Showing papers on "Traditional knowledge published in 1997"
TL;DR: The transmission of 93 items of women's indigenous knowledge and bush skills was studied in two subarctic Omushkego (West Main) Cree Indian communities, Moose Factory and Peawanuck, Ontario, Canada as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The transmission of 93 items of women's indigenous knowledge and bush skills was studied in two subarctic Omushkego (West Main) Cree Indian communities, Moose Factory and Peawanuck, Ontario, Canada. About half of all bush skills were still being transmitted at the “hands-on” learning stage. Some skills such as setting snares and fishnets, beadwork, smoking geese, and tanning moose and caribou hides were transmitted well. Many skills no longer essential for livelihoods, such as some fur preparation skills and food preservation techniques, were not. Loss of certain skills and incomplete transmission of others (a lower level of mastery than in older generations) were attributable to changes in the educational environment, diminished time available in the bush, problems related to learning bush skills at later ages, and changes in value systems. These factors seemed to impair the traditional mode of education based on participant observation and apprenticeship in the bush, which provided the essential self-disciplining educational environment. Policy measures to counteract these trends may include the institution of a hunters' income security program to provide incentives for family units to go on the land, rather than all-male hunting parties.
330 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the ways in which Western environmentalists have constructed Penan land rights with reference to Penan knowledge of the landscape and of the biotic elements which exist there, and consider how environmentalists have drawn on ethnographic accounts, and how those accounts are transformed in the process of generating images deployed in the campaign.
Abstract: Since 1987, Penan foragers in Malaysia have been increasingly affected by the activities of logging companies, and have protested this with blockades. Simultaneously, they have become the focus of a broad-based international environmental campaign. This paper examines the rhetoric of that campaign. In particular, I examine the ways in which Western environmentalists have constructed Penan land rights with reference to Penan knowledge of the landscape and of the biotic elements which exist there. Further, I consider how environmentalists have drawn on ethnographic accounts, and how those accounts are transformed in the process of generating images deployed in the campaign.
242 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that we need a politics, or perhaps a political economy, of intellectual property, using the controversy over copyright on the Internet as a case study and the history of the environmental movement as a comparison.
Abstract: This Essay argues that we need a politics, or perhaps a political economy, of intellectual property. Using the controversy over copyright on the Internet as a case study and the history of the environmental movement as a comparison, it offers a couple of modest proposals about what such a politics might look like-what theoretical ideas it might draw upon, and what constituencies it might unite.
171 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: In this article, a global view of the importance of medicinal plants in international development is given, focusing on issues that are economic, political, legal, and social; and covers fields in human and animal health and medicine, agriculture, and forestry.
Abstract: This report gives a global view of the importance of medicinal plants in international development. It examines issues that are economic, political, legal, and social; and covers fields in human and animal health and medicine, agriculture, and forestry. The experiences and efforts of China and India are highlighted. During the past decade, dramatic sales increases attest to a renaissance of both medicinal plants and the traditional health practitioners who prescribe them. Over the last five years in China, sales have more than doubled, while during the last decade in India, exports have soared almost three-fold. This booming trade -most of it fueled by citizens of the developing world but some of it serving affluent customers in wealthy nations- is damaging the supplies. A number of medicinal plants are so overharvested that they feature high on the lists of threatened or endangered species. Unless action is taken, more are headed towards extinction. At the same time, the global clamor for more herbal ingredients created possibilities for the local cultivation of medicinal crops as well as for the regulated and sustainable harvest of wild stands. Such endeavors could help raise rural employment in the developing countries, boost commerce around the world, and contribute to the health of millions. However, creating a regularized production of these species also raises many difficult issues. Some of these issues relate to medical efficacy and its proof. Some relate to the protecton of fragile tropical habitats. Yet others relate to local empowerment, gender equity, regulatory measures, and the rights to traditional knowledge.
