scholarly journals Indigenous Knowledge and Endogenous Development: Exploring Survival Strategy of a Tribal Community of Jharkhand, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 156-170
Author(s):  
Manoj Raul ◽  
Koustab Majumdar ◽  
Dipankar Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Endogenous Development ◽  
Tribal Community ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Persistent Poverty ◽  
Customary Practices

Indigenous communities depend directly on natural ecosystems for their livelihoods — wild plants and animals for food, for clothing, for fuel, medicine, and shelter. The deteriorating ecological situation, persistent poverty, social, political and religious tensions and the reduction of biological and cultural diversity present a polycrisis for which new answers are urgently needed. It is in this context the relevance of Indigenous knowledge has entered in the mainstream of sustainable development and the concept of endogenous development has received greater attention. Endogenous development refers to development that is mainly, though not exclusively, based on locally available resources, such as land, water, vegetation, knowledge, skills and competencies. The present article is an endeavor to document the customary practices based on indigenous knowledge of a Sauria-Paharia community in relation to their livelihood strategies for survival in a hostile condition. The article highlights the localized livelihood organization encompassing pattern of resource identification and use, ‘local laws’ of resource conservation, labor organization in terms of acquisition of specialized knowledge, continuity of knowledge through customary networks and distribution of knowledge in terms of age and gender. Despite the presence of all the strength required for the endogenous development, the villagers have to combat with the challenges imposed by the extraneous factors like religious conversion, culturally incompatible education system, intervention of development agencies and programmes and acculturation of the tribal society into the non-tribal framework through greater participation in different fairs and festivals of other ethnic and religious groups. Finally, the article tries to explore the possibilities of endogenous development in the changing scenario by rapprochement of persisting knowledge base of the community and the factors deviating the community from their customary practices that so far been successful in the local context. Keywords: Indigenous Knowledge, Customary Practices, Endogenous Development, Sauria Paharia.

From Knowledge Management to Knowledge Governance

2015 ◽  
pp. 237-248
Author(s):  
Tariq Zaman ◽  
Alvin W. Yeo ◽  
Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Management System ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Knowledge Management System ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Information Technology Professionals ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Knowledge Governance

The existing frameworks and methodologies for software designing encompass technological aspects and needs of the urban settings. In software development, getting sufficient and correct requirements from the users is most important, because these requirements will determine the functionality of the system. In indigenous communities identifying the user needs and understanding the local context are always difficult tasks. This typical approach of designing indigenous knowledge management system generates the issues of indigenous knowledge governance, de-contextualisation, and data manipulation. Hence, the main research question this chapter addresses is, How can we introduce indigenous knowledge governance into ICT-based Indigenous Knowledge Management System (IKMS)? The study has been conducted in three phases with collaboration of two indigenous communities, Long Lamai and Bario of Sarawak, East Malaysia. The main outcome of the study is the methodology of conducting a multidisciplinary research and designing the Indigenous Knowledge Governance Framework (IKGF). The framework works as an analytical tool that can help in understanding the essential context in which indigenous knowledge management processes occur. The chapter argues that in order to design appropriate software tools for indigenous knowledge management, information technology professionals need to understand, model, and formalise the holistic indigenous knowledge management system and then use this understanding as a basis for technology design and approaches.

Transforming a global order in New Zealand to reduce health inequities in service provision

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Rawson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Medical Emergency ◽  
Major Work ◽  
Health Initiatives

Abstract St John has been providing service in New Zealand for nearly 140 years since its arrival. It has now close to 4000 staff and nearly 20000 Members and over 8500 volunteers. In New Zealand the major work of St John is its Ambulance service providing front line first responders to crash, medical emergency and other life-threatening situations. St John New Zealand also provides a number of 'Community Health' initiatives focused on strengthening communities and prevention. In recent years St John has recognised that they have not engaged well with Indigenous communities and that their organisation in New Zealand must become skilled and relevant in addressing the needs of the Indigenous people of New Zealand, as they suffer the greater burden of disease and illness than any other population in the country. St John NZ Community and Health Services are embarking on a process of transformation through re-orienting its culture and practice by adopting Public Health approaches and an equity lens over all its programmes. They also have committed to understanding and using Indigenous knowledge to support this re-orientation to most effectively engage and implement programmes that will reduce Indigenous health inequities. This presentation will describe the process by which they will be implementing their strategy for change and highlight best practice for working with Indigenous communities. Key messages Indigenous Knowledge is key to addressing Indigenous Health inequities. Mainstream Public Health can learn from Indigenous Public Health approaches.

