Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, July 1998

Contents IK Monitor 6(2) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | (c) copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 1998.

Conferences

COMING
PAST

COMING

Bridging traditional ecological knowledge and ecosystem science
Northern Arizona University (USA)
13-15 August 1998
As indigenous peoples in the Americas struggle for control of their lands and resources, differences between traditional ecological knowledge and ecosystem science can be a barrier. Indigenous people and their potential allies and associates share a concern for sustainability and the balance between man and the natural world. How can the differences in world views be bridged? How can expert traditional hunters and fishers communicate and collaborate with university-trained scientists? Can Western ‘management’ and indigenous ‘caretaking’ be seen as equivalents?
The participants will include practitioners of both traditional ecological knowledge and ecosystem science. The focus of the conference will be on forested and aquatic ecosystems and the interactions between them. There will be sessions on such topics as Setting the problem: power relationships, with a contribution from Arun Agrawal (‘Power, science, and indigenous knowledge’); Proposed solutions to the problems of power relationships; Validation of traditional ecological knowledge, with Stephen Gasteyer (‘Contextual memory: a documentation of local and scientific knowledge about landscape change in the Southern West Bank (Palestinian Territories’); and Restoration, with Puanani Onapalie Anderson-Wong (‘Native Hawaiian values and Western scientific investigations provide a promising conservation strategy’).

For more information, please contact:
Ronald Trosper, Director, Native American Forestry Program, College of Ecosystem Science and Management, P.O. Box 15018, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA.
Fax: +1-520-523 6653.
E-mail: TEK-SCIConf@alpine.for.nau.edu
Web page: http://www.for.nau.edu/TEK-SCIConf/

Natural sacred sites, cultural diversity and biological diversity
Paris (France)
22-25 September 1998
An international transdisciplinary symposium on natural sacred sites is being organized in Paris by UNESCO, CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research, France) and MNHN (National Museum of Natural History). Specialists from a wide range of scientific disciplines, stakeholders at the field level, and indigenous peoples will be brought together to confront the various perspectives on the proposed theme.
In a wide variety of societies and environments, ‘natural’ areas which are regarded as ‘sacred’ are traditionally accorded special treatment. These include woodlands, forest groves, mountains, islands, water sources, caves, and rivers. In recent years, conservation specialists and ecologists have become increasingly aware of the existence of these sites and have seen in them a demonstration of the capacity of traditional societies to conserve biodiversity in situ, through their knowledge and their symbolic systems. Today there is a growing recognition of what is now generally called ‘traditional ecological knowledge’, i.e., the environmental knowledge of local people and its use as a tool in natural resource management and sustainable development.
Specialists working at the interface of nature and society, and coming from a variety of different disciplines (ethnobiology, ecology, anthropology, conservation biology, religious studies, geography, history, law, and botany) will be brought together in order to:
– describe and analyse the ecological and cultural specificity of ‘natural’ sacred sites;
– understand and take action. What types of action in the area of environmental protection, conservation and restoration are in place or may be envisaged? Have sacred sites made possible the preservation of ecosystems? Can they serve as ‘indicator sites’ for the rehabilitation of degraded environments? A critical analysis of these measures will seek to define their scientific and ethical legitimacy.

The following themes will be examined: practice and ritual; spiritual, ecological and economic value; ethnobiological knowledge; and the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples. The symposium will examine such questions as whether or not external conservation measures are beneficial. Do they protect sites or lead to dispossession? Might the formal protection of a site render it profane and ultimately lead to its destruction?
English and French will be the working languages of the symposium, with simultaneous interpretation during plenary sessions, followed by discussion.

For further information, please contact:
Dr Marie Roué, Director, URA 882 Laboratoire d’Ethnobiologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier 75005 Paris, France.
Tel.: +33-1-4079 3668 or 82.
Fax: +33-1-4079 3669.
E-mail: roue@mnhn.fr

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PAST

Documentation and application of indigenous knowledge
Inuvik (Canada)
15-17 November 1996
This seminar brought together hunters, elders, researchers, and resource managers with expertise in the field of indigenous knowledge. The 58 participants live or work in Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, and northern Russia, or are interested in indigenous knowledge and its applications. Together they consolidated and built upon a number of efforts to document indigenous knowledge in the Arctic (Brooke 1993; Thomsen 1993; Hansen 1994; Huntington & Mymrin 1996; Stevenson 1996; Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board 1997; Kalxdorff 1997).
The seminar was sponsored and organized by the Fisheries Joint Management Committee and the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Financial and other support was provided by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Canada), the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
Following the presentations and group discussions, the participants prepared recommendations on how indigenous knowledge can best be perpetuated, documented, and applied in conjunction with other forms of knowledge. After the seminar, they were circulated to all the participants for their comment and approval, and at the end of 1997, the approved recommendations were made available on the Internet at: http://www.grida.no/prog/polar/caff/n5_4li.htm or http://www.inusiaat.com/tek.htm.