144 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, empirical data from five Machiguenga communities studied over 20 years was used to investigate the behavior of indigenous peoples in the face of increasing commercialization, showing that despite highly adaptive traditional subsistence patterns and a vast agroecological knowledge, households and communities facing increasing degrees of market integration are progressively altering their traditional cropping strategies, planting practices, labor allocation and land use patterns toward a greater emphasis on commodity crop production and domesticated animal breeding.
Abstract: By marshaling empirical data from five Machiguenga communities studied over 20 years, this paper disputes two common assumptions about the behavior of indigenous peoples in the face of increasing commercialization. First, many Amazonian researchers suggest that the social and ecological deterioration confronting native populations results from externally-imposed political, legal and market structures that compel local groups to pursue short-term, unstable economic strategies. Second, these structural explanations are combined with the increasing recognition that indigenous peoples possess a substantial agroecological knowledge to suggest that, if indigenous people receive control of adequate land and resources, they will implement their traditional knowledge in conservative resource management practices. In contrast to these assumptions, this analysis shows that the Machiguenga are not compelled by external forces (such as land tenure, migration policies or economic trends), but instead are active enthusiastic participants seeking to engage the market in order to acquire western goods. Further, despite highly adaptive traditional subsistence patterns and a vast agroecological knowledge, households and communities facing increasing degrees of market integration are progressively altering their traditional cropping strategies, planting practices, labor allocation and land use patterns toward a greater emphasis on commodity crop production and domesticated animal breeding. This increasing concentration on income generating activities subverts the environmentally-friendly nature of traditional productive practices and creates a socially, economically, and ecologically unsustainable system.
118 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that industrial-world intellectual propery rights mechanisms are generally inappropriate for protecting the intellectual property rights of indigenous farmers, but some could be used effectively to meet indigenous farmers' need for protection.
Abstract: Farmer or folk crop varieties developed over many generations by indigenous farmers are an important component of global crop genetic resources for use by both industrial and indigenous agriculture. Currently there is a debate between advocates of indigenous farmers' rights in their folk varieties and the dominant world system, which vests intellectual property rights to crop genetic resources only in users of those resources for industrial agriculture. While indigenous peoples at the individual and group levels do have a broad range of intellectual property rights in their folk varieties, they define and use them differently than does the industrial world. Therefore, industrial‐world intellectual propery rights mechanisms are generally inappropriate for protecting the intellectual property rights of indigenous farmers, but some could be used effectively. To meet indigenous farmers' need for protection, new approaches are being developed that embed indigenous farmers' rights in folk varieties in cultural,...
106 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The Context Farmer Experimentation - A Review Study Methodology An Analysis of Farmers Experiments Farmers Who Experiment Implications For Agricultural Research and Extension as discussed by the authors, which is a review study methodology
Abstract: The Context Farmer Experimentation - A Review Study Methodology An Analysis of Farmers Experiments Farmers Who Experiment Implications For Agricultural Research and Extension.
105 citations
TL;DR: Examples are provided of traditional practices in diagnostics, herd-, grazing- and pasture-management as well as of manipulation and treatment that indicate a basic understanding of disease by farmers and herders, although not always explained, or explainable, in rational western ways.
76 citations
Book•
01 Sep 1997
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors look at the growing consciousness among the Arakmbut, who are increasingly demanding their rights to territories and resources be respec ted, in tandem with the growing development of indigenous ri ghts internationally.
Abstract: In this volume, the author looks at the grow ing consciousness among the Arakmbut, who are increasingly d emanding their rights to territories and resources be respec ted, in tandem with the growing development of indigenous ri ghts internationally. '
65 citations
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: Schmithosen et al. as discussed by the authors studied the influence of religious beliefs and rituals on forest conservation in Nepal and the role of Tamang women in forest management, with special reference to the role women in the Tamang village in the Similipal hills of Orissa, India.
