Understanding Traditional Healing Practices in the Limpopo Province of South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 233-244
Author(s):  
Jan Resenga Maluleka
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Traditional Healing ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Marginalised Groups ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
Traditional Healing Practices

Phenomenology affords indigenous knowledge researchers the perfect opportunity to understand the lived experiences of indigenous communities from the participants' perspectives. Various studies have shown that indigenous knowledge is currently facing extinction. As a result, information professionals should play a leading role in recording and preserving it. Phenomenology helps indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) scholars to obtain knowledge from marginalised groups and record it without any influences as a result of prior knowledge or personal worldviews. This study demonstrates how phenomenology was applied to understand traditional healing practices in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and, furthermore, illustrates how phenomenology can be employed by information professionals as a qualitative method to conduct indigenous knowledge (IK) research.

scholarly journals Traditional Indigenous Approaches to Healing and the modern welfare of Traditional Knowledge, Spirituality and Lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous Example

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian A Robbins ◽  
Jonathan Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Traditional Healing ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
Spiritual Revitalization

Traditional Indigenous Approaches to Healing and the modern welfare of Traditional Knowledge, Spirituality and Lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous Example In order for traditional knowledge to be maintained and to develop, it has to be practiced. Traditional healing provides a vehicle for this to occur. In Canada, the spiritual revitalization of Indigenous communities and individuals often involves the use numerous components of traditional healing. These elements are reflected most clearly at the grassroots level, however, current Indigenous programs delivered by Indigenous and governmental agencies have made some accommodating efforts as well. Perhaps most importantly, traditional knowledge and Indigenous spirituality hinges on the maintenance and renewal of relationships to the land. Indigenous land bases and the environment as a whole remain vitally important to the practice of traditional healing. A focus on Indigenous healing, when discussing Indigenous knowledge systems and spirituality, is paramount today due to the large scale suppression of Indigenous cultural expressions during the process of colonization. With respect to policy, there appears to be a historical progression of perception or attitude towards Indigenous traditional healing in Canada from one of disfavour to one favour. There are nevertheless continuing challenges for traditional healing. Mainstream perceptions and subsequent policy implementations sometimes still reflect attitudes that were formulated during the decline of traditional healing practice during colonization processes. As a consequence the ability for particular communities to maintain and use their specific understandings of Indigenous knowledge continues encounter obstacles. Indigenous Knowledge systems are living entities and not relics of the past. Today, these knowledge systems are still greatly being applied to help Indigenous communities and Indigenous people recover from intergenerational pain and suffering endured during the colonization process. Future policy development and implementation should aim to support Indigenous peoples and communities when they decide to learn about, maintain and build upon the knowledge amassed by their ancestors.

scholarly journals Turning mirrors into windows: Knowledge transfer among indigenous healers in Limpopo province of South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan R. Maluleka ◽  
Mpho Ngoepe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Traditional Healing ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Snowball Sampling

Background: Knowledge transfer is an unavoidable process when it comes to indigenous knowledge especially in Africa, the continent known for its oral tradition. Such knowledge is in danger of being obliterated as a result of a number of factors, including lack of interest from younger generations and low life expectancy whereby knowledgeable people die before transferring it to the next generation as it is mostly not documented. Objectives: This qualitative study utilised hermeneutic phenomenology guided by the organisational knowledge conversion theory to investigate the transfer of indigenous knowledge by traditional healers in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Method: The study utilised a snowball sampling technique to determine the population. Data collected through interviews with traditional healers were augmented with observations done on two healers who were in the middle of their training when this study was conducted, as well as an analysis of records held by some healers. Results: The findings suggestthat knowledge of traditional healing is believed to be transferred to the chosen ones through dreams and visions. However, this knowledge seems to be transferred through mentorship and apprenticeship, as well as interactions with other healers. Conclusion: It is concluded that transferring knowledge of traditional healing goes beyond just transference; it is embedded as a belief system in many African communities. An in-depth study on the development of a framework to integrate indigenous knowledge of traditional healers into mainstream health system is recommended.

Research Protocols and Ethical Considerations in Indigenous Knowledge Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 714-730
Author(s):  
Mogege David Mosimege
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
Protection Mechanisms ◽  
Very High

Research in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in South Africa has grown at a very high pace in a relatively short period of time. The growth thereof has presented researchers and the knowledge holders with challenges that have never faced them in the same way before. It has necessitated a review of how researchers interact with those who hold the knowledge and has required that protection mechanisms be implemented to safeguard the misuse and misappropriation of the indigenous knowledge. This Chapter outlines the focus on IKS in South Africa since 1995 and reflects on the challenges related to this focus. Specifically the Chapter looks at the challenges related to the recognition of knowledge holders, the ethical issues facing both researchers and knowledge holders, and the protocols that have been designed and used in South Africa and other places. It concludes by indicating the challenges that still remain and how these can be explored further by the research community.

Learning From Place

2020 ◽  
pp. 264-286
Author(s):  
Kevin O'Connor ◽  
Gladys Sterenberg ◽  
Norman Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
Teacher Education Pedagogy

This chapter investigates how teacher candidates' experiences in STEAM field studies with community partners can inform work in teacher education within an integrated practicum based on curriculum of place. The overall goal of the inquiry is to better understand and articulate the particular ways in which people value place-based knowledge. Through relationships with Indigenous communities, the team of educators has a deeply held conviction that sustained deliberations on the connections between Indigenous knowledge systems and place-based thinking can provide significant opportunities for reframing education. Learning from place emphasizes a relationship with the land, something deeply respected in Indigenous communities and something absent from much of place-based education. The research explores this tension as we come to a deeper and shared understanding of co-responsibility within Treaty 7 relationships. The project seeks to close this gap by considering varying perspectives of place as it informs STEAM teacher education pedagogy.

Survival of the Fittest Protection of Indigenous Knowledge

2022 ◽  
pp. 294-316
Author(s):  
Stewart Lee Kugara ◽  
Tsetselelani Decide Mdhluli ◽  
Pfarelo Eva Matshidze
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Qualitative Design ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Legal Methodology ◽  
Survival Of The Fittest

This chapter reflects on numerous protections that are available for indigenous knowledge from those who misappropriate it for personal aggrandizement without regard of the holders of the knowledge. The chapter is underpinned on the Afrocentricity and Sankofa theories. A socio-legal methodology was adopted to ground the work to enable students studying indigenous knowledge systems to have a foundation and be able to follow the interdisciplinarity in the writing. As such, a doctrinal approach and qualitative design were engaged to buttress the philosophical reasoning and capture the rich and unrecorded knowledge of inorganic intellectuals. The chapter's standpoint is that the protection of indigenous knowledge requires African-tailored legislation that resonates with indigenous communities' beliefs and are pragmatic yet innovative to bring benefit sharing. In pursuing this, a normative legal framework that could be utilised in the protection of indigenous knowledge is explored.

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