Indigenous Knowledge & Western Science: Collaboration, Relationship, and Climate Solutions

The Global Council for Science and the Environment & The Land Peace Foundation invite you to join us for the "Indigenous Knowledge & Western Science: Collaboration, Relationship, and Climate Solutions" Online Learning Series.

Learning from one another and building relationships between western science and Indigenous knowledge is an ongoing journey. This series is structured to continue the discussions and collective learning that our community started at the NCSE Drawdown 2021 Conference in January and inspire our next steps together.

In this series, participants will be invited to widen the lens through which they view science, decision-making and climate solutions. The first sessions of this series will cover the history and present of the colonial apparatus, as well as knowledge systems and why they are important. Later sessions will help participants develop meaningful, balanced & ethical partnerships and set goals for practical next steps.

 

Event Details

All events in this series are free and open to everyone. To view video recordings from past sessions, and attend upcoming sessions, please register.

Please Register Here

 

Session 1: Science, History, and Colonialism

• April 7, 12:30pm - 2:00pm ET
• Guest Presenter Dina Gilio-Whitaker, lecturer of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos 

Session 2: Knowledge Systems and Relationships

• May 5, 12:30pm - 2:00pm ET
• Guest Presenter Kyle Whyte, Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan

Session 3: Developing Meaningful, Balanced & Ethical Partnerships

• June 2, 12:30pm - 2:00pm ET
• Guest Presenter Linda Tuhiwai Smith, former Director of Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato

Session 4: Synthesis Session and Practical Next Steps

• June 16, 12:30pm - 2:00pm ET

 

Program Facilitator Sherri Mitchell, Indigenous Rights Attorney and Director of The Land Peace Foundation

Program Facilitator Darren Ranco, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Native American Programs, University of Maine

Program Host and Support Laura Weiland, Senior Advisor for Special Projects, Global Council for Science and the Environment

 

Allied Organizations

 

Further Learning

Session 1

By Dina Gilio-Whitaker:

• "All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker

• As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

• Dina Gilio-Whitaker titles & links on Google Scholar

 

On scientific racism:

• Reginald Horsman, “Scientific Racism and the American Indian in the Mid-Nineteenth Century,” American Quarterly, May 1975
• Angela Saini, Superior: The Return of Race Science, Beacon Press, 2019
• “Timeline of Scientific Racism,” New York University, https://apa.nyu.edu/hauntedfiles/about/timeline/

 

On foundations of federal Indian law, Catholic Church and doctrine of discovery

• Steven Newcomb, Pagans in the Promised Land, Fulcrum Publishing, 2008
• Robert Williams, Jr. Like a Loaded Weapon, University of Minnesota Press, 2005
• Robert Miller, The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism, Indigenous Peoples Journal of Law, Culture, and Resistance (UCLA), 2019

 

On epistimicide:

• Hall, B.L. and Tandon, R. (2017) ‘Decolonization of knowledge, epistemicide, participatory research and higher education’. Research for All, 1 (1), 6–19
• María do Mar Castro Varela & Carolina Tamayo Rojas (2020) Epistemicide, postcolonial resistance and the state, Postcolonial Studies, 23:2, 226-240,

 

On contested knowledges and integration of Indigenous knowledge and western science:

• Jonathan W. Long, Frank K. Lake, Ron W. Goode, and Benrita Mae Burnette, “How Traditional Tribal Perspectives Influence Ecosystem Restoration,” Ecopsychology, Vol. 12, No. 2, June 2020
• Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (2013)
• Ramos, S. C. 2018. Considerations for culturally sensitive Traditional Ecological Knowledge research in wildlife conservation. Wildlife Society Bulletin 42(2):358-365 
• George Nicholas, “Western Science is Finally Catching up to Traditional Knowledge,” https://theconversation.com/its-taken-thousands-of-years-but-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-traditional-knowledge-90291 

 

On climate change and Indigenous knowledge:

• Whyte, Kyle Powys. Indigenous Climate Change Studies: Indigenizing Futures, Decolonizing the Anthropocene, English Language Notes, 55.1-2 Fall 2017
• Gagnon, Catherine A., Sandra Hamel, Don E. Russell, Todd Powell, James Andre, Michael Y. Svoboda, Dominique Berteaux, and Bernstein, Meredith Root. 2020. “Merging Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge Links Climate with the Growth of a Large Migratory Caribou Population.” Journal of Applied Ecology 57 (9): 1644–55. 
• Anthony-Stevens, Vanessa, and Sammy L. Matsaw Jr. 2020. “The Productive Uncertainty of Indigenous and Decolonizing Methodologies in the Preparation of Interdisciplinary STEM Researchers.” Cultural Studies of Science Education 15 (2): 595–613.