Abstract: Foreword vii FRANZ SCHMITHOSEN 1. Introduction 1 KLAUS SEELAND 2. Culturing trees: socialized knowledge in the political ecology of Kissia and Kuranko forest islands of Guinea 7 JAMES FAIRHEAD AND MELISSA LEACH 3. The perceived environment as a system of knowledge and meaning: a study of the Mewahang Rai of eastern Nepal 19 BARUN GURUNG 4. Tatari: livelihood and danger in upland Japan 28 JOHN KNIGHT 5. Forests and trees in the cultural landscape of Lawa swidden farmers in northern Thailand 44 DIETRICH SCHMIDT-VOGT 6. Tree marriage in India 51 ROBERT PARKIN 1. The influence of religious beliefs and rituals on forest conservation in Nepal 57 ANDREW W. INGLES 8. The Huaorani and their trees: managing and imagining the Ecuadorian rain forest 67 LAURA RIVAL 9. Where trees do matter for society: the socio-cultural aspects of sal (Shorea robusta) and salap (Caryota urens L.) in the Similipal hills of Orissa, India 79 MIHIR KUMAR JENA, KLAUS SEELAND AND KAMALA KUMARIPATNAIK 10. War, forests and the future: the environmental understanding of the young in Sierra Leone 90 PAUL RICHARDS 11. Indigenous knowledge of trees and forests in non- European societies 101 KLAUS SEELAND 12. Forests and trees in the world of two Tamang villages in central Nepal: observations with special reference to the role of Tamang women in forest management 113 BETT1NA MAAG Appendix to Chapter 12 130 Notes on contributors 136 Notes 138 Bibliography 142
64 citations
TL;DR: Canals and Communities can serve as a sourcebook for social scientists and development planners investigating the cultural ecology of irrigated agriculture, the ethnology of cooperative social formations, the politics of collective-resource institutions, and the sociology of rural development.
Abstract: From the mountains of South America to the deserts of northern Africa to the islands of south Asia, people have devised myriad ways of moving water to sustain their communities and nourish their crops Many of these irrigation methods have been used over long periods of time and continue to function in diverse ecological and sociopolitical contexts This book presents case studies and comparative essays about local institutions for managing water resources Drawn from around the globe, the cases clearly demonstrate that "indigenous" irrigation is often more sustainable, cost-effective, and flexible than has been generally believed The contributors discuss a wide range of environments, cultural traditions, and historical contexts in which such systems operate, maintaining a common focus on incentives for cooperation, operational rules, collective-choice arrangements, principles of allocation, and conflict-resolution mechanisms Canals and Communities can serve as a sourcebook for social scientists and development planners investigating the cultural ecology of irrigated agriculture, the ethnology of cooperative social formations, the politics of collective-resource institutions, and the sociology of rural development The book also provides examples and generalizations about the cross-cultural characteristics of sustainable water resource management and intensive agriculture Aside from its theoretical contributions to human ecology and anthropology, the book is of practical importance to development studies The cases it presents make a convincing argument for perpetuating small-scale irrigation systems as part of the world's repertoire of irrigation knowledge and resources CONTENTSIntroductionThe Ethnology of Irrigation: Cross-Cultural Characteristics of Local Water Management, Jonathan B MabryPatterns of Cooperation and Conflict in Local Irrigation1 La Gente es Muy Perra: Conflict and Cooperation over Irrigation Water in Cucurpe, Sonora, Mexico, Thomas E Sheridan2 Dhasheeg Agriculture in the Jubba Valley of Somalia, Catherine Besteman3 The Dry and the Drier: Cooperation and Conflict in Moroccan Irrigation, John R Welch4 The Political Ecology of Irrigation in an Andean Peasant Community, Paul H GellesMethods and Models for Analyzing Local Irrigation5 Rapid Rural Appraisal of Arid Land Irrigation: A Moroccan Example, John R Welch, Jonathan B Mabry, and Hsain Ilahiane6 Simulation Modelling of Balinese Irrigation, J Stephen Lansing7 Institutional Innovation in Small-Scale Irrigation Networks: A Cape Verdean Case, Mark W Langworthy and Timothy J FinanDevelopment Lessons from Local Irrigation8 Qanats and Rural Societies: Sustainable Agriculture and Irrigation Cultures in Contemporary Iran, Michael E Bonine9 The Utility of Tradition in Sri Lankan Bureaucratic Irrigation: The Case of the Kirindi Oya Project, Pamela Stanbury10 The Relevance of Indigenous Irrigation: A Comparative Analysis of Sustainability, Jonathan B Mabry and David A ClevelandConclusionThe Hydraulics of History: Evolutionary Trajectories of Local and Centralized Irrigation, Jonathan B Mabry
TL;DR: Weaknesses are identified that severely limit the effectiveness of many preventive and curative activities that still rely too exclusively on conventional schemes-the mere transposition of Western models to quite different societies-largely unconnected to the ways local communities identify, explain, and manage health problems.
