Learning and Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today

Learning & Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today

Final Learning & Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today

Aichi 2.indd 1 28/2/09 18:02:45 This book should be cited as:

UNESCO, 2009, Learning and Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today. Edited by P. Bates, M. Chiba, S. Kube & D. Nakashima, UNESCO: Paris, 128 pp.

This publication is a collaborative effort of: The Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, Natural Sciences Sector The Intangible Heritage Section, Culture Sector The Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, Culture Sector

Acknowledgements Ken-ichi Abe, Japan Centre for Area Studies, Osaka National Museum of Ethnology, Japan Claudia Benavides, Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO Noriko Iizuka, Japan Centre for Area Studies, Osaka National Museum of Ethnology, Japan Tetsuya Inamura, Professor, Aichi Prefectural University, Nagoya, Japan Wil de Jong, Japan Centre for Area Studies, Osaka National Museum of Ethnology, Japan Anahit Minasyan, Endangered Languages Programme, Intangible Heritage Section, Culture Sector, UNESCO Annette Nilsson, Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO Susanne Schnuttgen, Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, Culture Sector, UNESCO

Editors Peter Bates, Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO Moe Chiba, Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, Culture Sector, UNESCO Sabine Kube, Endangered Languages Programme, Intangible Heritage Section, Culture Sector, UNESCO Douglas Nakashima, Head, Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO

Design & Production Julia Cheftel, Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO

Cover images Julia Cheftel, Supin Wongbusarakum, Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller, Nigel Crawhall & Peter Bates

Printed in 2009 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 73752 Paris 07 SP, France

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delineation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this text and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.

For further information, please contact: Douglas Nakashima UNESCO–LINKS 1, rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15 France Email: [email protected] Website: www.unesco.org/links

SC-2009/WS/1

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Foreword

As the United Nations specialised agency for the sciences, culture and education, UNESCO is uniquely placed to surpass disciplinary boundaries anchored in Western thought. One such disciplinary dualism separates biological and cultural diversities, even though it has been repeatedly demonstrated that the two are inextricably interlinked. Amongst indigenous peoples, to take one example, biological diversity is a source of sustenance and inspiration for their cultures, livelihoods and knowledge, while at the same time indigenous knowledge and practice shape and even enhance biological diversity. Biological and cultural diversities are further united today by the challenges that they both face: globalisation and transformation, which in some cases may lead to declining diversities of both cultural and biological landscapes.

Knowledge transmission and learning within contemporary indigenous communities is one critical area of reflection and work that lies along this challenging interface between biological and cultural diversities, while also connecting to the domain of education. On the occasion of the 2005 World Exposition held in Aichi, Japan, the Natural Sciences and Culture Sectors of UNESCO joined forces to address this issue through an experts meeting on ‘Safeguarding the Transmission of Local and Indigenous Knowledge of Nature’. The Culture Sector provided perspectives from the cultural policy angle, emphasising the role of intercultural dialogue and sharing priorities and concerns that have emerged in the framework of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The contributions included knowledge and experience on safeguarding endangered languages. Additional perspectives were provided through actions on Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue. The Natural Sciences Sector contributed expertise and priorities from its Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) programme, which focuses on the diverse ways that humans know and interact with the natural world.

Intertwining these complementary perspectives on biological and cultural diversities, UNESCO brings together in this volume key papers from the Aichi experts meeting that explore the challenges of acquiring and passing on knowledge and practice in a wide array of indigenous communities from around the world. In this manner, it is hoped that UNESCO may advance international understandings of the complexities of sustaining the dynamism of indigenous knowledge in contemporary worlds.

Françoise Rivière Walter Erdelen Assistant Director-General for Culture Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences

Aichi 2.indd 3 28/2/09 18:02:45 Contents

6 Introduction Peter Bates & Douglas Nakashima

8 Contributors

11 The indigenous peoples of Venezuela in search of a participative and intercultural education for their survival Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller

25 Sustaining indigenous languages and indigenous knowledge: developing community training approaches for the 21st century Margaret Florey

39 Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and biocultural diversity: a close-up look at linkages, delearning trends, and changing patterns of transmission Stanford Zent

59 Biodiversity regeneration and intercultural knowledge transmission in the Peruvian Andes Jorge Ishizawa & Grimaldo Rengifo

73 Loss of traditional practices, loss of knowledge, and the sustainability of cultural and natural resources: a case of Urak Lawoi people in the Adang Archipelago, Southwest Thailand Supin Wongbusarakum

87 Transmitting indigenous knowledge through the school curriculum in a diminishing bio-cultural environment: the case of Botswana Herman M. Batibo

95 Learning and Inuit knowledge in Nunavut, Canada Peter Bates

107 African hunter-gatherers: threats and opportunities for maintaining indigenous knowledge systems of biodiversity Nigel Crawhall

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The loss of their specialised knowledge from this latter process is not necessarily worldviews. Furthermore, education of nature is a grave concern for many abstract information, but is instead intri- curricula, designed for a mainstream indigenous communities throughout cately bound to experiential process. For and largely urban populace, may be the world. Changes to the social envi- many indigenous peoples, knowledge is of limited utility for remote rural com- ronment, generally brought on by the thus an integral aspect of a person’s be- munities where wage-earning jobs are introduction of new technologies, life- ing, and by separating it from its context few and far between. Indeed, acquiring styles and market economies through one may render it meaningless. indigenous knowledge of how to navi- colonisation and modernisation, under- gate and survive on the land, and how As might be imagined from these fun- mine the transmission of ‘indigenous’ to use local resources to feed, clothe damentally contrasting epistemologies, or ‘traditional’ knowledge. This process and provide for one’s family, may be of it seems that the two ways of learning is often accompanied by the transfor- much greater relevance for the contexts – Western and indigenous – may be un- mation of the natural milieu, for exam- in which many indigenous groups con- comfortable bedfellows. Time spent by ple when rainforests are converted to tinue to live today. indigenous children in classroom set- pasturelands, or valleys are flooded to tings is time that they are not spend- Commendable efforts are being become reservoirs, radically altering the ing learning through experience on the made to better align educational curri- arenas in which indigenous knowledge land, weakening their knowledge of the cula with indigenous realities by incor- would be acquired and passed on. local environment and their interac- porating local knowledge and language The issue of education, as it is under- tions with the community. In formal content, but the interrelationship and stood in a Western context, occupies a schooling, teachers are figures of au- balance between the knowledge forms pivotal role in this process, highlighted thority and Western ‘scientific’ knowl- remains delicate. These issues, and at- by many as both a major cause of the de- edge is often presented as the ‘superi- tempts to address them, are explored cline of indigenous knowledge, and also or’ way to understand the world. This within this volume. as a potential remedy to its demise. weakens the respect that children have for community elders and their exper- In the classical Western understanding tise. Furthermore, curricula may con- Structure of the book of the term, education tends to involve tain little of relevance to local realities learning through instruction and read- or may actively denigrate local culture. ing, and by internalising abstract infor- Colonial languages are frequently the The book is organised into three sec- mation which may later be applied in modes of instruction, further hastening tions. The first addresses the link be- specific real-world contexts. For many the decline of indigenous and vernacu- tween indigenous knowledge and in- indigenous cultures, however, learning lar languages, and widening the rift be- digenous language, and explores the occurs through the process of observing tween elders and youth. opportunities this interconnection pro- and doing, and by interacting over long vides for understanding and countering periods of time with knowledgeable el- Many indigenous communities are declines in both. The second section ders and the natural environment. This therefore in a quandary. While formal examines how the loss of indigenous learning process is so subtle and unob- education promises to open pathways knowledge due to insensitive school trusive that often it is not recognised to the material benefits of the Western programmes may be countered by inte- as learning at all, even by the learners world, at the same time it tends to be de- grating indigenous knowledge and lan- themselves. The knowledge resulting structive to indigenous knowledge and guages into school curricula. The third

