures, University of British ColumbiaCash Ahenakew, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples’ Well-Being and an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies, University of British ColumbiaSharon Stein, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, University of British ColumbiaVanessa Andreotti, Professor, Department of Educational Studies and Canada Research chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change, University of British ColumbiaWill Valley, Associate Professor of Teaching, Sustainable Food Systems, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1667182021-09-02T21:50:37Z2021-09-02T21:50:37ZDNA analysis of grizzly bears aligns with Indigenous languages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418867/original/file-20210901-21-gj2zo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C17%2C1911%2C1060&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research reveals a connection between Indigenous languages, bears and their terrain.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Michelle Valberg)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Along the central coast of what is now known as British Columbia, Gitga’at, Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk), Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, and Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nations are monitoring and managing wildlife populations, continuing a legacy of stewardship of this landscape since time immemorial. Stewardship often represents an extension of <a href="https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/186161">long-term relationships</a> with ecosystems and animals, including iconic species like mountain goats, salmon and grizzly bears. </p>
<p>A long-term bear monitoring collaboration between five central coast First Nations, the <a href="https://www.raincoast.org/">Raincoast Conservation Foundation</a> and the University of Victoria has described a new connection in the long-known relationship between <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12443-260307">people, bears and the land</a>. </p>
<p>On the central coast, genetic analyses have identified three genetic groups of grizzly bears — bears are more likely to be related to other bears within their own group than to bears in another group.</p>
<h2>Link to language</h2>
<p>Often, the presence of distinct genetic groups can mean that a landscape barrier is preventing animals from moving and mating. This research partnership tested traditional landscape features that had been found to prevent bears from freely moving in other areas, including landscape ruggedness, large waterways, snow and ice, and the presence of human settlements and infrastructure. </p>
<p>Knowing that the central coast looked very different prior to the disease and violence-mediated genocide that came with colonization, and that genetic methods can sometimes reflect longer timescales, we also incorporated archeological indicators of where people lived in the past. </p>
<p>Despite dense settlement and use of the coast by people in the past, the rugged landscape and large waterways, none of these features explained the pattern of grizzly genetic groups. However, the geographies of these three genetic groups strikingly align with those of three Indigenous language families: <a href="https://maps.fpcc.ca/languages">Tsimshian, Northern Wakashan and Salishan Nuxalk</a>.</p>
<p>This finding was not a complete surprise to Indigenous collaborators, co-authors, and communities. Bears and people have shared resources and watersheds for millennia, emphasizing the potential for both to respond to and be shaped by the landscape in similar ways. This overlap additionally suggests that the pattern of genetic grouping may be more linked to what the landscape can provide in resources than what it can limit in resistance.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">William Housty of the Haíɫzaqv Integrated Resource Management Department, describes the process of capturing DNA samples from grizzly bears.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Knowledge sharing between bears and people</h2>
<p>Elders pass on stories about people watching and learning from bears as they eat many of the same things and are also omnivores. Bears and people both learn from their ancestors what to eat and where. In some places, bears stay close to the home range and territory of their mothers just as Indigenous families traditionally have rights to manage a specific part of a river or watershed. These familial links to territories and sharing of knowledge suggest not only a parallel in resource use, but also a cultural equivalency between bears and people. </p>
<p>These findings also have management implications. The geographies of the three grizzly genetic groups do not spatially align with <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/wildlife/wildlife-conservation/grizzly-bear">how grizzlies are currently managed by the provincial government</a>. One genetic group is split in half by a current management boundary, meaning that that two halves of the same group could be managed differently. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/respect-for-indigenous-knowledge-must-lead-nature-conservation-efforts-in-canada-156273">Respect for Indigenous knowledge must lead nature conservation efforts in Canada</a>
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<p>Incorporating genetic evidence into management plans can provide important information about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2012.05.012">population health and the ability of groups of animals to adapt to changes or stressors in their environment</a>. </p>
<p>The findings of genetic grouping despite traditional barriers to mating, and the striking overlap between groups and Indigenous language families highlights the close relationship between bears and people. This overlap also emphasizes the need for local and Indigenous-led monitoring and management of grizzlies.</p>
<h2>Traditional knowledge and conservation</h2>
<p>Central coast First Nations are effectively <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06668-190270">pairing local and traditional ecological knowledge with western science to change policy</a>. </p>
<p>While this study focused primarily on grizzly bears, Indigenous-led stewardship considers the whole ecosystem, with the collaborative bear monitoring group also focusing on salmon as a species inextricably linked to people and bears. </p>
<p>One of the primary goals of this long-term monitoring collaboration is to ensure that salmon populations are healthy and there is always <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mcf2.10171">enough fish for bears and people</a>. The work described here represents a small piece of a long history and future of Indigenous stewardship of important species and places, and the relationships among them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166718/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren H. Henson receives funding from MITACS, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and Genome BC and is a research fellow for Raincoast Conservation Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Walkus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Lauren H. Henson, PhD Student, Applied Conservation Science, University of VictoriaJennifer Walkus, Council, Wuikinuxv First NationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1441402020-08-13T14:23:53Z2020-08-13T14:23:53ZThese African World Heritage Sites are under threat from climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352540/original/file-20200812-22-195lryl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Restoring the mosque of Djenné in Mali.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MICHELE CATTANI/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Very few academics or policy makers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227627268_This_Must_Be_the_Place_Under_Representation_of_Identity_and_Meaning_in_Climate_Change_Decision-Making">essential</a> for social wellbeing, for identity creation, for safeguarding traditional knowledge and livelihoods and for sustainable development. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43598076?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">conversations</a> taking place are mainly on the effects of climate change in wealthier countries. One recent <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/11/2143">study</a> estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa. Yet climate change has already resulted in loss and damage to African heritage. </p>
<p>Research that some of us are undertaking on the impacts of sea-level rise in the future drew our attention to the total lack of quantifiable data on the impacts of climate change on heritage in sub-Saharan Africa. So we teamed up with a climate scientist with years of experience working on the continent and set about highlighting the threat of different kinds of climate change and climate variability to heritage in Africa. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0067270X.2020.1792177">research</a> is conclusive. Without significant intervention some of Africa’s most important heritage will be lost as a result of the direct and indirect impacts of climate change over the coming decades. There is a need for research into the impacts of climate change on different forms of cultural heritage in Africa, and to highlight the possible harmful effects these losses will have on society more generally. </p>
<p>The next ten years will be a critical period in which research agendas can be developed that will have a practical application for the management of African heritage in the face of climate change. </p>
<h2>The bad news</h2>
<p>Coastal erosion and sea-level rise have damaged African World Heritage <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/africa/">Sites</a>. The Roman city of <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/184">Sabratha</a> on the Libyan coast and the colonial <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/34">forts</a> along the coastline of Ghana are slipping into the sea. Natural sites are also under threat. Relict Guinean coastal forests have largely <a href="http://link-springer-com-443.webvpn.fjmu.edu.cn/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-06388-1_2">disappeared</a>, partly through coastal erosion.</p>
<p>By 2050, Guinea, The Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, Bénin, Congo, Tunisia, Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and the Comoros will all be at <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811204487_0093">significant</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12808-z?fbclid=IwAR02eB8HX3vPOgHpQjRRbujjoe0ZW932ziimLBOpJ-3wupL31SYlB81ui_o">risk</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0697-0">from</a> coastal erosion and sea-level rise.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352503/original/file-20200812-22-1apz2bm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The view from the heart of Stone Town in Zanzibar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ALEXIS TOUREAU/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</span></span>
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<p>Villages and towns associated with the historic Swahili Indian Ocean trading networks are all forecast to suffer significant <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11852-012-0204-5">loss</a> from sea-level rise and coastal erosion in the coming <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1350503315Z.000000000105">decades</a>. These are almost all located on the coasts of Mozambique, mainland <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15564890902779677">Tanzania</a>, Kenya, the Comoro Islands, Zanzibar and Madagascar.</p>
<p>A host of unique heritage locations are built on coral, sand or mud – all at elevations less than 10 metres above sea level. These include Ibo Island in the Quirimbas Archipelago in northern Mozambique, Shanga and Pate islands in Kenya, Pemba and the ruins of Kaole in Tanzania, Mahilaka in Madagascar and Suakin in Sudan. A combination of underlying geology and low elevation make these sites <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0697-0">extremely</a> <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811204487_0093">vulnerable</a> to coastal erosion. </p>
<p>In addition, low-lying World Heritage Sites that are densely populated, such as <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1055">Lamu Old Town</a> and the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/173">Stone Town</a> of Zanzibar, are located in regions of Africa predicted to be most severely impacted by shoreline retreat. </p>
<p>Inland of the coast, the World Heritage mud-built town of <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/116">Djenné</a>, on the Inland Niger Delta, is suffering multiple <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-012-0492-7">threats</a>, exacerbated by climate change. Rock art sites in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa are experiencing biodeterioration due to microbial activity arising from increased humidity. </p>
<p>But African heritage is predominantly lived heritage, which presents unique opportunities for heritage conservation. </p>
<h2>Why a site like Djenné matters</h2>
<p>Take Djenné in Mali, a town composed almost entirely of earthen buildings. Because of its unique vernacular architecture and its iconic <a href="https://www.zamaniproject.org/site-mali-djenne-great-mosque.html">mosque</a>, it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988. There has been a conspicuous <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ebf1/4e69e41a46550ffacd051c46e0a268e25364.pdf">degradation</a> of its mud architecture. The reasons are complex but climate change has definitely worsened the process of loss. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dug-out hole with water in it and mud bricks stacked next to it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353406/original/file-20200818-16-12l2pvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mud for Djenné’s earth architecture comes from the floodplains of the river Bani just outside town.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Erika Alatalo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The lowering of the high water stand of the <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8249/inland-niger-delta-mali">Inland Niger Delta</a> has meant high quality mud has become scarcer. Mud bricks must be sourced further afield at greater cost, which locals simply can’t afford. The result is buildings being <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-the-city-of-mud-stays-standing-meet-the-masons-of-djenne-mali-224225/">repaired</a> in cheaper materials such as concrete and fired clay bricks.</p>
<p>Traditional building methods are often perceived as being at odds with modernity and globalisation. But earthen buildings such as those at Djenné emit fewer greenhouse gases, consume less energy and maintain a high level of internal thermal comfort. They are more sustainable against climate change than brick and breeze block construction.</p>
<h2>Some hope</h2>
<p>Heritage has unseen potential. Traditional custodianship and community engagement will be at the forefront of a sustainable future. </p>
<p>The good news is that five years ago the World Heritage <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/">Convention</a> adopted Unesco’s World Heritage and Sustainable Development <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/sustainabledevelopment/">Policy</a>. The policy is built on the principles of human rights, equality and long-term sustainability. It’s potentially groundbreaking for African heritage, which has been beset by a colonial legacy of centralised heritage management. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-future-of-africas-forests-and-savannas-is-under-threat-78421">Why the future of Africa's forests and savannas is under threat</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It represents an opportunity for the restoration of traditional custodianship and local community engagement in heritage management. As heritage is reinserted into local lifeways, communities are able to reengage with traditional ways of doing things, which are often much more in tune with the environment. In this, African countries have the opportunity to be at the forefront of sustainable development.</p>
<p>Resetting the research agenda towards a sustainable heritage in the face of climate change will not only enable reengagement with the past, but will help mitigate the impacts of climate change beyond heritage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The next ten years will be a critical period in which research agendas can be developed.Joanne Clarke, Senior lecturer, University of East AngliaElizabeth Edna Wangui, Associate professor, Ohio UniversityGrace W. Ngaruiya, Lecturer, Kenyatta UniversityNick Brooks, Research fellow, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1389152020-06-15T19:33:16Z2020-06-15T19:33:16ZFishing with Elders builds these children’s Oji-Cree language, cultural knowledge and writing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340748/original/file-20200609-21208-idknjr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C52%2C4887%2C2754&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A white sucker underwater in the St. Lawrence River.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a northern Ontario First Nation community, a council member who also drove the children’s school bus volunteered to take three primary teachers and their students to a nearby river. They had heard that the suckers were running. It was May, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=yukqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=sucker+moon&source=bl&ots=gGWE25LSvW&sig=ACfU3U26BoBgNZt2YMVvn2lMWNHvjtkEDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWpu6jx_XpAhVnUN8KHQzZA-E4ChDoATAIegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=sucker%20moon&f=false">the time of the sucker moon</a>; time for community members to harvest the fish. </p>
<p>Community Elders used traditional Indigenous teaching methods that involve telling stories and explaining while demonstrating, as well as encouraging children to participate. The Elders taught children that the land is a provider of food and resources. They explained that children must watch and listen carefully so they remember how things are done in a respectful way.</p>
<p>Through observing, listening and participating, the children learned how to catch the fish using nets, snares made from rabbit wire and sticks and using their bare hands. They learned safe ways of catching, scaling, getting water from the lake to clean the fish, filleting, creating a smoker, gathering wood and making a fire and then smoking the fish. </p>
<p>They learned respectful ways, such as not playing with the fire or splashing water when washing the fish. Every part of the fish was smoked and eaten (including the head and intestines), so there was no waste. The children learned an important traditional way of living, from watching the Elder make the snares to placing the fish on the smoker.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340418/original/file-20200608-176595-t6vw80.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children scaling the fish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kathy Sky)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The next day, students, their teachers and community members took the bus to a nearby lake where there was a fire pit. An Elder cooked the fish over an open fire where the children had an opportunity to taste the fish they had caught. </p>
