The Reconciling Ways of Knowing Society facilitatea national conversations between Indigenous knowledge holders, scientists, academics, governments and the NGO and private sectors in order to form the basis of mutual understanding of the benefits of incorporating both Indigenous knowledge and western science into public and corporate decisions around land use, conservation, and sustainable economic development.
We believe that reconciling Indigenous and western scientific ways of knowing is a critical part of the larger process of reconciliation between Indigenous and Settler peoples in Canada.
The Reconciling Ways of Knowing Society, along with partners from the David Suzuki Foundation, the Turtle Lodge Centre for Indigenous Education and Wellness, and the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, had planned the Reconciling Ways of Knowing: Indigenous Knowledge and Science Forum for May 25-27, 2020 at the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation and in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Due to COVID-19, we have postponed the Forum until it is safe and appropriate to once again bring people together for this vital conversation. In the meantime, we are organizing a series of online talks to continue the dialogue.
Indigenous, Science, Ways of Knowing, Reconciliation, Public Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Conservation, Sustainability, and Economic Development
Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Potawatomi botanist, blends Indigenous knowledge with Western science to promote environmental healing. In her talk, she emphasized reciprocity and kin-centered equality, advocating for a worldview where nature is seen as kin, not a resource to exploit. Kimmerer’s philosophy of balance and interconnectedness draws on traditional ecological knowledge to address climate change and biodiversity loss, urging humanity to act as caretakers, not conquerors, in restoring the planet’s harmony. Have you read her books?
https://lnkd.in/g8A6ivXi
It’s really good to learn this, and hope there is more of this around the world. Gone should be the days of exploiting Indigenous Knowledges.
👇🏽
“As the co-authors report, establishing agreements with Indigenous partners and communities about the data related to Indigenous peoples, including who has the authority to grant access to it and protocols for when and how it may be made available or restricted,is also an important part of the process. In some cases, tribal elders or other cultural keepers may need to be consulted on a project and its data.
Lastly, the team cautions that as Indigenous data is made available online, it needs to be cited properly, specifying if permission from Indigenous peoples was obtained, as appropriate, with guidance on how the content can be used.
“There’s a global movement happening around building better data relationships to our ecological systems,” says Jennings. “I think this type of work plants a seed to create a different type of scientific process that’s more reciprocal in relationship with Indigenous communities that scientists are invited to work with. And so we’re developing these types of processes to really be in a better relationship with one another.”
#indigenousrights#environmentaldatahttps://lnkd.in/gScYhUhZ
Michael Yellow Bird is a professor in the U of M’s faculty of social work and member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota, USA. His work spans a range of Indigenous and decolonial topics.
Yellow Bird’s current research looks at the use of AI to build critical literacy in Indigenous youth and support interactions between people and dogs on reservations.
“I’m working with a team that’s going to use the AI with youth to learn more about their culture, more about their language, more about their identity, their health and well-being, and then at some point, use AI to design and imagine their future,” he said. “I’m doing it to help raise the empowerment and the critical literacy of Aboriginal youth for self-sufficiency and sovereignty.”
Yellow Bird explained that many current advances made by the western research sphere stem from ancient knowledge.
Yellow Bird added that exploring the wisdom of our ancestors thousands of years ago, who had different understandings of the earth, plants and animals is beneficial, especially as technology continues to progress at breakneck speed.
Previous advances in technologies, while they may have allowed people to flourish, have sometimes led to destruction, harm and war. Our current slate of technologies has even greater implications for the future of the planet.
By decoding the DNA of the beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), a native plant that thrives in British Columbia, a team of multidisciplinary scientists is providing new insight into how ancestral Indigenous peoples stewarded plants across the province.
“The misconception that Indigenous peoples did not use or steward the land is widespread across North America, but is very pointed in British Columbia, where landscapes are often described as ‘wild’ or ‘untouched,’” says Armstrong of the engrained cultural biases she seeks to address through her research.
Far from being only “hunter-gatherers” — an anthropological designation of the early 20th century to describe Indigenous peoples on the northwest coast — the study challenges settler-colonial narratives by establishing people actively cultivated hazelnut on a continental scale, beginning likely 7,000 years ago.
Valerisa Gaddy grew up on the border of Arizona and New Mexico – in Navajo Nation. “I was constantly [shuttling] back and forth between res and non-res communities, because my parents wanted me to attend schools that weren’t on the reservation,” the research scientist remembers.
As an Indigenous student, Gaddy came up against a number of other challenges. “Indigenous knowledge is still not recognized as science, and my dissertation kept getting sent back because there was ‘too much Indigenous knowledge’ in it. I was told if I want to be taken seriously as a scientist, I have to reduce the amount of Indigenous knowledge in there.”
