Honoring Local/indigenous knowledge

Honoring Local/indigenous knowledge

Primary Authors: • Rick Burnett • Robert Brown • Mavany Verdugo Contributing Authors: • Jessica Barnes-Najor • Patricia Farrell • Ann Belleau • Millie Horodynski • Miles McNall • Anne Suggitt

Activity Question • Have you ever considered the idea of how local or indigenous knowledge relates to or is important for your work? • Yes • No • Not sure

TOPIC GOAL • Community Partner Goals • Faculty Partner Goals

Communities are confronted by profound and complex challenges • Education • Environment • Health • Racial and Gender Inequities • Economic • Community Safety

Community/University Engagement To address these profound and complex challenges we need to use both our understandings of science and our understandings of local/indigenous knowledge

To do this we need to understand: • Both local/indigenous knowledge and science • Why local/indigenous knowledge is important • Whose voice is being heard when working with local/indigenous knowledge

Part 1 What is Local/Indigenous Knowledge?

So, what is it? Local/indigenous knowledge is facts, concepts, beliefs and perceptions that people hold about the world around them. Local/indigenous knowledge affects how people see and measure their surroundings, how they solve problems and how they validate new information. All communities produced and preserved local/indigenous knowledge, use it, and pass it to others. Source: Warburton, H. & Martin, A.M. 1999. Local people's knowledge. best practice guideline. Socio-Economic Methodologies Programme, DFID, United Kingdom

It has many names: traditional ecological knowledge ethnobiology / ethnobotany / ethnozoology rural peoples'/ farmers' knowledge indigenous knowledge ethnoscience folk science indigenous science Source: United Nations Educational. Scientific, and Cultural Organization, http://portal.unesco.org/science/en/ev.php-

It’s everywhere Every community, regardless of its location, size, or make-up, possesses local knowledge Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge

It comes from everyday life experiences • Developed and tested over time • Shaped by local culture and environments so it changes over time • Held by individuals and across entire communities • In our community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals • It is a primary resource used to address hardships Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge http://www.nativescience.org/html/traditional_knowledge.html

Definition of Local/Indigenous Knowledge • “information that people in a given community, based on experience and adaptation to a local culture and environment, have developed over time, and continue to develop. This knowledge is used to sustain the community and its culture and to maintain the genetic resources necessary for the continued survival of the community.” [2003:3] - American Association for the Advancement of Science Source: Hansen, Stephen A., and Justin W. VanFleet(2003) Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

An Urban Environment Example • The EPA conducted a study of toxic exposures in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg(G/W) neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY • Scientific knowledge missed many potential exposures that local knowledge was intimately familiar with • Dietary pollutants varied by ethnic group • Local river fishing Source: Corburn, J. (2003). Bringing Local Knowledge into Environmental Decision Making: Improving Urban Planning for Communities at Risk. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 22(4), 420–433. doi:10.1177/0739456X03022004008

Alaska Native Local Knowledge Example • Indigenous knowledge regarding weather patterns • Ability to decipher and adapt to changing patterns of weather and seasonal cycles • Predict weather conditions based on observations of subtle signs that presage subsequent conditions • National Science Foundation has begun to fund projects incorporating Indigenous knowledge in the study of climate change Source: BARNHARDT, R., & KAWAGLEY, A. O. (2005). Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Alaska Native Ways of Knowing. Anthropology Education Quarterly, 36(1), 8–23. doi:10.1525/aeq.2005.36.1.008

International Example • San peoples of southern Africa have traditionally used the Hoodia gordonii plant as an appetite suppressant • The Biomedical industry is recognizing the plant’s potential benefits in the weight-loss industry • A benefit sharing agreement as been established between the San and the pharmaceutical industry Sources: Chennells, R. (2009). Vulnerability and Indigenous Communities: Are the San of South Africa a Vulnerable People? Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Thics, 18, 147–154. Hitchcock, R. K., Ikeya, K., Biesele, M., & Lee, R. B. (2009). Introduction: Updating the San, Image and Reality of an African People in the Twenty First Century. Updating the San: Image and Reality of an African People in the 21st Century, 1–42.

Activity Question • What are some examples of local or indigenous knowledge in your own tribe or community?

What is Scientific Knowledge? Scientific knowledge is characterized by: • Information organize into a code or system by: • making empirical observations, • proposing hypotheses to explain those observations, • and testing those hypotheses in consistent ways. • Withstanding a process of academic peer • Can be replicated by other scientists Ericksen P,E Woodley , G Cundill, J Mogina, P Olsson, C Raudsepp-Hearne, W Reid, and L Vicente. 2005

Comparing Knowledge Styles Local/Indigenous knowledge is based upon experience, is holistic, and intuitive. Scientific knowledge is assumed to the at best an approximation and is founded in observable facts, often focused on subsets of the whole. http://www.nativescience.org/html/traditional_knowledge.html

Comparing Knowledge in Use http://www.nativescience.org/html/traditional_knowledge.html

Working Together • Local/indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge are not mutually exclusive • Local/indigenous knowledge may be a mix of scientific understanding and local belief Source: Yli-Pelkonen & Kohl (2005) Local Ecological Knowledge in Planning

Qualities of Knowledge Systems Source: BARNHARDT, R., & KAWAGLEY, A. O. (2005). Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Alaska Native Ways of Knowing. Anthropology Education Quarterly, 36(1), 8–23. doi:10.1525/aeq.2005.36.1.008

Activity Question • Do you see a need for including local/indigenous knowledge into early childhood education and/or early childhood public policy? • Yes • No • Not sure

Part 2 Why is Local/Indigenous Knowledge Important?