<p>The Elders used the community’s Indigenous language, Oji-Cree, reinforcing words that the children were learning in their Indigenous language classes. In Oji-Cree, the word for river is <em>Ziibii</em> (pronounced zeebee). <em>Namebin</em> (pronounced naamaybin) is the word for suckers. <em>Ishkode</em> (pronounced ishkoday) is the word for fire. The Elders told the children (<em>Abinoojiiyag</em>, pronounced abinojeeug) that their community’s traditional language is a connection to the land (<em>Aki</em>, pronounced ahki). It is the community’s first language, a gift given by the Creator.</p>
<h2>Return of the language</h2>
<p>Throughout much of the 20th century, Indigenous children were forced to attend <a href="https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/history-of-residential-schools/">residential schools</a> where they were only allowed to use English. Living away from their families during the school year, the children started to lose their language. Because of residential schools, generations of Indigenous children and adults <a href="http://www.ecdip.org/docs/pdf/_2011_CJSLPA_Vol_35_No_02_103-213_Ball_Lewis_CJSLPA_2011.pdf">do not speak their Indigenous languages fluently</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancestral-languages-are-essential-to-indigenous-identities-in-canada-117655">Ancestral languages are essential to Indigenous identities in Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>The Elders, fluent speakers in the old language, some of whom are great-grandparents of children in school today in First Nation communities across Canada, are passing away. The next generation, such as Kathy (one of the authors of this article) is fluent, but has lost some of the words of the old language. Each generation knows less and less of the language because their parents have had fewer and fewer opportunities to learn and use the language at home with their families. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1053&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1053&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341280/original/file-20200611-80789-1vjke9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1053&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The smokehouse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kathy Sky)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because English was the language of their schooling, this generation tended not to use their Indigenous language at home with their children. As a result, parents of school-aged children may have learned their community’s traditional practices growing up with their Elders, but very few are fluent in the language.</p>
<p>Parents, along with the chief and council and community members, see families, the community and the school as partners in revitalizing the community’s traditional practices and language. Indigenous communities are now <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ895575">reclaiming their own traditional language and culture</a> by <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/pathways-for-remembering-and-recognizing-indigenous-thought-in-education-2">incorporating Indigenous knowledge and ways of teaching into Eurocentric provincial curriculum</a>.</p>
<h2>Northern language, writing and play</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://now-play.org/">Northern Oral Language and Writing through Play</a> partnership research, funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant, involves collaborative action research with Indigenous teachers, Elders and community members in northwestern Ontario in <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/treaty-3">Treaty 3</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/treaty-5">Treaty 5</a> <a href="https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/treaty-9">and Treaty 9</a> areas, as they bring together Indigenous knowledge and the provincial curriculum. </p>
<p>In the northern Ontario First Nation community where children learned traditional ways of fishing and smoking fish, teachers drew on research on early literacy, inviting children to use writing to communicate and reinforce <a href="https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9506">what the children wanted to share and remember about their cultural experiences</a>. In this way, the teachers and students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12174">reinforced the importance of the children’s language and cultural learning alongside literacy</a>. </p>
<p>Teachers encouraged children to communicate ideas that are important to them. In the example below, it is clear that cleaning the fish, something that the Grade 1 writer was able to participate in, was enjoyable and a significant part of the experience for her.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340419/original/file-20200608-176546-1e9u5ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Grade 1 student’s writing following the sucker fishing experience: ‘I was clean[ing] the fish. I was taking off the scales.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kathy Sky)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers wanted children to think, and asked children to use what they knew about letters, words and sounds, <a href="https://researchwebsite.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dramatic-play-supports-children_s-writing-in-kindergarten-and-grade-one.pdf">rather than to copy words or only write the words they knew how to spell</a>. </p>
<p>Figuring out how to spell unfamiliar words was a literacy learning process for the children. In the example, the child knew the spelling of some words. She sounded out words, such as clean, fire and fish, and then thought about letters that she could use to write the sounds. She wrote a letter for every sound that she heard and was able to spell words that were repeated, such as clean and fish, correctly the second time.</p>
<p>The children learned traditional practices by observing, listening to Elders and other community members speaking their community’s Indigenous language and participating. They saw the connections between cultural learning and literacy by writing about what was important and enjoyable to them. In keeping with <a href="https://acurriculumjourney.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/battiste-henderson-2009-naturalizing-indigenous-knowledge-in-eurocentric-education.pdf">Indigenous knowledges</a> that are about relationships and being in harmony and balance with the environment, parents, community members and teachers see the need for children to be literate in the English language order to participate in mainstream society, as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shelley Stagg Peterson receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathy Sky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Shelley Stagg Peterson, Professor of Elementary Literacy and Northern Rural and Indigenous Schooling, University of TorontoKathy Sky, Teacher and Northern Oral Language and Writing Through Play community research partnerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1399742020-06-08T02:11:56Z2020-06-08T02:11:56ZTraditional knowledge helps Indigenous people adapt to climate crisis, research shows<p><em>This article is part of a series to celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Indigenous peoples, who make up <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---gender/documents/publication/wcms_551189.pdf">5%</a> of the global population, are among the most vulnerable groups. They face <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/research/publications/misc/63359_2012_Parrotta_Agnoletti_Chapter%2013%20-%20TFRK%20&%20Climate%20Change.pdf">issues</a> ranging from poverty and human rights abuses to the climate crisis. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2A37DBD0053C93214925764100223D25-WB_climatechange.pdf">Indigenous peoples</a> contribute significantly to <a href="https://www.iucn.org/downloads/indigenous_peoples_climate_change.pdf">biodiversity</a> conservation and <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-Chap12_FINAL.pdf">sustainable natural resources management</a>. </p>
<p>The do so, in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, through their traditional knowledge. This knowledge has been handed down through generations. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333844860_Traditional_Ecological_Knowledge_of_Indonesian_Sea_Nomads_Orang_Suku_Laut_on_Climate_Change_Adaptation">research</a> from October 2018 to January 2019 found the traditional ecological knowledge applied by Orang Suku Laut of Lingga Regency in Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, could be adopted as ways to reduce the impacts of the climate crisis. </p>
<h2>Orang Suku Laut and climate change</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://books.google.co.th/books/about/Indonesian_Sea_Nomads.html?id=HBfcmveeh7sC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">Orang Suku Laut</a>, an indigenous Malay people, have been living as sea people or sea nomads since the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27865391?seq=1">16th century</a>. </p>
<p>However, in the early 1990s, the groups divided into three types: the nomads, the semi-nomads, and the sedentary. </p>
<p>Currently, they mostly inhabit the <a href="https://books.google.co.th/books/about/Indonesian_Sea_Nomads.html?id=HBfcmveeh7sC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">east coast of the Sumatran mainland and Riau Archipelago</a>.</p>
<p>The highest population of Orang Suku Laut, <a href="http://cuir.car.chula.ac.th/handle/123456789/63312">30 groups, 806 households and 3,931 inhabitants</a>, live in Lingga regency of Riau Islands province, around 1,000 kilometres from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330005/original/file-20200423-47794-5tnp4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of Orang Suku Laut in Lingga of Riau Islands province.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My research analysed the interaction between <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2641280?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">cultural practice, cultural belief and adaptive capacity</a>, or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/traditional-ecological-knowledge">traditional ecological knowledge</a> of Orang Suku Laut, as they struggle with impacts of the climate crisis. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.co.th/books/about/Sacred_Ecology.html?id=5b8RAgZtxxIC&redir_esc=y">Fikret Berkes</a>, an applied ecologist from University of Manitoba, Canada, in <a href="http://library.um.edu.mo/ebooks/b10756577a.pdf">1993</a> introduced the term traditional ecological knowledge as a social science approach. </p>
<p>This approach, in the context of climate science, can reveal how the <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr879.pdf">complex knowledge system of Indigenous peoples</a> deal with impacts of climate crisis. </p>
<p>My research concluded <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333844860_Traditional_Ecological_Knowledge_of_Indonesian_Sea_Nomads_Orang_Suku_Laut_on_Climate_Change_Adaptation?_sg=tbyfvjKGrv7cQgW8-oiANRDLUrGrvNwe7dcM-r55SUF1hsNU5hviVpJw4ycACUGysXdtVC_5uPUr1XQ3YcznGaWTtWEX5csDJsPPTQy4.n-olnhH7DF9dsXtERhfmZwBa8QIKCdcIic9q0TigShw6sV_9CGR6aZMOtqz6sP4DM1yG3enZJKeBmQjPIxlbHA">80.18%</a> of Orang Suku Laut had experienced these impacts – rising temperatures affecting seasonal patterns, more diseases, water scarcity – on their lives.</p>
<h2>Climate change adaptation by Orang Suku Laut</h2>
<p>For hundreds of years, the Orang Suku Laut have practised a way of life that incorporates the ancestral culture and nature as the source of life. </p>
<p>My research divided this traditional knowledge into <a href="http://cuir.car.chula.ac.th/handle/123456789/63312">cultural practice, cultural belief and adaptive capacity</a>, which underpins the tribe’s ability to adapt to climate impacts. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330018/original/file-20200423-47784-1rkprry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Orang Suku Laut is central to climate change adaptation.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1) Cultural practice</strong></p>
<p>The cultural practice of Orang Suku Laut is weather forecasting through natural signs, such as wind patterns, fish or bird movements, sky observations, ocean currents and temperature.</p>
<p>The tribe also practises a nomadic lifestyle based on the annual changes in seasons. In this way they avoid the impacts of disasters such as drought and sea storms. </p>
<p>The monsoon rainfall pattern heavily influences the seasonal calendar of Orang Suku Laut.</p>
<p>Using this pattern, they can predict North Season as the season with hydrometeorological disasters, East Season as the season with high fisheries productivity, South Season as the dry period, and West Season as the wet period.</p>
<p>They are still using this cultural practice, or traditional knowledge, and it’s essentially adaptable to non-Indigenous groups. </p>
<p><strong>2) Cultural belief</strong></p>
<p>In the theory of traditional ecological knowledge, scientists consider cultural belief, which embodies taboo and animism concepts like other well-established religions, an inseparable part of environmental management by indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Orang Suku Laut still observe the cultural belief called <em>Pantang Larang</em>, a rule passed down for generations to enforce customary law, such as a ban on cutting down trees, or catching specific fish species. </p>
<p><em>Pantang Larang</em> is heavily linked to the tribe’s spiritual values. For the ancestors, <em>Pantang Larang</em> is linked with the use of magical powers, <em>ilmu</em> (spell) and <em>pengasih</em> (mantra), to reduce rain intensity and avoid storms at sea. </p>
<p>This cultural belief is a dynamic and reflective traditional ecological knowledge. It connects spirituality and taboo to protect nature. </p>
<p><strong>3) Adaptive capacity</strong></p>
<p>The adaptive capacity of Orang Suku Laut can be seen in their architecture and the practice of local migration. </p>
<p>The Orang Suku Laut adopt a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263519300603">vernacular architectural style</a>, using local materials and traditional knowledge, for their buildings and boats. </p>
<p>Their stilt house, <em>Saphaw</em>, and rowing boat, <em>Sampan Kajang</em>, are made from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/calophyllum-inophyllum">Mentango or Bintangur</a> wood, a hardwood tree easily found in the tropics and lowlands, such as Riau Archipelago.</p>
<p>The roofs and walls of the house are made of <em><a href="https://www.tetiaroasociety.org/news/organism-of-the-month/pandanus-tectorius">Mengkuang</a></em> leaves, a variety of thorny pandanus plant that grows on the coastal shore and tropical small islands. </p>
<p>The architectural designs of Orang Suku Laut have been protecting them from sea storms, rising temperature and other extreme events while adopting the principles of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263519300603">ecological sustainability</a>. </p>
<p>This is one of their adaptive capacities. </p>
<p>Another capacity is local migration. The tribe moves from one island to another during the northern monsoon, which usually brings <a href="http://meteo.bmkg.go.id/siklon/learn/07/en">massive storms</a>. </p>
<p>They migrate as a way to protect themselves from droughts, high tides, extreme events and diseases and group conflicts. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901118300418">seasonal migration</a> could serve as an indigenous-based strategy for climate change adaptation.</p>
<h2>Recommendations and development</h2>
<p>My research found <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333844860_Traditional_Ecological_Knowledge_of_Indonesian_Sea_Nomads_Orang_Suku_Laut_on_Climate_Change_Adaptation?_sg=tbyfvjKGrv7cQgW8-oiANRDLUrGrvNwe7dcM-r55SUF1hsNU5hviVpJw4ycACUGysXdtVC_5uPUr1XQ3YcznGaWTtWEX5csDJsPPTQy4.n-olnhH7DF9dsXtERhfmZwBa8QIKCdcIic9q0TigShw6sV_9CGR6aZMOtqz6sP4DM1yG3enZJKeBmQjPIxlbHA">55%</a> of Orang Suku Laut understand the need to integrate science and technology with their traditional ecological knowledge to adapt to climate impacts. </p>
<p>However, there are challenges, including declining practices of traditional beliefs, such as rituals and spells, because most have converted to new religions (Islam or Christianity).</p>
<p>In addition, current government policies do not pay much attention to traditional ecological knowledge, along with the state of Indigenous peoples relating to social, economic and political issues at all levels.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the government can start by including this knowledge in the <a href="http://perpustakaan.bappenas.go.id/lontar/file?file=digital/153661-%5B_Konten_%5D-Konten%20D492.pdf">Indonesian Action Plan on Climate Change Adaptation</a> as part of <a href="https://www.developmentbookshelf.com/doi/book/10.3362/9781780447902">community-based climate adaptation</a>. </p>
<p>And it can support further interdisciplinary research on Indigenous peoples and climate change. </p>
<p>Another recommendation is to constantly apply the principle of <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/publications/2016/10/free-prior-and-informed-consent-an-indigenous-peoples-right-and-a-good-practice-for-local-communities-fao/">free, prior and informed consent</a> in every development that involves Indigenous peoples and their lands. This would uphold their right to give, or withold, their consent for any development agenda carried out on their ancestral domains.</p>
<p>Policy should also aim to determine the plans suitable for customary laws and territories to achieve sustainable <a href="https://en.unesco.org/links/climatechange">community-based, natural resource management</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139974/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wengky Ariando tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous peoples offers ways to adapt to climate impacts.Wengky Ariando, PhD Student, Climate Change and Development, Chulalongkorn UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1330712020-03-10T06:15:57Z2020-03-10T06:15:57ZThe world’s best fire management system is in northern Australia, and it’s led by Indigenous land managers<p>The tropical savannas of northern Australia are among the most fire-prone regions in the world. On average, they <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/wf/wf07018">account for 70%</a> of the area affected by fire each year in Australia. </p>
<p>But effective fire management over the past 20 years has reduced the annual average area burned – an area larger than Tasmania. The extent of this achievement is staggering, almost incomprehensible in a southern Australia context after the summer’s devastating bushfires. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-made-bushfire-maps-from-satellite-data-and-found-a-glaring-gap-in-australias-preparedness-132087">I made bushfire maps from satellite data, and found a glaring gap in Australia's preparedness</a>
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<p>The success in northern Australia is the result of sustained and arduous on-ground work by a range of landowners and managers. Of greatest significance is the fire management from <a href="https://www.countryneedspeople.org.au/indigenous_rangers">Indigenous community-based ranger groups</a>, which has led to one of the most significant greenhouse gas emissions reduction practices in Australia.</p>
