The Importance of Indigenous Knowledge

According to Battiste, in the last decade the acceptance of Indigenous knowledge by scholars and policy makers generated an explosive growth in the number of publications on the relevance of Indigenous knowledge in a variety of policy sectors and academic disciplines.

As such international policy makers developed principles and guidelines for protecting Indigenous knowledge, and Indigenous knowledge and its pedagogies have generated a decolonizing and rethinking of education for Indigenous peoples.

The fires in Australia made me really think about the importance of indigenous knowledge in terms of the environment.  The general knowledge of the environment is being lost in communities around the world, and there is an urgent need to conserve this information to help develop mechanisms to protect the earth’s biological diversity. Battiste stated that the The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, acknowledges the contributions of Indigenous knowledge as innovative approaches to environmental studies, and recognizes the validity of Indigenous science. It also recognizes the value of Indigenous knowledge,innovations, and practices to scientific knowledge, conservation studies, and sustainable development.

 Indigenous leaders, who have been warning about a bushfire crisis for years, are calling for a radical change to how land is managed as Australia faces some of its worst bushfire conditions on record.One such man Mr. Steffensen said burning was a crucial way that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders cared for the land. He said it involved learning to read trees, soil types, wind conditions and developing an "intimate" relationship with the landscape. "It's like a doctor. You're there at the country to look at a specific ecosystem," (Faa, 2019)

 

 

So reflecting back to my own practices how can I integrate more indigenous knowledge into my science curriculum specifically?  To enhance Aboriginal students' educational opportunities in sciences, culturally relevant science curriculum has been examined and practiced in Western Canadian science classrooms. Finding a way to educate using the best of both forms of education yet still meet provincial standards can be challenging. Some science lessons lend themselves well to a merging of knowledge. One way to achieve this is for students to learn first from the Indigenous perspective and then transcribe that information to western terms. 

Battiste, Marie. [2002]. Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education: A Literature Review with Recommendations. http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/education/24._2002_oct_marie_battiste_indigenousknowledgeandpedagogy_lit_review_for_min_working_group.pdf">

 Faa. M. (Nov, 2019) Indigenous leaders say Australia's bushfire crisis shows approach to land management failing https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-14/traditional-owners-predicted-bushfire-disaster/11700320

http://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/education/24._2002_oct_marie_battiste_indigenousknowledgeandpedagogy_lit_review_for_min_working_group.pdf">

Making science relevant to Indigenous students. (2019). Available Online at https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/making-science-relevant-to-indigenous-students