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section explores the need for the revital- visual representations of learning He introduces a project which aims to isation of indigenous ways of learning, trends, which shed new light on the counter this loss, whilst at the same generally outside of a classroom envi- intricacies of knowledge loss in specific time helping San children remain in ronment, and how this may be practi- socio-ecological contexts. the school system. This project focus- cally viable in modern contexts. es not only on children, but also on training their teachers, and involving Classroom learning the community as a whole in the edu- Languages & learning The paper by Jorge Ishizawa and cational processes of the school. In her paper, Marie-Claude Mattéi Grimaldo Rengifo describes the work Muller describes the political situa- of the Proyecto Andino de Tecnologías learning on the land tion in Venezuela, in which increasing Campesinas (PRATEC) in the Peruvian pressure from vigorous indigenous or- Andes. The authors explain that the Through the presentation of eth- ganisations has led to increasing legal in-depth knowledge held by campesino nographic research with Inuit in Arctic protection for indigenous knowledge farmers has given rise to an astonish- Canada, Peter Bates argues that bring- and languages. She also illustrates the ing variety of domesticated crops, and ing indigenous knowledge into formal complexity of these language-knowl- continues to support rural communi- schooling may have an effect opposite edge systems, and examines how new ties. They contrast this knowledge to that desired. It may restructure and laws, legal measures and educational with knowledge derived from Western thus distort indigenous knowledge, programmes will advance indigenous schooling, and go on to propose ways and further erode ties between young knowledge and language preservation. in which children in Andean schools Inuit and their elders and the land. He might receive the benefits of both ways suggests that learning while out on the The paper by Margaret Florey de- of knowing. land with knowledgeable elders still scribes a training programme taking has a vital role to play in Arctic com- place in Indonesia, where the trans- The paper by Supin Wongbusarakum munities, and may often better serve mission of indigenous knowledge has discusses knowledge loss and preserva- young Inuit with the skills they need been severely compromised by a rapid tion amongst the Urak Lawoi people for modern community life than for- shift in language use due to change in of the Andaman Sea of Southwest mal schooling. the social and natural environment. Thailand. The author explains that three case studies from around The programme works with elders and changes to Urak Lawoi lifestyles have Using the continent, Nigel Crawhall’s pa- youth from the community to reestab- impacted on their knowledge of the per explores the threats to the trans- lish community bonds and pride in in- marine environment. She also discusses mission of indigenous knowledge in digenous knowledge and languages. ways that this loss might be countered, Africa, and the political and environ- through innovative documentary tech- mental processes behind these threats. A detailed analysis of trends in the niques and school programmes. transmission of indigenous knowledge He goes on to argue that linking in- is provided in the paper by Stanford The ways that formal classroom-based digenous knowledge and skills to the Zent. Using linguistic data collected education systems have reduced the labour market can revive indigenous during research with the Jotï and Piaroa transmission of indigenous knowledge knowledge within communities and Indians of the Venezuelan Amazon, the amongst the San of Botswana are ex- lead to its reevaluation by govern- author presents statistically modeled plored by Herman Batibo in his paper. ments and conservation agencies.

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Peter Bates is a consultant for Nigel Crawhall is Director of UNESCO’s Local and Indigenous Secretariat of the Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Program- of Africa Coordinating Committee me, based in Paris, France. With an (IPACC, www.ipacc.org.za). He was pre- initial background in ecology and en- viously Cultural Programme Manager vironmental science, he completed of the South African San Institute and an interdisciplinary PhD in anthro- Director of the South African National pology and ecology in 2006, focusing Language Project. He holds a PhD on the interrelationships between from the University of Cape Town on Inuit knowledge and Western sci- the cause of the loss of indigenous ence. He has carried out long term !Ui languages in South Africa. He is fieldwork with Inuit in the Canadian currently the Co-Chair of the IUCN Arctic, on projects relating to caribou Strategic Direction on Governance, migration patterns. Communities, Equity, and Livelihood Rights in Relation to Protected Areas. Herman M. Batibo has conducted several sociolinguistic studies Margaret Florey is an experi- among the Khoisan communities of enced field linguist who has worked for Botswana since 1994. His main con- twenty years with speakers of endan- cern is the critical language endangered languages in eastern Indonesia. germent and the dramatic loss of bio- She is actively involved in advocacy cultural diversity experienced in these and international capacity building communities. He is therefore involved activities with members of indigenous in extensive language documentation communities. Her research interests and language empowerment projects. include the minority languages of the He is at the same time Professor of Austronesian and Australian language African Linguistics at the University families, language endangerment, lan- of Botswana where he teaches African guage documentation and ethnobi- languages and linguistics in the De- ology. She has published extensively partment of African Languages and on the endangered languages of the Literature. Moreover, he is a member Austronesian region. Margaret is a of many regional and international consultant linguist with Terralingua academic organizations, including the and serves on its Board of Governors, World Congress of African Linguistics, is a co-founder of the Resource Net- of which he is currently the president. work for Linguistic Diversity, and Also he is a member of the UNESCO chairs the steering committee for the Committee on the Safeguarding of the International Conference on Austro- Endangered Languages of Africa. nesian Linguistics.

Aichi 2.indd 8 28/2/09 18:02:46 Contributors

Jorge Ishizawa has devoted his Grimaldo Rengifo is the foun- development, and of actively engaging professional career to diverse aspects of der and present coordinator of the local stakeholders through consulta- socio-economic planning, systems and Proyecto Andino de Tecnologias Cam- tion, planning, capacity building, col- informatics with both the Peruvian pesinas (PRATEC). Trained as a teacher, laborative work and evaluation. public administration and interna- he has extensively researched Andean tional organisations. Since 1996 he has peasant agriculture and has promoted Stanford Zent is an environ- been a member of Proyecto Andino de the cultural affirmation of Andean mental anthropologist and since Tecnologias Campesinas (PRATEC), an Amazonian communities. 1992 has worked as a Researcher and institution devoted to the affirmation Professor in the Centro de Antro- of Andean culture. Supin Wongbusarakum recei- pología del Instituto Venezolano de ved her PhD in human geography Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), in Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller from the University of Hawai’i. She Caracas, Venezuela. He holds a B.S. has worked for thirty years with has worked on projects related to the degree in anthropology from Tulane indigenous peoples of Venezuela relationship between coastal and ma- University and a Ph.D. degree in an- (E´ñepa (Panare), Mapoyo, Yabarana, rine resources and indigenous and local thropology from Columbia University. Yanomamï), focusing her research on communities, including the Urak Lawoi His research interests include ethno- their language and culture. Her publi- of the Adang Archipelago, since 1997. ecology, historical ecology, traditional cations – among which are two illus- She is currently a project leader in the ecological knowledge, biocultural con- trated bilingual dictionaries – present Research Program, East-West Center in servation, and native cultures of low- not only linguistic and anthropologi- Honolulu, and is the main author and land South America. He has conduct- cal data but also information on fauna trainer of the NOAA and SPREP-funded ed fieldwork among the Piaroa, Jotï and flora of the Amazonian area of Socioeconomic Monitoring Guidelines and Eñepa indigenous groups of the Venezuela. She worked as a professor for Coastal Managers in Pacific Islands Venezuelan tropical forest during the of linguistics and indigenous languages Countries. Having worked as a so- past 25 years. From 2001-2006, he par- of Venezuela for 25 years in the Central cial scientist consultant for UNESCO, ticipated in a community-based map- University of Venezuela. Presently she UNDP, NOAA, NSF, USAID, the Social ping and land demarcation project is collaborating with the Direction Science Research Institute of the with Jotï and Eñepa groups, in support of Indigenous People in Venezuela’s University of Hawai’i, and the Nature of their land claims. More recently, he Ministry of Education, in the elabora- Conservancy/Micronesia Program on has been working on the development tion of several books regarding indige- projects related to the conservation and of an indicator for measuring the vi- nous knowledge and culture, which are rehabilitation of coastal environments, tality status of traditional ecological intended chiefly for the Intercultural marine protected areas and traditional knowledge (VITEK) in diverse socio- and Bilingual Program. cultures, socioeconomic assessment, cultural and bioecological settings, coastal hazards, and climate change, with the goal of contributing to the she is a strong advocate of taking local search for verifiable measures that can and traditional cultures into account in be used to assess the progress of global resource management and sustainable environmental policy.

Aichi 2.indd 9 28/2/09 18:02:46 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today ©Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller

Aichi 2.indd 10 28/2/09 18:02:46 The indigenous peoples of Venezuela in search of a participative and intercultural education for their survival Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller

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traditional indigenous knowledge, as Located between 1º and 11º latitude Introduction well as on the newly developed con- north, Venezuela as a whole belongs cept of ‘interculturality’. to the American Tropic, or Neo-Tropic, Until 1990, the knowledge of the in- which is considered to be the richest re- digenous peoples of Venezuela interest- gion of the world in terms of biodiversity. ed mainly a few research‑workers in an- Demographical and Geo- In the southern part of Venezuela, the thropology and linguistics, but did not graphical Background Guayanese Shield is the area of the coun- concern the Venezuelan Government, try in which the majority of animal and which tended to favouring the inte- According to the 2001–2002 plant species are concentrated (Aguilera gration of these minorities into the census, the indigenous population of et al. 2003; Lasso et al. 2003). This is due national society. However, for the last Venezuela presently stands at 534,816 to its old and complex geographical his- ten years, Venezuela has been experi- persons (Allais 2003; OCEI 2005), tory and its varied and complicated geo- encing notable political changes, some which corresponds to 2.2 per cent of morphology, including numerous iso- of which have drastically modified the the total population (25 million). This lated mountainous systems, valleys, hills political status of indigenous peoples percentage can seem somewhat small, and a mosaic of lowlands, each with dif- in the country. Partly due to pressure but is comprised of 36 ethnic groups, ferent ecosystems. Based on current in- from vigorous new indigenous organi- representing a great variety of lan- formation it is safe to affirm that this is sations, a set of governmental laws and guages and cultures, each one with its the most biodiverse region of the coun- programmes has not only stimulated own wealth of traditional knowledge. try, most particularly in terms of phyto- the re-valuation of indigenous lan- In addition, the great majority of these diversity (plant diversity). According guages and cultures, but has also made groups, twenty-eight of thirty-six, live to botanical research over the last ten it necessary to safeguard them. In this in the watershed of the Orinoco River, years, there are, in Venezuela, approxi- paper I aim to explore these policies. I and more precisely in the Venezuela mately 15,350 species of vascular plants. will focus my analysis on the new strat- Guayana, which is an exceptionally Two thirds of these (9,500 to 10,300) egies used to transmit and promote biodiverse area. are in the Guayana region (Huber et al.