<p>As Willie Rioli, a Tiwi Islander and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IndigenousCarbonIndustryNetwork/">Indigenous Carbon Industry Network</a> steering committee member <a href="https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/australia%E2%80%99s-big-burning-issue-tackled-north">recently said</a>:</p>
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<p>Fire is a tool and it’s something people should see as part of the Australian landscape. By using fire at the right time of year, in the right places with the right people, we have a good chance to help country and climate. </p>
<p>Importantly, people need to listen to science - the success of our industry has been from a collaboration between our traditional knowledge and modern science and this cooperation has made our work the most innovative and successful in the world.</p>
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<h2>A tinder-dry season</h2>
<p>The 2019 fire season was especially challenging in the north (as it was in the south), following years of low rainfall across the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-19/gouldian-finch-populations-struggle-in-wa-far-north/11972256ns">Kimberly and Top-End</a>. Northern Australia endured tinder-dry conditions, severe fire weather in the late dry season, and a very late onset of wet-season relief. </p>
<p>Despite these severe conditions, extensive fuel management and fire suppression activities over several years meant northern Australia didn’t see the scale of destruction experienced in the south. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3dBDBfKr018?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A comparison of two years with severe fire weather conditions. Extensive early dry season mitigation burns in 2019 reduced the the total fire-affected areas.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is a huge success for biodiversity conservation under worsening, longer-term fire conditions induced by climate change. Indigenous land managers are even extending their knowledge of savanna burning <a href="https://www.isfmi.org/">to southern Africa</a>. </p>
<h2>Burn early in the dry season</h2>
<p>The broad principles of northern Australia fire management are to burn early in the dry season when fires can be readily managed; and suppress, where possible, the ignition of uncontrolled fires – often from non-human sources such as lightning – in the late dry season. </p>
<p>Traditional Indigenous fire management involves deploying “cool” (low intensity) and patchy burning early in the dry season to reduce grass fuel. This creates firebreaks in the landscape that help stop larger and far more severe fires late in the dry season. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319524/original/file-20200310-61099-flv99i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Relatively safe ‘cool’ burns can create firebreaks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Essentially, burning early in the dry season accords with tradition, while suppressing fires that ignite late in the dry season is a post-colonial practice.</p>
<p>Savannah burning is different to burn-offs in South East Australia, partly because grass fuel reduction burns are more effective – it’s rare to have high-intensity fires spreading from tree to tree. What’s more, these areas are sparsely populated, with less infrastructure, so there are fewer risks. </p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-burn-legacy-why-the-science-on-hazard-reduction-is-contested-132083">The burn legacy: why the science on hazard reduction is contested</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.firenorth.org.au/">Satellite monitoring</a> over the last 15 years shows the scale of change. We can compare the average area burnt across the tropical savannas over seven years from 2000 (2000–2006) with the last seven years (2013–2019). Since 2013, active fire management has been much more extensive. </p>
<p>The comparison reveals a reduction of late dry season wildfires over an area of 115,000 square kilometres and of all fires by 88,000 square kilometres. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319523/original/file-20200310-61127-53vglu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How fire has changed in northern Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Combining traditional knowledge with western science</h2>
<p>The primary goals of Indigenous savanna burning projects remain to support cultural reproduction, on-country living and “healthy country” outcomes.</p>
<p>Savanna burning is highly symbiotic with biodiversity conservation and landscape management, which is the core business of rangers. </p>
<p>Ensuring these gains are sustainable requires a significant amount of difficult on-ground work in remote and challenging circumstances. It involves not only Indigenous rangers, but also pastoralists, park rangers and private conservation groups. These emerging networks have helped build new savanna burning knowledge and innovative technologies.</p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-land-is-burning-and-western-science-does-not-have-all-the-answers-100331">Our land is burning, and Western science does not have all the answers</a>
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<p>While customary knowledge underpins much of this work, the vast spatial extent of today’s savanna burning requires helicopters, remote sensing and satellite mapping. In other words, traditional burning is reconfigured to combine with western scientific knowledge and new tools.</p>
<p>For Indigenous rangers, <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/WF/WF18152">burning from helicopters</a> using incendiaries is augmented by ground-based operations, including on-foot burns that support more nuanced cultural engagement with country. </p>
<p>On-ground burns are particularly important for protecting sacred sites, built infrastructure and areas of high conservation value such as groves of monsoonal forest.</p>
<h2>Who pays for it?</h2>
<p>A more active savanna burning regime over the last seven years has led to <a href="https://theconversation.com/savanna-burning-carbon-pays-for-conservation-in-northern-australia-12185">a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions</a> of more than seven million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/savanna-burning-carbon-pays-for-conservation-in-northern-australia-12185">Savanna burning: carbon pays for conservation in northern Australia</a>
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<p>This is around 10% of the total emission reductions accredited by the Australian government through carbon credits units under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2011A00101">Carbon Farming Initiative Act</a>. Under the act, one Australian carbon credit unit is earned for each tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent that a project stores or avoids.</p>
<p>By selling these carbon credits units either to the government or on a private commercial market, land managers have created a <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/rj/rj18005">A$20 million a year</a> savanna burning industry. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sFiqU_20s7Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How Indigenous Australians and others across Australia’s north are reducing emissions.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can the rest of Australia learn?</h2>
<p>Savanna fire management is not directly translatable to southern Australia, where the climate is more temperate, the vegetation is different and the landscape is more densely populated. Still, there are lessons to be learnt. </p>
<p>A big reason for the success of fire management in the north savannas is because of the collaboration with scientists and Indigenous land managers, built on respect for the sophistication of traditional knowledge. </p>
<p>This is augmented by broad networks of fire managers across the complex cross-cultural landscape of northern Australia. Climate change will increasingly impact fire management across Australia, but at least in the north there is a growing capacity to face the challenge.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rohan Fisher receives funding from the former federal environment department through support for the North Australia Fire Information Website, from which satellite-derived fire information was produced.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Altman is a director of a number of not-for-profits including the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust and Original Power. He is the chair of the research committee of The Australia Institute.</span></em></p>The extent of this achievement is staggering, almost incomprehensible in a southern Australia context after the summer’s devastating bushfires.Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin UniversityJon Altman, Emeritus professor, School of Regulation and Global Governance, ANU, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1235732020-01-02T16:25:22Z2020-01-02T16:25:22ZIndigenous song keepers reveal traditional ecological knowledge in music<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297782/original/file-20191019-56215-4b5knq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C162%2C2248%2C1816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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). </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Bert Crowfoot)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the beginning of time, music has been a way of communicating observations of and experiences about the world. For Indigenous Peoples who have lived within their traditional territories for generations, music is a repository of ecological knowledge, with songs embedding ancestors’ knowledge, teachings and wisdom. </p>
<p>The music carries the word of the ancestors across time, transmitting key knowledge from deep in our sacred memory. Academics are just beginning to see the deep significance of these songs and the knowledge they carry and some are working with Indigenous collaborators to unlock their teachings.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/ca/topics/focus-truth-and-reconciliation-in-canada-77341">Click here for more articles in our ongoing series about the TRC Calls to Action.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the same time, non-Indigenous researchers and the general public are becoming aware of the historic and current loss of songs. Indigenous communities are also grappling with what this means. The loss of songs was brought on by <a href="https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2014.5.3.3">brought on by</a> colonization, <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historyfacpub/20/">forced enrollment</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X12447274">in residential schools</a> and the passing of the last of the traditionally trained knowledge holders and song keepers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304297/original/file-20191128-178107-1txjme0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Here in 2014, Coral Napangardi Gallagher and Tess Napalajarri Ross, two Warlpiri women, from Yuendumu, central Australia, perform a mimetic dance on their knees. They are depicting a scene from a song about a child who attempts to take seed paste from a coolamon but is fought off by the mother as she grinds the seeds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Margaret Carew)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Time-honoured global traditions</h2>
<p>A recent special issue of the <em><a href="https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-ethnobiology/volume-39/issue-3">Journal of Ethnobiology</a></em> celebrates the power of traditional songs as storehouses of traditional ecological knowledge. </p>
<p>Nine articles are rich accounts of Indigenous Peoples’ time-honoured music-making traditions. These range from <a href="https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.3.354">women’s songs relating to wild seeds in Australia</a>, to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.3.409">improvisational singing traditions in Siberia</a>, to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.3.425">use of turtle shell rattles</a> across the United States and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.3.460">hunting songs of Amazonian hunter-gatherers</a>. </p>
<p>Although traditional music is threatened by past government-sanctioned actions and laws, with much already lost, Indigenous Peoples globally continue to use music in sacred and ritual contexts and celebrate their traditional songs. </p>
<p>The lyrics in traditional songs are themselves imbued with meaning and history. Traditional songs often encode and model the proper, respectful way for humans, non-humans and the natural and supernatural realms to interact and intersect. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300936/original/file-20191108-194656-12ve5k7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Tsimane’ woman in Bolivian Amazonia playing a handmade wooden violin. Violins came to the Tsimane’ through contact with missionaries. Today, some Tsimane’ play the violin while singing traditional songs, illustrating the adaptive nature of Indigenous music.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/682812?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">among the Temiar singers of the Malaysian rainforest</a> — who often receive their songs in dreams from deceased people and who believe all living beings are capable of having “personhood” — dream-songs help mediate peoples’ relationships with these other beings. </p>
<p>In many Indigenous cultures, songs recount detailed biocultural knowledge that sits in specific places and thus can also document rights to, and responsibilities for, traditional territories.</p>
<h2>Inspired by potlatch speaker</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304154/original/file-20191127-112531-wrtbrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla singing the starfish song.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Randy Bouchard)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The special issue was inspired by <a href="https://www.kwaxsistalla.org/">Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla Clan Chief Adam Dick</a>.
Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla was a trained Clan Chief, held four <em>pa’sa</em> chieftain seats, and among many other roles, was the keeper of hundreds of songs about the Kwakwaka’wakw people, their traditional territory in coastal British Columbia, and <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Kwakiutl_Ethnography.html?id=VvWOQgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">all aspects of their lives and their ritual world</a>. </p>
<p>In his role as <em>ninogaad</em> (culturally trained specialist), Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla was the last culturally trained potlatch speaker. The cultural practice of potlatching is a central organizing structure of northern Northwest Coast peoples. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xr2-OIyFSJs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Potlatch explanation, from ‘Smoke From His Fire,’ a film by Oqwilowgwa Kim Recalma-Clutesi.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Potlatching was banned until 1951. As a result, singing potlatch songs was a source of punishment and fear for many generations. The interruption of the transmission of traditional songs in every day and ritual life has been profound. </p>
<h2>Revealed songs</h2>
<p>As one born to nobility and chosen since birth to be a conduit of key cultural knowledge, Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla let us hear the words of his ancestors through the many songs he remembered. </p>
<p>For instance, in 2002, he revealed an ancient <em>ya’a</em> (Dog Children song) that unlocked the mystery of <em>lokiwey</em> (clam gardens) on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Cultivating clams in clam gardens — rock walled terraces in the lower intertidal — is <a href="https://9508ccce-2e7b-4d47-b10c-9b1d4648273b.filesusr.com/ugd/92e8c4_760b8401bf61489284fd1c982f50a4c2.pdf">a widespread practice among Coastal First Nations</a>. We now know this practice <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211194">is at least 3,500 years old</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304147/original/file-20191127-112539-1y645ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Oqwilowgwa listening to Clan Chief Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla singing at the ‘lokiwey’ (clam garden) where he was secluded as a child at Deep Harbour in the Broughton Archipelago, Northern British Columbia, Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Diane Woods)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla’s sharing of this clam garden song unleashed a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1905921116">wave of research on traditional management practices</a> and helped not only awaken people’s understanding of the <a href="https://9508ccce-2e7b-4d47-b10c-9b1d4648273b.filesusr.com/ugd/92e8c4_1879c40de1fd43b7ad450b886ed626f9.pdf">extent to which Indigenous Peoples tended</a> <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/ancient-pathways--ancestral-knowledge-products-9780773543805.php">their landscapes</a>, but also provided the <a href="http://www.clamgarden.com/">foundation for research</a> on how to improve clam management. </p>
<p>Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla went on to mentor and be the primary source on traditional ecological knowledge for over a dozen <a href="https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/3743?show=full">graduate students in ethnobiology and linguistics</a> until his passing last year. <a href="https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/4596">Each graduate thesis</a> had songs from Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla’s <a href="http://dspace.library.uvic.ca:8080/handle/1828/3359?show=full">repertoire as its foundation</a>. </p>
<h2>Song and reconciliation</h2>
<p>Despite the immense global value of traditional songs as libraries of ecological and other cultural knowledge, researchers and the general public have been slow to recognize their social and cultural importance. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304158/original/file-20191127-112512-14zselc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kwaxsistalla Wathl’thla digging for clams in one of the ‘lokiwey’ (clam gardens) he built and maintained as a child at Deep Harbour in the Broughton Archipelago, northern B.C., Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Dana Lepofsky)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, the findings of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), highlight the importance of <a href="http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">protecting and honouring Indigenous languages</a>, but songs are not explicitly mentioned. </p>
<p>The TRC called on called on the federal government, with Aboriginal peoples, to: draft new legislation to commit to sufficient funding to protect Aboriginal peoples’ rights to their languages (Call to Action 10); to acknowledge that Aboriginal rights include Aboriginal language rights, and to seek with urgency to protect Aboriginal languages through an Aboriginal Languages Act and an Aboriginal Languages Commissioner (Calls to Action 13 – 15).</p>
<p>In many Indigenous cultures certain dialects, words and expressions are found only in certain songs, not in spoken conversations. Thus, protecting traditional songs is a critical aspect of protecting Indigenous languages. </p>
