Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Indigenous knowledge'
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Magaisa, Alex Tawanda. "Knowledge protection in indigenous communities : the case of indigenous medical knowledge systems in Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2004. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2630/.
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This study examines the contentious issues relating to the exploitation of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) within the context of the expanding regime of intellectual property law (IP law). The study focuses specifically on the area of indigenous medical knowledge (IMK) within the geographical context of Zimbabwe as a country case study. The study examines the centrality of knowledge in the global economy and using international political economic theory and practice, demonstrates why it is a key site of struggles between and among nations and various stakeholders. While it considers the narrow issue of the applicability or otherwise of IP law to IKS, this study takes the approach that it is necessary to understand the socio-historical developments that account for the peripheral status of IKS in relation to the dominant western knowledge systems (WKS). A key argument of this study is that the lack of legal protection of IKS is directly connected to their marginal status in social, intellectual, cultural and economic terms arising from the dominance of the predominantly WKS. It is argued that far from being a narrow legalistic debate, the matter of the protection of IKS is a wider socio-cultural, economic and political issue that centres on the power relations between and among people, corporations and states. Through a combination of theoretical and field investigations, the study seeks to explore the factors that account for the marginalisation of IKS generally and IMK systems in particular. The “struggle thesis” demonstrates that from an historical viewpoint knowledge systems are in a state of constant interaction and struggle resulting in problems. The key to resolving the problems is to acknowledge difference and accept the legitimacy and validity of different knowledge systems and to democratise the regime of knowledge protection both nationally and globally. It proposes that solutions lie in not only reconstructing the legal architecture but also in ensuring that the social, economic and political structures are reconstructed to safeguard and nurture the IKS. The study investigates the needs and expectations of the indigenous communities including their rationale for the protection of their knowledge systems. Finally, it also contributes to the development of indigenous research methodologies.
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Moors, Allan D. "An indigenous knowledge garden, an urban teaching garden for the preservation of indigenous environmental knowledge." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape9/PQDD_0004/MQ41665.pdf.
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Njiraine, Dorothy Muthoni. "Mapping and auditing indigenous knowledge and its management environment: a comparative study of Kenya and South Africa." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1062.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Information Studies for the award of a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Studies, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012.Knowledge management (KM) is increasingly popularized in various societies, organizations and governments because of its confirmed importance in fostering knowledge creation, codification and transfer, and development of knowledge capital capability. Indigenous knowledge (IK), which forms part of KM, is also generally thought to have crucial functions and importance in the knowledge management process (creation or production, storage, processing or codification, transfer and utilization) and should therefore receive significant attention. The aim and objectives of the study was to map and audit the current IK environment and practices in Kenya and South Africa with specific attention to identifying the IK policies and legislation in place, exploring and analyzing the IK governance structures, examining the IK centres and systems in terms of their roles, identifying what IK programmes and activities are in existence and when are they held, determining the status, trends and types of IK research. The study used the survey method. The study was conducted in two countries, i.e. Kenya and South Africa, but was not defined geographically. It was restricted to the capital cities of Nairobi in Kenya and Pretoria in South Africa, which house the administrative governments of the two countries. Since the population of this study consisted of organizations, institutions, databases and activities, and because it was impractical to collect data from them all, the population was narrowed down to a representation or sample of the population. Non-probability sampling techniques were used to create a sampling frame through cluster and multi-stage sampling. Purposive sampling technique was applied to select centres and activities from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Gender in Kenya and South Africa that deal with IK. Both snowball sampling and purposive sampling were applied to select the key informants who headed the various IK Departments of Science and Technology in South Africa and the Department of Culture in Kenya. This resulted in a fair representation of the cultural diversity of the two countries and the various levels of knowledge, management and development of the personnel. A sample size of twenty organizations, 13 from Kenya and 7 from South Africa, was selected for this study. The sample size was different for the two countries because of the different management systems and the use of the snowball sampling technique to select xiv informants. The key informants (senior management positions within organizations) in many cases consisted of more than one person per organization. Research instruments consisted of field visits, interview guides, observation, and a document review/ critical literature review. The study used detailed interview guides with both structured and unstructured questions as the main research instrument. This was used to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. A pilot study was carried out to test and verify the research instruments. This was done through the Department of Culture in Kenya. The study found that both Kenya and South Africa have active IK policies and management in place to ensure its sustainability. A defined institutional framework is vital for the effective management of IK. A case in point is the existence of the South African National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Office (NIKSO) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The functions and rationale for NIKSO are stipulated in South Africa‘s IK Policy. However, such a mechanism does not seem to exist in Kenya, especially because of the nomadic nature of the Department of Culture. Ministries that housed the department include the Ministries of Culture and Social Services, Women and Youth, Home Affairs, and National Heritage, among others. The presence of the various IK-related policy initiatives by different institutions within the same government points to lack of coordination, especially in Kenya. Examples of such duplicated initiatives include the National Policy on Culture of the Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, and the development of laws for the protection of traditional knowledge, genetic resources and folklore by the Office of the Attorney General. The importance of IK cannot be stressed enough. According to WHO, countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America use traditional medicine to help meet some of their primary healthcare needs. In Africa, up to 80 % of the population uses traditional medicine for primary healthcare. This clearly indicates that unless measures for the protection of IK are beefed up, then the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) of indigenous knowledge may never be realized. Based on the study‘s findings, this study recommends an IK awareness program or campaign that targets those charged with the management of IK as well as the citizenry of the two countries. There should be heightened efforts to create an independent department in a vibrant ministry that deals with IK to ensure that indigenous knowledge is put to the best possible use. Further research should be done in order to find ways in which indigenous knowledge can blend with modern technology to solve current problems. Academic institutions need to play a more proactive role in promoting IK in Kenya. IK programmes and activities should also focus on all features and aspects of IK rather than capitalize on culture only.
University of Nairobi
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Eades, Gwilym. "Geoweb: indigenous mapping of intergenerational knowledge." Thesis, McGill University, 2011. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=97082.
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This thesis examines the transmission of intergenerational cultural knowledge on eastern James Bay Cree lands. Geospatial technologies and the representation of Cree knowledge are explored, with emphasis on the geoweb. A geoweb with two parts, old and new, is theorized as compatible with Cree interests at a landscape level of analysis. Local and traditional knowledge scales also emerge as crucial levels of analysis for the creation and transmission of hybrid forms of knowledge on the geoweb.The hypothesis that the meme is a viable and valid mechanism (replicator) for the transmission of indigenous intergenerational knowledge on the geoweb is supported. The assertion that the geoweb would be the primary vehicle for the protection and replication of place-memes is also well supported. Evidence for these claims was provided by examining traditional and local toponymic densities and qualitative data, revealing both the capacity and the will, historically and presently, to use geoweb-enabled mapping for local and traditional knowledge preservation and transmission.Cette thèse examinent la transmission de connaissance intergénérationnelles et culturelles de la réserve des Cris habitant l'est de la Baie James. La technologie géospatiale et la connaissance des Cris sont explorées, avec une emphase sur le Géoweb. Un Géoweb divisé en deux, ancien et nouveau, est théorisé comme étant compatible avec les intérêts des Cris au niveau de l'analyse du paysage. L'échelle de connaissances locale et traditionnelle ressort comme une pièce primordiale pour l'analyse de la création et de la transmission des connaissances hybrides sur le Géoweb. L'hypothèse supporte que le mème est un mécanisme viable et valable (réplication) pour transmettre les connaissances intergénérationnelles autochtones sur le Géoweb. L'affirmation que le Géoweb sera l'outil principal pour la protection et la réplication de mèmes de lieu est aussi bien supporté. Les preuves de ces allégations proviennent de l'examen traditionnel et local des densités toponymiques et des données qualitatives révélant à la fois la capacité et la volonté, historiquement et actuellement, d'utiliser la cartographie Géoweb pour la préservation et la transmission des connaissances locales et traditionnelles.
