Traditional ecological knowledge arises from systematic observation, the intellectual twin to science.
Evidence
If each plant has a particular role and is interconnected with the lives of humans, how do we come to know what that role is? How do we use the plant in accordance with its gifts? The legacy of traditional ecological knowledge, the intellectual twin to science, has been handed down in the oral tradition for countless generations. It passes from grandmother to granddaughter gathering together in the meadow, from uncle to nephew fishing on the riverbank, and next year to the students in Big Bear’s school. But, where did it first come from? How did they know which plant to use in childbirth, which plant to conceal the scent of a hunter? Like scientific information, traditional knowledge arises from careful systematic observation of nature, from the results of innumerable lived experiments. Traditional knowledge is rooted in intimacy with a local landscape where the land itself is the teacher. Plant knowledge comes from watching what the animals eat, how Bear harvests lilies and how Squirrel taps maple trees. Plant knowledge also comes from the plants themselves. To the attentive observer, plants reveal their gifts. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 413
Categorization
- XREF: Directly states ch2’s thesis (‘Full understanding requires both scientific and indigenous ways of knowing’) and names TEK as ‘the intellectual twin to science’ — the reader’s stated observation-method core for the polyad. — connects to: Eighteenth-century naturalists credited a designing creator for ecological balance — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 927; Traditional ecological knowledge rests on the same empirical method as modern science — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 691; Full understanding requires both scientific and indigenous ways of knowing — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 37 (+1 more)
- SEED: This is the passage to quote for any framing of observation-as-method in the course: how the attentive observer reads roles from the landscape.
- recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
Broader Connections
- Combining analytical and experiential knowledge yields richer knowing.
#corroborates(0.75)