<p>The cultural importance of song was not missed by the Government of Canada and the churches who administered residential schools for <a href="http://www.anishinabek.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/An-Overview-of-the-IRS-System-Booklet.pdf">more than a century</a>. They saw all Indigenous language, spoken or sung, as counter to the colonial government’s mission to remove the <a href="http://education.historicacanada.ca/files/103/ResidentialSchools_Printable_Pages.pdf">“savage” from “the Indian children.</a>”</p>
<p>The great uncle of Oqwilowgwa, one of this story’s authors, died from a beating at the residential school in Port Alberni for singing a child’s play song in his language. All music except hymns were strictly banned in residential schools until the 1960s.</p>
<h2>Protecting rights and privileges today</h2>
<p>Recognizing the importance of traditional songs and creating a context to promote this knowledge is fundamental to Canada’s reconciliation process. Speaking at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Traditional Knowledge Keepers Forum, <a href="http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Volume_6_Reconciliation_English_Web.pdf">Blackfoot Elder Reg Crowshoe said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“…So we are looking at finding those true meanings of reconciliation and forgiveness. We need to be aware or re-taught how to access those stories of our Elders, not only stories but songs, practices that give us those rights and privileges to access those stories … ” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indigenous songs, as detailed bio-cultural archives, are avenues for gaining a more nuanced and complex appreciation of ecosystems, including humans’ place within them. There is not only a moral imperative for protecting traditional songs, but also a practical one. </p>
<p>Such knowledge, as in the case of clam gardens, may provide important lessons about how people today can more respectfully and sustainably interact with our non-human neighbours. In these times of dramatic ecological and social change, honouring and safeguarding traditional songs has never been more important. </p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares receives funding from the Academy of Finland.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oqwilowgwa Kim Recalma-Clutesi is affiliated with Ninogaad Knowledge Keepers Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dana Lepofsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ancestral Indigenous songs often encode territorial responsibilities and rights, such as in relationship with ‘lokiwey’ (coastal clam gardens) on the Pacific Northwest Coast.Dana Lepofsky, Professor in Archaeology, Simon Fraser UniversityÁlvaro Fernández-Llamazares, Researcher in Ethnecology, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of HelsinkiOqwilowgwa Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Contributor to the special issue on Ethnobiology Through Song/CEO Ninogaad Knowledge Keepers Foundation/Board of Directors APTNLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1186522019-08-21T22:41:10Z2019-08-21T22:41:10ZIndigenous hunters are protecting animals, land and waterways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287553/original/file-20190809-144873-y6yk27.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C15%2C778%2C583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A storm blows over the Tsá Tué Biosphere Reserve. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNESCO/Destination Délįnę</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada aims to <a href="http://www.conservation2020canada.ca/home">conserve 17 per cent</a> of its land and fresh water by the end of 2020. This noble objective will help protect water, air, food and biodiversity and improve the <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/healthy-environment-healthy-people">health of humans</a>.</p>
<p>Indigenous peoples in Canada are a part of this conservation movement. As they hunt, gather and harvest, they also monitor the land to keep it healthy and ensure their traditional activities are preserved. Their efforts to protect the Earth benefit us all. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280304/original/file-20190619-171281-1xmovn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sunset on the land, Sahtú, Northwest Territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mylène Ratelle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Initiatives for protected lands</h2>
<p>In October 2018, Dehcho First Nations and the Government of Canada announced the creation of the first Indigenous protected area in Canada. Located in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, <a href="https://dehcho.org/resource-management/edehzhie/">Edéhzhíe</a> covers 14,218 square kilometres — more than twice the size of Banff National Park — and protects an area of spiritual and ecological importance to the Dehcho and Tłichô Dene. </p>
<p>It is not the only Indigenous initiative to protect lands. The <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/europe-north-america/canada/tsa-tue/">Tsá Tué Biosphere Reserve</a>, created in 2016, protected more than 9,000 square kilometres of land and water. First Nations, Inuit and Métis have put in place other initiatives too. </p>
<p>These Indigenous groups are interested in protecting the land because their holistic approach to ecosystems will help preserve their traditional way of life. </p>
<p>This holistic approach to conservation is the concept of being “in tune with nature.” It’s a fundamental understanding that although they are human, Dene are part of the environment and the ecosystem. This concept doesn’t just refer to the nature in the sense of trees, wildlife or the natural processes of an ecosystem, but the nature of reality as a whole, where people have a role in the natural world and have a responsibility to maintain it. </p>
<p>Harvesting wild game is a measured and carefully considered practice. By protecting these lands, traditional ways of life, including language, harvesting and other cultural elements, are maintained for present and future generations. </p>
<h2>Harvesting and conservation</h2>
<p>Harvesting was the main source of food of Indigenous people for millennia. Even though people living in remote communities now have access to store-bought foods, quality remains an issue. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-food-price-survey-2016-1.3650637">Fresh food is often limited and expensive</a>, and may cost as much as three times the Canadian average. </p>
<p>In some northern communities, the rate of food insecurity is alarming and can affect up to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980013001705">70 per cent of the households</a>. In the Arctic, the consumption of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12243">traditional foods is associated with better nutrition</a>. Hunting is, therefore, associated with healthy living.</p>
<p>Some people, including settlers, those living in cities or involved in the animal-rights communities, may see harvesting and hunting as damaging to the ecosystem. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/01/animal-rights-activists-inuit-clash-canada-indigenous-food-traditions">Attacks against seal harvesting</a> are recurrent. </p>
<p>Yet hunting is an integral part of the traditional Indigenous lifestyle and it can occur within protected areas. By hunting, they are also making the commitment to protect the land. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280306/original/file-20190619-171245-oq4w22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pure water, Dehcho, Northwest Territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mylène Ratelle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, even if harvested local foods <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-018-0318-9">such as caribou</a> are subsistence foods in several Indigenous northern nations, some communities have initiated a program to assess how to <a href="http://www.srrb.nt.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=378&Itemid=1739">preserve Northern Mountain Caribou herds</a> and minimize the cultural impact. </p>
<p>They monitor the harvest and decide whether hunting limits should be set. They restrict access to certain lands, educate hunters and ensure protection of caribou habitat. The aim is to establish <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/colville-lake-caribou-plan-1.5052113">sustainable hunting</a> and a healthy dynamic between the communities and the animals. This Indigenous perspective on sustainable development and conservation integrates the responsibility to give back. </p>
<h2>Indigenous monitoring of the land</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.indigenousguardianstoolkit.ca/chapter/learn-about-indigenous-guardian-programs">Indigenous Guardians</a> are the eyes and ears for the land and water. They patrol a designated area and monitor ecological health, including species at risk and early indicators of climate change such as water levels and landscape changes. </p>
<p>The monitored areas include remote locations where limited observations are available. As such, the science of the land contributes significantly to the overall monitoring strategy and data gathering in the region.</p>
<p>This bottom-up management and conservation approach leads to practical planning by local people who have an interest in the issue. The Indigenous Guardians program contributes to the connections between Indigenous culture and natural environment by using traditional knowledge and science of the land, while increasing the protection of the land. </p>
<p>Remote locations are also subject to resource development such as mining and fracking. The Guardians watch for the potential impacts of these projects, often in collaboration with scholars, to ensure a clean environment for future generations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280303/original/file-20190619-171183-1gelqq4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Camp on the land, Sahtú, Northwest Territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mylène Ratelle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/nature/science/autochtones-indigenous">Parks Canada</a> acknowledges the contributions Indigenous peoples have made in managing ecosystems and in their traditional knowledge of these ecosystems. Traditional ecological knowledge is generally described as the body of environmental knowledge, practices and beliefs acquired over time and passed down over generations within an Indigenous group. It provides information that is complementary to academic science, supporting, for example, changes in biodiversity or identifying early indicators of climate change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-knowledge-advances-modern-science-and-technology-89351">How Indigenous knowledge advances modern science and technology</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Not only can these new protected areas improve Indigenous self-governance and stewardship, but they recognize Indigenous peoples’ contributions to ecosystem conservation. Parks Canada endorses the <a href="http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action</a>, and their acknowledgement of Indigenous rights to use the land is a first step towards decolonization and Indigenization of land use. These Indigenous-led protected and conserved areas aim to preserve the traditional land and support the conservation of traditional activities that respect the environment. </p>
<p>Everyone should acknowledge the positive impact Indigenous hunting can have on the protection and monitoring of the environment. These efforts benefit all of us in protecting the ecosystem for a healthy environment and healthy people.</p>
<p><em>Jeffrey Fabian, Yaidih-ih “Eyes Unclouded,” coordinator of the Indigenous Guardian program in the K'atl'odeeche First Nation, in Hay River, NWT, co-authored this article.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118652/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mylène Ratelle received funding from the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Health Canada. In addition to her position at University of Waterloo, she is also affiliated with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board (SRRB).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Fabian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A holistic approach to conservation finds people have a place in the natural world and a responsibility to maintain it.Mylène Ratelle, Research Manager in the School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1092122019-02-18T15:58:26Z2019-02-18T15:58:26ZAn uneasy alliance: Indigenous Traditional Knowledge enriches science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259133/original/file-20190214-1726-1jrbzwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>An article I published last year in <em>The Conversation</em> and republished in <em>Smithsonian Magazine</em> about Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and western science touched a nerve among some readers. My article discussed examples of <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-taken-thousands-of-years-but-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-traditional-knowledge-90291">Indigenous peoples having detailed knowledge of animal behaviour, coastal ecology and historical events that have only recently been “discovered” or verified by western scientists</a>. Although the article was well received and garnered many readers, there were some harsh criticisms.</p>
<p>In the <em>Smithsonian Magazine</em> online comments, I encountered these opinions: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>“I think the Smithsonian should not have published such an extreme postmodernist and anti-science article.”</em></p>
<p><em>“This was an astoundingly bad article that a good science editor should have blocked. The author is clearly knowledgeable about his field but lacks a clear understanding of the scientific method … a series of anti-science and postmodernist rants have been passed off as fact …”</em></p>
<p><em>“Without the unnecessary anti-science it would have been a good article.”</em></p>
<p><em>“The Smithsonian has gone new-age and the anti-science, regressive Left is apparently thriving there …</em>”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Criticism in academia is healthy. But there was nothing “anti-science” about my article, which asserted that Traditional Knowledge and western science are often complementary. There is nothing anti-science about my work; as an archaeologist, it is heavily informed by science.</p>
<p>The inaccurate critique by both public and academic arenas and even law courts of Indigenous ways of knowing the world is common. Critics have labeled Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and oral histories as unreliable, incomplete and tainted by outside influences. <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/disrobing-the-aboriginal-industry-products-9780773534216.php">Some consider “Indigenous science” to be a recent and politically suspect initiative</a>.</p>
<p>It seems only western science can be championed as objective, reliable and neutral.</p>
<h2>Defining “science”</h2>
<p>Emerging from the Enlightenment in the late 17th century, science has provided us with a powerful suite of tools — from quantum mechanics to astrophysics, from chemistry to geology — with which to understand the world and everything in (and outside) it. Broadly framed, science is a method or means to systematically study of the world, including the smallest bits of it, through observation and experimentation to find the best explanation. This description holds true regardless of the culture or beliefs of the scientist. </p>
<p>As an archaeologist, I research the intersection of western and Indigenous ways of knowing the world. I have found that these seemingly different knowledge systems sometimes complement and sometimes contradict each other. I have learned that Indigenous people’s understandings of the world include knowledge gained through scientific methods.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sfu.ca/ipinch/sites/default/files/resources/fact_sheets/ipinch_tk_factsheet_march2016_final_revised.pdf">Indigenous Traditional Knowledge is reliant on empirical observations</a>, although these empirical findings have been perhaps obscured as they are woven into religious beliefs and worldviews. For example, the study of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/5/11852762/native-indigenous-science-environment">caribou ecology</a> in the Sahtú region of Canada’s Northwest Territories involved both Dene traditions, language and western biology to help determine caribou population dynamics.</p>
<h2>A double standard?</h2>
<p>It is ironic that, at the same time that many are rejecting Indigenous knowledge as inferior to western science, there is a deep and sustained ambivalence towards science by many in North America. </p>
<p>For example, anti-evolutionists continue to press for changes in school curricula based on religious beliefs that defy scientific proof. Some oblivious advocates still believe vaccinations cause autism despite contrary and thorough scientific evidence. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/02/measles-outbreak-washington-pacific-northwest-anti-vaccination">We can see the consequences of such anti-science beliefs in the recent measles outbreak in Washington State which has been linked to low vaccination rates there.</a> </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259585/original/file-20190218-56204-10hh0qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The TV show ‘Ancient Aliens’ asks if Merlin’s magic or aliens helped build Stonehenge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This anti-science attitude even extends to my field. The television series <em>Ancient Aliens</em> (now in season 13) explains ancient technologies and places with complete disregard for scientific evidence.</p>
<h2>Questioning science</h2>
<p>Good science should yield many new insights about, and even reverse theories. Medical ideas have changed over the years as to whether salt, eggs, coffee, alcohol, etc. are bad or good for you. Such shifts can be explained by new evaluative techniques or larger and longer studies.</p>
<p>In the past few years, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2015/08/28/435416046/research-results-often-fail-to-be-replicated-researchers-say">a series of intriguing initiatives have attempted to replicate previously published, sometimes acclaimed experiments</a> in the social sciences, economics, cancer research and other fields. <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/replication-results-reproducibility-crisis-science-nature-journals">The success rate for some of these studies is worrying.</a></p>
<p>Does what has been called the “Replication Crisis” mean that science is not reliable? Of course not. Occasionally, experiments are methodologically flawed or sample sizes too small. These findings reiterate that science is a human enterprise, sometimes prone to personal bias and political motivations. </p>
<p>It is also easy to neglect how quickly new understandings of our world replace old ones. </p>
<p>For example, writing on the nature of science and knowledge almost three decades ago, <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/NADNSA">anthropologist Laura Nader astutely observed: “Science is not a revealed and unambiguous truth — today’s science may be tomorrow’s pseudoscience or vice versa</a>.” She added: “It is preposterous to think that we live at a time when science proponents consider it outrageous to allow that there are different science traditions.” </p>
<h2>Complementary, contradictory, or catalytic</h2>