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Nel, Philip J. "Indigenous knowledge systems and language practice : interface of a knowledge discourse." Journal for New Generation Sciences : Socio-constructive language practice : training in the South African context : Special Edition, Vol 6, Issue 3: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/516.
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Published ArticleThe paper seeks to engage constructively with the challenges and opportunities Indigenous Knowledge (IK) may offer disciplines in Language Practice. The approach will be contextualized in terms of the theoretical shift in knowledge production and use, as well as the current debate pertaining to the feasibility of the incorporation of IK into curricula. Specific attention will be rendered to topics of Africanizing scholarship, a performance model of knowledge, the socio-cultural embeddedness of language, and brief thoughts on the translation of the oral. These thematic issues are of particular importance to Language Practice, perceived here to be at the gateway between theory of language/communication and receiver communities.
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Griffin, Rory D. "Indigenous knowledge for sustainable development : case studies of three indigenous tribes of Wisconsin /." Link to full text, 2009. http://epapers.uwsp.edu/thesis/2009/Griffin.pdf.
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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, 2009.Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Science in Natural Resource Management, College of Natural Resources. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-176).
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Loggenberg, Ernest Wilfred. "Teaching and learning electrostatics using everyday knowledge, indigenous knowledge and scientific argumentation." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008412.
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South African School Curriculum, calls for the integration of IKS within school science (Department of Education, 2006, Department of Basic Education, 2011). Lightning is an area of high interest in the Eastern Cape and is used as the topic in this study which focuses on the integration of indigenous knowledge systems in science education. The study investigated the impact of an intervention strategy framed around the use of scientific argumentation and the integration of everyday knowledge and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) into the teaching of electrostatics at Grade Ten level. The impact focused on the teachers’ ability to implement the strategy, the electrostatics knowledge gained by learners, the learners’ argumentation ability, and the motivational and confidence levels of both teachers and learners. The sample comprised eight schools (the science teachers and their Grade Ten Physical Science learners) in the Uitenhage District of Education of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Qualitative data were generated via interviews, classroom observations, pre- and post test questionnaires with open-ended questions to evoke meaningful responses that could not be anticipated by the research, and argumentation writing frames for both teachers and learners. Limited quantitative data were generated via the argumentation writing frames and the more close-ended questionnaire questions. The findings of the teacher and learner argumentation frames and the teacher checklists which revealed that the intervention impacted positively on the teachers’ ability to integrate IKS into their teaching practice. The use indigenous knowledge as the context for argumentation appears to have been a more effective way of introducing the concept than doing so within a scientific context (which the learners found difficult). The intervention facilitated an enhanced level of understanding on lightning, and assisted with the creation of the “third space” and border crossing between IKS and western science. The individual interviews disclosed the teachers’ improved ability to integrate IKS, IKS improving the facilitation of the argumentation strategy, and their improved motivation and confidence.
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Bjoernsen, Gurung Astrid Björnsen Gurung Astrid. "Indigenous knowledge of storage pest management in Nepal /." [Zürich] : [s.n.], 2002. http://e-collection.ethbib.ethz.ch/show?type=diss&nr=14784.
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Stewart, Patrick Robert Reid. "Indigenous architecture through indigenous knowledge : dim sagalts’apkw nisiḿ [together we will build a village]." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/52998.
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The purpose of this research was to find out how the culture of an Indigenous architect informs their practice of architecture. The research for this dissertation was motivated by Indigenous Elders responses to my architectural design work as an Indigenous architect. This is the first known research in Canada that privileges the use of Indigenous Knowledge in the design process by Indigenous architects. The results of this research will inform the future education of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in architecture and their practice within the profession.
The research was based on an Indigenous methodology of respect, reciprocity, redistribution, relevance, reflection, relationship and responsibility. Conversations with nineteen Indigenous architects from Turtle Island, Australia, Cihuatan (El Salvador) and Aotearoa (New Zealand) were recorded, transcribed with content analyzed. They self-identified their culture and its influence on their design work. They assessed their time in architecture school and proposed changes that would assist schools of architecture attracting Indigenous students into the faculty.
The conversations were enlightening in what they did not reveal about the use of Indigenous knowledge in design. Though some of the architects employed Indigenous knowledge in their design process, surprisingly many were not so obvious. There may be many reasons for this, the impact of colonization perhaps the most significant. There was however a general attitude that schools of architecture could do more to attract and retain Indigenous students in their programs. This is significant if universities are truly to embrace cultural competency in an increasingly global economy.Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
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Desta, Amare. "Comprehending indigenous knowledge : an ethnographic study of knowledge processes within natural resource management." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2009. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2345/.
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This study explores the phenomenon of indigenous knowledge within Ethiopia against a background of increasing concern for the sustainability of natural resources. A review of the indigenous knowledge, information systems and innovation studies literature finds little in the way of relevant theories and hence the study applies concepts from knowledge management. In particular, it takes the notions of tacit knowledge and knowledge processes and applies them in the context of indigenous knowledge concerning natural resource management. It combines existing knowledge process frameworks with stakeholder analysis to produce a robust conceptual tool to explore systems of indigenous knowledge. The research uses an ethnographic approach to studying an indigenous community in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia. The four-month fieldwork produced extensive data concerning indigenous knowledge within the community and the interface with scientific knowledge. It also shows the ingenuity and extent of local innovation by the villagers in an effort to solve local problems with local solutions. Using the conceptual framework, developed in the first part of the study, the data is analysed with reference to knowledge processes and the four main stakeholder groups: the indigenous farmers, the government, research institutions and local nongovernmental organisations. This analysis clarifies the existing roles of the stakeholders and leads to a new conceptualisation of indigenous knowledge, and the knowledge transfers between the indigenous and scientific communities, in terms of systems of knowledge processes. The implications of this model are considered within the light of the various external threats to indigenous communities and their knowledge.
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Mwangi, Moses Njuguna. "Indigenous technical knowledge in water development : an investigation into the role of indigenous technical knowledge in development of sustainable rural water supplies." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2001. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/34215.
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Water development interventions in developing countries often marginalize the rural indigenous technical knowledge and instead, rely solely on modern technological advancements. The genesis of this is the partial and biased understanding that has emanated from inflexible application. The development process fails to take cognisance of the fact that indigenous cultures contain the bases for any effective development, awareness of which is central in the construction of sustainable strategies for rural water development. Recognition of this would take development forward from where the people are, rather than where the external agents of development would like them to be. This research carried out among the Maasai pastoralists of Kajiado in Kenya assesses the application of indigenous technical knowledge in which is their water development is embedded in order to find out the effects of incorporating rural peoples' technical knowledge in the development and management of the rural water supplies.
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Du, Plessis Pierre. "Tracking knowledge : science, tracking and technology." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14263.
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-79).Knowledges are not distinct entities. They cannot be held in isolation as if bounded, discrete, or systematic. They are far too dynamic and complex to be thought of in this way. 'Scientific' and 'Indigenous' knowledge, however, are often discussed polemically and held in dialogical tension against one another. They are part of a set of dualisms that work under certain universal assumptions critical to Western epistemology. These dualisms include modernity/tradition; nature/culture; and subject/object. This study examines the multiple perspectives, including both scientists and local trackers, involved in the Western Kgalagadi Conservation Corridor Project (WKCC) in an attempt to resolve some of these dualisms. It focuses on the dimensions of tracking animals and data collection with a GPS technology known as 'Cybertracker'. Involving both scientists and people from the Kalahari with knowledge of tracking animals, the dynamics of knowledge production and the movement of knowledge are explored. Their work together demonstrates ways that movement and embodiment are central to the production of knowledge. Knowledge production and the relationship between diverse knowledges and approaches in the WKCC project are investigated without reducing them to the same epistemological foundation or holding them in dualistic opposition. Knowledges become part of networks and engage with one another through their movement, embodiment, and interaction with various non-human subject-objects. The use of the Cybertracker databasing technology shows that an engagement of multiple perspectives, the significance of movement, performance, historical connections, and subject-object relations in a variety of contexts are key to understanding the production of knowledge. The movement, agency, and relatedness demonstrated in various 'knowledge objects', including data, shows that the complexities involve a continual exchange of influence in which knowledges are always changing. The presence of diverse knowledges, expressed in both their relatedness and their tensions, are evident in their very movement in these networks as actors and the interwoven trails they leave behind. In the process, the boundaries between the dualisms become blurred, if not irrelevant.