 

Session 2

Relationships & Science

• Whyte, K. (2018). What Do Indigenous Knowledges Do for Indigenous Peoples? In M. Nelson & D. Shilling (Eds.), Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability (New Directions in Sustainability and Society, pp. 57-82). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108552998.005 (TEK & Western science overview with focus on sustainability & climate change. Includes a robust Works Cited section for further reading)
• Whyte K. 2020. Sciences of Consent: Indigenous Knowledge, Governance Value, and Responsibility. Routledge Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science. Edited by K. Intemann and S. Crasnow, 117-130. Routledge.
• Emery, M. R., Wrobel, A., Hansen, M. H., Dockry, M., Moser, W. K., Stark, K. J., & Gilbert, J. H. (2014). Using traditional ecological knowledge as a basis for targeted forest inventories: Paper birch (Betula papyrifera) in the US Great Lakes region. Journal of Forestry: 112(2).
• Dockry, M. J., Hall, K., Van Lopik, W., & Caldwell, C. M. (2016).  Sustainable development education, practice, and research: an indigenous model of sustainable development at the College of Menominee Nation, Keshena, WI, USA.  Sustainability Science, 11(1).
• Arquette, M., et al. (2002). “Holistic Risk-Based Environmental Decision-making: A Native Perspective.” Environmental Health Perspectives 110(2).
• Trosper, R. L. (2003. “Resilience in pre-contact Pacific Northwest social ecological systems.” Conservation Ecology 7(3).
• Donatuto, J., Campbell, L., & Trousdale, W. (2020). The “value” of value-driven data in identifying Indigenous health and climate change priorities. Climatic Change 158(2).
• Donatuto, J., Campbell, LeCompte, J. K., Rohlman, D., & Tadlock, S. (2020).  The Story of 13 Moons: Developing an Environmental Health and Sustainability Curriculum Founded on Indigenous First Foods and Technologies.  Sustainability 12(21).
• McNeeley, S. M. & Shulski, M.D. (2011).  “Anatomy of a closing window: Vulnerability to changing seasonality in Interior Alaska.” Global Environmental Change 21(2)
• Weatherhead, E., Gearheard, S., & Barry, R. G. (2010.  Changes in weather persistence: Insight from Inuit knowledge. Global Environmental Change 20(3).
• Quaempts, E. J., Jones, K. L., O’Daniel, S. J., Beechie, T. J., & Poole, G. C. (2018). ‘Polishing the Kaswentha’: a Haudenosaunee view of environmental cooperation.  Environmental Science & Policy 4(4-5), 219-228
• Dr. Kyle Whyte titles & links on Google Scholar

 

Session 3

Books authored and edited by Linda Tuhiwai Smith:

• Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. LT Smith, 3rd edition, 2021.
• Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View. LT Smith, E Tuck, KW Yang,  2019.

 

Videos:

• Decolonizing Methodologies talk at the CUNY Graduate Center 
• Decolonizing Methodologies, 20 Years On. The Sociological Review Annual Lecture 

 

Other Publications:

• On Tricky Ground: Researching the Native in the Age of Uncertainty LT Smith. The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2005. 
• Decolonizing Communication Ethics: A Framework for Communicating Otherwise D Munshi, KJ Broadfoot, LT Smith. The Handbook of Communication Ethics, 2010.
• Imperialism, History, Writing, and Theory LT Smith. Postcolonialisms: An Anthology of Cultural Theory and Criticism, 2005.
• Indigenous knowledge, methodology and mayhem: What is the role of methodology in producing Indigenous insights? A discussion from mātauranga Māori LT Smith, TK Maxwell, H Puke, P Temara. Knowledge Cultures 4(3), pp. 131–156, 2016.
• Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs, “Mi’kmaq Ecological Knowledge Study Protocol,” Ratified November 22, 2007.
• Kovach, Margaret.  (2009).  Indigenous and Qualitative Inquiry: A Round Dance?  In Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 23-38.
• Archibald, Jo-ann Q’um Q’um Xiiem, and Amy Parent Nox Ayaawilt.  (2019).  Hands Back, Hands Forward for Indigenous Storywork as Methodology.  In Applying Indigenous Research Methods, edited by Sweeney Windchief and Timothy San Pedro, New York: Routledge, pp. 3-20.
• Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup (CTKW).  2014. “Guidelines for Considering Traditional Knowledges in Climate Change Initiatives.”
• Dr. Linda Tuhiwai Smith titles & links on Google Scholar 

 

 

Videos resources from the NCSE Drawdown 2021 Conference John H. Chafee Memorial Plenary Panel | "Indigenous Knowledge & Western Science: Collaboration, Relationship, and Climate Solutions"

Introductory Remarks Valerie Luzadis, Chair of the GCSE Board of Directors

Plenary Panel Discussion Sherri Mitchell, Indigenous Rights Attorney and Director of The Land Peace Foundation Darren Ranco, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Native American Programs, University of Maine Moderated by: Laura Weiland, Senior Advisor for Special Projects, GCSE

Live Q&A Session Sherri Mitchell, Indigenous Rights Attorney and Director of The Land Peace Foundation Darren Ranco, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Native American Programs, University of Maine Valerie Luzadis, Chair of the GCSE Board of Directors  Moderated by: Laura Weiland, Senior Advisor for Special Projects, GCSE

On Prophecy: Sacred Instructions to Shift Course Toward Sustainable Life on this Planet Sherri Mitchell, Indigenous Rights Attorney and Director of The Land Peace Foundation