Indigenous Knowledge and Consumer’s Perspectives of Stinging Nettle (Urtica Simensis) in the Central and Southeastern Highlands of Oromia Regional States of Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tigist Tadesse Shonte ◽  
Kebede W/Tsadik
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Local People ◽  
Herbal Remedies ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Stinging Nettle ◽  
Nutritional Security ◽  
Arsi Zone ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security ◽  
Bale Zone

Abstract Background: Wild plants are essential for increased dietary diversity; for food and nutritional security and as herbal remedies. Stinging nettle, Urtica species, is one of the 20 widely consumed wild plants with cultural importance index ranging from 0.5-1.26 CI in different countries. As in previously conducted wild plants ethnobotanical studies in Ethiopia, the present study reported for the first time the indigenous knowledge and consumer’s perspectives of stinging nettle (Urtica simensis) in the central and southeastern highlands of Oromia regional states of Ethiopia.Methods: Data was collected through informed consent semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, key informant discussions, focus group discussions and tour-guided field observation in 13 districts of three zones (Arsi, Bale and North Shewa) of Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. Results: The local people gather, where women carries 69.2% of the responsibilities for collecting and cooking, stinging nettle in winter and spring season almost from everywhere with higher preference for road sides followed by homestead boundaries, waste land, field boundaries and agroforestry in order of importance. The factors limiting harvesting, consumption and marketing of stinging nettles could be ranked as cultural barriers (63.1%) > lack of knowledge (26.9%) > stinginess (10%). According to key informants, the local people who gather and cook stinging nettle are commonly referred as the poor and they call stinging nettle crop as a poor man crop. Interestingly, covering hands with cloths and wearing plastic bags were traditional manipulations practiced by the local community to protect themselves from stinging hairs thereby avoiding stinging sensation and collect the young and tender shoots from the plant. The highest use-value indices of stinging nettle plant was in North Shewa zone (UVc = 0.93), followed by Arsi zone (UVc = 0.9), and Bale zone (UVc = 0.63). Its central role in North Shewa (FL = 51.7%) and Arsi zone (FL = 50 %) is as a source of both food and fodder, where as in Bale zone (FL = 33.3%) is as a source of food only. In the study areas stinging nettle sauce is prepared by boiling young nettle leaves and roasted barley powder and then cooled sauce is served with injera. Conclusions: There exists biological security to livelihood of the people in the study areas by consuming stinging nettle to cope up times of food shortage. This result shed light on further research and a needs to popularize, awareness creation, the potential for domestication, value addition and processing for food and nutritional security and wellbeing of consumers.

TRADITIONAL PHYTOTHERAPY USED BY BHUTIA COMMUNITY OF UTTARKASHI DISTRICT OF UTTARAKHAND FOR DERMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Arun K. Agrawal ◽  
Usha Devi ◽  
S.K. Kuriyal
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Tribal Community ◽  
Tribal People ◽  
Dermatological Disorders

Ethno-medicinal survey was undertaken from traditional healers of Bhutia tribal community of Urrarkashi district for the use of medicinal plants in the treatment of different skin diseases such as dog and insect bite, burns, eczema, abscesses, scabies, ringworm, cuts and wounds, boils, leprosy, blisters, allergy, itching, pimples, leucoderma, prickly heat, warts, septic ulcers, and other skin diseases during different season of March 2016 to May 2017. The indigenous knowledge of tribal traditional healers having practical knowledge of plants in medicine were interviewed in ve villages of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand and plants used for medicinal purposes were collected through questionnaire and personal interviews during eldtrips. A total of 60 plant species of 43 families are documented in this study. The medicinal plants used in the treatment of skin diseases by tribal's are listed with botanical name (in binomial form), family, local names, habit, availability, parts used, and mode of preparation. This study showed that Bhutia tribal people in the studied parts of Uttarkashi district continue to depend on the medicinal plants at least for the treatment of primary healthcare.

Competing Values in World Culture and the Emergence of Middle Ground

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-50
Author(s):  
Eun young Song
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Rights Issues

AbstractThis paper, focusing on a Botswanan case of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), illustrates how globalized norms in seeming competition nonetheless reveal a potential middle ground. In Botswana there have been conflicts between regimes of environmentalism and indigenous cultural rights. Environmental protectionism has been based on a concept of “pristine nature” which does not allow for human interaction. Thus, the more protected areas are designated, the more indigenous peoples' lands are claimed as nature reserves. This forces local peoples to abandon cultural practices such as hunting animals and gathering wild plants. In contrast, impelled by the ascention of human rights issues, advocacy groups for the unorganized fourth world and indigenous communities have been struggling to protect indigenous people's cultural rights, thereby giving prominence to human rights issues. NGO advocates for indigenous peoples as well as professionals involved with indigenous groups have found that indigenous people's practices are in fact not harmful to the ecosystem. Rather, their ethno-biological knowledge and customary activities contribute to balancing the local ecosystem. This means that conflicting guidelines can be harmonized in “buffer zones” around protected areas, and the buffering program that has resulted, that by CBNRM, has been widely accepted in Botswana and is likely applicable to other countries in which we find similar value competition.