<p>The methods and goals of western science have been challenged by Indigenous peoples, who have often been the unwilling focus of scientific research (especially in areas like genetics and archaeology). Academics have also challenged scientific methods and goals. However, a critique of science is not a rejection of science. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-knowledge-advances-modern-science-and-technology-89351">How Indigenous knowledge advances modern science and technology</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indigenous knowledge often complements, but sometimes contradicts the results of archaeology. Why should different methods and different results be shunned when science by design is meant to be challenged? Hypotheses are proposed, tested, accepted or rejected in order to produce reliable and replicable results. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259170/original/file-20190214-1717-trhvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Natan Obed, Inuit leader, speaks during a panel featuring Canadian Indigenous leaders discussing climate change, at the COP22 climate change conference in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous knowledge can aid in achieving this in three ways: </p>
<p>1) It strengthens the scientific process by making it less homogeneous in terms of its practitioners’ values and interests, thus increasing objectivity. </p>
<p>2) It offers alternative ideas that serve as multiple working hypotheses (a central concept in science) and move research towards unanticipated results.</p>
<p>3) It helps to affirm that both “scientific explanation” and “oral histories” are products of historical circumstance and cultural context, and subject to controls that ensure accuracy. </p>
<h2>Science requires multiple perspectives</h2>
<p>Were some of the readers against my article misreading what I was saying about Traditional Knowledge? Or are they against the ideas of Indigenous Knowledge systems? </p>
<p>Do those readers perceive Traditional Knowledge to be an attack on science or western society? Or might some of them be reflecting racist attitudes towards non-Western peoples — even when Traditional Knowledge includes essential aspects of science, such as empirical observation and rigourous testing?</p>
<p>Ultimately, science is a dynamic enterprise that progresses through failure. <a href="https://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?id=12883">The late historian Stephen Jay Gould wrote</a>: “How many current efforts, now commanding millions of research dollars and the full attention of many of our best sciences, will later be exposed as full failures based on false premises?”</p>
<p>Science is a multicultural enterprise that benefits from and indeed requires competing views. Indigenous observations, perspectives and values enrich, not threaten, our collective knowledge of the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Nicholas received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to support the research conducted by the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project (2008-2016). </span></em></p>Science is a multicultural enterprise that benefits from and indeed requires competing views.George Nicholas, Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1055082018-11-06T05:32:28Z2018-11-06T05:32:28ZMānuka honey: who really owns the name and the knowledge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244004/original/file-20181105-74775-rw2dak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=880%2C485%2C5101%2C3449&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the case of mānuka honey, there are serious questions about what authenticity actually means. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://theconversation.com/how-better-tests-and-legal-deterrence-could-clean-up-the-sticky-mess-left-behind-by-fake-honey-row-102973">Adulterated honey</a> and <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/latest-edition/6784835/Fake-manuka-honey-threatens-industry">fake mānuka honey</a> have repeatedly made headlines in recent years. </p>
<p>The arguments around adulterated honey are relatively simple. These honeys are diluted with cheaper syrups and their lack of authenticity is unquestionable. The discourse around mānuka honey is different, as there are serious questions about what authentic mānuka honey actually means. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/honeygate-deepens-as-new-tests-reveal-27-of-brands-are-adulterated-104139">'Honeygate' deepens as new tests reveal 27% of brands are adulterated</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Two warring families</h2>
<p>The term mānuka carries with it a <a href="https://www.eater.com/2016/8/25/12644050/manuka-honey-why-so-expensive">premium</a>. Mānuka honey is made from the nectar of the <em>Leptospermum scoparium</em> flower. This plant is native to New Zealand and south-east Australia. It is, thus, not surprising that much of the war around the term mānuka has played out between Australian and New Zealand producers.</p>
<p>There are many registered trademarks in Australia and New Zealand that include the word mānuka and relate to honey-based products. In July, the Australian Manuka Honey Association filed to <a href="https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1939743?fs=PENDING&fst=WORD&q=manuka">protect its name</a>. </p>
<p>The parallel New Zealand entity, the Mānuka Honey Appellation Society Inc, has filed for a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/102477715/nz-accepts-mnuka-honey-as-trademark-term-as-australian-government-funds-objection">certification trademark</a> for the term mānuka honey. If granted, traders in New Zealand would only be able to market their products as mānuka honey if they satisfy a certain standard and are certified as such. </p>
<p>The Mānuka Honey Appellation Society Inc sought the same certification trademark in <a href="https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/search/view/1752903?s=511a7039-d065-4b6b-b91c-a837171eebe5">Australia</a> and the <a href="https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/4/EU017285421">UK</a>. The New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries has a <a href="https://www.mpi.govt.nz/growing-and-harvesting/honey-and-bees/manuka-honey/">definition for authentic mānuka honey</a>, which includes a certain DNA marker and four chemical compounds. Comvita have separately <a href="http://www.umf.org.nz/%7Bhttps://patents.google.com/patent/WO2017099612A1/en">filed patent applications</a> for marker compounds to <a href="https://www.comvita.co.nz/purest-source/manuka-honey/rangeNZ00001">identify true mānuka honey</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-fake-honey-and-why-didnt-the-official-tests-pick-it-up-102573">What is fake honey and why didn’t the official tests pick it up?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s in a name</h2>
<p>Despite the value embodied in the term mānuka, Māori interests are often left out of the discussion. Similarly, little attention is given to the disagreement within Māoridom about who has jurisdiction over mānuka. </p>
<p>This is despite the glaringly obvious fact that mānuka is the <a href="http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/national/foma-disagrees-australias-claim-manuka-honey-trademark">Māori term</a> for <em>L.scoparium</em>. Put another way, a war of words is playing out. And, while the war is over a Māori word, Māori are not seen as a key player. Instead, it is industry and government that we see on the field.</p>
<p>The fact that Māori are often left out from the conversation around the authenticity of mānuka honey reflects a long history of western law and science ignoring indigenous peoples, at best, or treating them as non-stakeholders or sources to be mined for information, at worst. The issue runs deeper than simply the use of a Māori word.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/244005/original/file-20181105-74778-11f0gf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Māori have long used the mānuka plant for medicinal purposes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From ancient grudge break to new mutiny</h2>
<p><em>L.scoparium</em> is near endemic to New Zealand. Māori have long used the plant and honey derived from it for various purposes, from brewing beer to <a href="https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/2988">multiple medicinal purposes</a>. The latter includes the treatment of urinary complaints, fevers, burns, dysentery, skin and muscle inflammations, eye and mouth problems, pain relief and as a sedative. Teas were made from the leaves of the plant to <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/rongoa-medicinal-use-of-plants">ease fevers</a>, or from the bark to treat dysentery and diarrhoea.</p>
<p>The use of <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@future-learning/2018/07/09/145825/patents-raise-concern-over-threat-to-maori-knowledge">Māori traditional knowledge</a> to further western science is not new. In a recent <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3209589">study of patent applications</a> filed in New Zealand, 25 applications were identified that used some aspect of the plant, honey or ingredient as a major component.</p>
<p>Half of the inventions were in the pharmaceutical industry. Many of these used the antibiotic properties of mānuka honey and were compositions including the honey or an extract. Several applied the antibiotic properties of the essential oil in <em>L.scoparium</em>. Three of the applications related to food or beverages. Two inventions were in the cosmetic industry.</p>
<h2>I take thee at thy word</h2>
<p>In 2013, New Zealand passed <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0068/52.0/DLM1419043.html">new patent legislation</a>, which created a <a href="https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/maori-ip/maori-advisory-committees/">Māori Advisory Committee</a>. This has the role of advising the Commissioner of Patents on whether an invention is derived from Māori traditional knowledge or “indigenous plants or animals” and, if so, whether “the commercial exploitation of that invention is likely to be contrary to Māori values”. The commissioner uses this advice to determine whether the “commercial exploitation” of an invention would be contrary to “public order” or “morality”. </p>
<p>These provisions have the potential to introduce te ao Māori (the Māori world) into a western legal paradigm. It has yet to be seen if they will truly meet Māori concerns. Of the 25 inventions identified in the study, 13 appeared to be derivative of a known Māori use. However, only four of these came under the Patents Act 2013. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, none of the four had gone through full examination by the <a href="https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/trade-marks/process/">Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand</a>. Two were open for public inspection and two were recently filed. Indeed, no applications had gone to the Māori Advisory Committee. Thus, it remains to be seen what exactly the committee’s role will be and how it might affect applications for patents over inventions pertaining to mānuka in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105508/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica C Lai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While industry bodies fight over who can claim that their mānuka honey is authentic, Māori interests are often left out of the debate.Jessica C Lai, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1039842018-10-05T13:15:18Z2018-10-05T13:15:18ZHow the loss of Native American languages affects our understanding of the natural world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239388/original/file-20181004-52666-1yv18hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dance is a unique way of passing on cultural stories to a younger generation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronrhawkins/38543373946/in/photolist-21HWSf7-yyYki-ckfSmo-7tGw6T-oHu52-8kctPA-69S4z-qrc9Y8-ogJQtT-41bGow-p9fqyR-7HLjN-naCTRD-9rgb1h-69RuV-4mJnBa-29YXu-29yJLiX-pKTeM2-a3gXCC-pKyNTv-4ScuL6-bgkUC-aS83iv-3bsphV-65SZ5p-6BnKa-3aDzwD-9QFZ8B-nAnaDQ-4wqCRi-7Ue99Q-qPfKyw-qEEMmv-eKBC3S-8LQLpW-91Kvgx-6iFwV2-p6Ax4k-9FpKRg-fRWNY-9R5Swf-aS84fM-aS82BP-8dqkps-ckfRSU-VC1WbS-9xSBBX-5dh1aH-aua9nf">Aaron Hawkins/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alaska has a “linguistic emergency,” <a href="https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/Attachment.aspx?id=114253">according to the Alaskan Gov. Bill Walker.</a> A report warned earlier this year that all of the state’s 20 Native American languages <a href="https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/4/pub/ANLPAC2018%20Report%20to%20the%20Governor%20and%20Legislature.pdf">might cease to exist</a> by the end of this century, if the state did not act. </p>
<p>American policies, particularly in the six decades between the 1870s and 1930s, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/when-languages-die-9780195372069?q=k.%20david%20harrison&lang=en&cc=us">suppressed Native American languages</a> and culture. It was only after years of activism by indigenous leaders that the <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-104/pdf/STATUTE-104-Pg1152.pdf">Native American Languages Act</a> was passed in 1990, which allowed for the preservation and protection of indigenous languages. Nonetheless, many Native American languages have been on the <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/native-language-schools-are-taking-back-education-20180419">verge of extinction</a> for the past many years. </p>
<p>Languages carry deep cultural knowledge and insights. So, what does the loss of these languages mean in terms of our understanding of the world.</p>
<h2>Environmental knowledge</h2>
<p>Embedded in indigenous languages, in particular, is knowledge about ecosystems, conservation methods, plant life, animal behavior and many other aspects of the natural world. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=824&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/239368/original/file-20181004-52691-1jhf0wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The shell necklace of Queen Liliʻuokalani.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5213176132/in/photostream/">David Eickhoff/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/July-2017/A-Snail-Tale/">Hawaiian traditions and belief systems,</a> for example, the tree snails were connected to “the realm of the gods.” Hawaiian royalty revered them, which protected them from overharvesting. </p>
<p>The Bishop Museum in Honolulu holds a shell necklace, or lei, of Queen Lili‘uokalani, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. It is made from tree snail shells, which signifies the high rank of female royalty. Wearing a shell was believed to provide “mana,” or spiritual power and a way to understand ancestral knowledge. </p>
<p>Many of these snails are now extinct and those remaining are threatened with extinction. Scientists are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2017.1413695">working with Hawaiian language experts</a> to learn about the belief systems that once helped protect them and their habitats. </p>
<h2>A tool for doctors</h2>
<p>Words in indigenous languages can have cultural meanings, that can be lost during translation. Understanding the subtle differences can often shift one’s perspective about how indigenous people thought about the natural world. </p>
<p>For example, as an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eKf2f2QAAAAJ&hl=en">indigenous scholar</a> of the environment, I led a team some years ago of language experts, elders and scholars from Montana and Alberta, Canada, to create a list of Blackfeet words, called a <a href="http://hsapp.hs.umt.edu/employee-database/index.php/pubtools/serveFile/files/1489/Blackfeet_Terms_of_Material_Culture_--_SH.pdf">lexicon</a>, of museum objects. The elders I worked with noted that the English word “herb,” which was used to describe most plant specimens within museums, did not have the same meaning in Blackfeet. </p>
<p>In English, the word “herb” can have numerous meanings, including a seasoning for food. The closest English word to herb in Blackfeet is “aapíínima’tsis.” The elders explained this word means “a tool that doctors use.” </p>
<p>The hope is that the lexicon and audio files recorded in the Blackfeet language that our research helped create, might assist future scholars access the embedded meanings in languages.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BPlRBzMaXTc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Blackfeet word for face paint.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Saving vanishing languages</h2>
<p>Many Native American communities in the United States are now working to save these cultural insights and revitalize their languages.</p>
<p>In Wisconsin, an Ojibwe language school called <a href="https://theways.org/story/waadookodaading">“Waadookodaading,”</a> translated literally as “a place where people help each other,” immerses its students in the environmental knowledge embedded in the language. </p>
<p>The Ojibwe believe that theirs is a language of action. And the best way for children to learn is by doing and observing the natural world. Each spring, for example, the students go into the woods to gather maple sap from trees, which is processed into maple syrup and sugar. These students learn about indigenous knowledge of plants, their habitats and uses. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2SPbzwUnmoo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Students from Waadookodaading School making maple syrup.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Language loss can be considered as extreme as the extinction of a plant or an animal. Once a language is gone, the traditional knowledge it carries also gets erased from society.</p>
<p>Efforts are now underway worldwide to remind people of this reality. The United Nations has designated 2019 as the “<a href="https://en.iyil2019.org/">International Year of Indigenous Languages</a>” in order to raise awareness of indigenous languages as holders of “complex systems of knowledge” and encourage nation states to work toward their revitalization. </p>
<p>The loss of indigenous languages is not Alaska’s concern alone. It affects all of us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosalyn R. LaPier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many Native languages are dying, and their loss has deep and profound implications for our world.Rosalyn R. LaPier, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/902912018-02-15T00:04:16Z2018-02-15T00:04:16ZIt’s taken thousands of years, but Western science is finally catching up to Traditional Knowledge<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206248/original/file-20180213-44639-3u1lt4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Padolsey/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our knowledge of what the denizens of the animal kingdom are up to, especially when humans aren’t around, has steadily increased over the last 50 years. For example, we know now that animals use tools in their daily lives. Chimps use twigs to fish for termites; sea otters break open shellfish on rocks they selected; octopi carry coconut shell halves to later use as shelters. </p>
<p>The latest discovery has taken this assessment to new heights, literally. A team of researchers led by Mark Bonta and Robert Gosford in northern Australia has documented kites and falcons, colloquially termed “firehawks,” <a href="https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-37.4.700">intentionally carrying burning sticks to spread fire</a>. While it has long been known that birds will take advantage of natural fires that cause insects, rodents and reptiles to flee and thus increase feeding opportunities, that they would intercede to spread fire to unburned locales is astounding. </p>
