Traditional Ecological Knowledge Case Study

Brought to you by the UC San Diego Associated Students Office of Environmental Justice Affairs

Note: Traditional Ecological Knowledge is also known as Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK). For the purpose of this case study, we will be calling it IEK to acknowledge the origins of this knowledge system and to center Indigenous peoples.

We’d also like to acknowledge that Indigenous peoples are diverse and each have their own ways of knowing and understanding Indigenous Ecological Knowledge.

What is IEK?

Indigenous Ecological Knowledge is a way of understanding the natural world especially in relation to plants. It is community-based, passed down through generations, and centers heavily on relationships with the environment and people.

According to Fikret Berkes, an ecologist and researcher of Canadian First Nations peoples, he identifies how IEK differs for the most part from western (colonized) ecology (pp. 4):

1. “[IEK] is mainly qualitative (as opposed to quantitative);
2. [IEK] has intuitive component (as opposed to purely rational);
3. [IEK] is holistic (as opposed to reductionist);
4. Mind and matter are considered together (as opposed to separation of mind and matter);
5. It’s moral (as opposed to value free);
6. It’s spiritual (as opposed to mechanistic);
7. [IEK] is based on empirical observations and accumulation of facts by trial-and-error (as opposed to experimentation and systematic, deliberate accumulation of fact);
8. Based on data generated by resource users themselves (as opposed to specialized cadre of researchers);
9. Based on diachronic data, i.e. long time-series on information on one locality (as opposed to synchronic data, i.e. short-time over a large area.”

IEK appears in many different ways like in medicine, food, and land management. For example, cultural burns in California have been/were used to maintain the landscape and prevent wildfires, until white settlers banned cultural burns — thus, part of the reason why California has a bad wildfire season. As stated previously, Native peoples are not homogeneous and each tribe has their own understandings and practices of IEK because Native communities identify directly with the land.

Why is it important?

It is important to be mindful of where certain practices and disciplines come from; specifically, acknowledging that fields such as ecology and plant biology (and many others) have their roots in Indigenous knowledge systems.

Indigenous ways of knowing understands the wisdom of passing along knowledge to bring insight to western science through tradition (Lawson 2020).

We live in a hyper-individualistic, for-profit-at-the-expense-of-exploitation society that is detrimental to ourselves, the most vulnerable communities, and our environment. Because IEK is community-based and intergenerational, it’s based on sharing and mutual well-being. If we (individually and collectively) are to move forward in our work for environmental justice, we must include Indigenous ways of knowing.

UCSD & IEK

The university sits on occupied Kumeyaay land. One of the small ways UCSD acknowledges their occupation is through a community garden. The recently created community garden is located in Marshall College. This installation of the Kumeyaay Garden allows for students to learn about how the native plants of Southern California are an integral part of Kumeyaay culture and survival.

Image taken from Facebook page.

What can you do to uplift IEK?

Learning about IEK and acknowledging these practices is the first step to uplifting IEK. Be open-minded and consider the benefits of IEK; unlearn previous knowledge when you are introduced to new ecological ideas. These practices have been passed down for generations based on traditions from living with the land. Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Understand and acknowledge IEK, even if you don’t agree. It is part of a culture and should be respected.
2. Learn to unlearn. What you know may not be the best practice.
3. Educate yourself on whose land you’re on and what the native plants are in your area.

To learn more about IEK, here are a few articles as a starting point:

1. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tek/tek-vs-western-science.htm
2. https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/01/11/traditional-ecological-knowledge-tek-an-interview-with-dr-michael-hutchins-2/

Resources:

Berkes, Fikret. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Perspective.” Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Concepts and Cases, International Program on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Ottawa, Ontario, 1993 pp. 1–7.

Wavy, Chief Robert. “International Workshop on Indigenous Knowledge and Community-Based Resource Management: Keynote Address.” Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Concepts and Cases, International Program on Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Ottawa, Ontario, 1993 pp. 11–16.

https://www.waysofknowingforum.ca/blog/2020/8/3/vgqrlqknpehzbxnpa89vf859xj1x5x