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Brigg, Morgan James. "Asking after selves : knowledge and settler-indigenous conflict resolution /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2005. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe18625.pdf.
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Simelane, Bhekithemba Doctor. "Indigenous knowledge and vegetation utilisation in Khayelitsha, Cape Town." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_4577_1209045528.
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The aim of this study was to investigate indigenous knowledge of vegetation resource utilisation, in particular the use of traditional medicinal plants in the provision of health care in the community of Khayelitsha and to determine traditional resource management approaches.
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Chanza, Nelson. "Indigenous knowledge and climate change : insights from Muzarabani, Zimbabwe." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020299.
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Discourse characterising climate change has largely revolved around aspects within the realm of impact identification, mitigation and adaptation. Apparently, a burgeoning appetite to examine the role of indigenous knowledge (IK) now confronts the fronts of climate science, policy and practice. The surge in attention to localbased knowledge is attributed to growing challenges posed by change and variability in the climate system. This study argues that indigenous-based knowledge is capable of filling knowledge gaps and validating current understanding about climate change particularly at local levels. Essentially, the paucity of knowledge about local climatic events can be circumvented by engaging indigenous ‘scientists’ whose many years of direct contact with the environment have equipped them with the indispensable knowledge, skills and experiences to understand the same. Primarily, the thesis’ objectives were threefold. One, it captured useful indicators of climate change and variability from the understanding of the indigenous people, which can also be used to enhance understanding of climate change impacts.Two, it drew from the knowledge, experiences, skills and practices of the locals in order to inform appropriate community level mitigation and adaptation interventions. And, three, it highlighted the fact that knowledge of the indigenous people can be used to direct research on climate change. The study area (Muzarabani in Zimbabwe) experiences recurrent droughts and floods and its villagers rely predominantly on climate-sensitive livelihoods. As such, it was selected to provide a reliable case on IK practices and experiences of the people witnessing climatic events. The study was framed within an epistemological and methodological configuration of emancipatory pedagogy that looks at the generators of climate knowledge as ‘scientists’ in their own right. A qualitative elicitation interviewing technique involving in-depth discussions with traditional leaders and elderly knowledgeable citizens was conducted. The participants were selected through chain referrals until the level of theoretical saturation. In addition, directed field observations, document analysis and key informant interviews with other respondents selected through theoretical sampling enhanced the robustness of data acquisition methods. Group-based participatory data analysis and reflexive pragmatism also enhanced rigour and quality of research findings intended to balance between the strictures of the scientific audience and the views of the knowledge generators. Three key themes were derived from IK-climate change linkages as: indigenous based indicators of climate change, indigenous-based mitigation and indigenous based adaptation. A range of indigenous-based indicators identified pointed to a progressively drier climate with shorter growing seasons that are also punctuated by mid-season dry spells. A trend towards increased desiccation of water bodies (rivers, ponds and vleis) was further observed. There is also an upsurge in the abundance and pestiferous nature of Macrotermes spp, Quelea quelea and Acanthoplus discoidalis, which are most likely related to climate change. Some of these indicators closely match with those used in mainstream climate science and they also serve to understand climate change impacts at a finer local level of analysis. Indigenous-based mitigation is mainly driven by the notion of sacredness where the locals regard forestry, certain trees and vleis as sacrosanct. Tampering with these is believed to upset the spirits who have powers to influence climate. Opportunities associated with IK deployment in climate mitigation are understood from the viewpoint of enhancing greenhouse gas (GHG) sinks and that of reducing vulnerability to extreme climatic events. Specifically, this can be achieved through enhancing GHG sequestration through forestry and land-use management initiatives; that is, reducing emissions from deforestation and forestry related degradation (REDD+) and Land Use and Land-Use Cover and Forestry (LULUCF). These two are the dominant schemes adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to govern climate mitigation. Indigenous disaster risk management (DRM) strategies abound in drought, famine, flood and violent storms through various forms such as Zunde raMambo, nhimbe, rain-making ceremonies and community early warning systems (EWS).The locals in Muzarabani are not passive observers of the changing climate system. Increasing environmental risks necessitates them to devise countermeasures for responding to climatic stimuli with the intention of minimising harm and/or enhancing the benefits brought about by the same. Thus, a portfolio of IK-based adaptation strategies best described as an assortment of short-term coping practices and longterm adaptive strategies were identified. These range from exploitation of ecosystem services, agricultural based interventions, riverine farming, traditional phonological knowledge (TPK) to migration. Therefore, it was revealed that community-based adaptation (CBA) can adequately leverage on IK to improve adaptive capacity and build community resilience against climate change. Clearly, the complementary role of indigenous-based knowledge cannot be disputed, given the demonstrated range of applications from identifying several indicators of change and variability in the climate system, examination of climate change impacts, to identification and assessment of mitigation and adaptation options. The study advises that exogenous climate interventions need to be congruent with indigenous based strategies to avoid maladaptation. To the climate research community therefore, it should be realised that IK is useful both as leads and as baseline knowledge for future work on the impacts of climate change, and in the assessment of climate interventions. In this regard, the remaining challenge is to formulate a framework of constructive dialogue between indigenous scientists and conventional scientists so as to make sure that the mutual benefits of the two knowledge forms are adequately harnessed. Handled well, such collaborative effort would ensure enhanced climate change knowledge for successful mitigation and adaptation strategies. Handled poorly, there is a risk that the developmental needs of communities exposed to climatic events would not be addressed.
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Anderson, Jane Elizabeth Law Faculty of Law UNSW. "The production of indigenous knowledge in intellectual property law." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Law, 2003. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/20491.
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The thesis is an exploration of how indigenous knowledge has emerged as a subject within Australian intellectual property law. It uses the context of copyright law to illustrate this development. The work presents an analysis of the political, social and cultural intersections that influence legal possibilities and effect practical expectations of the law in this area. The dilemma of protecting indigenous knowledge resonates with tensions that characterise intellectual property as a whole. The metaphysical dimensions of intellectual property have always been insecure but these difficulties come to the fore with the identification of boundaries and markers that establish property in indigenous subject matter. While intellectual property law is always managing difference, the politics of law are more transparent when managing indigenous concerns. Rather than assume the naturalness of the category of indigenous knowledge within law, this work interrogates the politics of its construction precisely as a ???special??? category. Employing a multidisciplinary methodology, engaging theories of governmental rationality that draws upon the scholarship of Michel Foucault to appreciate strategies of managing and directing knowledge, the thesis considers how the politics of law is infused by cultural, political, bureaucratic and individual factors. Key elements in Australia that have pushed the law to consider expressions of indigenous knowledge in intellectual property can be located in changing political environments, governmental intervention through strategic reports, cultural sensitivity articulated in case law and innovative instances of individual agency. The intersection of these elements reveals a dynamic that exerts influence in the shape the law takes.
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O'Brien, William Eugene. "Participation and indigenous knowledge in development for African pastoralists." Thesis, This resource online, 1991. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10222009-125038/.
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Bainton, David. "Suffering development : indigenous knowledge and western education in Ladakh." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1983/365ef4b2-e7aa-4be3-bec1-e753374d09c1.
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Jordaan, Beatrice. "The protection of indigenous medical knowledge a critical analysis /." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd/etd-07132006-120602/.