Against the odds – and in spite of the discrimination she received – Gaddy defended her dissertation, receiving a PhD and master of science in environmental science from the University of Arizona, as well as a bachelors in microbiology from New Mexico State University. She now works as the community conservation director at the nonprofit Watershed Management Group, helping communities across Southern Arizona thrive in the Sonoran Desert.
Communities like the Makahs, Yakamas and Puyallup lived in harmony with the rivers and coasts of the U.S. Pacific Northwest for generations. They revered the salmon, relying on it for food, livelihoods and cultural traditions. Waterways and salmon populations thrived — and so did native communities.
But beginning in the mid-1800s, everything changed.
The government restricted local communities’ fishing rights, dammed the rivers and expanded the commercial fishing industry. Commercial agriculture grew. Pesticides from nearby farms polluted waterways. Salmon populations plummeted.
The Makahs and others fought back through the “Fish Wars” of the 1960s, eventually earning back the right to fish their ancestral waters, though disputes linger to this day. Local communities now largely co-manage waterways such as the Columbia River with the Washington state government. They work to protect and restore salmon habitats by implementing fishing seasons and installing “fish ladders” to help fish navigate dammed waterways. While discussions on how best to manage the rivers continue, salmon populations have started to increase.
The case of the Pacific Northwest is just one example of how Indigenous communities play an integral role in sustainably managing waterways. Yet too often, they’re excluded from policymaking or denied their rights to steward the ecosystems they coexist with and depend upon.
When filmmaker Len Morissette had the idea to spotlight the positive way First Nations and scientists are collaborating to tackle environmental issues in Canada, Campbell River area emerged as a top-choice for the first-ever Indigenous underwater documentary series.
Narrated by internationally acclaimed Cree-Métis actor, Tantoo Cardinal (Killers of the Flower Moon, Echo), Water Worlds takes viewers on a breathtaking, educational journey through Canada's oceans, lakes, and wetlands. The series features locations across Canada as it explores the impact humans are having on aquatic ecosystems that are critical to the survival of all species.
The 13-part documentary series was created, written, and directed by Morissette. He said his goal was to produce an inspiring project built on the principle of Two-Eyed Seeing, which combines traditional Indigenous knowledge with modern science, to explore the planet’s fragile ecosystems – and how to restore their balance through an Indigenous lens.
Several current and former UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff have joined with leading experts in the field of conservation genomics to launch Wise Ancestors, a non-profit centering Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities as co-creators of biodiversity conservation projects.
These projects, dubbed “Conservation Challenges,” use genomic sequencing, biobanking, and benefit-sharing to help protect species from the current extinction crisis and ultimately conserve Earth’s genetic heritage. The challenges are hosted on the new Wise Ancestors Platform, a first- of-its-kind tool to crowdfund and coordinate species-specific genomic sequencing projects. These projects will be tied to explicit benefit-sharing initiatives for conservation, led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
As the founding members shaped the organization's mission and operational framework, one insight stood out: conserving biodiversity requires more than genomic sequencing and biobanking—it demands addressing the human behaviors that are driving biodiversity loss.
Central to this is recognizing and empowering the knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, who have sustainably stewarded Earth’s ecosystems for millennia. These communities, however, have faced displacement and atrocious harms at the hands of Western settlers, who largely replaced their ancestral and proven land management practices with new, unproven methods.
To counter these harmful practices, the nonprofit decided that each Conservation Challenge would include not only the genomic sequencing and biobanking work, but also an “upfront benefit-sharing” component, in which they support an Indigenous Peoples or Local Communities project to conserve a species or its habitat. This approach ensures that Conservation Challenges unite Western genomic approaches with traditional ecological methods, and also support Indigenous and Local Communities in protecting biodiversity.
742 new species of wildlife and plants have been discovered in the Congo Basin in the last ten years, a report released today by WWF reveals. The report entitled New Life in the Congo Basin: a Decade of Species Discoveries (2013 - 2023) highlights the remarkable biodiversity and the urgent conservation needs of one of the world's most vital ecosystems.
The report also celebrates the role of indigenous knowledge in conservation. Indigenous communities, who have coexisted with these forests for generations, are key to preserving and understanding this biodiversity. Many of the species in this report, while newly described in scientific literature, have been familiar to local communities through generations.
“For centuries, indigenous communities have lived in harmony with the forests. Recognising their knowledge is integral to conservation success,” said Moise Kono, Indigenous Peoples Coordinator for WWF Cameroon. “It is crucial that their voices and rights are respected as stewards of this land,” Kono added.
