Indigenous Environmental Knowledge

Characteristics and Interpretation

Some characteristics of indigenous environmental knowledge include a local or regional focus, oral transmission, a basis in practical engagement in everyday life, dynamism of form and content, integrated and holistic perspectives, and a situation within a broader cultural context. Although some of these characteristics are likely to be common to most systems of indigenous environmental knowledge, it is important to remember that terms such as indigenous and Western risk over-generalizing what are diverse, complex, and dynamic groups. Similarly, separating indigenous environmental knowledge from its social and institutional context is inappropriate—it is unlikely to function merely as an adjunct to Western science, in isolation from the local social norms in which it was created. Many indigenous systems are based around cultural values such as respect and reciprocity, which are also a core element of the management processes that use the knowledge. Unsatisfactory outcomes are likely if these values are replaced by a simple resource utilitarianism.

While indigenous environmental knowledge is based on extensive empirical observation, its interpretation can be radically different from conventional scientific or Western paradigms. Fikret Berkes stresses that indigenous environmental knowledge centers on relationships between living beings, including humans. In contrast, heritage paradigms, among other common influential conventional scientific theories of value, have a focus on objects, entities, and places while the all but invisible background of relationships, behaviors, nonhuman entities, and kinship structures that arguably shape people-environment relations are ignored. Within indigenous environmental knowledge, there is often a strong correspondence between attitudes toward the environment and a belief in the sacredness of the living world, reflected in English translations of indigenous terms such as [Page 1565]caring for country, a community of beings, and all my relations. The Native American Tewa scholar Gregory Cajete uses the term native science to describe indigenous holistic and inclusive approaches to considering environments and their occupants and stresses the aliveness and connectedness of all things. “Native science” focuses on learning about an intricately interlinked universe rather than objectively explaining it. It also acknowledges mutual reciprocity: The world is not a resource for human use but a family of beings with mutual obligations and needs. This acknowledgment has compounded attempts at integrating indigenous peoples’ social and cultural values into natural resource management (e.g., in relation to water resource management in a thirsty agricultural continent such as Australia).

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