73˚ 72˚ 71˚ 70˚ 69˚68˚ 67˚ 66˚ 65˚ 64˚ 63˚ 62˚ 61˚ 60˚ 59˚ 58˚

ISL A ARUBA

ISLA CURAÇAO ISLAS LOS MONJES ISLA BONAIR E MAR CARIBE

ISLA GRANADA ISLA LA BLANQUILL A 12˚ ISLA LAS AVE S ISLA LA ORCHILA Map 1 ISLAS LOS HERMANOS ISLAS LOS ROQUES

WAYUU ISLA ISLA S ( GUAJIRO) LA SOLA LOS TESTIGOS

NUEV A ES PA RT A ISLAS ISLA TOBAGO AÑU F ALCON LOS FRAILE S (PARAUJANO) ISLA LA TORT UGA Indigenous languages 11˚ ISLA COCHE DISTRI TO ISLA CUBAGU A WAYUU WAYUU FEDERAL SUCRE TRINIDAD of Venezuela (GUAJIRO) ( GUAJIRO) JAPRERIA WAYUU KUMANAGOTO ( GUAJIRO) CARABOBO MIRANDA KARI’ÑA Y UKPA LARA YARACU Y CHAIMA OCEANOO ARAGUA 10˚ LAGO WARAO DE ANZOATEGUI WAYUU A TLANTICOO (GUAJIRO) MARACAIBO

WARAO BARI TRUJILLO MONAGAS COJEDES A I P A N G U O I R WAYUU POR TUGUESA 9˚ ZULIA ( GUAJIRO) GUARICO KARI’ÑA MERIDA WARAO WAYUU ( GUAJIRO)

BARINAS LOKONO AMACURO LOKONO O O C E R I N R I O A P U R O 8˚ I O R TACHIRA

R I O A R A U HIWI APURE C A O C (GUAJIBO) O N KARI’ÑA R I O O HIWI R I BOLIVA R R PUME I O A R A U C A (YARURO) HIWI (GUAJIBO) I A RA U C A R O R 7˚ ( GUAJIBO) I O KUIVA E ’ÑEPA C AKAWAYO (GUAJIBO) UA

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F. ARAWAK PUINAVE H ODI O U 6˚ (CHASE), WAREKENA, 318.010 N

WAYUU (GUAJIRO) PIAROA E’ÑEPA I HIWI (WOTHÜHA) (PANARE) O T P EMON Y AKAWAYO (KAPÓN), CHAIMA, (GUAJIBO) SANI MA A B E´ÑEPA (PANARE), JAPRERIA, E HODI R R Y AWARANAA E KARI´ÑA, KUMANAGOTO, MAPOYO, I A 71.093 O O F. CARIBE I PEMÓN, YAWARANA, YE´KUANA R C SAPE HIWI A YUKPA U PIAROA (GUAJIBO) R N (WOTHÜHA) SANI MA A R I O PIAROA V R I (WOTHÜHA) E O BARI N SANI MA 5˚ F. CHIBCHA 2.200 T C U A R A A O R R N I I I O

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R I YE’KUANA KURRIPAKO O O PIAROA R L I (WOTHÜHA) N F. TUPI NENGATÚ (YERAL) 1.294 O I ÑENGATÚ C O SANI MA (YERAL) S BANIVA A G.IND. HIWI HIWI, KUIVA KURRIPAKO 3˚ (GUAJIBO) 15.205 BANIVA R WAREKENA

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(YERAL) A Y ANOMAMI C 2˚ G. IND. WARAO WARAO KURRIPAKO RIO NEGRO 36.027 KURRIPAKO AMAZONAS ÑENGATÚ (YERAL) G. IND. YANOMAMI YA NOMAMI, SANIMA 15.269 BARÉ ESCALA 1:4.000.000

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73˚ 72˚ 71˚ 70˚ 69˚68˚ 67˚ 66˚ 65˚ 64˚ 63˚ 62˚ 61˚ 60˚ 59˚ 58˚

Aichi 2.indd 12 28/2/09 18:02:47 The Indigenous Peoples of Venezuela in search of a participative and intercultural education for their survival

1998; Steyermark 1972; Steyermark et al. 1995a, 1995b, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004). The knowledge of nature that the resident indigenous peoples have accumulated through their ancestral and permanent presence in this important biodiverse area should be fundamental to any programme of nature preservation in Venezuela.

Indigenous languages, mirrors of biodiversity

The variety and extent of indigenous knowledge about flora and fauna could be estimated, in a first and superficial approach, by looking at the abundance of lexical items referring to these fields. In the glossary of invertebrates presented in my book on Yanomamï language and culture, Lengua y Cultura Yanamamï (Mattéi Muller 2007), I list forty-nine nouns referring to different species of caterpillars, forty-five referring to bees, twenty-four referring to wasps, thirty- three referring to ants, ten referring to

termites and nine referring to crabs. ©Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller

Each of these words has not only a not, venomous or not, for example) are Collecting edible termites (above) referential function, but usually also also found within the naming system. Looking for crabs (bottom left) conveys an empirical experience. This is a source of various pieces of informa- It is important to point out that even tion attached to the ‘named’ species – the semantic elements which com- its physical features, its habitat and its pound some of these words can give in- behaviour. Even more importantly, the formational elements concerning some techniques for collecting, hunting or aspects of the species – for example they build their hives on the ground; on fishing for a given species, and also its colour, form, roughness or smoothness, the other hand there is a wasp called ihi- potential uses (edible or not, toxic or thickness or thinness, sweetness or bit- rama rootimï, literally ‘perched (rootimï) terness, or the precise location of its hab- towards the sun (ihirama)’, because itat. Semantic elements can also give in- they build their hives very high on the formation about relationships between top of the trees, orientated towards the different species or between species and sunlight. Another species of wasp is their environment – relationships be- called oraka raparaparimï, which literally tween fauna and flora, in particular. In means ‘with a very long (raparaparimï) Yanomamï, for example, some bees are exit hole (oraka)’, because the inside of called pithatherimï, literally ‘inhabitant their hive has a very long tubular struc-

©Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller (theri) of the ground (pitha)’, because ture which leads to the exit.

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Cutting a tree (left) to collect honey inside (below) ©Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller ©Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller

The use of several plants is indicated tipyretic plants such as prïsïprïsï thotho, woman’; waitheri këkï, literally ‘herb of by the literal meaning of their name, literally, ‘vine of fever (prïsïprïsï)’; or hahõ the courageous or valiant and aggressive for example medicinal use is denoted in thotho, literally, ‘vine of the hahõ spider’, person’ (waitheri, valiant and agressive); the names haro këkï, literally, ‘plant of because it has a hairy skin,3 and as with manaka këkï, ‘herb which makes wom- healing’1 (këkï is a classifier which refers the spider, touching it causes itching. en sterile and fat’; aroari këkï, ‘poison- to a herbaceous plant and haro is derived ous herb’; and ahete këkï, ‘plant which from the verb haro-aï, to heal); proproko The names of some plants which makes the destination nearer’ (ahete, këkï, literally, ‘plant of putting on weight’ have a magical use (to prepare aph- near), also called rope këkï, ‘plant which (proproko-aï, to get fat); yawë këki, ‘plant rodisiac, beneficial or evil powders) makes you faster’ (rope, fast). of growing’ (yawë-aï, to grow); mosha hi, can indicate precisely to whom they ‘tree (hi) of the mosha worm’, because a shoud be applied and what their pos- Some lexemes reveal the relation- piece of the bark is used to kill the para- sible effects are. For example ihiru këkï, ships that the Yanomamï have ob- sitic worm; and hura thotho, literally, literally ‘herb of the child’, is a species served between animals, chiefly be- ‘vine of malaria’ (thotho means vine and of Cyperaceae which is cultivated by tween birds and other animals or hura malaria2) which serves to prepare an Yanomamï women. They crush the between animals and plants. The four antipyretic beverage. There are more an- root, mix it with anotto (Bixa orellana) names, iro heã, literally ‘signal of the 1 This plant, which belongs to the Cyper- and rub the child’s body with the mix- howler-monkey’; iwa heã, literally ‘sig- aceae family (Cyperus articulatus) has an anti- ture in order to stimulate its growth. nal of the alligator’; oru këkï heã, liter- pyretic and analgesic effect. It is used against Ohote këkï, literally, ‘herb of the hard ally ‘signal of the snake’, and totori heã, headache, toothache, stomach ache and swelling due to an insect sting. Its mashed worker’ is supposed to give energy literally ‘signal of the tortoise’, refer to roots are rubbed on the affected area or to the worker who puts it around his different species of antbirds,4 each of soaked in water to prepare a beverage. neck and his wrists. Other examples which is associated with the presence 2 The most common meaning of hura is ‘spleen’, and one of the symptoms of include suwë këkï, literally ‘herb of the of a particular animal. We could say the most dangerous case of malaria is the the same of tëpë heã, literally ‘signal painful swelling of the spleen. Therefore, 3 To use it, therefore, it must macerate the Yanomamï refer to the illness (malaria) in water. Then it is mashed and applied as 4 These birds follow some species of and the affected organ (spleen) with the a cataplasma to the head and the belly in aggressive ants in order to eat the insects same word hura. order to lessen a fever. attacked by the ants.