Abstract: his special issue presents anthropological involvement in public health both as a vehicle for enhancing the participation of anthropologists in preventive and curative health programs, and as an intellectual activity of theorizing around the "rationality" of human beings. As a theorizing activity, anthropology provides its own critical insights about the connections assumed to exist between beliefs and behaviors, knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and about related problems such as the differential exposure to messages, the conditions in which behavioral changes are produced, and the decision-making process regarding the use of health services. Wherever anthropologists in public health work (developing or more developed countries), whatever they do in health promotion, prevention, care, and rehabilitation (for example, education for safe sex, promotion of needle exchange programs among intravenous drug users, studies of therapeutic itineraries, formulating culturally appropriate measures for controlling tuberculosis or malaria), and whoever their colleagues may be (health educators, experts in communication, demographers, epidemiologists, social psychologists, nutritionists, health administrators, social workers, etc.), anthropologists tend to use a disciplinary framework organized around three key parameters: a focus on local knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and a grounding in community. These articles abundantly echo the idea that the bottom-up approach allows the use of indigenous knowledge and community resources, and also makes local persons and community groups coresponsible for developing policies, programs, and activities for improving health. The articles have identified with great clarity weaknesses that severely limit the effectiveness of many preventive and curative activities that still rely too exclusively on conventional schemes-the mere transposition of Western models to quite different societies-largely unconnected to the ways local communities identify, explain, and manage health problems. Case studies such as Lane's evaluation of television soap operas for health education in
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present results of a survey of Siberian Yupik ecological knowledge conducted in Chukotka in 1995 as part of the project Environmental Change and Indigenous Knowledge in Siberia and Alaska.
Abstract: This article presents results of the survey of Siberian Yupik ecological knowledge conducted in Chukotka in 1995 as part of the project Environmental Change and Indigenous Knowledge in Siberia and Alaska. The study was aimed at documenting indigenous knowledge in transition, as it is currently shared by modern people of various backgrounds and age groups. As the interviews reveal, current transformation of indigenous ecological knowledge does not progress in direct conjunction with the loss of Native language nor with the extension of formal schooling. Actually, it creates a sort of mixed culture where certain traditional ideas and beliefs are reinterpreted and reformulated from the perspectives of other culture. As such, the expertise in Yupik knowledge (unlike expertise in Native language) often becomes a matter of individual choice and of personal drive and interest in one's Native tradition. This opens up the prospect of renewed strength and even of revival of Yupik ecological knowledge via the cultural revitalization movement which is currently taking place in Chukotka and elsewhere in the Arctic.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of colonisation and its associated impact on Indigenous teaching and learning is discussed. And the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and western European concepts of knowledge and knowing need to be placed in a framework of mutual interaction so that not only do Indigenous people benefit, but so do non-Indigenous educators and students.
