scholarly journals Indigenous knowledge networks in the face of global change

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (20) ◽  
pp. 9913-9918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Cámara-Leret ◽  
Miguel A. Fortuna ◽  
Jordi Bascompte
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Knowledge Networks ◽  
The Road ◽  
Cultural Diffusion ◽  
The Face

Indigenous communities rely extensively on plants for food, shelter, and medicine. It is still unknown, however, to what degree their survival is jeopardized by the loss of either plant species or knowledge about their services. To fill this gap, here we introduce indigenous knowledge networks describing the wisdom of indigenous people on plant species and the services they provide. Our results across 57 Neotropical communities show that cultural heritage is as important as plants for preserving indigenous knowledge both locally and regionally. Indeed, knowledge networks collapse as fast when plant species are driven extinct as when cultural diffusion, either within or among communities, is lost. But it is the joint loss of plant species and knowledge that erodes these networks at a much higher rate. Our findings pave the road toward integrative policies that recognize more explicitly the inseparable links between cultural and biological heritage.

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 Safeguarding Sarawak's intangible cultural heritage: A knowledge management approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rashidah Bolhassan
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Organizational Knowledge ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Intangible Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Institutions

<p>The importance of indigenous knowledge is receiving increasing recognition. Some cultural institutions (CI) are responsible for safeguarding indigenous knowledge and they acquire, document, and record works and images of indigenous knowledge which are contained or embedded in the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of their indigenous communities such as songs, rituals, arts, and medical wisdom. These items of ICH become ‘knowledge objects’ or ‘representations of knowledge’ when documented, which are unlikely to represent the indigenous people's knowledge holistically. Indigenous knowledge embedded in the ICH requires interpretations of the processes, rituals, experiences and practices from the indigenous communities.  This interpretivist study, using a knowledge management (KM) lens, examined the knowledge sharing processes of the indigenous people of Sarawak, Malaysia, to understand the nature of indigenous knowledge and knowledge sharing from the perspectives of the indigenous people of Sarawak, in order to assist Sarawak’s cultural institutions in safeguarding their ICH.  This research used narrative inquiry as a research methodology, acquiring stories from two clusters of participants, purposively selected from three ethnic groups and from cultural institutions in Sarawak’s Civil Service. This study used a knowledge management perspective in analysing the findings. The findings on the nature of indigenous people’s knowledge highlight a three-tiered knowledge system. The findings on the CIs’ safeguarding efforts elucidate the gap in the management of the CIs’ organizational knowledge on safeguarding.  This study makes several important contributions. First, it contributes to the literature about the cultural protocol requirements of the indigenous people of Sarawak before they can share their knowledge. Secondly, this study elucidates the indigenous people’s knowledge as a three-tiered system which influences the people’s knowledge sharing ways. This system can be used to guide the CIs’ practices of safeguarding ICH. The third contribution of this study is that it expands our understanding of the complexity of indigenous knowledge, and creates a conceptual model to aid and guide this understanding. Fourth, this study also contributes towards a greater understanding of the importance of the CIs including the indigenous peoples in the safeguarding practices in order to avoid the decontextualization of the ICH. Thus, this study confirms the importance of the participation of the indigenous people in the CIs’ practice of safeguarding ICH.  Another contribution of this study, based on its findings, is the adaptation of three elements of a KM spectrum (Binney, 2001) for the CIs’ KM approach in managing their organizational knowledge on safeguarding ICH.</p>

scholarly journals Safeguarding Sarawak's intangible cultural heritage: A knowledge management approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rashidah Bolhassan
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Organizational Knowledge ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Intangible Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Institutions