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of the ant-eater’, which refers to a akatho is used for lizards which live in to bark from which it is possible to make trogon bird. Meanwhile, kanae nini hi subterranean cavities (sharaima akatho, strings or hammocks. Examples include (Caesalpiniaceae, Tachigali paniculata), waraima akatho, reama akatho). yãri natha hi, iwa natha hi, seisei natha hi literally ‘tree of the kanae nini ants’, (species of Annonaceae) and nikreterima is the habitat of aggressive ants kanae Regarding flora, some classifiers natha hi (a species of Flacourtiaceae). nini (Formicidae, Pseudomyrmex spp.), indicate the type of plant and some of which men search for when they feel its morphological features: With these few examples I wanted to weak. The men shake the tree to knock highlight how important the preserva- the ants down in order to be stung, be- Këkï refers to any kind of herbaceous tion of language is to safeguarding the cause the ants’ formic acid has an ener- plant. Several of these plants have a knowledge of cultures with oral tradi- gising effect. Examples of this kind are medicinal use, or a magical use, as was tions. The loss of a single word can not rare in indigenous languages. described above. cause the loss of precious information.

Moreover, a linguistic process, the Mamoku refers to any kind of bul- nominal classifier, which is frequent bous plant. Mamoku is the plural of Political Background enough in the Amazonian languages, mamo, which means ‘eye’, and is also can also be an interesting source of infor- used to refer to these plants because of For the first time in the history of mation. In the Yanomamï language there the round form of their bulbs. Many Venezuela, indigenous peoples had, in exist many obligatory classifiers which of these plants are used as lures to at- 1998, the chance to elect three of their allow us to distinguish some of the taxo- tract game, chiefly birds, for example members as representatives in the nomic criteria the Yanomamï use to refer paruri mamoku, ‘plant of the curassow’, new National Assembly. The princi- to the animal and plant kingdoms: or mayepï mamoku, ‘plant of the tucan’. pal function of this new assembly was Additionally, iwa mamoku lures alliga- the elaboration of a new constitution, Aka, for example, is applied to the spe- tors and shama mamoku attracts tapir. which was approved one year later, cies of termites which live in subterra- in 1999. In the preamble of this new nean cavities (mapa aka, oshe aka) and Si refers to trees with a non-ligneous constitution it is clearly established trunk, such as banana trees (Musaceae), that Venezuela is a multiethnic and all palm-trees (Arecaceae) and reeds such pluricultural country. In chapter VIII, as itiriti (Marantaceae), among others. dedicated to the rights of indigenous Medicinal plant: haro këkï peoples, two articles are worth noting: Hi refers to ligneous trees, whatever their size or height. For example, praki Article 121 hi denotes the hot capsicum shrub, This recognises the right of indigenous while nara shi hi refers to the onoto peoples to have their own education, tree (Bixa orellana). that is to say, the right to maintain and develop their cultural identity (cosmogony, values, spirituality, social organisation and Thotho refers to any kind of vine or economic system) generally related to a creeper, such as hura thotho, ‘vine of specific conception and use of nature. In malaria’, as mentioned above. addition, it underlines that the state must promote the cultural manifestations of indigenous peoples and support an inter- Some classifiers indicate types of flower cultural and bilingual educational system, (na, hu, ~u, honokore), others kinds of respectful of their socio-cultural differences and their traditions. fruit (këkï, ãkï, ko, makï). Ko, for example, refers to any kind of fruit which is round with a hard shell, for example hawari Article 9 ko, Brazil nut. Other classifiers clarify This declares the official status not only which part of the plant is used by the of Spanish but also of all the indigenous languages spoken in Venezuela.

©Marie-Claude Mattéi Muller Yanomamï, such as natha, which refers

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On 14 May 2001, the National On 3 August 2004, a final enactment conquered their linguistic, cultural and Direction of Indigenous Education was created the Presidential Commission political rights, by means of new laws created in the Ministry of Education, ‘Guaicaipuro Mission’: and several new bodies charged with and the responsibility of this direction enforcing these laws. was given to a teacher, a member of Article 1 the Wayuu people, the most numerous The Presidential Commission “Guaicaipuro ethnic minority of Venezuela. This new Mission”, is created with permanent char- Indigenous Education institution has the difficult mission of acter, the function of which will be: to coor- dinate, promote and advise all the matters not only promoting and enhancing referring to the restitution of the rights of the the use and teaching of indigenous indigenous peoples and communities. The very concept of ‘indigenous languages, but also that of preserving education’ is complex, multiform and and revitalising those which are se- The functions of this new institution many-sided, insofar as it is supposed verely in danger of extinction. are still matters of discussion because to respond to the nuances and dif- of the heterogeneity of its members ferences of each indigenous culture. On 29 May 2002 a presidential enact- and the vagueness of its programmes Presently, the situation of Venezuela’s ment promulgated the obligatory use in relation to those of the other insti- indigenous peoples is heterogeneous of indigenous languages: tutions mentioned above. and unbalanced – some groups have extremely dynamic knowledge sys- Article 1 Recently, in January 2007, the tems from many points of view, while The use of the indigenous languages in Ministry of Indigenous Affairs was cre- others are in severe danger of extinc- their oral and written form is obligatory in ated. A woman who is a member of a tion (Mattéi Muller 2006; Mosonyi the public and private educational centres, Ye´kuana community was appointed to 2003). Moreover, in indigenous edu- not only those located in the indigenous communities but also in all rural and this important post. The organisation cation, the transmission of knowledge urban areas inhabited by indigenous chart has been proposed, but the budget is not reduced to the classroom; it is peoples, in all the levels and modalities required for its functionality has not yet rather a matter of collective compro- of the educational system. been approved. A new indigenous bu- mise. So which means and which reaucracy (seven vice-ministers, responsi- strategies can be implemented, at At the same time (29 May 2002) the ble for different areas and different ethnic school and out of school, to concili- National Council of Education and groups) and a set of indigenous civil ser- ate these requirements? Indigenous Languages was created, pre- vants must be nominated. The creation sided over by the Director of Indigenous of this department obliges the restructur- Education, mentioned above, and coming of already existing indigenous insti- Intercultural Bilingual posed of a representative from each tutions. However, it is still too early to Programme (IBP) indigenous group. The delegates, who make an appraisal and measure the con- must have knowledge and experi- sequences of these structural changes. One of the first measures taken by the ence in pedagogic and linguistic pro- Direction of Indigenous Education was grammes, will be chosen according to More recently (January 2008) a Law the remodelling of the Intercultural the respective traditional mechanisms of Indigenous Languages was prepared Bilingual Programme, which has been of selection of each indigenous group. by the Commission of Indigenous in abeyance for twenty-eight years, This council, which includes also a few Peoples of the National Assembly, and since 1980 (Eguillor García 1991). The experts or technical advisers in linguis- will soon be discussed by the assembly. Venezuelan Government originally tics and pedagogy, has several functions This new law proposes the creation launched the initial Intercultural which partly coincide with those of the of a National Institute of Indigenous Bilingual Program (IBP) to promote in- Direction of Indigenous Education. Languages, which should be a depen- digenous languages. Schools were cre- However, one of its most important dency of the Ministry of Education. ated in indigenous villages, in which tasks is to prepare the foundations of indigenous children would be taught a new Law of Indigenous Education, In short, in the last decade, the in- how to write and read their mother- which is still in process. digenous minorities of Venezuela have tongue as well as Spanish, the only

