Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, July 1998

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The use of participatory rural appraisal methodologies to link indigenous knowledge and land use decisions among the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska by Marcella Szymanski, Lisa Whitewing and Joe Colletti.

Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques can facilitate the use of indigenous knowledge as an integral part of a land-use decision process. In this way, cultural and spiritual values are linked directly with environmental values and economic needs, as part of a community-driven decision-making process. PRA methodologies adopted by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (USA) offer insight into the use of indigenous knowledge as a community forum for land-use planning.

The Winnebago Reservation is located in the northeastern corner of Nebraska. The Ho-chungra people, commonly known as Winnebagoes, were displaced from their original homeland in Wisconsin to five different Mid-Western locations. They took possession of their present reservation base of approximately 113,000 acres in 1865. The General Allotment Act in 1887 assigned 160-acre allotments per household and 80-acre allotments per single person over eighteen, opening up the remaining reservation land to white settlers. Since then, as much as three-fourths of the Winnebago Reservation has been ‘lost’ to non-Indian people (Smith 1996). Most of the 30,450 acres currently owned by the Winnebago Tribe (Whitewing 1997), consist of forested land on the eastern side of the reservation near the Missouri River. In the 1990s, gambling casino revenue has allowed the Winnebago Tribe to expand its land base, and to reacquire lands which were previously part of the reservation. The Winnebago Tribe is in the process of determining which tracts of land should be purchased and which specific needs should be addressed. To make decisions on the use of the current land base and future land purchases, local knowledge of the land base and its ties to spiritual, cultural, environmental, and economic impacts must be taken into account. During the collection of information for a community-based decisions on land use, participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was used, because it permits the integration of indigenous knowledge (IK) and economic and environmental impacts.

PRA approaches in land use planning
Rapid appraisal (RA) methodologies have been used for a wide variety of purposes, including resource economics (Pretty & Scoones 1989), resource planning (Scoones & McCracken 1989), tree and land tenure (Freudenberger 1994), and community forestry (Molnar 1989; Messerschmidt 1991). In the eighties a paradigm shift took place toward more participatory approaches within rural development, and it is increasingly being recognized that the inclusion of IK in rapid appraisal methodologies provides a basis for the incorporation of local needs (Warren et al. 1995). In a PRA, local knowledge is used as a basis for decision-making; operating through local organizations, it generates local experimentation and innovation. A rapid, low-cost method of data collection, PRA has been used widely in developing countries, but only rarely in the developed world. Inglis and Lussignea (1995) made use of PRA in Scotland, as part of a rural development forestry program. They found the outcome beneficial, although there was reluctance on the part of some Scottish organizations, who felt that the incorporation of a methodology commonly used in a developing countries would be unacceptable in Scotland, due to the difference in literacy rates. However, we believe that the value of PRA may have less to do with literacy than with the adaptability of the tool to fit the cultural dynamics of a particular community. We will see here that because of its adaptable nature, PRA can be tailored to fit the needs of almost any community, in terms of both community dynamics and local preferences.

PRA methodologies in Winnebago
This article is based on a project conducted in 1996 in Winnebago. It had two interrelated objectives. First, the tribe needed data in order to plan future land purchases, and second, they wanted information on an on-going agroforestry project initiated in 1993. The PRA took place over a 21/2 month period, and the planning was done on site (see figure 1). The PRA team consisted of five members: four Winnebago Tribal members (two from the Winnebago Land Management Department and two interns from a local Indian community college), and one non-Indian member from outside the community. Five main geographical areas formed the focus of the PRA:
(1) newly acquired lands in the western portion of the Winnebago Reservation (currently leased or in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program)
(2) the village area of Winnebago
(3) an area along the Missouri River
(4) the Wildlife Refuge
(5) the Bison Refuge.
During the initial stages of the PRA, brainstorming sessions were held to determine what information was needed and how it could best be obtained, and to generate a list of potential participants from existing Winnebago community groups. Seven groups with a representative gender and age differentiation were contacted to establish the level of interest. Representatives of each group were personally contacted and invited to participate in a five-day community survey. On each of the five days, certain activities were to be carried out at each site. Participants would work in groups, studying issues of concern for each land area, using diagramming, flowcharts, and pie charts. Prior to the five-day study period, an orientation day was held to inform potential participants about the planned activities. Only one participant came to the orientation.

Figure 1. Project cycle for participatory rural appraisal held in Winnebago.

