Traditional knowledge has been defined as 'the cumulative and dynamic body of knowledge, know-how and representations possessed by peoples with long histories of interaction with their natural milieu. It is intimately tied to language, social relations, spirituality and worldview, and is generally held collectively. Too often, it is simplistically conceived as a pale reflection of mainstream knowledge, in particular, Science.' (UNESCO: 2006)
Indigenous knowledge is the local knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society and which is usually passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth. It is the basis for agriculture, fishing, health care, food preparation, education, carpentry, tool making, environmental conservation and a host of other activities. (SLARCIK: 1996: vii) Indigenous knowledge is the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, or local knowledge particular to an area, region or country, etc. Thus all indigenous peoples are traditional knowledge holders, yet all traditional knowledge-holders are not indigenous. (UNESCO: 2006) Then who are the traditional knowledge holders who are not indigenous?
References-
UNESCO (2006) Traditional Knowledge http://www.unesco.org/bpi/pdf/memobpi48_tradknowledge_en.pdf (last retrieved: 3 Feb 2013)
Sri Lanka Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (1996) Proceedings of the First National Symposium on Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development. March 19-20, 1994. Colombo: Sri Lanka Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (SLRCIK)
In the Ecuadorean case, there are at least hints that between the 1960s and 1980s happened some kind of re-insertion of traditional knowledge -especially concerning social, political and juridical structures- from academia (above all, anthropology and sociology) into the indigenous communities, mostly done by engaged, left-wing academics. Nevertheless, this re-insertion could be seen more as a renewal and adaptation to actual forms of social, juridical and political structures and seems not to be a significant change.
We have traditional knowledge holders in non-locality-based scenarios, basically if indigenous is a group claim which is place based and traditional in terms of kin relations, then in a 'western' geo-political setup what is TK is what is maintained in the margins, say for instance traditional forms of non-conventional medicine, or gardening knowledge which is shared among people who live in a particular region with certain temperatures and crop behaviours, but where the only connection is habitation of that place over time, not a kin connection per se.
Hi, Thank you for continuing this conversation. I was looking for a way to address a reviewer's question: 'Q2: Are traditional Aboriginal knowledge holders the only people authentically and 'intrinsically' connected to place?' The answer, of course, is 'no'! But I needed to say more than that, and this conversation and the sources posted by Nirekha have really helped. Amba, I have included the example of crop behaviours in relation to place-based connections and knowledge that is not a kin connection. Please say if you would rather I didn't use that example, or if you'd prefer me to quote a paper you have written. Dawn
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