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Jordaan, Leandra. "Designing and developing a prototype indigenous knowledge database and devising a knowledge management framework." Thesis, Bloemfontein : Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/121.
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Thesis (M. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009The purpose of the study was to design and develop a prototype Indigenous Knowledge (IK) database that will be productive within a Knowledge Management (KM) framework specifically focused on IK. The need to develop a prototype IK database that can help standardise the work being done in the field of IK within South Africa has been established in the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) policy, which stated that “common standards would enable the integration of widely scattered and distributed references on IKS in a retrievable form. This would act as a bridge between indigenous and other knowledge systems” (IKS policy, 2004:33). In particular within the indigenous people’s organizations, holders of IK, whether individually or collectively, have a claim that their knowledge should not be exploited for elitist purposes without direct benefit to their empowerment and the improvement of their livelihoods. Establishing guidelines and a modus operandi (KM framework) are important, especially when working with communities. Researchers go into communities to gather their knowledge and never return to the communities with their results. The communities feel enraged and wronged. Creating an IK network can curb such behaviour or at least inform researchers/organisations that this behaviour is damaging. The importance of IK is that IK provides the basis for problem-solving strategies for local communities, especially the poor, which can help reduce poverty. IK is a key element of the “social capital” of the poor; their main asset to invest in the struggle for survival, to produce food, to provide shelter, or to achieve control of their own lives. It is closely intertwined with their livelihoods. Many aspects of KM and IK were discussed and a feasibility study for a KM framework was conducted to determine if any existing KM frameworks can work in an organisation that works with IK. Other factors that can influence IK are: guidelines for implementing a KM framework, information management, quality management, human factors/capital movement, leading role players in the field of IK, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), ethics, guidelines for doing fieldwork, and a best plan for implementation. At this point, the focus changes from KM and IK to the prototype IK database and the technical design thereof. The focus is shifted to a more hands-on development by looking at the different data models and their underlying models. A well-designed database facilitates data management and becomes a valuable generator of information. A poorly designed database is likely to become a breeding ground for redundant data. The conceptual design stage used data modelling to create an abstract database structure that represents real-world objects in the most authentic way possible. The tools used to design the database are platform independent software; therefore the design can be implemented on many different platforms. An elementary prototype graphical user interface was designed in order to illustrate the database’s three main functions: adding new members, adding new IK records, and searching the IK database. The IK database design took cognisance of what is currently prevailing in South Africa and the rest of the world with respect to IK and database development. The development of the database was done in such a way as to establish a standard database design for IK systems in South Africa. The goal was to design and develop a database that can be disseminated to researchers/organisations working in the field of IK so that the use of a template database can assist work in the field. Consequently the work in the field will be collected in the same way and based on the same model. At a later stage, the databases could be interlinked and South Africa can have one large knowledge repository for IK.
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Klaassen, André. "Planning for Sustainable Development in Fiji: indigenous knowledge, Western knowledge, or something in between?" Thesis, KTH, Urbana och regionala studier, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-286118.
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Climate change poses paramount challenges to our world. While more developed nations in the West are not without harm, among the hardest hit are vulnerable indigenous islanders in the South Pacific. Without sufficient action, Pacific Island nations might become uninhabitable, or practically disappear, in the near future (Belson, 2018). To manage the crisis, leaders across the world have united under supranational agreements in efforts to provide development assistance. In Fiji, this has resulted in an international development campaign anchored in Western ideals, often embracing technocentric and hard engineering solutions. To manage the climate crisis in an indigenous Fijian context, this work argues that sustainable development efforts must embrace indigenous knowledge, and that planning, and planners, can play a crucial part. Through diary entries and fieldnotes, I invite the reader on my journey through Fiji to explore current adaption and mitigation efforts, examine their impact on the indigenous Fijian way of life (bula vakavanua), and propose a way for planning and planners to embrace alternative notions of sustainability in development. As a result, this work promotes development that not only safeguards indigenous land, but the values and traditions under which indigenous land is governed.
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Valencia, Mireya. "Restoring Reciprocity: Indigenous Knowledges and Environmental Education." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/224.
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Environmental education in the U.S. has been slow to incorporate Indigenous knowledges, with most pre-university curriculum centering around Western science. I believe incorporating Indigenous knowledges into environmental education can promote reciprocal, critical, and active human-nature relationships. While Indigenous knowledges should infiltrate all levels of environmental education, I argue that alternative forms of education which operate outside the formal school system might present the fewest immediate obstacles.
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Robinson, Jocelyne Virginia. "Algonquin Ekwânamo matrix project : "a place to interface", for elders, indigenous scientists/non-indigenous scientists, indigenous knowledge systems and western science systems." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/55935.
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This research is consistent with literature that states there are inequities relating to the under-representation of Indigenous students in the subjects of math, science and technology in education as compared to Non-Indigenous people in Canada. The analysis of nine in-depth interviews and the process of documentary explores two questions that this thesis aims to address: From the perspectives and dialogues of three Elders, three Indigenous scientists, and three Non-Indigenous scientists who have contemplated the ways to address the tensions between Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Western Science Systems: What are the educational possibilities, challenges, and benefits of having these systems interface? How can art, technology and dialogue be mediums for exploring the interface between these systems so that Indigenous learners may be motivated to participate in both knowledge systems? An interplay between three theoretical, methodological frameworks of Indigenous Storywork (Archibald, 2008a, 2008b), Irwin in A/r/tography (Irwin & Springgay, 2008), Implicate Order (Bohm, 2007) and through the development of a fourth theoretical, methodological framework the Algonquin Ekwânamo Matrix Project shape this research. Four themes emerged from this analysis: [1] Language and Story as Tools for Critical Thinking [2] Culture and Ecological Mindfulness in Kinships with Nature and All Living Entities [3] Identity and Relevance in Education as Seeing Ourselves in Academia [4] Presence and Wholistic Learning From the Heart. Four A’s Strategies emerged from the in-depth interviews in relation to the four themes that may incite new ways for building complementary relationships in science education: The first is Activating Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Knowledge Encounters Through Dialogue; second is Aligning Indigenous Knowledge Interfaces Through Dialogical Strategies; third is Applying Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science Interfacing Through Co-created Strategies in Bohmian Dialogue and First Nations Circles; and fourth is Anticipating Innovative Knowledge Enhancements through decentralized think tank groups that align with Indigenous culturally competent ways for accessing well being. This research study helped develop the Algonquin Ekwânamo Matrix Project’s theoretical and methodological framework that foreground the need to address the global ecological crisis through meaningful dialogue, respectful relationships and a new science paradigm that reflects wholistically art, science, diverse philosophies and perspectives.Education, Faculty of
Graduate
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Doyle, Ann Mary. "Naming, claiming, and (re)creating : Indigenous knowledge organization at the cultural interface." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/44262.
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This design/research study is located at the disciplinary interstices of Indigenous education and information science. It is motivated by the weaknesses of the dominant library knowledge organization systems (KOS) in representing and organizing documents with Indigenous content. The study first examines the nature of the problem and then explores ways in which Indigenous conceptual, theoretical and methodological approaches can generate new directions for KOS design. It thereby addresses the central research question, “How can Indigenous approaches to knowledge inform principles of design of library knowledge organization systems to serve Indigenous purposes?”
An Indigenous theoretical lens, @ Cultural Interface, is assembled for the study composed of Martin Nakata’s (2007b) Cultural Interface, and Dwayne Donald’s (2009b) Indigenous Métissage. It is integrated with domain analysis in information science (Hjørland & Albrechtsen, 1995) to produce a methodology, domain analysis @ Cultural Interface, used to study the domain of Indigenous knowledge within post-secondary education. Information was gathered through expert interviews with nine Indigenous designers of Indigenous KOS from four countries; a user study with nine First Nations, Aboriginal, and Métis graduate students; and theoretical analyses.