<p>The importance of indigenous knowledge is receiving increasing recognition. Some cultural institutions (CI) are responsible for safeguarding indigenous knowledge and they acquire, document, and record works and images of indigenous knowledge which are contained or embedded in the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of their indigenous communities such as songs, rituals, arts, and medical wisdom. These items of ICH become ‘knowledge objects’ or ‘representations of knowledge’ when documented, which are unlikely to represent the indigenous people's knowledge holistically. Indigenous knowledge embedded in the ICH requires interpretations of the processes, rituals, experiences and practices from the indigenous communities.  This interpretivist study, using a knowledge management (KM) lens, examined the knowledge sharing processes of the indigenous people of Sarawak, Malaysia, to understand the nature of indigenous knowledge and knowledge sharing from the perspectives of the indigenous people of Sarawak, in order to assist Sarawak’s cultural institutions in safeguarding their ICH.  This research used narrative inquiry as a research methodology, acquiring stories from two clusters of participants, purposively selected from three ethnic groups and from cultural institutions in Sarawak’s Civil Service. This study used a knowledge management perspective in analysing the findings. The findings on the nature of indigenous people’s knowledge highlight a three-tiered knowledge system. The findings on the CIs’ safeguarding efforts elucidate the gap in the management of the CIs’ organizational knowledge on safeguarding.  This study makes several important contributions. First, it contributes to the literature about the cultural protocol requirements of the indigenous people of Sarawak before they can share their knowledge. Secondly, this study elucidates the indigenous people’s knowledge as a three-tiered system which influences the people’s knowledge sharing ways. This system can be used to guide the CIs’ practices of safeguarding ICH. The third contribution of this study is that it expands our understanding of the complexity of indigenous knowledge, and creates a conceptual model to aid and guide this understanding. Fourth, this study also contributes towards a greater understanding of the importance of the CIs including the indigenous peoples in the safeguarding practices in order to avoid the decontextualization of the ICH. Thus, this study confirms the importance of the participation of the indigenous people in the CIs’ practice of safeguarding ICH.  Another contribution of this study, based on its findings, is the adaptation of three elements of a KM spectrum (Binney, 2001) for the CIs’ KM approach in managing their organizational knowledge on safeguarding ICH.</p>

scholarly journals The criminalization of indigenous people in Roraima state, Brazil: indigenous strategies to bring their rights into effect in the face of injustices and inequalities

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Grant Baines
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The Face ◽  
Indigenous Organizations ◽  
State Capital ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Local Leaders

Abstract The criminalization of indigenous people in the prisons of Roraima state, Brazil, is examined, in which the justice system, as throughout Brazil, has no mechanisms to identify indigenous people and recognize their differentiated constitutional rights, reinforcing the inequalities and injustices for indigenous people, the most oppressed and discriminated since colonial times. Over the past decade, indigenous organizations in the state capital have drawn attention to this problem and taken protagonist measures to try to change it. The Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), through their lawyer, Joênia Wapichana, elected, in 2018 the first Indigenous woman to be a federal deputy, set up a project to write down indigenous oral law so that it could be used locally to deal with criminal cases, encouraging indigenous communities to resolve accusations of crimes through councils of local leaders and thereby avoid them being handed over to the mainstream criminal justice system.

Universities as the Gatekeepers of the Intellectual Property of Indigenous People's Medical Knowledge

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (S1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Kavelin
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Academic Capitalism ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Law And Policy

AbstractThis paper will explore the role of universities as one of the most important gatekeepers that facilitate the appropriation of Indigenous medical knowledge (IMK) from Indigenous communities to transnational pharmaceutical corporations. The first section will deconstruct the “denial of dependency” upon IMK. Using case studies, the critique will demonstrate a complex mystification of Indigenous knowledge and labour, and a de-identification of Indigenous people and nature as the source of the medicines appropriated. The last section will analyse the law and policy context of the past 20 years that is responsible for creating a process of academic capitalism that has strengthened this phenomenon.

An Indigenous Academic Perspective to Preserving and Promoting Indigenous Knowledge and Traditions: A Fiji Case Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wahab Ali
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Cultural Dimension ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
The University

Indigenous knowledge is multidimensional encompassing the beliefs, practices, arts, spirituality and other forms of traditional and cultural experiences that belong to Indigenous communities globally. In order to protect, preserve and recognize the knowledge of the Indigenous people of Fiji, known as the iTaukei, the University of Fiji has established a Centre for iTaukei Studies. The Centre apart from its cultural dimension has adopted the western system of disseminating knowledge through publications, text books and teacher education programmes. While maintaining the importance of preserving the originality of the Indigenous cultural identity and practices, the paper highlights how the infusion of the cultures of the Indigenous people and that of the Indo-Fijians, who have co-existed together for over 100 years, has shaped the unique multicultural landscape in Fiji.

scholarly journals Cultural Stewardship Accountability of Seed Bank Institutions for Indigenous Knowledge

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Mark L Shepheard
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Global Climate Changes ◽  
Wild Crop Relatives ◽  
Fodder Crops ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Subject

A growing emphasis among seed banks in Australia and globally is the collection of seed and information associated with wild crop relatives of food and fodder crops. This is part of scientific efforts to store and document plant traits that may prove useful to deal with risks to food and bio security in the face of global climate changes. This has implications for indigenous communities because of the risk that indigenous knowledge may be collected and included as ‘data’ rather than as knowledge with significant cultural tethering. This articl provides a theoretical context for institutional seed banks to engage with indigenous people and specify indigenous knowledge stewardship accountability. This should help seed banks to operate with sensitivity to cultural wellbeing and minimise the risks from failure to satisfy accountability for indigenous knowledge stewardship. The article identifies four interrelated dimensions of indigenous knowledge stewardship, and identifies a tentative process for institutions to adapt this to indigenous knowledge stewardship strategy and practice. The process for realising indigenous knowledge stewardship accountability is the subject of further research.