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official language of the country at together children coming from differ- 1/ Reinforcement and that time. Considering that many ent ethnic backgrounds. In addition, extension of the Inter- indigenous communities were still they could not benefit from long ex- cultural Bilingual monolingual at that time, it seems cursions in the forest, traditionally Programme (IBP) that the real purpose of the IBP was to practiced by their groups in order to create a new generation of bilingual gather more food (wild fruit, tubers Presently, in indigenous areas Indians (Spanish and the indigenous and edible insects, such as caterpillars, there are still fewer intercultural bi- language), who could be assimilated termites and ants), to look for useful lingual schools than other kinds of more easily into the national culture. plants (medicinal and hallucinogenic schools. The efforts of the Direction of In fact, the main criterion to be taken ones among them) or explore new ar- Indigenous Education concentrate on on as a school-master in an intercultur- eas for their gardening and hunting. two points. Firstly, indigenous school al bilingual school was to know basic masters should be better trained Spanish, in addition to the indigenous In some ways, the first IBP had a ne- and should have finished secondary language. However, the requirement gative impact because it created a rup- school. They should follow special was only for a primary school level of ture in indigenous societies between training in linguistics, particularly in education in Spanish, and most of the those who know how to speak and phonetics and phonology so that they indigenous school-masters could not write Spanish and those who do not. can teach their native language more write and read fluently in their native Those who were excluded from the efficiently. Today there are 5,900 indig- language, because they had not been IBP were the adults and older people, enous school-masters but not all are trained. Three years later, in 1983, the shamans, most of the girls and incorporated in the IBP and only 1,400 the IBP entered a dormant phase be- all of the communities which were of them have been trained. Secondly, cause of a drastic reduction in its bud- isolated in the forest; in other words, school books in indigenous languages get. Overall, its implementation has those who are the best guarantors are still rare and some are too obsolete, been very slow, partial, unequal and for traditional knowledge of nature. poor and fragmentary. Therefore, the deficient in many aspects due to the Today, the indigenous school-mas- Direction of Indigenous Education is lack of appropriate didactic material ters who are the product of this first stimulating the elaboration of peda- in indigenous languages, untrained IBP are more or less bilingual, quite gogical grammar books, reading text- schoolmasters and want of supervi- acculturated and not necessarily well books and bilingual dictionaries. Texts sion and continuity. prepared to transmit the traditional for indigenous schools have been pub- knowledge of their group. To rem- lished during the last five years and Moreover, only a small number edy this situation, several strategies several bilingual books are in prepara- of indigenous peoples could take ad- have been set up by the Direction of tion, with the collaboration of indig- vantage of this programme. To be able Indigenous Education: enous school masters. to attend the school system, potential indigenous pupils had to live close to 1 Reinforcement and extension a religious mission (catholic or evan- of the Intercultural Bilingual 2/ Community participation: gelist) where the indigenous schools Programme (IBP); Wapïre were created. At that time, the missionaries were the only non‑indige- 2 Community participation; For many reasons the young school nous persons who could guarantee a master is not always the most appropri- permanent presence in these remote 3 Creation of new cultural/ ate person of his or her village to trans- areas and at the same time assume the linguistic niches; mit traditional knowledge, as discussed teaching of basic Spanish. In some above. Therefore the Wayuu People are cases, the pupils had to live far from 4 Revitalisation of moribund experimenting with a new formula: the their villages, in boarding schools languages; Wapïre, which in Wayuu means ‘meeting (in Esmeralda, Raton Island or San place’. This is a regular meeting, which Juan de Manapiare for example, in 5 Workshops on awareness-raising takes place in a primary school or a place the Amazon State), which grouped in urban areas. built or set up for this purpose, during

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which the older women and men of the a/ When the indigenous village pres- niche is no longer feasible because there village intervene and talk with the chil- ents complex cultural and linguistic are no fluent speakers of the indigenous dren about the Wayuu culture. There heterogeneity (this is the case for sev- language. The Añu, or Paraujano, whose are presently five Wapïre in the Guajira eral communities on the Orinoco riv- language belongs to the same arawak area, in the western part of Venezuela erside near Puerto Ayacucho, capital family as the Wayuu and who live in where the Wayuu live. This approach is of the Amazon State, and in the very the same area as the Wayuu, have cre- intended to reinforce and complement south along the Rio Negro, where in ated the Paraujano Cultural Movement the work of the school master through the same village five or more different (Movimiento Cultural Paraujano – the narration of myths or tales, the de- languages and cultures coexist). MOCUPA) and in spite of serious diffi- scription of ritual ceremonies, and the culties due to the lack of native speak- presentation of ethnic codes and the b/ When the use of the indigenous ers, their leaders have advocated the group’s social organisation. language by children between 3 and 6 revitalisation of their native language years old is increasingly reduced. In this from written texts on this language. The underlying purpose of these ef- case, the niche can prepare the child With the financial support of UNICEF, forts is to turn the school into a vital to be able to follow the Intercultural an initiation course elaborated from centre of the community, in which all Bilingual Program later. published linguistic material on Añu the active agents of the community, was organised in 2003 by two linguists men, women, young, elderly, parents Today there exist nineteen linguis- from the University of Maracaibo. and relatives, participate with the tic/cultural niches throughout the There were thirty participants, com- school masters in the educational pro- Venezuelan territory. According to the prised of school masters of the Añu area cess of the children. In this way, the Direction of Indigenous Education, and members of MOCUPA, only 30 transmission, and in some cases the re- this model of ‘the niche’, which has per cent of whom have an Añu origin. construction, of the indigenous culture been experimented with in other This experience proved highly motivat- becomes a matter in which all of the countries with indigenous popula- ing and led to the creation of a group community participate. tions, could constitute the most ap- whose main purpose is the elaboration propriate solution for most minority of pedagogical handbooks for school- groups. However, up to the present the ing children of the Añu communities. 3/ Creation of linguistic/ results have not been very satisfactory A similar process is underway with cultural niches (nuclei) because of the isolation of the niches the Chaima, a Carib group of the east- and the consequent difficulty of super- ern region of Venezuela. Even if these The linguistic/cultural niche is a system vising and stimulating them. experiments have a limited impact, that facilitates the direct transmission of they nevertheless constitute a signifi- knowledge. It is intended for children di- cant contribution to the survival of vided into two age classes (0 to 3 years 4/ Experience of revitalising these cultures. and 3 to 6 years), and is led by indige- moribund or extinct nous women, mothers, grandmothers or languages: the case of any other indigenous women selected by the Añu language 5/ Workshops on the community. It is not reduced only to ‘awareness-raising’ the task of teaching the mother tongue, Due to the new political background in urban areas but is extended to different aspects of the described above, several ethnic reaffir- indigenous culture. The location of the mation movements surged in Venezuela Formerly, the IBP was implemented niche makes it particularly interesting: among groups previously considered only in rural areas. However, compari- it is installed in an indigenous home, moribund, such as the Añu, or virtually son between the censuses of 1992 and accommodated and suited for such pur- extinct, such as the Chaima. In these 2002 shows that a significant propor- pose. It is a form of initial (pre-school) ed- groups, the intergenerational trans- tion of Venezuela’s indigenous popu- ucation which must be planned in coor- mission process has been interrupted lation has moved from rural to urban dination with the Intercultural Bilingual and the recuperation of the language areas. It also appears that some rural Program, under certain conditions: through the technique of the linguistic areas were converted into urban ones,

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absorbing indigenous villages. For this Accordingly, several strategies are Health Programme: reason the Direction of Indigenous used to diffuse information on this pat- the case of the Education considers that a special ef- rimony to the entire population. A new Yanomamï People fort should be made in urban areas, public television channel, created three where there is a minor percentage of years ago, gives an important space for The health situation of the Yanomamï illiterate indigenous people. One such the projection of numerous documen- has been deteriorating during the last effort is an attempt to open intercul- tary films on different aspects of in- thirty years (Colchester 1985). There tural bilingual classes in urban areas. digenous cultures (ritual celebrations, are epidemics of malaria and hepatitis This was possible in Zulia with the handicrafts, practices, musical perfor- in their territory. The infant mortal- Wayuu people, the majority of whom mances and legal claims). Very short ity rate is very high (over 50 per cent, live in the suburbs of Maracaibo, the micros (films of just a few minutes in and even greater still in some areas) second biggest town of Venezuela. length) also display images of the daily and the population censuses of 1992 life and the environment of indigenous and 2002 show an imbalance between groups. Interviews, shows and events on men and women, with women being A New Vision of indigenous topics are regularly presented less numerous than men, which has an Interculturality & on different television channels. A series impact on demographic growth. Venezuelan Identity of twenty documentary films for television, dedicated to twenty ethnic groups, In the Yanomamï culture, knowledge was also created with the financial sup- of medicinal plants is more the privi- The entire Venezuelan educational port of the Ministry of Culture. lege of women than of men, whereas system is presently subject to compre- shamanism, which is so important to hensive revisions. A new organic Law The Ministry of Education has also an understanding of the Yanomamï of Education is under consideration in launched an active editorial policy conception of nature in the broad sense the National Assembly, which includes with the publication of new text books of the term, including the conception the Law of Indigenous Education. An for all Venezuelan schools, with the of the human body and illness, is the important point is postulated in the purpose of giving a new image to in- reserve of men. These fundamental preliminary discussions concerning digenous cultures. An illustrated bilin- components of the Yanomamï health these laws: a new approach called ‘in- gual series for children, based on indig- system are generally ignored by the terculturality’. This ‘interculturality’ is enous myths (Warao, Yukpa, Piaroa, young medical doctors who start their no longer conceived as a specific com- Ye´kuana, Añu, Wayuu, E´ñepa, Kari’ña careers in indigenous areas. This indif- ponent of indigenous education, it is and Yanomamï) and accompanied by a ference by the doctors towards tradi- now presented as a fundamental com- CD, which plays the text in the indig- tional practices is sometimes felt by ponent of the entire Venezuelan edu- enous language and in Spanish, is pres- the Yanomamï to be an offence against cational system. Accordingly, intercul- ently sold in bookshops. It is targeted their beliefs but, in some more accul- turality becomes the defining feature at any kind of infantile public, indig- turated communities, it has produced of the Venezuelan identity. Alongside enous as well as non-indigenous. a weakening of traditional knowledge, the European immigrant groups a loss of confidence in traditional rem- (Spanish, Portuguese and Italian in edies and worse, an abandonment of particular) and the Afro‑Caribbean Health and them. However, in January 2007, the cultures, which played and still play a land situation Intercultural Coordination of Health fundamental part in the formation of with Indigenous Peoples, a new de- the Venezuelan identity, there is today partment of the Ministry of Health di- the recognition of an indigenous foun- In addition to education, a policy of rected by an indigenous woman who dation which must be preserved and cultural preservation needs to address is also a medical doctor, presented known by all. Therefore, indigenous health issues and land rights and access an ambitious health programme ex- knowledge in general, and indigenous in indigenous areas. These two points clusively dedicated to the Yanomamï languages in particular, have been de- – health and land – are spearheads of people, which will receive significant clared ‘national patrimony’. the Venezuelan Government’s policy. funds for its execution.