Abstract: This article focuses on the impact of colonisation and its associated impact on Indigenous teaching and learning. Western European institutions have dominated Indigenous ways of knowing and in Australia this has led to barriers which restrict the participation of Aboriginal people in education systems. Globally Indigenous people are attempting to bring into the introduced educational systems culturally appropriate teaching and learning practices so that a more holistic approach to education can become the norm rather than the exception. The relationship between Indigenous knowledge and western European concepts of knowledge and knowing need to placed in a framework of mutual interaction so that not only do Indigenous people benefit, but so do non-Indigenous educators and students.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the Navajos are asked to prevent non-Navajos from using Navajo rug patterns to produce rugs overseas using cheap material and labor, thereby undercutting the Navajo themselves in a market for their famous rugs.
Abstract: What can the Navajos do to prevent non-Navajos from using Navajo rug patterns to produce rugs overseas using cheap material and labor, thereby undercutting the Navajos themselves in a market for their famous rugs? What can the Australian Aboriginal peoples do when their sacred and secret imagery is reporduced on carpets they did not make, and sold to non-Aboriginals, who will inevitably walk on them? Do these communities have any legal rights to these pieces of their culture? Does the law provide any means for them to take back their culture or to prevent further poaching?
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined, analyzed and assessed the indigenous soil knowledge among the Fulani subsistence farmers in two villages of northern Burkina Faso with the aim of evaluating its adequacy for sustaining soil fertility and for the appropriateness of tapping indigenous knowledge in development programs.
Abstract: The indigenous soil knowledge among the Fulani subsistence farmers in two villages of northern Burkina Faso is examined, analysed and assessed with the aim of evaluating its adequacy for sustaining soil fertility and for the appropriateness of tapping indigenous knowledge in development programmes. The analytical framework is a multidisciplinary approach combining soil science and anthropology. The results show a high degree of consistency between the science-based western soil classification and the Fulani soil classification although the routes of generation are different. The farmers are aware of and active in management of soil fertility based on their experience, but express no thorough understanding of the mechanisms of plant growth. The soil knowledge is applied in the farming strategies which, as a primary aim, seek to minimize the risk of harvest failure. However, the analysis also suggests that the knowledge is no part of a ‘free-standing’ knowledge body which can be separated from the actual agricultural performance. The farmers express a general concern about the present state of the environment and degradation processes; however, there is no motivation to take active control of and manage the bush area. This is in contrast with the way millet cultivators actively manage their fields. An explanation of this is suggested by the division between the two Fulani ethnic subgroups, the FulBe who are the former masters and the RimayBe, the former slaves.
01 Jan 1997
01 Jan 1997
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: The tongo as discussed by the authors is an oscillating common property regime that regulates seasonal access to vegetation and wildlife located within village commons and on individually appropriated lands in many areas of The Gambia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
Abstract: West African rural communities frequently create rules and conventions to define rights of access and conditions of use to natural resources of great use and exchange value. One such example, the tongo, is an oscillating common property regime that regulates seasonal access to vegetation and wildlife located within village commons and on individually appropriated lands in many areas of The Gambia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. This ensures that a particular resource, such as fruits from domesticated and wild trees or grasses used for thatch, reach full maturity before being harvested by the community at large. While it often is concluded that these institutional arrangements are declining, this article adopts a historical perspective in showing that these regimes are much more resilient and flexible than commonly assumed. The authors suggest that the tongo is a foundation for working with African indigenous knowledge and institutions to develop an alternative, yet distinctly African, approach to resource cons...