I would like to have a video clip from a community partner here talking about how scientific knowledge hasn’t produced the results we want – calling for combining scientific knowledge with community knowledge is needed.

So Why is Local/Indigenous Knowledge Important? People use it in their ongoing quest for survival: • to produce food • to provide for shelter • to achieve control of one’s life Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge

So Why is Local/Indigenous Knowledge Important? • In agriculture (crop selection, planting times) • In animal husbandry and ethnic veterinary medicine (breeding and livestock management) • In the use and management of natural resources (soil and wildlife) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge Because it’s relevant to many sectors and groups

So Why is Local/Indigenous Knowledge Important? Because it’s relevant to many sectors and groups • In health care (medicinal plants) • In community development (generational heritage) • In poverty alleviation (survival strategies) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge

So Why is Local/Indigenous Knowledge Important? • In the emerging global knowledge economy, a country’s ability to build and mobilize knowledge capital is as essential to sustainable development as the availability of physical and financial capital. • The basic component of any country’s knowledge system is its local knowledge. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge Because it contributes significantly to global knowledge

Policy and Planning Implications • Local/indigenous knowledge can improve policy andplanning in at least four ways: • Epistemology: by adding to the knowledge base • Procedural democracy: by including new and previously silenced voices • Effectiveness: by providing low-cost policy solutions • Distributive justice: by highlighting inequitable distributions (for example, environmental burdens) Source: Corburn, J. (2003). Bringing Local Knowledge into Environmental Decision Making: Improving Urban Planning for Communities at Risk. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 22(4), 420–433. doi:10.1177/0739456X03022004008

Part 3 Working With Local Knowledge

Important UnderstandingsWho’s Reality Counts? Those with power often think they know what is right and real for those who do not have power and privilege.

Some Questions to Ask Ourselves • How much is our perception colored by our power and privilege? • What are the realities of the poor and disenfranchised and how can they be expressed?

Whose Voice Counts? • Whose knowledge? • Whose values? • Whose criteria and preferences? • Whose appraisal, analysis, and planning? • Whose action? • Whose monitoring and evaluation? • Whose learning? • Whose empowerment? • Whose reality?

Important UnderstandingsPeople Own their Knowledge – It’s their Intellectual property • Shouldn’t be used without permission • Shouldn’t be misrepresented • Shouldn’t be taken out of context • Must be properly acknowledged Local people decide: • If they want to share their knowledge • How it can be collected and used by others Source: http://www.nativescience.org/html/traditional_knowledge.html

Important Understanding • Most local/indigenous knowledge is shared among community members. • But some local/indigenous knowledge may be specific to an individual because of their unique life experience People possess both collective and individual local/indigenous knowledge Source: http://www.nativescience.org/html/traditional_knowledge.html

Important UnderstandingLocal/Indigenous Knowledge must not be devalued because of the source

Local/Indigenous knowledge is relevant at three levels of the development process Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge

Important UnderstandingsThere are different types of local/indigenous knowledge Common knowledge is held by most people in a community; e.g. example Shared knowledge is held by many, but not all, community members; e.g. Specialized knowledge is held by a few people who might have had special training or an apprenticeship; e.g. Sacred knowledge is private knowledge which may or may not be shared that can be held by many or a few Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local KnowledgeFAQ on Local Knowledge http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5610e/y5610e00.htm

Important UnderstandingsConsider the following when working with local/indigenous knowledge • Historical context is important • Emotions, spirituality, aesthetics, morality, and values influence how we see our world • Local/indigenous knowledge is not one thing; it consists of multiple perspectives • Local/indigenous knowledge holders are identified by the community • As local/indigenous knowledgeevolves, some important aspects of local knowledge might be lost

Source: Ostrum, E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York: Cambridge UniversityPress. Ostrum, E., R. Gardner, and J. Taylor. 1994. Rules, Games and Common-Pool Resources. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. “By building on local and scientific knowledge, we hope to develop healthy ecosystems with multiple community benefits, where human communities act in concert with natural systems, rather than simply to dominate these systems for short term gain”

Moving ForwardLocal/indigenous knowledge contributions • Local knowledge provides insight that traditional ‘scientific’ discourse misses. • G/W Brooklyn example • Local knowledge is providing researchers and communities with tangible benefits • Alaskan native climate studies • San/hoodia benefit sharing agreement

Activity Question • Do you use local/indigenous knowledge in your own work? • Yes • No • Planning to in the future • Not sure • Describe some ways you have used or hope to use local/indigenous knowledge in your work?

University Outreach and Engagement Michigan State University Kellogg Center, Garden Level East Lansing, MI 48824-1022 Phone: (517) 353-8977 Fax: (517) 432-9541 E-mail: outreach@msu.edu Web site: outreach.msu.edu Contact Information

Honoring Local/indigenous knowledge