The study produced a theoretical framework for Indigenous knowledge organization based on four main findings: (1) knowledge organization is integral to educational infrastructure and is consequential for Indigenous learners and all learners; (2) a definition of the domain of Indigenous knowledge in post-secondary education, its boundaries and the boundary marker of Indigeneity; (3) an articulation of Indigenous knowledge organization as a field of study including a (partial) history, typology of design practice, objectives, and evaluation framework; and (4) a design workspace for conceptual enquiry. These findings are synthesized in a theoretical framework, Indigenous knowledge organization @ Cultural Interface, which can be applied in the design, study, and critique of knowledge organization for Indigenous purposes. It is noted that this study and its theoretical framework have been constructed incrementally based on selected theorists, particular participants, experiences, and literatures and offer only one of many possible interpretations.
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Marzano, Mariella. "Sowing new ideas : an investigation of anthropology's contribution to rural development in S.E. Sri Lanka." Thesis, Durham University, 2002. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4184/.
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This thesis is a study of rural development resulting from ethnographic research carried out in the villages of Mediriya, Therrapahuwa and Walamatiara in Moneragala, Sri Lanka. As rural villages are being drawn into increasingly complex relations governed by forces of globalisation, this study develops an understanding of the significance of these interactions within the context of development. In Sri Lanka, current (worldwide) concerns for 'sustainable’ development based on 'participation' in order to alleviate 'poverty' and 'empower' local people, must be examined against a historical backdrop in order to appreciate the significance of rural intervention today. I examine issues of knowledge and power emphasising how a variety of stakeholders negotiate, manipulate and form relationships in order to gain access to resources. This thesis tackles development issues on multiple levels. As part of a DFID (Department for International Development) funded natural resources project, focussing on the high density intercropping of banana with rubber, my role was to provide an in-depth study of livelihood strategies and factors influencing farmer decision-making within home gardens and smallholdings. I reflect on the advantages of Indigenous Knowledge Research, which provides a greater insight into how local people identify and tackle problems than previous 'top- down' efforts. However, the fine line between involving local people in development and 'extraction' are also highlighted. My experiences of working within a multidisciplinary team prompted me to reflect on the whole context surrounding the research process and consider the role of anthropology in development. It is argued here that while the involvement of anthropologists in development is not without its dilemmas, anthropology can usefully contribute using a holistic approach to examine the processes of development, placing natural resources research within a wider social and political context and highlighting the difficulties involved in trying to understand something about Others.
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Mwangi, M. "The Ogiek indigenous healer as a purveyor of indigenous knowledge : the implications for sustainable development in Kenya." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.659829.
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This thesis seeks to determine the effectual relationship, if any, between the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of the Ogiek Indigenous Medical Practitioner (IMP) regarding Ogiek Indigenous Medicine (IM) and Ogiek Indigenous Forest Related Knowledge (IFRK). This relationship is examined through the lens of sustainable development in Kenya. Specifically, this research explores issues pertaining to affordable, effective and locally-based health care regarding two opportunistic infections of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, and Ogiek IFRK regarding the management of the natural resources of the Mau forest. This research further analyses the relationship between the Ogiek communities connection to their ancestral land and mental health, with the aim of postulating the potential applicability of the findings in today’s world. This dissertation explores such a relationship, where the Ogiek IMP plays a vital role in the Ogiek community not only as a health-care provider but also as a facilitator of sustainable forest and biodiversity conservation. As land-based economy, Kenya’s management of natural resources is crucial in planning future development strategies. As a developing economy, inadequate healthcare provisions can potentially create a developmental challenge. It is within context of self-determination that the utility of IFRK and IM from the Ogiek IMP is positioned to play a pivotal role in facilitating the process of sustainable development in the fields of healthcare and natural resource management in Kenya.
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Smith, Laurel Catherine. "MEDIATING INDIGENOUS IDENTITY: VIDEO, ADVOCACY, AND KNOWLEDGE IN OAXACA, MEXICO." Lexington, Ky. : [University of Kentucky Libraries], 2005. http://lib.uky.edu/ETD/ukygeog2005d00327/etd.pdf.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kentucky, 2005.Title from document title page (viewed on November 2, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains v, 419 p. Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 380-417).
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Hunt, Julian. "Exploring physical activity knowledge and preferences among urban indigenous Australians /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2005. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe19402.pdf.
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Brauer, Celia. "Paths to sustainability : creating connections through place-based Indigenous knowledge." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/62829.
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For most of humanity’s existence, a robust human-nature relationship was paramount. Any inherent benefits were clearly understood and respected. However, in the last 500 years of western history, religious dependence diminished in favour of a more rational and humanist approach and market economics rose in prominence. This evolution encouraged notions of cultural separation from nature that led to an emphasis on the individual, the expansion of private land ownership and the commodification of natural resources. These misguided beliefs then spread throughout the world during colonization. The result has been a mass degradation of the earth’s ecological health, alongside a strong decrease in the positive qualities of tradition and community life. Repair of the human-nature connection is urgent.
This research demonstrates that Indigenous people living among us today who embody Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) can offer insights to heal this serious rift. They teach us that without honest human-nature relationships and a grounded existence in place, long-term prosperity for western civilization will be challenging. An Indigenous worldview demonstrates that place-based learning and the repair of community connections is imperative for healthy social-ecological systems. Nature’s importance must be regarded for its own sake, not just for the benefit of humans. Incorporating these principles into present-day society encourages more sustainable practices and helps to treat our common planet with respect. In addition, the act of receiving traditional wisdom from our Indigenous neighbours facilitates a reconciliation of the tragic legacies that endure from colonization. Without this fundamental healing, little long-term recovery of people and the land is likely.Arts, Faculty of
Anthropology, Department of
Graduate
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Ford, Linda Mae, and linda ford@deakin edu au. "Narratives and Landscapes: Their Capacity to Serve Indigenous Knowledge Interests." Deakin University. School of Education, 2005. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20070614.105953.
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The thesis is a culmination of my research which drew on tyangi wedi tjan Rak Mak Mak Marranunggu and Marrithiel knowledge systems. These awa mirr spiritual knowledge systems have guided our Pilu for millennium and have powerful spiritual affiliation to the land and our continued presences. The understandings of the spiritual connectedness and our practices of relatedness have drawn on Pulitj, our deep awa mirr spiritual philosophy that nourishes us on our country. This philosophy gave us our voice and our presence to act in our own ways of knowing and being on the landscapes created by the Western bureaucratic systems of higher education in Australia to bring forth our Tyikim knowledge systems to serve our own educational interests.
From this spiritual Puliyana kunun philosophical position the thesis examines colonising constructions of Tyikim peoples, Tyikim knowledge systems in education, Tyikim research and access to higher education for Tyikim students. From the research, it is argued that the paradigm, within which the enclave-derived approach to Indigenous higher education is located, is compatible with the normalising imperialistic ideology of higher education. The analysis of the Mirrwana/Wurrkama participatory action research project, central to the research, supported an argument for the Mirrwana/Wurrkama model of Indigenous higher education. Further analysis identified five key pedagogical principles embedded within this new model as metaphorically equivalent to wilan~bu of the pelangu. The thesis identifies the elements of the spirituality of the narrative exposed in the research-in-action through the Marri kubin mi thit wa!. This is a new paradigm for Tyikim participation in higher education within which the Mirrwana/Wurrkama model is located. Finally, the thesis identifies the scope for Tyikim knowledge use in the construction of contemporary bureaucratic and institutionalised higher education ngun nimbil thit thit teaching and learning experiences of Tyikim for the advancement of Tyikim interests. Here the tyangi yigin tjan spiritual concepts of narrative and landscape are drawn upon both awa mirr metaphorically and in marri kubin mi thit wa Tyikim pedagogical practice.
