Traditional ecological knowledge rests on the same empirical method as modern science

Evidence

One of the key demands of indigenous activists in the environmental justice movement is for cultural knowledge, or traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to be accepted as a valid form of knowledge in public hearings, along with the usual legal and scientific knowledge. TEK is generally defined as the knowledge, practices, or beliefs about the relationship between human communities and their natural environment, which is held by people in societies that are relatively nontechnological and directly dependent on local resources (Berkes 1999; Kimmerer 2002). Its acceptance is growing in the ecological sciences, not least because of recognition that traditional knowledge is based on the same process as modern science: systematic observation of the natural world, leading to predictive abilities. TEK basically calls for us to reconstruct the term ‘expert’ to include alternative forms of knowledge (Gauna 1998: 36). — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 691

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: TEK as ‘expert reconstruction’ — an essay on who counts as an expert in environmental hearings, pairing this with the soundscape argument about trained listening.
• ADDENDUM: Supports the listening/observation-as-method throughline of the polyad and the recognition strand of the Eco-Justice course.
• XREF: connects to: Deliberation must engage both scientific evidence and multiple interpretations of nature — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 683; An elder’s relational plant knowledge far exceeds botanists’ scientific depth — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 160; Indigenous knowledge and Western science can coexist as complementary polycultures — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 487 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Traditional ecological knowledge arises from systematic observation, the intellectual twin to science. #corroborates (0.95) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 413
• Full understanding requires both scientific and indigenous ways of knowing #expands (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 37
• Indigenous and Western knowledge converge but must be translated into mechanistic language #qualifies (0.75) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 580
• Science’s truth monopoly blocks recognition of Indigenous knowledge #qualifies (0.72) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 558