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One of the specific objectives of this 1995). They are composed of four na- Land situation project deserves our attention (MSDS tional parks, nineteen natural monu- 2005): If we want to safeguard the know- ments, one hydrographic basin, one ledge of nature held by indigenous forest reservation and one biosphere The setting-up of a continuous intercultural dialogue which allows us to peoples, it is necessary to guarantee reserve, which is the most extensive take advantage of the knowledge, them the use of the space in which in the world (Arévalo-Jimenez 1984; techno-logy and skills of the Yanomamï they experiment and enrich their Colchester and Fuentes 1983). and the non Yanomamï… the comple- mentarity between the traditional health knowledge. This space must be grant- systems and the biomedical ones… will ed according to their traditional crite- The spatial distribution of the ABRAE be promoted… ria of territorial occupation; the areas has been an efficient bridle to mining they used for cultivating, hunting, or timber exploitation in some areas. In order for this to occur, special fishing and gathering. However, the supervision and control of training and information regarding all the ABRAE has been impossible, and the role of some traditional practices During the last twenty years the recently cases of violation of the ABRAE and the necessity of respecting them Venezuelan Government has been regulation have been highlighted and must be given to doctors who work in creating protected areas called ABRAE denounced. The situation in the forest the medical centres installed in indig- (Area Bajo Régimen de Administración reservation of Imataca in the eastern enous lands. This is the key to a more Especial: Area under a special adminis- and southern part of Venezuela (Delta harmonious and efficient coopera- tration system) generally located in in- Amacuro and Bolivar State) on the bor- tion with the community. If this new digenous lands. To give one significant der of the Guayanese Shield, is one of approach reaches its goal, it could be example, in the Amazon State in which the most controversial cases. This huge a great asset, able to guarantee a bet- the indigenous peoples represent more reserve of 11 million hectares is unique ter health for the Yanomamï without than 50 per cent of the population, the for its biological diversity and its splen- excluding their own knowledge. ABRAE occupy approximately 50 per did natural beauty, but chiefly it is valued cent of the state (Carrillo and Perera for its mineral resources (gold, diamond, ©Marie-Claude Ma ttéi Muller

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Aerial view of a Yanomamï settlement intensified the gold extraction and ac- maintaining all the concessions given (small circle in the middle of the forest) celerated the destruction of the forest to transnational companies in 1997. reservation. The new constitution of Part of a Yanomamï collective house (left) 1999 (Art. 127) states: Referring to indigenous lands, two laws were enacted: on 12 January 2001, The State must protect the environment, the biological diversity, the genetic resources, the ‘Law of delimitation and guarantee the ecological processes, the national parks, of the habitat and lands of indigenous copper, bauxite and manganese), for its the natural monuments and other areas of people’ and then on 9 August 2001 the special ecological importance…The State will precious woods and for its water. Several implement a policy of territorial planning, creation of a ‘National Commission indigenous communities belonging to in harmony with sustainable development, for the delimitation of the habitat and different ethnic groups (Warao, Pemón, which includes information, consultation lands of indigenous peoples and com- and participation of the community. Kapón, Kari’ña and Arawak) live here. munities’ in which indigenous peoples However, in 1963 a presidential order are represented by eight delegates. The delimited an important area of 3.8 mil- Nevertheless, nothing was done delimitation of these lands is in process, lion hectares for wood exploitation and to drastically change this situation. In but comes up against many difficulties mining, without a planning process. In fact, on 7 September 2004, in spite of because, after so many years of migra- 1997 the Venezuela Government put the protestations of a group of ecolo- tion, the territories of the different eth- out a new order to control the unau- gists and anthropologists, an enact- nic groups overlap and parts of these thorised exploitation of resources and ment ordered a new plan regulating the lands are today occupied and exploited facilitate industrial and legal exploita- use of the Imataca Forest Reservation by non‑Indians. In these conditions, it is tion. Several mining concessions were (62 per cent for timber exploitation not easy to decide where an indigenous given to transnational companies which and 12 per cent for mining) whilst territory begins and where it finishes.

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Conclusion

From a strictly political and legis- Conservation Union) and it signed themselves (problems of leadership lative point of view, Venezuela has the Kyoto Protocol in November within and between the communities, made a quantitative and qualitative 2004, but still the difficulties are nu- as well as between indigenous peoples jump regarding the safeguarding and merous. There are an excessive num- in the different indigenous organi- the diffusion of indigenous languag- ber of institutions which are supposed sations) remain great obstacles and es and cultures. Moreover, the pres- to work in the same direction, but do hindrances. The indigenous peoples ent government has ratified various not necessarily collaborate or com- have not yet formed a cohesive and important international agreements plement each other (sometimes due homogenous force because of their concerning indigenous peoples. On to the co-existence of old and new linguistic and cultural diversity, their 22 December 2000, the National organisations) and there is a lack of demographic inequality, their geo- Assembly approved the Agreement articulation between all the national graphic isolation in areas where the Nº 169 of the ILO on ‘Indigenous and regional institutions involved communication system is still defi- and Tribal Peoples in Independent in these programmes. The deficient cient or missing, and the divergence Countries’. Concerning the preser- training of the indigenous authorities in the management of their political vation of nature, it has renewed its and the conflicts of power and inter- and economic relations with the na- membership to IUCN (the World est among the indigenous peoples tional society. For example, it is difficult for a Yanomamï in the Upper Orinoco to recognise the leadership of the mayor of their municipality, as the mayor is a member of another indigenous group. One thing is sure: the present government has given them the possibility of expressing their voices, claiming their rights and managing their land, as never before. Some indigenous leaders are aware of the great responsibility they have to seize and exploit these opportunities. One leader stated at a meeting in the Ministry of Education, ‘That’s enough talk about the five hundred years of oppression. Now we have to ask ourselves what we, indigenous people, are doing and can do for the defence of our own cultures and languages’. All these changes are still too recent. Venezuela needs a period of matura- tion and depuration to orientate, co- ordinate and more efficiently control all its actions in relation to indigenous minorities, as well as to refine its strategies in relation to the preservation of their knowledge, culture ©Yann Arthus-Bertrand/ La terre vue du ciel ©Yann and environment.

