Traditional Knowledge and “Science”: Need for dialogue.
A general notion about “Western science” that most people share is that it is, or at least should be, a value free undertaking. Science is about finding quantifiable “facts” which shouldn't be dependent on the beliefs of the researchers or context of discovery. In contrast, Indigenous knowledge is assumed to be backward, pre-modern, or based on mythology and folk-lore. Of course, our readings this week and throughout the semester have shown how this idea of a detached, “objective” science doesn't match with reality. Instead what we see is that the questions and answers “science” seeks have to looked at in their historical and social context and that Indigenous knowledge, built up over generations of lived experience and observations, can provide extremely valuable local knowledge to direct research.
The article above raises a lot of good points about what the relationship is and should be between Science and traditional knowledge. The author does a good job of describing the weaknesses of scientific research and strengths of Traditional Knowledge (TK) in an ecological context saying..
“Western science has the necessary technology and quantitative methodology, but lacks sufficient long-term experience on the ground in particular places… Western science is good at generalizing from experimental research, but lacks long-term data from most local places …. It is practically a truism that computer simulation modeling is only as good as the data that the modeler puts in. Local people, directly dependent on their environment for subsistence livelihoods and possessing long term environmental knowledge — in other words, local environmental baselines with which to track change — know their places far better than the scientist whose research schedule is set by the academic calendar and bound by the vagaries of short-term boom-and-bust foundation and institutional funding.” and goes on “It is important, when talking about the complementary nature of Western science and TEK, to realize that the two knowledge systems often reflect different perspectives and emphases. Sea ice is a good example. While passive microwave imagery discovered a decreasing trend in Arctic summer sea-ice extent and thickness in 1979, and while this generally agrees with local assessments (made as early as the 1960s by the Inuit and Inupiat), there are still significant regional differences that can have important ramifications for wildlife and Indigenous communities living in the affected regions” (Martinez, Journal of Sustainability Education).
What i hope these quotes help show is that by working in collaboration with indigenous peoples and epistemology’s scientific research can benefit from the invaluable local knowledge of indigenous people and Indigenous people can benefit from scientific research which asks and answers questions that are important to them.
Martinez, Dennis. “The Value of Indigenous Ways of Knowing to Western Science and Environmental Sustainability.” Journal of Sustainability Education, 9 May 2010, www.susted.com/wordpress/content/the-value-of-indigenous-ways-of-knowing-to-western-science-and-environmental-sustainability_2010_05/.