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The GNWT has adopted what is probably the first formal traditional knowledge policy in Canada, in an attempt to improve democratic representation in the North by moving the policies and practices of territorial government closer to reflecting the values and needs of all northern residents as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Northern organizations, governments, and governments-in-waiting have been formally and informally attempting to incorporate "traditional knowledge" into policy deliberations for some time. A public debate about this practice began in fall 1996, when Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard published criticisms of the Government of the Northwest Territories" (GNWT) Traditional Knowledge Policy and of the requirement that traditional knowledge be incorporated into environmental assessments. Widdowson was at the time a contract employee of the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (Howard and Widdowson, 1996). As the controversy developed, she was suspended for one week as punishment for her public criticism of government policy. In the Canadian parliamentary tradition, public servants do not have the right to publicly disagree with the policies they are hired to implement. Employees who find themselves in fundamental disagreement with the decisions of elected officials have two options: they may work from within to bring about a change of policy; or, failing this, they must resign. As private citizens, they may - and should - criticize government policy freely. Widdowson should have resigned before speaking publicly, but at least her action stimulated public discussion of some very important questions (GNWT, 1993; Howard and Widdowson, 1996; Berkes and Henley, 1997; Howard and Widdowson, 1997; Laghi, 1997; Stevenson, 1997). The GNWT has adopted what is probably the first formal traditional knowledge policy in Canada, in an attempt to improve democratic representation in the North by moving the policies and practices of territorial government closer to reflecting the values and needs of all northern residents. The Traditional Knowledge Policy is only one aspect of this endeavour, but it is a potentially far-reaching one that deserves intelligent discussion and debate. ...
TL;DR: The Eastern Onlario Model Forest (EOMF) as mentioned in this paper is a model for sustainable development in Canada, which is based on the three-pronged model of partnership building known to the Hoquois nations as the "Zeal to Deal".
Abstract: First Nations' approaches toward environmental stewardship have always been based upon partnership and a sense of belonging within the natural environment. The cornerstone of traditional community relationships is the three-pronged model of partnership building, known to the hoquois nations as the “Zeal to Deal.” The Rastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) was initiated as one often model forest sites across Canada, under a federal sustainable development initiative. The Eastern Onlario Model Forest was formed from people with many different viewpoints, ideals, tools, and ideas. A mixture of people holding local landowner values. native philosophies, and scientific knowledge were brought together to develop a working partnership at a community level. This presentation will analyze approaches in facilitating a partnership according to traditional knowledge of the Iroquois nations (University of Ottawa, 1994). This presentation will show an analysis of the working relationships of people and organizati...
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The Rights to the Benefits of Research (RBR) as discussed by the authors is proposed as a unifying term to coalesce ideas of compensation for benefits to the Outsiders obtained from a non-commercial research process.
Abstract: Research on indigenous knowledge has resulted in innumerable benefits to the Outsider(s). Indigenous peoples should be compensated in return. This article argues for integrating compensation and empowerment into the heart of the research process itself rather than viewing them as post-project undertakings. "Rights to the Benefits of Research" (RBR) is proposed as a unifying term to coalesce ideas of compensation for benefits to the Outsider(s) obtained from a noncommercial research process. In contrast, compensation of indigenous peoples via "Intellectual Property Rights" (IPR) is seen as predicated primarily upon commercial benefits. A strategy to implement RBR based on ethical guidelines and indigenous peoples' empowerment is suggested. A participatory ethnobotanical research project conducted in Ecuador serves to illustrate benefits for which compensation would fall under RBR but not IPR. The project involved the local communities in documenting their oral knowledge of medicinal plants in a written for...
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the legal dimensions of indigenous peoples' claims to cultural property are examined, and they provide a compelling example of the need for new legal relationships to be articulated between Indian nations and Euroamerican society.
Abstract: This essay examines the legal dimensions of indigenous peoples' claims to cultural property. Law and anthropology often address issues of cultural property in different ways. Anthropologists seek to understand cultural property within the context of the indigenous cultures themselves, while lawyers attempt to translate concepts of indigenous property into the language of Euroamerican law. Indigenous peoples' claims to cultural property provide a compelling example of the need for new legal relationships to be articulated between Indian nations and Euroamerican society.
TL;DR: In this article, a field investigation conducted between September 1994 and April 1995 in the Ritigala area indicates the factors influencing indigenous peoples' silent and formally unacknowledged engagement in forest management, including socially accepted rights to the forest, traditional links that forest fringe communities have maintained with the forest; indigenous knowledge; intra-household factors such as labour availability, needs, gender, and sources of income, as well as extra household factors like distance to the forests; demand for forest products and access to markets.