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References

Aguilera M., Azócar, A. and González- Lasso, C., Lew, D., Taphorn, D., Donas- Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. Jiménez, E. (eds.). 2003. Biodiversidad cimiento, C., Lasso-Alcalá, F., Provenzano, (eds.). 1995a. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- en Venezuela. Tomo 1. Fundación Polar, F. and Machado-Allison, A. 2003. Biodiver- na. Vol. 1. Introduction. Missouri Botanical Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, sidad ictiológica continental de Venezuela. Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. FONACIT, Fondo Nacional de Ciencia, Parte I. Lista de especies y Distribución por Tecnología e Innovación. cuencas. Memoria Fundación La Salle de Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. Ciencias Naturales 159. Caracas. (eds.). 1995b. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- Allais, M.L. 2003. Población indígena de na. Vol. 2. Introduction. Missouri Botanical Venezuela según los censos oficiales. Con- LDPI (Ley de Demarcación y Garantía del Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. ferencia en la Universidad Católica Andrés Hábitat y Tierras de los Pueblos Indígenas). Bello, Caracas. (Documento inédito). 2001. Ley de Demarcación y Garantía del Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, Hábitat y Tierras de los Pueblos Indígenas. B.K. (eds.). 1997. Flora of the Venezuelan Arvelo-Jimenez, N. (ed.). 1984. Reserva de Gaceta Oficial No. 37.118 del 12 de Enero Guayana. Vol. 3. Introduction. Missouri Biosfera Yanomami: Una Auténtica Estrategia del 2001. Botanical Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. para el Ecodesarrollo Nacional. Caracas: IVIC. Portland. LOPCI (Ley Orgánica de Pueblos y Comu- Carrillo, A. and Perera, M. (eds.). 1995. nidades Indígenas). 2005. Ley Orgánica de Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. Amazonas, Modernidad en Tradición. Pueblos y Comunidades Indígenas. Gaceta (eds.). 1998. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- Contribuciones al desarrollo sustentable en Oficial No. 38344. na. Vol. 4. Introduction. Missouri Botanical el Estado Amazonas, Venezuela. Sada- Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. Amazonas, MARN (Ministerio de Ambiente Mattéi Muller, M.C. 2006. Lenguas indíge- y Recursos Renovables) GTZ Venezuela nas de Venezuela en peligro de extinción Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. Projekt 91.205.10. en Lenguas y Tradición orales ¿Diversidad (eds.). 1999. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- en Peligro? Pp. 283–311. UNESCO Oficina na. Vol. 5. Introduction. Missouri Botanical Colchester, M. and Fuentes, E. (eds.). Regional de Cultura para América Latina y Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. 1983. Los Yanomami Venezolanos: el Caribe, Casa de las Américas. Propuesta para la Creación de la Reserva Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. Indígena Yanomami. Caracas: Fundación Mattéi Muller, M.C. 2007. Lengua y (eds.). 2001. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- La Salle de Ciencias Naturales. Cultura Yanomamï – Diccionario Ilustrado na. Vol. 6. Introduction. Missouri Botanical Yanomamï–Español, Español – Yanomamï. Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. Colchester, M. 1985. The Health and Sur- 782 páginas. Caracas, Venezuela. vival of the Venezuelan Yanomama. Interna- Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. tional Working group of Indigenous Affairs MSDS (Ministerio de Salud y Desarrollo (eds.). 2003. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- (IWGIA), Document 53. Copenhagen. Social, Coordinación Intercultural de Salud na. Vol. 7. Introduction. Missouri Botanical con Pueblos Indígenas). 2005. Plan de Sa- Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. CRBV (Constitución de la República Boli- lud Yanomamï, Resumen de la Propuesta. variana de Venezuela). 1999. Constitución Steyermark, J.A., Berry, P.E. and Holst, B.K. de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Mosonyi, Esteban. 2003. La Situación de (eds.). 2004. Flora of the Venezuelan Guaya- Caracas: Imprenta Nacional. las lenguas indígenas de Venezuela. Instituto na. Vol. 8. Introduction. Missouri Botanical del Patrimonio Cultural, Caracas. Garden, St Louis. Timber Press. Portland. Eguilor Garcia, M. I. 1991. La Escuela Yanomami, modelo de interculturalidad. In OCEI (Oficina Central de Informatica y La Iglesia en Amazonas 53: 40–45. (Estadistica). 2005. Censo de Venezuela 2001/2002. Huber, O., Duno, R., Riina, R. , Schauffer, F., Pappaterra, L., Jiménez, A., Llamozas, S., and Steyermark, Julian. 1972. Flora de Ven- Orsini, G. 1998. Estado Actual del Cono- ezuela. Instituto Botánico, Dirección de cimiento de la Flora en Venezuela. Documen- Recursos Naturales Renovables, Ministerio tos Técnicos de la Estrategia Nacional de Di- de Agricultura y Cría. Caracas. versidad Biológica. Ministerio del Ambiente y Recursos Naturales Renovables. Caracas.

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Aichi 2.indd 24 28/2/09 18:02:51 Sustaining indigenous languages and indigenous knowledge: developing community training approaches for the 21st century Margaret Florey

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2003; Florey 2004; Hinton and Hale resource-poor communities in eastern Introduction 2001). This in turn has seen further Indonesia. Section 2 discusses disrup- ground-breaking developments, for tion to intergenerational transmission Concern about the loss of indig- example, the establishment of train- and the linguistic ecological framework. enous languages and associated indig- ing programmes run by organisations I propose that, in some settings, pro- enous knowledge that is confronting such as the Advocates for Indigenous cessing grief and shame deriving from minority language communities in all California Language Survival (e.g. language and cultural losses is a neces- corners of the globe has received grow- Master-Apprentice, Breath of Life/ sary precursor to stabilising the linguis- ing international publicity through Silent no more), the American Indian tic ecology and implementing cultur- the last fifteen years or so. That con- Language Development Institute ally appropriate revitalisation models. cern has translated into action in in- (Arizona), the Indigenous Language Section 3 introduces a case study from novative ways, among which are a Institute (New Mexico), and Oxlajuuj Indonesia in which restoration of inter- focus on the documentation of en- Keej Maya’ Ajtz’iib’ (a Guatemalan generational respect is a core compo- dangered minority languages by lin- Mayan institute devoted to research nent of a new training programme. An guists, increased support for documen- and teaching on Mayan languages overview is given of the languages of tation through the development of and linguistics), and the growth of Central Maluku (Moluccas) and the re- new funding bodies such as the Hans Aboriginal language centres, particu- search communities that are the focus Rausing Endangered Languages Project larly in Australia and North America. of this project. This section examines (UK) and the Volkswagen Stiftung Educational programmes focused on traditional modes of transmission of in- (Germany), the instigation of language the academic training of indigenous digenous knowledge and disruption to revitalisation and maintenance proj- linguists have been introduced — for these modes under the pressure of mod- ects by language activists, an increase example, at the University of Texas, ernisation in post-colonial Indonesia. in advocacy and lobbying by organi- USA (The Center for Indigenous Section 4 then discusses features and sations such as Terralingua and the Languages of Latin America) and outcomes of the training programme. Foundation for Endangered Languages, Monash University, Australia (Studies and international safeguarding actions in Language Endangerment). Networks worthily exemplified by the UNESCO of language maintenance practitioners Disruption to language Convention on the Safeguarding of are being built through organisations transmission Intangible Cultural Heritage. like the Resource Network for Linguistic Diversity which aims to share knowl- Himmelmann (2009) distinguish- With the urgent need to focus atten- edge, strategies and resources. es between the symptoms and the action on endangered languages, new tual causes of language obsolescence. challenges have arisen for language With the increasing use of web-based Symptoms are the directly observable maintenance practitioners who rec- learning and the web as a publicity tool, indications that use of a given lan- ognise that documentation is just the these developments are able to reach guage is declining in a speech com- first stage in a long process of rebuild- out to many communities around the munity. Breaks in intergenerational ing an environment which values and world. However they are as yet unable transmission are the most visible symp- can sustain indigenous knowledge. to reach more remote and economi- tom of language shift. For example, Linguists and language activists have cally and politically disadvantaged Steinhauer (1996: 1) proposes that ‘a begun to ask in what ways linguistic communities. Localised approaches language... is probably irreversibly en- fieldwork practice could contribute are needed to support the particular dangered when the original language towards language maintenance ac- language maintenance aspirations and is no longer passed on to new genera- tivities. In some parts of the world, ef- needs of these communities. tions’. Fishman (1991) postulated an forts have begun to turn to the need eight stage continuum of language en- to build capacity in communities and This paper outlines an approach that dangerment in which Stage 1 denotes to empower community members to has been developed to support indig- stability and language maintenance work on the documentation and main- enous languages and the transmission with language use by higher levels of tenance of their languages (Austin of indigenous knowledge in small and government and in higher education.

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The domains of language usage shrink in reversing language shift. Repair of ‘Schooling comes after intergeneration- through stages 2 to 5. Intergenerational paths of transmission fundamentally al transmission is secure and reinforces transmission breaks down in Stage involves all generations. Reversing the home-community network, rather 6 and is evident in Stage 7 with only language shift requires (re)building a than vice-versa’ (2000: 187). Hinton adults beyond childbearing age speak- wider speech community to broaden too stresses that school programmes ing the language. Stage 8 characterises the domains and contexts for use. support only one aspect of the language severe language shift with only a few revitalisation process and that ‘bringing elders speaking the language. The ecological framework developed the language back as the first language by Haugen (1972) and expanded by of the home is the true heart of lan- Descriptions of language shift sce- Mühlhäusler (1996) provides a more guage revitalisation’ (2001: 182). narios internationally have highlighted holistic perspective. Mühlhäusler con- specific factors that are implicated in the tends that ‘ecological factors bring lan- process, and which can lead to breaks in guages into being, define their bound- Language nests transmission. Some of the widely cited aries and decide on their growth and factors which have been analysed as survival’ (1996: 3). Disruption to one The most successful models of lan- causal in different settings are: popula- part of the ecosystem, it is argued, will guage revitalisation are those which are tion dispersal and forced relocation, re- disrupt other parts and may result in also taking a holistic approach — fo- moval of children to boarding schools, their loss. This framework is part of cusing on intergenerational transmis- migration, population decimation the growing knowledge base concern- sion, targeting the parent and child through war and disease, changes in ing the interrelationship between lin- generations in language learning, em- political and/or economic power, inter- guistic, cultural and biological diver- bedding language learning in cultur- marriage, conversion to non-indigenous sity and the role which indigenous ally appropriate contexts, and drawing religions, globalisation and the accom- languages play in the transmission of on indigenous methods for teaching panying introduction and spread of lan- indigenous knowledge (see, for exam- and learning. The language nest mod- guages of wider communication (LWC), ple, the papers in Maffi 2001). A stable el in operation in New Zealand and education only through the medium of ecosystem is seen as a precursor to the Hawai’i is the best known example of an LWC, and punishment for speaking maintenance of indigenous knowledge these strategies in action (Benton and indigenous languages (Florey 2005a; and linguistic and cultural diversity. Benton 2001; Benton 1996; King 2001). Linn et al. 2002). The bottom-up approach promoted Language nests are a form of immersion by Mühlhäusler (1996) and Nettle and programme which begin with young Romaine (2000) involves stabilising or children at pre-school age. The nests Ecological approaches restoring the ecosystem first before im- often take place in a home-like envi- to intergenerational plementing formal programmes such ronment rather than a formal learning transmission as school language classes. Resources environment. A small group of children (both human and economic) should comes together in a family atmosphere The literature on language endanger- first be deployed towards bottom-up through the week to be cared for by ment highlights the repair or restora- strategies to safeguard transmission older people who are speakers of the tion of paths of transmission as the es- before deploying resources towards target language. The grandparent and sential key to reversing language shift top-down strategies. grandchild generations come together (Fishman 1991, 2001). Initially, much to replicate or repair intergenerational effort in this field focused around the In Fishman’s eight-stage model, school transmission. Reyhner (1999: viii) and goal of establishing school language language programmes become essential Anonby (1999) discuss the commit- programmes. This step was seen as only at Stage 4. Nettle and Romaine ment which is required of parents in crucial to the creation of a new genera- (2000) follow Fishman in suggest- this programme to learn the language tion of speakers. However, through the ing that once a language is at stages alongside their young children. This past decade there has been a deeper 7 or 8, the chances of success for pro- commitment, which is a condition of understanding that this strategy, while grammes outside the domain of the entry to some language nests, ensures important, cannot by itself succeed home are quite limited. They assert that that the child’s developing language