“No one will be left behind?” Taíno indigenous communities in the Caribbean and the road to SDGs 2030

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-320
Author(s):  
Johnnel Smith ◽  
Andrew J. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Christopher Columbus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Road ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Caribbean

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the existence of the Taíno people in Cuba and Jamaica and their alignment with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of 2030. The Caribbean has long had a narrative that the indigenous people – the Taíno – were made extinct after their encounter with Christopher Columbus in the 1500s. However, recent theoretical and empirical data have documented the survival and existence of indigenous people throughout the Caribbean. The goal of this paper is to contribute to a new narrative on Caribbean indigenous communities by documenting their current needs and challenges in achieving sustainability. It further recommends practical ways in which indigenous communities can be included in plans/goals for sustainability to ensure full alignment for the betterment of their people. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a qualitative case study approach coupled with a literature review of the Taíno of the Caribbean. Qualitative interviews were conducted with Caciques/Kasikes (Tribe Leaders) and members of Taíno communities in Jamaica and Cuba. Findings The members of the indigenous communities’ view community-based/indigenous tourism as a solution to preserve and sustain their heritage and provide income for their people; they provide strong recommendations on how this may be achieved in keeping with the 2030 SDGs. Originality/value Academic literature that documents the modern day existence and experiences of the Caribbean indigenous people, especially in Cuba and Jamaica, is a clear gap. The goal of this paper is to provide a new theoretical framework/narrative on Caribbean indigenous communities and suggest practical ways in which they can be further integrated with tourism to ensure full alignment for the betterment and sustainability of their people.

scholarly journals Diversity of Fodder Plants of Betalghat Block, Nainital district, Western Himalaya

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Naveen Ch. Pandey ◽  
G.C. Joshi ◽  
Lalit M. Tewari ◽  
Y.P.S. Pangtey
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Western Himalaya ◽  
Participatory Rural Appraisal ◽  
Vernacular Names ◽  
Fodder Plants ◽  
Forest Rehabilitation ◽  
The Himalaya ◽  
Rural Appraisal

The Himalaya is well recognized for its bio-physical diversity and socio-cultural heritage, traditional systems and an ample quantity of indigenous knowledge. The study was conducted with the help of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tool to document the diversity of fodder plants of Betalghat Block of Nainital District (Western Himalaya). Total 210 fodder plants species belonging to 70 families, 164 genera of different habits such as trees (35%), shrubs (31%), herbs (25%), and climbers (9%), were recorded. Out of 70 families, 12 dominant families were Poaceae (18 species), followed by Fabaceae (16 species), Moraceae (10 species), Rosaceae (10 species), Asteraceae (8 species), Euphorbiaceae (7 species), Mimosaceae (6 species), Caesalpinaceae (5 species), Ranunculaceae (5 species), Rhamnaceae (5 species), Urticaceae (5 species) and Rubiaceae (5 species). Of the total recorded species, 41% of the species were used during winter days, 38% during summer and 21% throughout the year. For each species, scientific and vernacular names, multipurpose uses (Fuel, medicinal, timber, agricultural tools, religious and fiber) were used. For the conservation of fodder plant species prioritization, mass multiplication with afforestation, reforestation and forest rehabilitation must be done.International Journal of EnvironmentVolume-6, Issue-4, Sep-Nov 2017, page: 1-27

scholarly journals Indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants used by the people of Kristi Village, Pokhara, Nepal

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 46-51
Author(s):  
Harilal Upadhaya
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Medicinal Plant Species ◽  
Mode Of Administration ◽  
Tribal People ◽  
The People

The medicinal knowledge of plants is very common among the tribal people but much of the information is not yet documented. The purpose of the present study was to document information on medicinal plants used by the people of Kristi village, Pokhara, Nepal. A total of 42 medicinal plant species belonging to 39 genera and 29 families were documented each with local name, uses and mode of administration. The study indicated that the indigenous people widely accepted the traditional knowledge on the utilization of medicinally important plants.

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