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Ford, Payi-Linda. "Narratives and landscapes their capacity to serve indigenous knowledge interests /." Click here for electronic access to thesis: http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au/adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20070614.105953, 2005. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au/adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20070614.105953.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Deakin University, Victoria, 2005.Submitted to the School of Education of the Faculty of Education, Deakin University. Degree conferred 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-225)
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Newkirk, Karen. "Trading Places : integrating Indigenous Australian knowledge into the modern economy." Thesis, Federation University Australia, 2020. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/176385.
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Australia has a 30-billion-dollar knowledge industry, yet this industry barely recognises Indigenous Australian knowledge developed for over 50,000 years. This knowledge is important to understanding life on this planet. A 2012 regional Aboriginal education report noted “These ways of thinking and planning are our great gift to a world that desperately needs solutions...Unfortunately, this gift has not been accepted yet, or even noticed” (NSW Department of Education and Communities). Through continued denial of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience, their knowledge is largely hidden from mainstream Australia and to the rest of the world. This study examines what inhibits appreciation of Indigenous Australian knowledge through two sequential interviews with 26 non-Indigenous senior managers in business, finance and economics. The constructivism research paradigm frames the use of Causal Layered Analysis as a research method to investigate the interview data. A paradox arises between the aspirational discourse for an integrated nation with recognition of Indigenous knowledge as valuable, and ingrained images that erroneously position Indigenous knowledge as only representative of early human development on a linear trajectory toward 21st Century Western thought. From the findings, a spectrum of mainstream Australian society emerges with clear gradation from strong ignorance of Indigenous knowledge to reasonably high awareness. Evident from this spectrum is that for Australian society to embrace Indigenous knowledge, a transition is required to move non-Indigenous individuals significantly to higher awareness. This thesis argues that this transition could be progressed by supportive non-Indigenous individuals taking the next step to improve their understanding of Indigenous knowledge through learning. Thus, Australian society could establish that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge is managed by its custodians, valued and in demand more broadly, is not compromised in the market, and is able to contribute to the management of Homo sapiens on Mother Earth.Doctor of Philosophy
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Zinyeka, Gracious. "The epistemological basis of indigenous knowledge systems in science education." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52979.
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Integration of indigenous knowledge into the school science curricula is useful for pedagogical reasons, particularly for improving learners performance in science. However, the lack of universal and specifically stated epistemology (ies) of indigenous knowledge (IK) is undoubtedly a major challenge for inclusive science-IK curriculum integration. In this study, with the aim to resolve this epistemological challenge, an epistemological framework based on truth theories was developed.
Some IK practices were collected and the framework was tested with some science teachers to assess its effectiveness as a tool for identifying IK epistemologies for establishing suitable teaching methods for some specific IK practices. Argumentation was used in conjunction with the epistemological framework in the attempt to enhance teachers logical reasoning skills during focus group discussions.
In detail, the study consisted of three parts. The first was an attempt to develop a truth-theory-based-knowledge-framework-for-identifying-epistemology(ies)-of-indigenous-knowledge systems. Desk-top philosophical analysis was undertaken with the aim of developing a framework for analysing and identifying IK epistemologies.
Second, some selected local knowledge, technologies and practices from a rural community in Zimbabwe were systematically documented by means of personal observations and interviews with key informants and stakeholders from the participating community. The result was a collection of community-based IK practices that formed a coherent set of knowledge themes on health, agriculture and technology. A preliminary analysis using the framework was done to gain insight into the characteristic features that underpin the scientific way of thinking that manifest themselves in IK practices and would allow for the incorporation of the IK practices.
Third, a group of secondary school science teachers used the framework to engage with and explore the ways in which the identified local knowledge and practices might be integrated into school science education in a valid and effective way. The views of the participating teachers on the usefulness and efficacy of the approach were explored.
The main findings of the study showed the framework was useful and efficacious in addressing teachers philosophical concerns about the inclusion of IK in the science curriculum, moreover, the framework was useful in developing effective teaching approaches for integrating indigenous knowledge into science education for improved learner performance. IK-science curriculum integration, it is argued, provides contexts that are familiar and relatable to learners, thus those features are likely to enhance interest and improve performance and in turn increase the socio-cultural relevance of science and science education.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
Science, Mathematics and Technology Education
PhD
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Monngakgotla, Oabona C. "Policy makers knowledge and practices of intellectual property rights on indigenous knowledge systems in Botswana." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2007. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-07222008-123004/.
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Mccallum, Eleanor Rhodes. "INDIGENOUS EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION: THE CASE FOR THE INCORPORATION OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND POWER INTO MODERN CONSERVATION PRACTICES." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/192550.
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Doyle, Ann M. "Naming and Reclaiming Indigenous Knowledges in Public Institutions: Intersections of Landscapes and Experience." Ergon Verlag, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/105581.
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Abstract: This paper tells a story of a practitionerâ s experience in a First Nations library and how it shaped a doctoral research project on knowledge organization. It connects the landscape on the edge of a pacific forest to considerations of the impacts of the erasures of Indigenous knowledges by dominant knowledge organization systems and practices. The LIS literature on cultural bias in knowledge organization is reviewed and some ameliorative initiatives described. A theoretical lens conjoins the new sociology of education with analyses by Indigenous governance organizations. The potential of LIS research to contribute to the naming and reclaiming of Indigenous knowledges is highlighted and a proposed research plan to contribute to methodologies for Indigenous knowledge organization is outlined.
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Labriola, Christine. "Environment, Culture, and Medicinal Plant Knowledge in an Indigenous Amazonian Community." FIU Digital Commons, 2009. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/143.
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Diminishing cultural and biological diversity is a current global crisis. Tropical forests and indigenous peoples are adversely affected by social and environmental changes caused by global political and economic systems. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate environmental and livelihood challenges as well as medicinal plant knowledge in a Yagua village in the Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the environment is an important topic in environmental anthropology, and traditional botanical knowledge is an integral component of ethnobotany. Political ecology provides a useful theoretical perspective for understanding the economic and political dimensions of environmental and social conditions. This research utilized a variety of ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and community-involved methods. Findings include data and analyses about the community’s culture, subsistence and natural resource needs, organizations and institutions, and medicinal plant use. The conclusion discusses the case study in terms of the disciplinary framework and offers suggestions for research and application.
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Langill, Stephen. "Indigenous knowledge and wildfires in the Sierra de Santa Marta, Mexico." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape2/PQDD_0028/MQ52356.pdf.
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Lassonde, Marie-Claire. "The protection of indigenous medicinal knowledge in international intellectual property law /." Thesis, McGill University, 2003. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=78220.
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For 20 years, and more intensively during the last decade, indigenous knowledge has challenged the regime of intellectual property. If this field of law has been, in the past, challenged by new technology, it is now, with the problematic of indigenous medicinal knowledge, put to the test by "old invention". The present thesis examines the status of indigenous medicinal knowledge in international intellectual property law. Thus, we will proceed to the study of the main international conventions and the common regime of intellectual property law in order to determine the treatment accorded to medicinal indigenous knowledge within the actual system. The role that intellectual property could play in the future will also be examined.
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Arias-Bustamante, Jose. "Indigenous knowledge, climate change and forest management : the Nisga'a Nation approach." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/45700.
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Climate change is one of the current threats that are impacting the world, and its consequences are greater when it comes to vulnerable communities. Despite its vast areas covered by untouched forest and plenty of natural resources, British Columbia, with a myriad of First Nations and other Indigenous peoples, is not the exception. First Nations culture and knowledge are based on natural resources; therefore, trying to understand what are the major impacts of a changing climate becomes paramount. Through this research, I sought to examine and characterize potential climate changes impacts in the lands covered by the Nisga’a Nation (Northern BC), and how these impacts are affecting traditional forest practices of the Nisga’a people.
The method I used to gather the stories of participants in this study was participatory interviews. For the knowledge interpretation and analysis, I integrated individual research stories and thematic coding. I also conducted a community presentation during which the results were presented to the Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute Board of Directors, enabling the findings to be validated.