<p>It’s thus no surprise that this study has <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/wildfires-birds-animals-australia/">attracted great attention</a> as it adds intentionality and planning to the repertoire of non-human use of tools. Previous accounts of avian use of fire have been dismissed or at least viewed with some skepticism.</p>
<p>While new to Western science, the behaviours of the nighthawks have long been known to the Alawa, MalakMalak, Jawoyn, and other Indigenous peoples of northern Australia whose ancestors occupied their lands for tens of thousands of years. Contrary to most scientific studies, Bonta and Gosford’s team foregrounded their research in traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge. They also note that local awareness of the behaviour of the firehawks is ingrained within some of their ceremonial practices, beliefs and creation accounts.</p>
<p>The worldwide attention given to the firehawks article provides an opportunity to explore the double standard that exists concerning the acceptance of Traditional Knowledge by practitioners of Western science. </p>
<h2>Traditional knowledge</h2>
<p>Our knowledge of the world comes from many sources. In my field, archaeologists have long depended upon ethnographic sources of information — detailed observations or information derived directly from communities studied — to help develop or test interpretations about past peoples’ lives.</p>
<p>In recent years, many scholars have become aware of the large body of information known as Traditional Knowledge (TK), Indigenous Knowledge (IK), or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), amongst other terms. These knowledge systems, developed over countless generations, are based on individual and collectively learned experiences and explanations of the world, verified by elders, and conveyed and guided experiential learning, and by oral traditions and other means of record keeping.</p>
<p>Traditional Knowledge has today become a highly valued source of information for archaeologists, ecologists, biologists, ethnobotanists, climatologists and others. This information ranges from medicinal properties of plants and insights into the value of biological diversity to caribou migration patterns and the effects of intentional burning of the landscape to manage particular resources. For example, some climatology studies have incorporated <em>Qaujimajatuqangit</em> (Inuit traditional knowledge) to explain changes in sea ice conditions observed over many generations. </p>
<p>Despite the wide acknowledgement of their demonstrated value, many scientists continue to have had an uneasy alliance with TK and Indigenous oral histories. On the one hand, TK and other types of local knowledge are valued when they support or supplements archaeological, or other scientific evidence. </p>
<p>However, when the situation is reversed — when Traditional Knowledge is seen to challenge scientific “truths” — then its utility is questioned or dismissed as myth. Science is promoted as objective, quantifiable, and the foundation for “real” knowledge creation or evaluation while TK may be seen as anecdotal, imprecise and unfamiliar in form.</p>
<h2>Multiple ways of knowing</h2>
<p>Are Indigenous and Western systems of knowledge categorically antithetical? Or do they offer multiple points of entry into knowledge of the world, past and present? There are many cases where science and history are catching up with what Indigenous peoples have long known. </p>
<p>In the past two decades, archaeologists and environmental scientists working in coastal British Columbia have come to recognize evidence of mariculture — the intentional management of marine resources — that pre-dates European settlement. Over the course of thousands of years, the ancestors of the Kwakwaka'wakw and other Indigenous groups there created and maintained what have become known as “clam gardens” — rock-walled, terrace-like constructions that provide ideal habit for butter clams and other edible shellfish. </p>
<p>To the Kwakwaka'wakw, these were known as <em>loxiwey</em>, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-015-9743-3">Clan Chief Adam Dick (<em>Kwaxsistalla</em>) who has shared this term and his knowledge of the practice with researchers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206252/original/file-20180213-118385-164169a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kwaxsistalla Chief Adam Dick with a butter clam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Nancy Turner)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As marine ecologist <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0091235">Amy Groesbeck and colleagues have demonstrated</a>, these structures increase shellfish productivity and resource security significantly. This resource management strategy reflects a sophisticated body of ecological understanding and practice that predates modern management systems by millennia. </p>
<p>These published research studies now prove that Indigenous communities knew about mariculture for generations but Western scientists never asked them about it before. Once tangible remains were detected, it was clear mariculture management was in use for thousands of years. There is a move underway by various Indigenous communities in the region to restore and recreate clam gardens and put them back into use.</p>
<p>A second example demonstrates how Indigenous oral histories correct inaccurate or incomplete historical accounts. There are significant differences between Lakota and Cheyenne accounts of what transpired at the Battle of Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn) in 1876, and the historical accounts that appeared soon after the battle by white commentators. </p>
<p>The Lakota and Cheyenne can be considered more objective than white accounts of the battle that are tainted by Eurocentric bias. The <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/features/2016/red-horse/">ledger drawings of Red Horse</a>, a Minneconjou Sioux participant in the battle, record precise details such as trooper’s uniforms, the location of wounds on horses, and the distribution of Indian and white casualties.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206439/original/file-20180214-174966-1vnnbpt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Untitled from the Red Horse Pictographic Account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1881.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Red Horse (Minneconjou Lakota Sioux, 1822-1907), Graphite, colored pencil, and ink. NAA MS 2367A_08570700. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1984, a fire at the battleground revealed military artifacts and human remains that prompted archaeological excavations. What this work revealed was a new, more accurate history of the battle that validated many elements of the Native American oral histories and accompanying pictographs and drawings of the events. However, without the archaeological evidence, many historians gave limited credence to the accounts obtained from the participating Native American warriors.</p>
<p>These examples, along with the firehawks study, demonstrate the reliability of Indigenous knowledge. </p>
<h2>Opportunities at the intersection</h2>
<p>As ways of knowing, Western and Indigenous Knowledge share several important and fundamental attributes. Both are constantly verified through repetition and verification, inference and prediction, empirical observations and recognition of pattern events. </p>
<p>While some actions leave no physical evidence (e.g. clam cultivation), and some experiments can’t be replicated (e.g. cold fusion), in the case of Indigenous knowledge, the absence of “empirical evidence” can be damning in terms of wider acceptance. </p>
<p>Some types of Indigenous knowledge simply fall outside the realm of prior Western understanding. In contrast to Western knowledge, which tends to be text based, reductionist, hierarchical and dependent on categorization (putting things into categories), Indigenous science does not strive for a universal set of explanations but is particularistic in orientation and often contextual. </p>
<p>One key attribute of Western science is developing and then testing hypotheses to ensure rigor and replicability in interpreting empirical observations or making predictions. Although hypothesis testing is not a feature of TEK, rigor and replicability are not absent.</p>
<p>Whether or not traditional knowledge systems and scientific reasoning are mutually supportive, even contradictory lines of evidence have value. Employing TK-based observations and explanations within multiple working hypotheses ensures consideration of a variety of predictive, interpretive or explanatory possibilities not constrained by Western expectation or logic. And hypotheses incorporating traditional knowledge-based information can lead the way toward unanticipated insights.</p>
<p>The travels of <a href="http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2f21e.shtml">Glooscap</a>, a major figure in Abenaki oral history and worldview, are found throughout the Mi'kmaw homeland of the Maritime provinces of eastern Canada. As a Transformer, Glooscap <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/glooscap/">created many landscape features</a>. <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/saint-mary-s-university-director-indigenous-education-1.3634926">Anthropologist Trudy Sable (Saint Mary’s University) </a> has noted a significant degree of correlation between places named in Mi'kmaw legends and oral histories and recorded archaeological sites.</p>
<p>Indigenous peoples don’t need Western science to validate or legitimate their knowledge system. Some do appreciate the verification, and there are partnerships developing worldwide with Indigenous knowledge holders and Western scientists working together. </p>
<p>This includes Traditional Ecological Knowledge informing government policies on resource management in some instances. But it is nonetheless problematic when their knowledge, which has been dismissed for so long by so many, becomes a valuable data set or used selectively by academics and others.</p>
<p>To return to the firehawks example, one way to look at this is that the scientists confirmed what the Indigenous peoples have long known about the birds’ use of fire. Or we can say that the Western scientists finally caught up with TK after several thousand years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Nicholas received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to support the research conducted by the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) project (2008-2016).</span></em></p>A double standard exists concerning the acceptance of Traditional Knowledge by practitioners of Western science.George Nicholas, Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/890222018-01-15T22:13:36Z2018-01-15T22:13:36ZIndigenous group tackles diabetes with storytelling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201992/original/file-20180115-101505-k3piw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">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. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David DyckFehderau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Emily’s mother lay dying of kidney failure from years of diabetes, Emily begged the doctors to take her kidney and transplant it into her mom. But the doctors refused — Emily had diabetes too. She would need both kidneys herself.</p>
<p>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 Talking Circle in print.</p>
<p>In 2012, the <a href="http://www.creehealth.org/">Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay</a> (CBHSSJB) assigned local Cree health representatives to choose people with diabetes whose stories they thought significant — people like Emily. Then they hired me, (a <a href="https://www.ruthdyckfehderau.com/">freelance writer</a> and <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/english-film-studies">academic</a>), to bring them into print.</p>
<p>Gathered in <a href="https://www.sweetbloods.org/"><em>The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree</em></a>, the stories, at least as much about life in the North as they are about diabetes, are part record, part awareness-raising. They reveal unmistakable connections to colonization. And they are meant to help people heal.</p>
<h2>A global problem</h2>
<p>Diabetes is a mounting global challenge costing <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/diabetes-cost-825-billion-a-year/">at least US$825 billion</a> a year. And rates are rising quickly.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization reports: “<a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/204871/1/9789241565257_eng.pdf?ua=1">Globally, an estimated 422 million adults were living with diabetes in 2014, compared to 108 million in 1980. The global prevalence (age-standardized) of diabetes has nearly doubled since 1980, rising from 4.7% to 8.5% in the adult population</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201426/original/file-20180109-36012-6ksjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Individuals return from long traditional healing journeys out on the land, and are greeted by the community, during ‘wellness week.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David DyckFehderau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the last few months of 2017 alone, The New York Times, in separate articles, covered skyrocketing rates of diabetes and/or obesity in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/health/100000005524811/sugar-industry-obesity-australia.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/16/health/brazil-obesity-nestle.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=collection">Brazil</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/health/colombia-soda-tax-obesity.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection">Colombia</a>,<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/health/ghana-kfc-obesity.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection">Ghana</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/26/health/india-diabetes-junk-food.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection">India</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/health/obesity-malaysia-nestle.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection">Malaysia</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/health/obesity-mexico-nafta.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection">Mexico</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/insider/fast-food-kfc-ghana-africa.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=collection">Senegal</a>.</p>
<h2>Hunting for Indigenous solutions</h2>
<p>Planet-wide, diabetes rates are higher (often <a href="https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islanders">several times higher</a>) <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17493702">among Indigenous peoples</a>, and <a href="http://guidelines.diabetes.ca/browse/chapter38">Canada is no exception</a>. While researchers struggle <a href="https://www.folio.ca/new-collection-of-stories-explores-life-with-diabetes-in-northern-cree-community/">to determine causes</a> and begin to acknowledge that our human relationship to food <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/insider/as-global-obesity-rises-teasing-apart-its-causes-grows-harder.html?rref=collection%2Fseriescollection%2Fobesity-epidemic&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection">is more complicated than we knew</a>, Indigenous groups are <a href="https://vimeo.com/82926771">coming up with their own solutions</a>. </p>
<p>The James Bay Cree of Northern Québec, a population of <a href="http://www.gcc.ca/gcc/whogcc.php">18,000 people</a>, live in 10 communities on their <a href="http://creeculture.ca/content/iiyiyuuschii-our-land">traditional territory of Eeyou Istchee</a>. The territory covers about 450,000 square kilometres, and they actively use all of it in their life on the land.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201427/original/file-20180109-36022-4odehk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bear is prepared for the feast at the traditional camp community gathering.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David DyckFehderau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Currently, every Eeyou Istchee family is directly affected by diabetes. This situation makes for massive overall costs both in health care and in cultural impact as they work to maintain cultural traditions while managing illness, often dying younger than they otherwise would, taking their precious traditional knowledge with them.</p>
<p>Paul Linton, assistant director of public health, states: “<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/sweetbloods-cree-nation-diabetes-awareness-1.4390332">It’s a huge problem and we are trying to get people to start the conversation to see how to fix it. It’s not a simple pill or injection. It involves the cost of food, the housing, the social structures, the traditional teachings, the animals on the land.</a>”</p>
<p>Compounding the problem are misinformation, isolation, earned distrust of Western medicine — and silence. Sometimes the silence is borne from stigma — <a href="https://www.folio.ca/new-collection-of-stories-explores-life-with-diabetes-in-northern-cree-community/">one fellow, for instance, couldn’t tell even his wife of his diabetes for years, keeping his meds in the car</a> — and sometimes from the habit of keeping medical information private.</p>
<h2>Getting creative about healthcare</h2>
<p>In 2012, I was living in Eeyou Istchee when the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay approached me with a project. Fly to the communities, they said. Hear the stories of people living with diabetes and write them up. Travel out again (as often as necessary) to have the storytellers correct and approve them. Then compile them into a book.</p>
<p>They were looking for a print version of a Talking Circle, a cultural event that brings people together to hear and tell stories, to discuss, problem solve and correct misinformation — and to heal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201425/original/file-20180109-36009-pk5sz5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geese slowly roast over the fire at a community gathering.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David DyckFehderau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Talking Circles, according to the book introduction, assume “<a href="https://www.sweetbloods.org">that health and wellness or disease and sickness might be as much about a spiritual or emotional or intellectual part of a person as [about the] physical being, … that storytelling is a healing act, … [and] that individual healing cannot be separated from community healing.</a>”</p>
<p>This creativity-centred approach is in keeping with a <a href="https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/taking-back-our-spirits">long Indigenous tradition</a> of using story as medicine.</p>
<h2>Stories better than pills</h2>
<p>The stories, 27 in all, are sometimes gut-wrenching, often funny, each one distinct from the next.</p>
<p>In some of them, diabetes is front and centre. In others, it’s just part of the background of a well-lived life and hardly gets mentioned. In none of them are the storytellers victims.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201430/original/file-20180109-36043-tt5zs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Shoveling snow in the town of Mistissini.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David DyckFehderau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jonathan, an elite high-school athlete headed for a pro hockey career, learns that most people with his blood sugar levels would be comatose.</p>