After an impromptu brainstorming session, a more informal and less intimidating format for the community survey was chosen, as a means of increasing community participation. It was ‘re-tooled’ as ‘Tour the Rez’. "Rez" is local vernacular for the reservation; all five study sites were visited by 4 - 12 participants on each of the five days. At each site, a PRA team member would briefly describe the site and moderate any discussions (see photo 1).
Photo 1. 'Tour de Rez'-participants Richard Walker and Mysoul Earth Walker listen to Lisa Whitewing describe recent land purchases in the western part of the reservation.
Photo: Marcella Szymanski.
Tape-recorded comments and participant feedback from the tour were used to plan the questions to be used in the second phase of the PRA. Since there was a reluctance to share opinions in public, an informal questionnaire was designed. This questionnaire, ‘Continuing the circle’, focused on determining ways to incorporate IK into a decision-making model for land-use preference (see figure 2). An informal survey was conducted in four different locations on the reservation, with roughly equal numbers of men (41%) and women (59%) participating. A total of 246 participants representing one-fourth to one-fifth of the Winnebago community (69% Winnebago Tribal members, 24% from other tribes, and 7% non-Indian) took part in the informal survey. At each location volunteers were requested to fill out a questionnaire consisting of 33 questions pertaining to current and future land issues. The last phase of the PRA made use of direct matrix rankings for various plants, trees, horticultural products and animals, according to their importance in the community, linking them directly to land use from the ‘Continuing the circle’ survey. Matrix rankings were collected from Tribal Council members, community members, and young people, in order to supplement and cross-check information for purposes of the agroforestry demonstration. The data and results have since been presented to the Winnebago Tribal Council and community through the Department of Land Management. They are being used to guide on-going planning and direct the tribe’s land purchases. Using the information in this way created a forum for community awareness and a starting point for participation in community expansion, future land purchases, and agricultural and forest land issues.

Figure 2, Linkage of indigenous knowledge with community needs preferred land use: the Ho-Chunk community continues the circle.

Linking the PRA to local knowledge
The interpretation of information varies from one community to another. Incorporating indigenous knowledge into planning allows culture and belief systems to direct the ways in which information is collected and used. It is possible to see the information collected as interrelated, rather than as a linear collection of data. In the Winnebago community, the connection between components such as wildlife and opportunities for tribal members to be involved in land use, and basic human needs such as housing, is not conceived in a linear fashion, but is seen as an interconnected circle. ‘Continuing the circle’ is part of a belief system; it is a way for the community to relate indigenous knowledge to preferred land use, and a way of relating to the world of Winnebago. Learning to listen is one of the most valuable lessons to be learned by outsiders participating in PRA (Chambers 1997). Outsiders, such as researchers, are accustomed to using linear decision-making processes to deal with problems, goals, decision criteria, data, alternatives, evaluation of best alternatives, and implementation. By failing to recognize the importance of IK-linked decision-making processes, they may be finding solutions for which there are no problems.

Conclusions
Not all rural communities may be comfortable with certain PRA techniques, which require direct participation in a group environment. In Winnebago, an indirect approach, involving participation by means of a questionnaire, worked better for the community in general, but this could be combined with group participation techniques for younger members of the community. An informal survey can provide a wider range of community involvement where direct participation for most community members is not an option. Incorporating IK into land use means recognizing culture and belief systems and the way people relate to land. In other words, community solutions can be best found within the framework of their own local knowledge system.

Marcella Szymanski
Ph.D. graduate, Department of Forestry at Iowa State University
417 S. Jessica Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD 57103
USA
E-mail: msbrian@hotmail.com

Lisa Whitewing
Member of Winnebago Tribe and head of the Land Management Department for the Winnebago Tribe
of Nebraska
Winnebago, NE 68071
USA

Joe Colletti
Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry
251 Bessey Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
USA
E-mail: colletti@iastate.edu

References
- Chambers, R. (1997) Whose reality counts? Putting the first last. London: IIED.
- Freudenberger, K. S. (1994) Tree and land tenure rural rapid appraisal tools. Community Forestry Field Manual Number 4. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.
- Inglis, A. and A. Lussignea (1995) ‘Participation in Scotland: the rural development forestry programme’, Notes on Participation Learning and Action, 23:31-36.
- Messerschmidt, D.A. (1991) Rapid rural appraisal for community forestry: the RA process and rapid diagnostic tools. Technical Paper No. TP 91/2. Nepal: Institute of Forestry.
- Molnar, A. (1989) Community forestry: rapid appraisal. Forestry Note 3. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.
- Pretty, J.N. and I. Scoones (1989) Rapid rural appraisal for economics: exploring incentives for tree management in Sudan. London: IIED.
- Scoones, I. and J. McCracken (1989) Participatory rapid rural appraisal in Wollo: peasant association planning for natural resource management. London: IIED.
- Smith, D.L. (1996) Ho-Chunk tribal history: the history of the Ho-Chunk people from the mound-building era to the present day.
- Warren, D.M., L.J. Slikkerveer and D. Brokensha (1995) The cultural dimension of development: indigenous knowledge systems. London: IIED.
- Whitewing (1997) Personal communication with Winnebago Land Management.

Acknowledgements
Journal paper No.17453 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station Ames, Iowa, project No. 2656, and supported by the Hatch Act and State of Iowa funds. The research was drawn from graduate work by M. Szymanski in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D. in Forest Economics. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and the Farnsworth Committee through the Department of Forestry. The authors are grateful to the Winnebago Tribal Council, PRA participants, and elders in the Winnebago community for their guidance. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to the other members of the PRA team for their hard work and their various contributions to the project: Mary Painter, Denise Bellanger, and Betty St. Cyr.

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