Indigenous Knowledge & Intellectual Property: Negotiating the Spaces

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (S1) ◽  
pp. 14-24
Author(s):  
Terri Janke
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Intangible Cultural Heritage ◽  
Communal Identity ◽  
Sound Recordings ◽  
Policy Initiatives

Abstract Indigenous knowledge is an integral part of Indigenous cultural heritage. Knowledge about land, seas, places and associated songs, stories, social practices, and oral traditions are important assets for Indigenous communities. Transmitted from generation to generation, Indigenous knowledge is constantly reinterpreted by Indigenous people. Through the existence and transmission of this intangible cultural heritage, Indigenous people are able to associate with a communal identity. The recording and fixing of Indigenous knowledge creates intellectual property (IP), rights of ownership to the material which the written or recorded in documents, sound recordings or films. Intellectual property rights allow the rights owners to control reproductions of the fixed form. IP laws are individual based and economic in nature. A concern for Indigenous people is that the ownership of the intellectual property which is generated from such processes, if often, not owned by them. The IP laws impact on the rights of traditional and Indigenous communities to their cultural heritage. This paper will explore the international developments, case studies, published protocols and policy initiatives concerning the recording, dissemination, digitisation, and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge.

scholarly journals Does Indigenous Knowledge Occur in and Influence Impact Assessment Reports? Exploring Consultation Remarks in Three Cases of Mining Projects in Greenland

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (0) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Parnuna Petrina Egede Dahl ◽  
Anne Merrild Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Local Environments ◽  
Adaptive Processes ◽  
Mining Projects

Mineral extraction is pursued in Greenland to strengthen the national economy. In order that new industries promote sustainable development, environmental impact assessments and social impact assessments are legally required and undertaken by companies prior to license approval to inform decision-making. Knowledge systems in Arctic indigenous communities have evolved through adaptive processes over generations, and indigenous knowledge (IK) is considered a great source of information on local environments and related ecosystem services. In Greenland the Inuit are in the majority, and Greenlanders are still considered indigenous. The Inuit Circumpolar Council stresses that utilizing IK is highly relevant in the Greenland context. Impact assessment processes involve stakeholder engagement and public participation, and hence offer arenas for potential knowledge sharing and thereby the utilization of IK. Based on the assumption that IK is a valuable knowledge resource, which can supplement and improve impact assessments in Greenland thus supporting sustainable development, this paper presents an investigation of how IK is utilized in the last stages of an impact assessment process when the final report is subject to a hearing in three recent mining projects in Greenland.

scholarly journals What Can Traditional Indigenous Knowledge Teach Us About Changing Our Approach to Human Activity and Environmental Stewardship in Order to Reduce the Severity of Climate Change?

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John G Hansen ◽  
Rose Antsanen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Fundamental Assumption ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Many Indigenous communities living on traditional lands have not contributed significantly to harmful climate change. Yet, they are the most likely to be impacted by climate change. This article discusses environmental stewardship in relation to Indigenous experiences and worldviews. Indigenous knowledge teaches us about environmental stewardship. It speaks of reducing the severity of climate change and of continued sustainable development. The methodology that directs this research is premised on the notion that the wisdom of the Elders holds much significance for addressing the harmful impacts of climate change in the present day. This article's fundamental assumption is that Indigenous knowledge offers practical and theoretical recommendations to current approaches to human activity and environmental issues. We share findings from interviews with Cree Elders who discussed their worldviews and knowledge systems. Findings revealed that Indigenous knowledge offers a philosophy and practice that serve to reduce the severity of climate change.

scholarly journals Ngāti Whakaue Iho Ake – An Iwi Science Education Exploration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Hiria Stacey McRae
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
School Science ◽  
Secondary Science ◽  
Tribal Community

<p>This thesis aims to provide a pathway to improve Māori student engagement with science education. Internationally, some indigenous communities have worked with schools in the delivery of science programmes, resulting in positive indigenous student engagement. These outcomes show that together indigenous students, schools and indigenous communities can contribute to the development of their particular place when science programmes allow the exploration of self, relating to others, the local environment and the wider world. This thesis investigates the perceptions of Māori students, teachers and kaumātua of science education in the Māori tribal community of Ngāti Whakaue to identify how Ngāti Whakaue is recognised in school science programmes. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted with local Māori elders, Māori secondary science students, and secondary science teachers from six English and Māori medium secondary schools in Rotorua. Data analyses revealed that participant perceptions and experiences of place, science and the Māori culture were disconnected from Ngāti Whakaue, despite its rich potential as a setting for science education. Participants held diverse perceptions and views within and between groups, including student and teacher understandings of Māori culture, attitudes regarding the place of Māori culture and knowledge in science education, and preferences regarding teaching and learning styles. Findings are examined as to how schools and Ngāti Whakaue could work together to better support positive Māori student engagement with science education and suggestions are made about how these relationships could be improved.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document