<p>Raquel has controlled her diabetes carefully for 30 years but struggles to convince her doctor to take her seriously.</p>
<p>Jack is an amputee who hunts in the bush with one leg (and tells kids that river sharks chewed the other one off).</p>
<p>Jennifer, undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia, barely registers her diabetes diagnosis.</p>
<p>Leonard runs away from residential school repeatedly, and later deals with the emotional complexity of working for the very government that sent him there.</p>
<p>Angela goes into labour in an ice storm, barely manages not to deliver during the hair-raising cab ride, only to arrive at the wrong hospital and learn that she isn’t permitted to give birth there either. That hospital doesn’t deliver babies and, in fact, has a rule against it.</p>
<p>And Victor tells of radical changes after the river his community depended upon for food and livelihood turned brackish because of a hydro-electric dam. It killed the fish, it made the water undrinkable, and it forced the local diet and way of life to change.</p>
<h2>Diabetes and colonization entwined</h2>
<p>Coming up repeatedly in the stories is the long-term impact on Cree health of residential schools, of radical changes in exercise and diet and of industry-related projects like the <a href="http://www.gcc.ca/archive/article.php?id=38">James Bay hydroelectric dam</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, the stories reveal ways in which the disease is intimately connected to a history of colonization.</p>
<p>Taken together, they paint a vivid picture of life in the North. And of people facing diabetes with agency, tremendous creativity and capacity.</p>
<p>The material was originally written for Indigenous peoples of Canada and recently made available to the public. Funded in part by Health Canada, the book is <a href="https://www.sweetbloods.org/buy/">free to people living on Canadian Indigenous reserves and traditional territories</a> and available on <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Sweet-Bloods-Eeyou-Istchee-Diabetes/dp/0973054239/">Amazon</a> for the rest of us.</p>
<p>All proceeds go to long-term health care for people living with diabetes in Eeyou Istchee.</p>
<p>You can read <a href="https://www.sweetbloods.org/about">a sample story here</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201429/original/file-20180109-36025-ieta64.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sun sets over the town of Mistissini, northern Québec.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David DyckFehderau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Dyck Fehderau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Ruth Dyck Fehderau, Instructor of English and Creative Writing , University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/741262017-03-14T21:27:50Z2017-03-14T21:27:50ZThe fire-fighting children of the Khasi Hills and the decline of traditional farming in north-east India<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160128/original/image-20170309-21039-1wllp4f.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bunch of Khasi children fire-fighters watch on, as the flames erupt in a slash and burn episode</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On a wintry February evening, along a narrow road leading to a village nestled in the East Khasi Hills in India’s north-east, some children are playfully running around with branches of dry trees. </p>
<p>Smoke hangs in the cold air. Around another winding turn on the road, a fire in the forest comes into sight. A local farmer is burning the undergrowth of the land he owns, employing the traditional slash-and-burn cultivation method. This method, also known as <a href="http://www.cfc.umt.edu/rattan/files/Swidden%20agriculture.pdf">swidden agriculture</a>, is referred to locally as <em>jhum</em> cultivation and has been prevalent across South and <a href="http://blog.worldagroforestry.org/index.php/2015/03/04/less-swidden-agriculture-in-southeast-asia-effects-on-livelihoods-and-ecosystems/">South-East Asia for centuries</a>.</p>
<p>The dry winter months of January, February and March sees scores of such fires crackling their way through forests, across all states of north-east India. </p>
<p>This fire-fallow farming method helps fix <a href="http://www.pda.org.uk/what-is-potash/">potash</a> in the soil, thereby increasing its fertility. As I stop to watch the fire spread through the forest undergrowth – a spectacular sight – the children come and join me. Only later do I realise that they were not just playing around: they were there as fire-fighters. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160471/original/image-20170313-19247-lxmk7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Somewhere in the Khasi Hills, bordering Bangladesh, smoke envelops the forest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I asked the farmer about his land. He explained that he plans to grow pineapples after the soil is prepared. The pineapples of Meghalaya are one of the sweetest and juiciest in northeast India. This forest land lies along an arterial road connecting villages near the border with Bangladesh. <a href="http://www.niscair.res.in/Sciencecommunication/ResearchJournals/rejour/ijtk/Fulltextsearch/2006/January%202006/IJTK-Vol%205(1)-January%202006-pp%207-18.htm">Livelihoods in these villages are sustained by farming</a> privately owned plots of land or community-owned forests adjoining the village. The major crops are betel nuts and leaves, pineapple, jackfruit, oranges, bay leaves, bamboo, tapioca and honey. </p>
<p>As the fire quickly spread through the forest, the farmer called upon the children to begin their fire-fighting activities. The goal is not to allow the fire to spread to the adjoining plot of land. The children get busy brandishing the branches they had been playing with at the edge of the plot. They rush into small nooks and corners to effectively contain the fire and put it out.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160464/original/image-20170313-19234-1gghuvn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The children assigned with firefighting tasks, watch patiently as the fire spreads.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The fire controlled, the land is spread with ash and dotted with embers emanating smoke. Not too dangerous an activity for children to perform? I ask the farmer. He shrugs, saying that it is normal. The children need to learn the ways of the forest, of preparing the land for cultivation. They need to know how to conserve water in the dry season and deal with turbulent streams in the monsoon, manage fire and be aware of its implications and assess wind directions from an early age.</p>
<p>He explains that his community, <a href="http://eastkhasihills.gov.in/culture.html">the War-Khasi</a>, a sub-tribe <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?id=y3Q1O6vhpHEC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=Nongkynrih,A.K.+2002.+Khasi+Society+of+Meghalaya:+A+Sociological+Understanding,+New+Delhi:+Indus+Publishing+Company.&source=bl&ots=XOyP8w5bI5&sig=GImO5h7bBvyP99mERmmbLFrboWQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiByL2W19PSAhVkLsAKHXK3DT4Q6AEIMTAH#v=onepage&q=Nongkynrih%2CA.K.%202002.%20Khasi%20Society%20of%20Meghalaya%3A%20A%20Sociological%20Understanding%2C%20New%20Delhi%3A%20Indus%20Publishing%20Company.&f=false">of the Khasi</a>, has lived off the land for time immemorial.</p>
<p>Their traditional knowledge systems and means of farming have to be <a href="http://dspace.nehu.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/1/7652/1/IJID_Bioresources%20Paper.pdf">passed on to the next generation</a>. The children are experts at their task and seem to be enjoying the fire-fighting. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160466/original/image-20170313-19266-kxtxt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As the fire reaches the edge, some try taking photographs with mobile phones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Indian government opposes slash-and-burn cultivation, <a href="http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/nov25/articles12.htm">citing environmental degradation</a>. </p>
<p>Central government agencies and the state government departments concerned with agriculture have been waging a war against such practices. International agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) <a href="https://asia.ifad.org/web/india/blogs/-/blogs/316074?&">are pushing</a> local governments to regulate the practice. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/ourwork/environmentandenergy/successstories/from-slash-and-burn-to-sustainability-farming-communities-in-northeastern-india-improve-soil-fertility-and-earn-higher-incomes.html">Pilot projects</a> have been initiated to counsel farmers to alternate management of farming practices, for example using conservation agriculture in neighbouring Nagaland.</p>
<p>But when I ask about the government’s policy, the farmer points out that this is the only method he knows, and that it has stood the test of time.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160666/original/image-20170314-10716-r2e61m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The children get on with their frantic brandishing task to prevent the fire from spreading further.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2009, Yale anthropologist and South-East Asian specialist James Scott <a href="http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/903">argued</a> that the “art of not being governed”, has been integral to the South-East Asian upland communities for centuries. Scott wrote that such communities, like those in north-east India, had long managed to remain “ungoverned”, avoid taxes and escape slavery and indentured labour conditions. </p>
<p>Under this system, <em>jhum</em> was one of the preferred mechanisms to keep people moving from one part of their hills to another. This allowed such hill communities to <a href="http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/KarlssonUnruly">skirt land tenure systems</a> and effectively kept governance and the state at bay.</p>
<p>In the present day, however, communities do not move as much, and the intervening cycles of cultivating the same plot of land has become shorter. The traditional practice of slash and burn continues to be employed, even if not many crops are planted in the same plot of land. </p>
<p>In this instance, the farmer explains that he will grow mostly pineapples, which will be interspersed with betel nut, jackfruit and bay leaf trees. There will be <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14728028.2012.732793?journalCode=tftl20">broom grass</a> as well in his land, which he does not need to grow, and which is an intensely invasive species. He laments that it consumes a lot of water and degrades the land faster, but is a very lucrative <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4709356/">cash crop in the region</a>, used to make brooms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160470/original/image-20170313-19247-1dgyar4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The children manage to get into small nooks and corners to extinguish the fire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Slowly but surely, because of a rise in the demands and pressures of the market economy and greater market connectivity, monoculture – only growing one crop – has become the norm on many plots of land, badly affecting biodiversity. </p>
<p>Elsewhere in north-east India, the state of Mizoram has seen the slow and steady march of oil <a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/1141007/jsp/northeast/story_18898988.jsp#.WMAHpndh33A">palm plantations</a>. The state government supports such programmes under its <a href="http://agriculturemizoram.nic.in/isopom.html">New Land Use Policy</a>. </p>
<p>Kolasib in north Mizoram was declared <a href="https://scroll.in/article/665022/mizoram-announces-an-oil-palm-district-but-this-might-be-a-bad-idea">an “oil palm district”</a> in 2014. Monocultures such as rubber and other cash crops have been promoted in the hill areas by various land use schemes of the government over the past decade.</p>
<p>This will have a direct impact on small hill communities and local food diversity and sustainability. It is important to assess the impact of the loss of slash-and-burn method of cultivation on indigenous cultures, livelihoods and on the larger environment.</p>
<p>James Scott points out that swidden cultivation is on the decline across South and South-East Asia. However, we need to examine the stories of the existence of such fire-fallow methods. Can the slash-and-burn methods continue to exist and prosper, and under what conditions? What would the future hold for such farm practices? The clash between traditional knowledge systems and modern land governance systems could prevent the sharing of knowledge between generations, and the symbiotic link that locals have with their ecology and environment.</p>
<p>A community-based understanding of ecology and environment is needed to bring environmental politics and developmental debates in north-east India back to the people. For now, fires continue to rage among competing development models over what constitutes long-term sustainability.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160468/original/image-20170313-19242-tde989.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The day after, the forest land cleared and prepared for the next cropping cycle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74126/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman works for the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India. He receives funding from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India. </span></em></p>In north-east India, children of the Khasi Hills (Meghalaya) learn slash and burn cultivation, an intergenerational yet controversial indigenous practice.Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, Researcher in International Relations and Politics, Development Studies and Borders, Indian Institute of Technology GuwahatiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/648332016-09-08T20:45:36Z2016-09-08T20:45:36ZTransforming higher education: first comes knowledge, then curriculum<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136711/original/image-20160906-6121-c0ej3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ancient fermentation techniques are an example of African chemistry in action.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Akena/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you want to learn about Africa, there’s no need to go to Algeria, Mali, Zambia or anywhere else on the continent. </p>
<p>Instead, you’ll need to visit – at great cost – institutions in the global north like Johns Hopkins or the School of Oriental and African Studies. Places like these host a wealth of <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-3147532381/supporting-capacity-building-for-archives-in-africa">African knowledge databases</a>. They’re also home to scores of useful <a href="http://library.ifla.org/1269/1/080-simon-en.pdf">archives</a>, artefacts and records. This begs the question: what does Africa know about itself if most of its vital data sources are held away from its shores?</p>
<p>This and similar questions have been given fresh impetus by recent student movements like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/16/the-real-meaning-of-rhodes-must-fall">#RhodesMustFall</a>. Students want the curriculum at universities in the global south to be decolonised. But such demands are not new. Some of Africa’s brightest minds – among them <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/chinua-achebe-20617665">Chinua Achebe</a>, <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/wole-soyinka-9489566">Wole Soyinka</a>, <a href="http://www.ngugiwathiongo.com/">Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/20/ali-mazrui">Ali Mazrui</a> and <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/mesaas/faculty/directory/mamdani.html">Mahmood Mamdani</a> – have fought hard down the decades for decolonisation: of knowledge, of the curriculum and of the mind.</p>
<p>With all this energy and focus, why hasn’t decolonisation happened? Why have various generations failed to decolonise or transform the curriculum? My own struggle and failure to transform a course about the archaeology of farming communities in southern Africa has been instructive. </p>
<p>It’s convinced me that no full and meaningful curriculum transformation is possible without first transforming the knowledge that is taught. </p>
<h2>Knowledge is power</h2>
<p>The old saying states that 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.</p>
<p>Most of the best archives and research facilities are located in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/oct/26/africa-produces-just-11-of-global-scientific-knowledge">the global north</a>. There, research budgets are more than generous. Comparatively, Africa’s research budgets are <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/9214011e.pdf?expires=1473080089&id=id&accname=ocid56029661&checksum=FEC8C2D34BCE9EE17AAAFF5FB7BF7341">chronically low</a>; research and development makes up a <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS?view=map">tiny portion</a> of countries’ GDPs.</p>
<p>It would be utopian, then, to think that African researchers are best placed to produce knowledge about the continent. They may have the will, but they lack the money and institutional support.</p>
<p>This paucity of knowledge production is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-redraw-the-worlds-very-unequal-knowledge-map-44206">visible in academic journals</a>. Many of the world’s <a href="http://www.pambazuka.org/governance/africa-and-poverty-knowledge-production">most influential works</a> on Africa are written by those from and or working in the global north with access to good databases and generous research funds. The editors of influential journals appear to be most influenced by and interested in topics that are of interest to a western audience with deep pockets. </p>
<p>So their journals become stronger and stronger. Africa’s become poorer and poorer. Many African academics actively frown on journals from the continent, focusing their efforts on publishing in international, supposedly “superior” titles that will earn them promotion.</p>
<p>This lack of control or power over knowledge production explains why even though Africa is very much affected by poverty, conflict and drought it relies on specialists from the global north to tackle these wicked problems. Such specialists ultimately set the agenda.</p>
<p>Sometimes, grant awarding bodies – mostly based in the north – only provide funding to address <a href="http://www.whitaker.org/">specific issues</a> that they, and not us in Africa, deem important. This creates misaligned expectations. African organisations or institutions accept funds that don’t contribute much to changing local circumstances.</p>
<h2>Making knowledge address Africa’s challenges</h2>
<p>Much of this thinking, research and theory finds its way into African universities. These institutions favour material from international journals, mostly produced by international experts. The language is often very esoteric; it cannot be easily understood by common men and women who should be served by this knowledge. </p>