The Nisga’a People are very concerned about the consequences that climate change could have on fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the Nass River. Forests and the river are intimately connected, so any impacts on forests would have implications on the river, and consequently on fish. For instance, flooding and pests pose great risk to forests. Flooding affects the regeneration of forests species, and pests affect growth, even killing important cultural species for the Nisga’a people (e.g. western redcedar). Thus, by improving the forest’s resilience, the conditions that fish are facing during the spawning seasons would be also improved. To improve current conditions, the findings suggest that it is an imperative to revitalize a more traditional Nisga’a-oriented approach to resource management by adopting an integrative approach, where the management is undertaken from a resilience point of view, allowing the Nisga’a forests to return to their past non-degraded status (i.e. before logging started), and thus able to absorb the expected and unexpected impacts deriving from climate change.
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Peden, Derek Edward. "Indigenous Banana Plantation Management Knowledge of Oruruko. Farmers in Bushenyi Uganda." Thesis, Université Laval, 2008. http://www.theses.ulaval.ca/2008/25299/25299.pdf.
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Dixon, Alan Bramley. "Indigenous knowledge and the hydrological management of wetlands in Illubabor, Ethiopia." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323657.
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Sewagudde, Derek Edward. "Indigenous banana plantation management knowledge of Oruruko farmers in Bushenyi Uganda." Master's thesis, Université Laval, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/20199.
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This thesis investigates the traditional knowledge of Banyankore (with référence to the Baganda) banana farmers in the village of Oruruko in the district of Bushenyi, Uganda. It explores the sociocultural, économie and political atmosphère and environment that thèse farmers dwell in and how the latter have an impact on their livelihood stratégies. Despite suffocating poverty, thèse people survive and prosper utilizing their own unique diverse knowledge of the banana plant. This thesis illustrâtes the multiple Banyankore cultural uses and beliefs of and about bananas, and how they and the banana plays a critical rôle in village society and the family. This work is also presented as a critique of development initiatives that undermine local Banyankore knowledge in favour of Western science as the only source of proper knowledge in orderthat greater poverty alleviation measures can be innovated. The Banyankore people, like ail other peoples, possess their own unique local knowledge that is highly specialized and critically important to their local area. Through this work, I have attempted to capture a glimpse of the wealth and importance of this knowledge banana farmers possess. Lastly, but most importantly, I have tried to understand and learn from Banyankore so that through my work, I would have the honour of telling at least a fragment of their story. Nevertheless, even after three years in Uganda, the more I learned, the less I learned I knew.
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Gessas, Jeff. "Indigenous Knowledge on the Marshall Islands: a Case for Recognition Justice." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822739/.
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Recent decades have marked growing academic and scientific attention to the role of indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and detection strategies. However, how indigenous knowledge is incorporated is a point of contention between self-identifying indigenous groups and existing institutions which combat climate change. In this thesis, I argue that the full inclusion of indigenous knowledge is deterred by certain aspects of modernity. In order to overcome the problems of modernity, I argue that a recognition theory of justice is needed as it regards to indigenous knowledge. Recognition justice calls for indigenous groups to retain meaningful control over how and when their indigenous knowledge is shared. To supplement this, I use the Marshall Islands as a case study. The Marshall Islands afford a nice particular case because of their longstanding colonial relationship with the United States and the impending danger they face of rising sea levels. Despite this danger, the Republic of the Marshall Islands calls for increased recognition as leaders in addressing climate change.
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Cambray, Garth Anton. "African mead biotechnology and indigenous knowledge systems in iQhilika process development." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003988.
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While the production of mead, a fermented honey beverage, has declined in popularity around the world in recent centuries, a substantial mead industry continues to exist in Africa with an estimated annual production of 1 to 1.7 billion litres. This is largely an ‘invisible industry’, and has functioned outside the formal economy due to proscription of indigenous beverages during colonial times. The traditional African mead industry is, however, also now under pressure due to the environmental degradation of scarce natural ingredients, urbanisation and loss of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and, with time, the beverage will likely follow the declining trend of mead consumption observed elsewhere. An analysis of early reports of African mead production suggested that the Khoi-San, among the earliest inhabitants of the continent, are the originators of the mead making techniques which use fibrous plant materials derived from specific plant species, to facilitate mead fermentation in some way. The Eastern Cape represents a region with a large body of Khoi-San IKS preserved in their descendants among the Afrikaans and Xhosa populations. A survey to establish a baseline of mead-making technology in the Eastern Cape was undertaken, and involved interviewing traditional mead makers across an area of roughly 100 000 km2, showing that the mead, iQhilika(Xhosa) Kari (Khoi-San/Afrikaans), is produced using a very similar process throughout the region. This involves the roots of a Trichodiadema sp. plant (imoela – Xhosa, karimoer – Afrikaans/Khoi-San), honey, extract of brood and/or pollen and water. Various other fruit sugar sources were also found to be added at times producing seasonal beverages with unique organoleptic properties. A model traditional iQhilika production operation was investigated in order to describe the main features of the process. Biomass immobilised on Trichodiadema root segments was found to be distributed evenly through the profile of the bioreactor resulting in a well mixed fermentation and a productivity of 0.74 g EtOH/l/h. In the initial stages of fermentation, the ethanol yield was highest in the mid-regions of the bioreactor, but with time the regions closer to the surface, which had atmospheric contact had a higher yield. This phenomenon was attributed to aerobic fatty acid synthesis which allowed the yeast close to the surface to function more efficiently despite rising ethanol concentrations. The mead contained 44.25 g/l (7 % volume) ethanol produced in a fermentation time of 43.5 h. Yeast biomass in the traditional process was either immobilised in the form of flocs or attached to the Trichodiadema intonsum support. Electron microscopy revealed that the cells were covered in a layer of extra-cellular polymeric substance apparently assisting the immobilization, and which was populated by a consortium of yeasts and bacteria. Yeasts isolated from iQhilika brewed in two regions separated by 350 km were found to be very closely related Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains as determined by molecular genetic analysis. The traditional beverage was found to contain populations of Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which are known spoilage organisms in other beverages. Spoilage characteristics of these organisms matched descriptions of spoilage provided by the IKS survey. Other possibly beneficial LAB, which may contribute useful flavour compounds, were also found to be present in the system. The basic functional aspects of the traditional process were used to design a continuous bench-scale tower bioreactor and process development was based on the IKS survey. This consisted of a packed bed bioreactor, consisting of 2 mm3 T. intonsum root segments, immobilising a novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain isolated from a traditional batch of iQhilika. The bioreactor performed well with a yield of close to the theoretical maximum and an ethanol productivity of 3.45 g EtOH/l/h. The parameters of the 5.6 l/d bench-scale bioreactor were used to design a full-scale production bioreactor with a planned maximum output of 330 l/d. This bioreactor had a productivity of 0.19 g EtOH/l/h. The organoleptic properties of the product produced were considered by a taste panel to be better than those of the product of the bench-scale tower bioreactor. This research was based on the development of IKS which imposed a number of constraints and obligations on the project to ensure environmental, and social, in addition to financial viability of the scale-up operation. Makana Meadery was established in partnership with Rhodes University as an empowerment company which, in addition to undertaking the commercialisation of the iQhilika process, would also develop methods for the production of scarce ingredients traditionally unsustainably sourced from fragile ecosystems, provide beekeeping training and the manufacture of beehives.
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Langill, Stephen (Stephen Joseph) 1964 Carleton University Dissertation Sociology and Anthropology. "Indigenous knowledge and wildfires in the Sierra de Santa Marta, Mexico." Ottawa.:, 2000.
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Essa, Mariana. "The Place for Indigenous Knowledge in a Sport for Development Program." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/39629.
