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Traditional knowledge

About: Traditional knowledge is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10825 publications have been published within this topic receiving 202790 citations. The topic is also known as: indigenous knowledge & indigenous knowledge system.


Papers
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01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a study that responds to the Government of Canada's working partnership with First Nations to improve the quality of Aboriginal life and education in Canada through research conducted with the Education Renewal Initiative.
Abstract: This essay seeks to clarify the theoretical frameworks that have been developed to understand Indigenous knowledge, to provide some insight into the reasons for the tensions between Indigenous and Eurocentric ways of knowing, and to point out the challenges these conflicts bring to educational systems. It is part of a study that responds to the Government of Canada's working partnership with First Nations to improve the quality of Aboriginal life and education in Canada through research conducted with the Education Renewal Initiative.

144 citations

Book
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: For example, Nazarea et al. as discussed by the authors explored how indigenous people farm sweet potatoes in Bukidnon, Philippines and found that the traditional methods of local farmers are often as important as the "advanced" methods encouraged by advocates of modernization.
Abstract: Seed and gene banks have made great strides in preserving the biological diversity of traditional agricultural plant species, but they have tended to ignore a serious component: the knowledge about those crops and methods of farming held by the people who have long raised them. Virginia Nazarea now makes a case for preserving cultural memory along with biodiversity. By exploring how indigenous people farm sweet potatoes in Bukidnon, Philippines, she discovers specific ways in which the conservation of genetic resources and the conservation of culture can support each other. Interweaving a wealth of ecological and cognitive data with oral history, Nazarea details a "memory banking" protocol for collecting and conserving cultural information to complement the genetic, agronomic, and biochemical characterization of important crops. She shows that memory banking offers significant benefits for local populations not only the preservation of traditional knowledge but also the maintenance of alternatives to large-scale agricultural development and commercialization. She also compares alternative forms of germplasm conservation conducted by a male-dominated hierarchy with those of an informal network of migrant women. Cultural Memory and Biodiversity establishes valuable guidelines for people who aspire to support community-based in situ conservation of local varieties. Perhaps more important, it shows that the traditional methods of local farmers are often as important as the "advanced" methods encouraged by advocates of modernization.

143 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Medicinal plants are inseparable from local livelihoods because they have long been collected, consumed, and managed through local customs and knowledge.
Abstract: Modern therapeutic medicine is historically based on indigenous therapies and ethnopharmacological uses, which have become recognized tools in the search for new sources of pharmaceuticals. Globalization of herbal medicine along with uncontrolled exploitative practices and lack of concerted conservation efforts, have pushed many of Nepal's medicinal plants to the verge of extinction. Sustainable utilization and management of medicinal plants, based on traditional knowledge, is therefore necessary. After establishing verbal informed consent with participating communities, five field surveys, roughly 20 days in duration, were carried out. In all, 176 schedules were surveyed, and 52 participants were consulted through focus group discussions and informal meetings. Altogether, 24 key informants were surveyed to verify and validate the data. A total of 252 individuals, representing non-timber forest product (NTFP) collectors, cultivators, traders, traditional healers (Baidhya), community members, etc. participated in study. Medicinal plants were free-listed and their vernacular names and folk uses were collected, recorded, and applied to assess agreement among respondents about traditional medicines, markets and management. Within the study area, medicinal herbs were the main ingredients of traditional therapies, and they were considered a main lifeline and frequently were the first choice. About 55% plants were ethnomedicinal, and about 37% of ethnomedicinal plants possessed the highest informant consensus value (0.86–1.00). Use of Cordyceps sinensis as an aphrodisiac, Berberis asiatica for eye problems, Bergenia ciliata for disintegration of calculi, Sapindus mukorossi for dandruff, and Zanthoxylum armatum for toothache were the most frequently mentioned. These species possess potential for pharmacology. Medicinal plants are inseparable from local livelihoods because they have long been collected, consumed, and managed through local customs and knowledge. Management of traditional therapies is urged, because the therapies are empirically and knowledge based, often culturally inherited and important to pharmacology and local livelihoods. However, traditional therapies are currently being eroded due to changing lifestyles, perceptions, social transformations, and acculturation.

142 citations

01 Sep 1998
TL;DR: The rediscovery by scientists of ecosystem-like concepts among traditional peoples has been important in the appreciation of traditional ecological knowledge among ecologists, anthropologists, and interdisciplinary scholars as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Ancient conceptualizations of ecosystems exist in several Amerindian, Asia-Pacific, European, and African cultures. The rediscovery by scientists of ecosystem-like concepts among traditional peoples has been important in the appreciation of traditional ecological knowledge among ecologists, anthropologists, and interdisciplinary scholars. Two key characteristics of these systems are that (a) the unit of nature is often defined in terms of a geographical boundary, such as a watershed, and (b) abiotic components, plants, animals, and humans within this unit are considered to be interlinked. Many traditional ecological knowledge systems are compatible with the emerging view of ecosystems as unpredictable and uncontrollable, and of ecosystem processes as nonlinear, multiequilibrium, and full of surprises. Traditional knowledge may complement scientific knowledge by providing practical experience in living within ecosystems and responding to ecosystem change. However, the "language" of traditional ecology is different from the scientific and usually includes metaphorical imagery and spiritual expression, signifying differences in context, motive, and conceptual underpinnings.

142 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
19 Jun 2020
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the common factors affecting this resilience by illustrating how the interconnected roles of place, agency, institutions, collective action, Indigenous knowledge, and learning help Indigenous peoples to cope and adapt to environmental change.
Abstract: Indigenous peoples globally have high exposure to environmental change and are often considered an “at-risk” population, although there is growing evidence of their resilience In this Perspective, we examine the common factors affecting this resilience by illustrating how the interconnected roles of place, agency, institutions, collective action, Indigenous knowledge, and learning help Indigenous peoples to cope and adapt to environmental change Relationships with place are particularly important in that they provide a foundation for belief systems, identity, knowledge, and livelihood practices that underlie mechanisms through which environmental change is experienced, understood, resisted, and responded to Many Indigenous peoples also face significant vulnerabilities, whereby place dislocation due to land dispossession, resettlement, and landscape fragmentation has challenged the persistence of Indigenous knowledge systems and undermined Indigenous institutions, compounded by the speed of environmental change These vulnerabilities are closely linked to colonization, globalization, and development patterns, underlying the importance of tackling these pervasive structural challenges

141 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023468
2022966
2021533
2020645
2019629
2018616