They included the following points:
- The use of indigenous knowledge should be promoted in the community by documenting the knowledge of community elders and making it locally available. This is an urgent priority, since so much knowledge is being lost so rapidly.
- In the process of documenting traditional ecological knowledge, the context of that knowledge is difficult to convey, and can easily be lost. Documentation should nonetheless be recognized as an important step towards integrating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with scientific knowledge. A consistent approach to TEK documentation for the entire circumpolar region is desirable, so that results and information can be compared across the Arctic.
- Recognizing the cultural dimensions of TEK and its importance for the community, researchers should ensure that TEK is presented in plain English and in indigenous languages.

The seminar made clear that while a great deal is known about indigenous knowledge in the Arctic, there is a great deal more to be learned. The holders, users, and recipients of indigenous knowledge must respect one another, and acknowledge the worth of the other’s culture if these ideas are to gain wider application. This mutual respect will become doubly important, as new ideas and approaches are developed for the appreciation, documentation, and application of indigenous knowledge. (Henry P. Huntington, Ph.D., Seminar Co-Chair)

For more information, contact:
Henry P. Huntington, P.O.Box 773564, Eagle River, AK 99577, USA.
Fax: +1-907-696 3565.
E-mail: hph@alaska.net

References
- Brooke, L.F. (1993) The participation of indigenous peoples and the application of their environmental and ecological knowledge in the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy. Vol. 1. Ottawa: Inuit Circumpolar Conference.
- Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board (1997) Gwich’in words about the land. Inuvik, NWT: Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board.
- Hansen, B. (ed.) (1994) Report on the seminar on integration of indigenous peoples and their knowledge, Reykjavik, Iceland, September 1994. Copenhagen: Ministry for the Environment (Iceland), Ministry of the Environment (Denmark), and the Home Rule of Greenland (Denmark Office).
- Huntington, H.P. and N.I. Mymrin (1996) Traditional ecological knowledge of beluga whales: an indigenous knowledge pilot project in the Chukchi and northern Bering Seas. Anchorage: Inuit Circumpolar Conference.
- Kalxdorff, S.B. (1997) Collection of local knowledge regarding polar bear habitat use in Alaska. Technical Report MMM 97-2. Anchorage: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Stevenson, M.G. (1996) ‘Indigenous knowledge in environmental assessment’, Arctic 49(3):278-291.
- Thomsen, M.L. (1993) Local knowledge of the distribution, biology, and hunting of beluga and narwhal: a survey among Inuit hunters in West and North Greenland. Nuuk: Greenland Hunters’ and Fishermen’s Association, Greenland Home Rule Authorities, and Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

Ecology, survival and the First Nations: issues of comparison between Canada and India
Pune (India)
13-14 February 1998
This workshop was organized by the Canadian Studies Programme and the Women’s Studies Centre at the Department of Sociology of the University of Pune. Participants from Canada, India, the Netherlands and the USA discussed the issues and perspectives that have emerged with regard to ecology and survival within the Canadian and Indian contexts. Participants undertook the difficult task of exploring the problem of ecology and survival in India in the manner in which it is defined within the Canadian context, evaluating the extent to which it is possible to compare the two situations. The workshop examined the question of whether the concept of indigenous groups–another term for the First Nations–can be applied to India. One of the central questions debated was whether the ‘tribals’ or adivasis may be considered indigenous groups, and whether other groups (castes) can be identified within this category?
The fourth session was of particular interest to readers of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor. It was entitled: Indigenous knowledge, survival and alternate episteme. Dr Jan Brouwer (Director, CARIKS) presented a paper entitled ‘The concepts of indigenous knowledge, caste and tribe’. On the basis of a case study of the Jenu Kurumba tribe of South India, he argued that a study of ‘mainstream’ / ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ population categories within a modern nation state with the concept of indigenous knowledge systems can provide insights that have not only an academic value, but also a baseline value for the development sector. Following the case study, definitions of ‘indigenous knowledge’, ‘indigenous knowledge systems’ and ‘indigenous technical knowledge’ were presented. The concept of indigenous knowledge was contrasted with the concept of scientific knowledge, which triggered an extended debate. Professor Sharad Deshpande (Pune University, Dept. of Philosophy) drew attention to the need for concepts defined in such a way that they can be used in a multidisciplinary approach, in order to promote a dialogue with philosophers and anthropologists. (Dr Jan Brouwer)

For more information, please contact:
Professor Sujata Patel, Department of Sociology, University of Pune, Pune 411 007, India.