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This thesis contains two stand-alone articles for which the overall purpose is to learn from the experiences of a non-Indigenous SFD program designed for Indigenous youth, by exploring how the program has dealt with questions of Indigenous knowledge, culture, and worldviews. By looking at how the program officers and managers articulate their experiences and challenges within the different phases of designing, managing and implementing the SFD program, this study examines questions of decolonization, Indigenization, and resurgence. The first article utilizes an Indigenous resurgence lens to explore the challenges of running the Promoting Life Skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program through the reflective discourses of middle-upper level management staff members. The main objectives of the first article are to 1) explore the perception of the PLAY staff on challenges experienced within program design and development generally, 2) analyze those challenges in light of critical research on SFD, and 3) inform program development with Indigenous youth. In the second article, I examine the experiences and perceptions of the staff and in dealing more specifically with the question of culture and Indigenous knowledge and Indigenization. This article highlights the experiences that occurred during a two-year period of Indigenous leadership, two years after the piloting of the program. The objectives of this article are to 1) consider and examine the place of culture within SFD for Indigenous youth 2) highlight and learn from Indigenous leadership experience in a Western-based program 3) inform program development.
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Jacobs, Keith Ronald. "The classroom implementation of indigenous knowledge in the science curriculum by science teachers in the Western Cape province, South Africa." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15553.
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Includes bibliographical referencesThe South African policy document of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) for Natural Science (Department of Education, 2002), the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for Life Science (Department of Education, 2003), and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Natural Science and Life Science (Department of Education, 2011) recognises and affirms the critical role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in science education. These policy documents expect the science teachers to integrate indigenous knowledge in their lessons. This study strove to establish how selected high school science teachers in the Western Cape Province responded to the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in their teaching. The present study employed a multi-method approach, involving different research methods used in parallel or sequence but are not integrated until inferences are made (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner, 2007). This study took place in two main sequential data collection phases, namely, the quantitative data collection phase ((QUAN) and the qualitative data collection phase (qual). This contemporary approach was employed in order to provide credible and trustworthy answers to the following research questions, namely, 1) To what extent are the science teachers in the Western Cape Province integrating scientific and indigenous knowledge, as required by the Department of Education? If not, what are their reasons for this? 2) What are the teachers' views about and understanding of the nature of science and indigenous knowledge as well as their views on how the two worldviews can be integrated in the classroom? 3) How effective was the treatment in enhancing the teachers' ability to integrate science and indigenous knowledge in the classroom? 4) To what extent can the model of Snively and Corsiglia (2001) be useful for measuring change as the teachers implement the integration of indigenous knowledge in the science classroom? For the QUAN phase, the researcher adapted a questionnaire and a new questionnaire, the Nature of Indigenous Knowledge Questionnaire (NOIKQ), was developed. The purpose of this questionnaire was to obtain a detailed description of high schools science teachers' understanding of scientific and indigenous knowledge, as well as the problems the teachers encounter in their implementation of Learning Outcome 3 of Life Sciences and Natural Science. After the pilot study of the questionnaire and subsequent modifications to it, data were collected. Convenience sampling and purposeful sampling characterised the samples of respondents and schools. This sampling strategy ensured a total sample of 370 high school science teachers in 80 public schools, represented by urban and township schools in the Western Cape Province. The results of the QUAN phase indicated that the teachers did not receive training on how to integrate science and indigenous knowledge, and that they did not have sufficient knowledge of indigenous knowledge to teach this aspect confidently to their learners. An inquiry was embarked on in order to train the science teachers in how to integrate indigenous knowledge in the science classrooms. A workshop was chosen as an intervention to improve the teaching skills of the teachers and to develop new methods of teaching. A quasi-experimental design was chosen to establish how effective the intervention was. In this quasi-experimental design, one group of five teachers was assigned to the intervention, whilst the other group of six teachers received no intervention at all. This intervention was based on the model of Snively and Corsiglia (2001) for integrating IK in the science curriculum. These teachers had participated in the survey and were selected for their particular interest in the research study. Classroom observations and three teacher and six learner interviews were used for collecting qualitative data to establish the effectiveness of the intervention. A finding from this study is that the worldviews that the teachers bring into the classroom have implications for approaches they take to include IKS in their lessons. The results of the qualitative phase indicated that, given the teachers background (i.e., cultural, political and social), teachers interpreted and implemented IKS in different ways in the curriculum. The teachers who attended the workshop and were trained to integrate indigenous knowledge in the science curriculum were more confident than those teachers who were not trained to integrate IK in the science curriculum. This increased confidence resulted from the workshop which enhanced the teachers' IK content knowledge and made them less dependent on the learners for examples of IKS. The study offers important implications and recommendations to teachers and policy- makers regarding the implementation of the integration of IKS in the science curriculum, as well as fruitful avenues for further research.
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Holmquist, Jenny. "Enhet eller mångfald? : En dekonstruktion av samernas bibliotek bibliotekskatalog." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för ABM, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-413556.
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Introduction. This thesis is set in the field of critical knowledge organization and indigenous knowledge organi- zation. Building on the theory of domain analysis I chose the Saami Library in Sweden as the domain for this thesis. The purpose was to identify the structures of power affecting how the lives and experiences of the Saami people are represented in the library catalogue and in the classification systems used, and to examine the views on knowledge expressed in the classification systems. Theory and method. This thesis builds upon the writings on deconstruction. I seek to deconstruct the cata- logue and the classification system using tools derived from the writings of Jacques Derrida. Analysis. Nine posts from the catalogue, and the classification codes entered there were analysed. Emphasis was put on analysing the DDC classification as this is the primary classification system used. Results. From analysing the classifications and the catalogue posts I found that the representations of the Saami experiences varied depending on which subject class the book belonged to. A majority of the posts analysed were classified as social sciences in DDC whereas the classifications were more varied in the Swedish SAB- system. Conclusion. Two structures have been identified. The first structure places the Saami experiences as some- thing that is other, in relation to which the mainstream is defined. The second structure places the Saami experi- ences as part of a diversity, separate from the unity of the mainstream society. This structure only acknowledges the existence of diversity if this means that the position of the unity is strengthened. Concerning the second purpose of the thesis I find that a western knowledge perspective has got a hegemonic position in the DDC, which means that other knowledge systems such as indigenous knowledge is not seen as such but as something only related to a specific group. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.
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Droz, PennElys. "Biocultural Engineering Design for Indigenous Community Resilience." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/323449.
Full textAbstract:
Indigenous peoples worldwide are engaged in the process of rebuilding and re-empowering their communities. They are faced with challenges emerging from a history of physical, spiritual, emotional, and economic colonization, challenges including a degraded resource base, lack of infrastructure, and consistent pressure on their land tenure and ways of life. These communities, however, continue demonstrating profound resilience in the midst of these challenges; working to re-empower and provide for the contemporary needs of their people in a manner grounded in supporting bio-cultural integrity; the interconnected relationship of people and homeland. At the same time, in response to contemporary environmental degradation, the fields of resilience science, adaptive management, and ecological engineering have emerged, the recommendations of which bear remarkable similarity to Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies, and governance structures. The relationship between these fields and Indigenous epistemology, underscored by experience in the field, has led to the conceptualization of bio-cultural engineering design; design that emerges from the inter-relationship of people and ecology. The biocultural engineering design methodology identifies the unique cosmological relationships and cultural underpinnings of contemporary Indigenous communities, and applies this specific cultural lens to engineered design and architecture. The development of resilience principles within the fields of architecture and engineering have created avenues for biocultural design to be translatable into engineering and architectural design documents, allowing access to large scale financial support for community development. This method is explored herein through literature and analysis of practical application in several different Indigenous communities and nations. This method lends itself to future research on biocultural design processes as a source of technological and design innovation as Indigenous communities practice placing their values and cosmologies at the center of development decisions, as well as comprehensive start-to-finish documentation of the methodology applied to diverse engineered applications, including water systems, energy systems, and building construction.