<p>My grandmother, a potter, was very excited to discover that I teach about pottery in a university’s archaeology department. But she was taken aback when I started talking about <a href="http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens2.htm">Giddens’ structuration theory</a> and others drawn from the global North.</p>
<p>And this sort of disconnect doesn’t just happen in my discipline: economics professors often use Germany’s post-first-world-war economy to illustrate the concept of hyper inflation. Why not look to Zimbabwe’s <a href="https://www.rt.com/business/267244-zimbabwe-currency-compensation-hyperinflation/">hyperinflation crisis</a>, which is closer to home and defied all imagination?</p>
<p>These external theories must be domesticated. This will make them meaningful to African situations and, more importantly, contribute towards solving local challenges.</p>
<p>Some of my colleagues have complained that chemistry and similar sciences can’t be decolonised. But there are numerous examples of African chemistry. Southern African communities produced beer by fermenting sorghum, millet and rapoko powder. They created distillation techniques. </p>
<p>In colonial Southern Africa a company that’s now owned by the global giant SAB-Miller started making a beer called <a href="http://www.delta.co.zw/trad/chibuku">chibuku</a> – a Shona word for “small book”. Today chibuku is sold all over southern Africa.</p>
<p>The problem right now is that it’s difficult to transform knowledge produced using benchmarks developed for non-African needs. It is difficult to produce a curriculum that responds to local needs without local examples and experiences.</p>
<p>In my view, this explains why despite so much talk about the need to transform the curriculum, not much happens in practice. It is one thing to talk about decolonising the curriculum with the right content at hand. But how can decolonisation really occur without the right, relevant content?</p>
<p>Without transforming knowledge, African universities cannot transform – let alone decolonise – the curriculum. </p>
<h2>Towards decolonised knowledge</h2>
<p>How can knowledge be decolonised? First, it is a process that must happen while discussions continue about curriculum change. Debating the curriculum will feed into the desired knowledge which must be created to solve contemporary challenges. </p>
<p>African countries also need to start directing funding towards research that answers the continent’s needs and challenges. This is happening elsewhere in the world, such as in China, and is bearing <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/science-major-plank-china-s-new-spending-plan">tremendous fruit</a> for those nations.</p>
<p>Finally, it’s crucial to understand that African knowledge systems can’t exist in isolation from others. This might sound contradictory but it is idealistic to ever think that we can return to an Africa that’s uninfluenced by the rest of the world. Rather, the knowledge revision project and its sibling curriculum reform must be anchored on the need to teach and produce knowledge that serves the continent. </p>
<p>If this work succeeds, Africa will be equipped to solve its own problems, intellectual and otherwise. The continent can start to produce homegrown development specialists, water experts, chemists and many others. </p>
<p>Now is the time to seriously consider knowledge production change as a catalytic factor in the much desired curriculum change. Africa urgently needs knowledge that addresses its challenges. This will then spill over into a transformed, decolonised curriculum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shadreck Chirikure receives funding from the University of Cape Town Research Office's Africa Knowledge Project and the National Research Foundation of South Africa. </span></em></p>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.Shadreck Chirikure, Associate Professor in Archaeology, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/638402016-08-16T19:39:52Z2016-08-16T19:39:52ZDecolonisation debate is a chance to rethink the role of universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133929/original/image-20160812-16360-1dbac4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The decolonisation of South Africa's university curriculum seems to have fallen off the agenda, overtaken by the push for free higher education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When South African students launched the “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/16/the-real-meaning-of-rhodes-must-fall">Rhodes Must Fall</a>” campaign in 2015, one of their major demands was that the university curriculum be decolonised. This seems to have fallen off the agenda, overtaken by the push for free higher education. </p>
<p>It would be a pity if <a href="http://www.dhet.gov.za/summit/Docs/2015Docs/Annex%203_DHET_Progress%20with%20transformation%20_What%20do%20the%20data%20say.pdf">funding challenges</a> – important as they are – preclude a focus on challenges related to higher education’s core functions: teaching, learning and research.</p>
<p>The decolonisation debate raises critical issues about the relationship between power, knowledge and learning. It provides an opportunity to rethink the role of universities in social and economic development and in fashioning a common nation.</p>
<p>There are two underlying issues that should be unpacked to take the decolonisation debate forward.</p>
<h2>Institutional cultures in focus</h2>
<p>The first issue is to recognise that decolonisation is about more than the curriculum. It involves more than changing reading lists through adding texts by African writers and those from the global south. It is about how knowledge – and the assumptions and values that underpin its conception, construction and transmission – is reflected in the university as a social institution. </p>
<p>It is in essence about institutional culture: the ways of seeing and doing that permeate a university and are reflected in learning and teaching. In this sense it is both about the formal curriculum and the informal or “hidden” curriculum. This includes the symbols and naming conventions that privilege and affirm certain knowledge and cultural traditions while excluding others.</p>
<p>Decolonisation is first and foremost about inclusion, recognition and affirmation. It seeks to affirm African knowledge and cultural traditions in universities, which remain dominated by western traditions. As a student commented during <a href="http://sotlforsocialjustice.blogspot.co.za/2016/03/first-seminar-at-uj-decolonizing">a panel about decolonisation</a> at the University of Johannesburg (UJ):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Please let us see ourselves within the degrees that are taught – otherwise, UJ, how is it an African university?</p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Brenda Liebowitz of the University of Johannesburg unpacks aspects of the decolonisation debate.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All of this means reflecting on and unpacking an institution’s culture. Universities must guard against solutions that may, in the very process of inclusion, lead to exclusion. </p>
<p>To illustrate this from beyond the world of higher education: my children attended a primary school in Johannesburg that celebrated all religious festivals – Eid, Diwali, Rosh Hashanah. At a special school assembly each year, children from different religions explained what their festivals symbolised.</p>
<p>But Christmas was celebrated through a nativity play in which all of the students participated and which all the parents attended. So the process of inclusion privileged one tradition, Christianity. Non-Christian traditions, although unintentionally, were marginalised as “other”.</p>
<h2>Narrow lens</h2>
<p>The second issue is to recognise that decolonisation is too narrow and limiting a lens through which to engage the debate on curriculum change. </p>
<p>Decolonisation refers to the historical process whereby countries that were ruled by foreign powers obtain their independence. It is about replacing the foreign with a national power, both of which are assumed to be homogeneous. It isn’t about changing or transforming a colonised society’s institutional structures.</p>
<p>This is also a key conceptual weakness in curriculum decolonisation. It assumes that different knowledge systems are homogeneous. This ignores the social underpinnings of knowledge – the fact that all traditions feature dominant and marginal knowledges. These are based on power relations and worldviews linked to race, class, gender and other societal divisions.</p>
<p>This leads to two dangers: racial essentialism - replacing white with black or Freud with Fanon; and social conservatism, which pits modernity against tradition. It calls for African solutions to African problems. But it does this in a context where tradition is viewed as static rather than dynamic – evolving with changing social and economic contexts.</p>
<p>As South African President Jacob Zuma <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2016/04/08/Before-turning-to-the-court-we-should-solve-things-Africa-way">has argued</a> in response to his various legal challenges, the law (West/modern) is cold; the body (Africa/tradition) is warm.</p>
<p>These dangers can be avoided if knowledge is understood in terms of epistemological diversity. This recognises the universality of knowledge. It is premised on an open dialogue and the interdependence of – and porous boundaries between – different knowledge traditions. It enables the reclaiming and affirming of African knowledge traditions. </p>
<p>It also acknowledges that the <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/enlightenment">Enlightenment</a>, the cornerstone of modern (western) social and economic thought, was itself influenced by ideas that emanated from other traditions.</p>
<h2>On the edge of an abyss</h2>
<p>The issues and problems raised by students are not new. The need to transform institutional cultures has been a constant refrain in higher education policy debates since 1994. It was brought to the fore by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/27/bloemfontein-students-black-staff-campus">Reitz affair</a> at the University of the Free State in early 2008. There, a group of white students at a university residence humiliated black workers.</p>
<p>This caused a national outcry. It led to the establishment of a <a href="http://www.dhet.gov.za/Support/Report%20of%20the%20Ministerial%20Committee%20on%20racism%20at%20higher%20education%20institutions.pdf">ministerial committee</a> to consider issues of discrimination, transformation and social cohesion in higher education.</p>
<p>The committee’s report offered a comprehensive set of recommendations to both the ministry of higher education and training and individual universities. The failure to implement these systematically has led to the current crisis of legitimacy confronting the higher education system.</p>
<p>The committee’s views on curriculum change were prescient. It placed epistemological transformation at the centre of the higher education transformation agenda. It called for a macro-review to <a href="http://www.dhet.gov.za/Support/Report%20of%20the%20Ministerial%20Committee%20on%20racism%20at%20higher%20education%20institutions.pdf">assess the appropriateness</a> of the “social, ethical, political and technical skills and competencies embedded” in the curriculum. </p>
<p>It’s important, the committee argued, to consider whether the current curriculum prepares young people for their role in post-apartheid South Africa, in Africa and the world. Does it enable them to grapple with what it means to be human in South Africa in the 21st century?</p>
<p>But the voices that speak of the pain of marginalisation and plead for affirmation that leap out of the pages of the committee’s report were not listened to. Ignoring students’ voices in 2016 will lead higher education to the abyss.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Author’s note: This article is based on speaking notes as a respondent to professor Brenda Leibowitz’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Dh-K4S-Ak">inaugural lecture</a>, Power, knowledge and learning: A humble contribution to the decolonisation debate. This was delivered at the University of Johannesburg on April 18, 2016.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63840/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ahmed Essop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The decolonisation debate in South Africa’s universities raises critical issues about the relationship between power, knowledge and learning.Ahmed Essop, Research Associate in Higher Education Policy and Planning, Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572892016-04-25T04:16:08Z2016-04-25T04:16:08ZDrawn out battle over genetic resources dampens Africa’s hopes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119827/original/image-20160422-17369-1ksi7zc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rosy periwinkle, found in Madagascar, is used in treating some kinds of cancer.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The global South is full of significant, diverse biological and genetic resources. It’s also home to most of the world’s indigenous communities. This is why developing countries are sensitive about protecting their genetic resources and <a href="http://www.wipo.int/tk/en/tk/">traditional knowledge</a>.</p>
<p>Indigenous communities enjoy a close relationship with nature. Genetic resources are central to producing their traditional knowledge. This drives innovations in agriculture, medicines and conservation. But global intellectual property frameworks – the legal mechanisms for securing knowledge ownership – still haven’t taken this reality into account. </p>
<p>The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel2_e.htm">(TRIPS)</a> is the world’s most authoritative legal instrument on intellectual property. It falls under the World Trade Organisation, which sets the rules for trade between countries. The United Nations also has an agency specialising in intellectual property rights, the <a href="http://www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html">World Intellectual Property Organisation</a>. The two bodies signed a cooperation agreement in 1996.</p>
<p>But the trade agreement doesn’t mention traditional knowledge, let alone its association with genetic resources. The UN body, meanwhile, has been trying – unsuccessfully – to negotiate a new framework over the past 16 years. These gaps show how conventional intellectual property frameworks have neglected the knowledge that indigenous communities produce.</p>
<h2>Why the gap in the rules matters</h2>
<p>Foreign corporations and researchers often capitalise on the traditional medicinal and agricultural uses of genetic resources to develop blockbuster products. Some <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/feature/2002/08/30">African examples</a> include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>South Africa’s hoodia cactus, which is traditionally used for appetite suppression;</p></li>
<li><p>Madagascar’s rosy periwinkle, used to make drugs that treat some cancers. It is also found in other parts of the world;</p></li>
<li><p>endod berry, a traditional soap plant that is used to treat <a href="http://www.who.int/schistosomiasis/en/">schistosomiasis</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>teff, a traditional cereal grain with exceptional nutritional value. It is grown in Ethiopia and Eritrea; and</p></li>
<li><p>Nigerian cowpea species developed by local farmers.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>All of these examples have attracted international interest. This has prompted indigenous and local communities to spar with foreigners over the benefits that are due to them.</p>
<p>In the absence of clear rules, a process called <a href="https://theconversation.com/biopiracy-when-indigenous-knowledge-is-patented-for-profit-55589">“biopiracy”</a> has emerged. Biopirates appropriate genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge by using patents. Sometimes these are turned into blockbuster products. Local communities don’t benefit at all.</p>
<h2>Negotiating change</h2>
<p>The World Intellectual Property Organisation has been working on an international legal framework to protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and cultural expression. </p>
<p>Member states and several organisations have sent delegations to Geneva to take part in the intergovernmental <a href="http://www.wipo.int/tk/en/igc/">committee</a> dealing with the issue. But there have been serious differences between developed and developing countries. These are holding up the process.</p>
<p>African groups, Brazil, China, India, other regional groups and like-minded countries have been pitted against their highly industrialised counterparts such as the US, Japan and the European Union. The developing countries want negotiations to advance to the next round – a diplomatic conference stage during which negotiations move from experts to the political process. This is a crucial step if the negotiations are ever going to be finalised. But developed countries don’t seem to be on board. Some of the sticking points are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>how much should those who use genetic resources or traditional knowledge disclose about the original source? How should this be done? The users in this case are mostly industrialised nations;</p></li>
<li><p>the sanction for failing to disclose the original source; </p></li>
<li><p>categories of exemption from disclosure; </p></li>
<li><p>the creation and use of databases to protect traditional knowledge; and</p></li>
<li><p>how these requirements would affect existing patent law.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This intergovernmental process has involved 16 years of intense negotiations. If it doesn’t deliver on its mandate, Africa will be more suspicious than ever about international commitment to the development imperative in intellectual property frameworks. </p>
<h2>Several international efforts</h2>
<p>The UN committee is just one of a complex set of international efforts to mainstream development in the intellectual property rights framework. Similar initiatives include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the World Intellectual Property Organisation <a href="http://www.wipo.int/ip-development/en/agenda/">Development Agenda</a>; </p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/abs/about/default.shtml/">Nagoya Protocol</a> on Access and Benefits Sharing. This is a protocol to the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/convention/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>; and </p></li>
<li><p>the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf">Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These initiatives are trying to hold users and providers of genetic resources accountable. Because they’re fairly new there’s little evidence of their impact yet. But they are important as symbolic steps. </p>
<p>All of this underscores how urgent it is to develop an intellectual property rights system that recognises developing countries’ contributions and needs. This would allow all those involved in the process of producing knowledge to benefit equitably.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57289/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chidi Oguamanam is Law Professor with the University of Ottawa. He receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) </span></em></p>Traditional knowledge that drives indigenous communities’ innovation in agriculture, medicine and conservation is not protected by existing international law.Chidi Oguamanam, Professor of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.