Understanding health systems
Surat (India)
5-6 March 1998
This international workshop was organized by the Centre for Social Studies (CSS) and sponsored by the British Government’s Department of International Development and the New Delhi Division of the British Council. Participants came from India, Kenya, the Netherlands and Switzerland and represented various disciplines, including anthropology, economics, law, and medicine.
The workshop was prepared by Dr Lancy Lobo (CSS) in connection with a research project on malaria control which is being conducted in the Surat District.

The workshop’s objectives were:
- to share the findings of two years spent studying community perceptions of malaria and local knowledge systems regarding health;
- to derive lessons from the research findings regarding how to increase people’s health awareness, and how to improve the training of health personnel;
- to contribute to the development of culturally appropriate health interventions.

In his keynote address, Professor V.V. Kothari posed the question: why have the objectives of the National Malaria Eradication Programme not been achieved? In his view, the programme has concentrated too much on having doctors from outside the community provide allopathic health care through primary health care centres. The problem is not a question of geographical distance between the centres and the target group, but rather a question of cultural distance. Professor Kothari praised the sponsors of the malaria control project for being open to the idea of incorporating an indigenous knowledge component so that the cultural gap can be narrowed.
In the final session it was concluded that ethnographic study of the target groups’ concepts of health, the person and change is in itself not sufficient. This should be supplemented by a more thorough ethnological study. It was further recommended that the research methods for working with the IK component be refined, and that the modern, health-related concepts be defined in more detail.
(Dr Jan Brouwer)

For more information, please contact:
Centre for Social Studies
South Gujurat University Campus,
Udhna Magdalla Road, Surat 395 - 007
India.
Fax: +91-261-223 851.

Medical plants and traditional medicine in Africa
Cape Town (South Africa)
14-18 April 1998
This was the second in a series of workshops that are planned to take place within the framework of the Medicinal Plants and Local Communities Project, of the Environmental Liaison Center International (ELCI) (see IKDM 6(1)). The workshop was organized by the ELCI in cooperation with the International Development Research Center (IDRC). It brought together 55 participants from 14 English-speaking African countries, one from Mozambique, and another from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean region. The participants included researchers in the field of biodiversity, practitioners of traditional medicine, health professionals, and several social scientists.
The workshop included oral presentations, most of which were based on the presenter’s own experiences with indigenous knowledge and traditional medicine. The workshop provided an excellent forum for discussing pertinent issues related to Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and its implementation in Africa. Other topics of discussion included the preservation of intellectual property rights, and ways to adapt African traditional medicine so that it can effectively complement modern healthcare practices in Africa.

The following recommendations were among those made at the workshop:
- Policy-oriented research should be undertaken to see how article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity can be applied in the African context.
- Networking should be developed in order to facilitate regional and international cooperation in R&D related to medicinal plants and their uses in traditional medicine. Contact should also be sought with other medicinal plant programmes, such as Traditional Medicine in the Islands (TRAMIL), a project currently being conducted in the Caribbean.
- As regards the standardization of traditional medicines and practices, procedures to ensure the quality, efficacy and safety of medicinal plant products should be developed which can be adapted to different situations at community level. This should be done so as also to build capacity at African research institutions.
- In recognition of the fact that women are more often than not marginalized in research projects, all research programmes in traditional medicine and medicinal plants should specifically incorporate a gender component.
- As a follow-up to the workshop, a regional meeting should be held in order to inform potential donors and other international organizations of the plan of action which the ELCI will develop on the basis of the workshop recommendations. Besides perhaps eliciting financial support, the meeting could be a forum for examining policy issues in this area. (Dr Hellen A. Oketch-R)

For further information, please contact:
Ernest Rukangira, ELCI, P.O. Box 72461, Nairobi, Kenya.
Fax: +254-2-562 175.
E-mail: erukangira@elci.gn.apc.org

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