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skills can be supported outside of the model) cannot successfully be intro- languages and twenty-sixth in terms of nest and be used in the home domain duced until a stronger foundation has linguistic diversity. Ethnologue (ibid.) with parents. been built within a community. This suggests that there are 737 living lan- is the case in settings where disruption guages in Indonesia while Steinhauer Language nests thus imitate tra- to the culture has affected attitudes to- (2005: 68) gives a more conservative ditional and culturally appropriate wards elders, and elders’ attitudes to- estimate of 500 Austronesian and non- means of raising children which help wards their own knowledge and exper- Austronesian languages. Some 128 lan- to ensure that cultural learning is tak- tise. In such cases, social and political guages are spoken in the geopolitical re- ing place alongside language learning. changes mean that the elders may no gion of the Malukan islands in eastern Benton and Benton (2001: 444) iden- longer hold a clear role in the communi- Indonesia (see Map 1), including 111 tify Maori as Tangata whenua ‘people of ty and may have begun to devalue their Austronesian languages and 17 non- the land’ and propose that ‘to succeed, knowledge. Ensuing emotions such as Austronesian languages. a strategy aimed at restoring “language low self-esteem, shame and grief stand in culture” may also have to include as impediments to the restoration of in- “language with the land”’. In a discus- tergenerational transmission of language Language documentation sion of language nests, Fishman (1991: and indigenous knowledge. These fac- 238) points out that ‘What is addition- tors have been discussed for settings as Four languages in Muslim and ally significant is that this care is not diverse as Africa (Crawhall 2004, 2005), Christian ethnolinguistic communities only provided entirely in Maori but North America (Hinton 1994; McCarty in central Maluku are currently being that it is provided at a time in children’s and Watahomigie 1999) and Indonesia documented by team members in the language socialisation when English- (Florey and Ewing f.c.). Wong Fillmore Endangered Maluku Languages Project, speaking society and culture have not (1991) has written about the social costs based at Monash University, Australia. yet strongly impacted their lives’. That of ‘language-in-culture’ loss which are The project embeds capacity building is, early language socialisation in Maori observed internationally manifesting within all aspects of documentation provides an opportunity to begin rein, for example, drug and alcohol abuse, activities. Documentation and training storing Maori cultural practices and to family violence and premature death. with members of these communities sustain indigenous knowledge. are taking place both in the Indonesian Following the linguistic ecologi- homeland and among the population cal framework, restoration of a stable of Malukans who have lived in the Stabilising sociocultural sociocultural and linguistic ecology is Dutch diaspora since the 1950s (Florey and linguistic ecology a necessary component of a language and van Engelenhoven 2001). revitalisation model in such commu- In the best cases, the methods used nities. From this perspective, language Alune has been the subject of inten- in language nests and similar mod- revitalisation and renewal are seen as sive grammatical and sociolinguistic els become mutually sustaining. The part of a wider process of healing. The documentation by the author over the cultural relevance of the programmes following sections discuss a case study past fifteen years. This ethnolinguistic enhances the chances of good learning from Indonesia in which restoration of group lives in twenty-six villages in outcomes. The cultural context rein- intergenerational respect is a core com- western Seram Island, stretching from vigorates the culture while revitalising ponent of a new training programme. the north coast through the traditional the language. The process of bringing mountain territories to the south coast. the grandchild and grandparent gen- There is perhaps a total 10,000 speak- erations together in a caring learning Central Malukan ers of Alune, ranging from older fluent environment helps to restore respect languages speakers to younger people with some for the knowledge of elders. receptive ability. Linguistic vitality is With 10.73 percent of the world’s lan- greatest in the more isolated home- In some settings, however, language guages, an Ethnologue analysis (Gordon land territories in the rainforest inte- revitalisation programmes (such as lan- 2005) ranks Indonesia second only to rior of Seram, and Alune is endangered guage nests or the master–apprentice New Guinea in terms of number of in north and south coastal villages.

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Map 1 Indonesia, showing the Maluku region

Allang, currently being documented by Michael Ewing, is reportedly the only Christian village on Ambon Island in which an indigenous language survives to any extent (Collins 1982). Ewing’s recent fieldwork indicates that, like Kouro, perhaps two percent of the population of some 4,100 people are fluent speakers of Allang. Testing of linguistic vitality also indicates that some middle-aged members of the community retain some knowledge of the language (Musgrave and Ewing 2006). This language has a larger speaker population in the Muslim villages of Wakasihu and Larike.

Sou Amana Teru (‘language of three villages’) is a name recently developed to refer to the language spoken in the Muslim villages of Tulehu, Tial and Kouro ‘language’ is used to refer of 2,300 people in the Muslim village Tengah-tengah at the eastern end of to a language being documented by of Rutah are fluent speakers of Kouro Ambon Island. Simon Musgrave’s cur- the author in south central Seram (Florey 2006a). The language is mori- rent research indicates that of a total Island. This language is indigenous bund in the three Christian villages population of approximately 19,000, to the five villages of Amahei, Rutah, of Amahei, Makariki, and Soahuku, the language has perhaps 10,000 flu- Makariki, Soahuku and Haruru. An es- with a total of no more than five el- ent speakers and a further 6,000 com- timated 2 per cent of the population derly speakers. munity members who have at least some receptive ability.

Map 2 Seram Island, showing the location of Alune and Kouro research sites

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Map 3 Ambon Island, showing the location of Allang and Sou Amana Teru research sites

Language shift in Maluku

The fourteen islands of central Maluku are characterised by high linguistic diversity and face the most serious language endangerment in Indonesia (Florey 2005b, 2006b). Language endangerment has its longest history on Ambon Island, home to the regional capital of Ambon City, and the neighbouring Lease Islands of Haruku, Indonesian, has clearly impacted on Language vitality & Saparua and Nusalaut. Currently, lan- the linguistic ecology through its sta- threats to indigenous guage endangerment is impacting most tus as the language of education, me- knowledge intensely on the languages of Seram dia and government. Island, which is linguistically the most The process of language shift is being diverse island in the region. Florey and Florey (2001) and Wolff and Florey evaluated as part of the Endangered Ewing (f.c.) discuss the transformative (1998) review the intensive socio- Maluku Languages Project. Team mem- effect on attitudes towards indigenous political and ecological changes which bers are undertaking assessments of lan- languages of the civil conflict and sec- have impacted on language vitality guage vitality in all research sites, with tarian violence fought from 1999–2002 and indigenous knowledge among the test respondents in six age groups rang- in the (then) province of Maluku. Alune. Similar changes have impacted ing from primary school through to the over a much longer period on the three oldest members of the community. The Language endangerment in Maluku other research communities. Both standardised test evaluates receptive, has been attributed to centuries of Allang and Tulehu have a long-stand- productive and creative ability in the contact with non-indigenous peoples ing contact history due to their loca- target language. It provides an informed through colonisation and intensive tion on Ambon Island on which the overview of linguistic vitality in a site trade for spices, and conversion to non- regional capital of Ambon City is lo- based on empirical data rather than less indigenous religions (Florey 2005a). All cated. Musgrave (Musgrave and Ewing formal tools (such as survey, self-report- speakers of Malukan languages are bi- 2006) also points to the role of Tulehu ing or observation). The results allow the lingual in the regional creole Ambonese as a busy inter-island harbour. Similarly team to learn how linguistic ability var- Malay, and the majority are also fluent Amahei has long been a harbour for ies in and between communities on pa- speakers of Indonesian. Both languages south Seram Island, and also has a rameters such as age or generation, gen- are also implicated in the process of lan- small landing strip which serves gov- der, religious affiliation and specialised guage endangerment (Florey and Ewing ernment and private industry. Rutah individual or community-wide roles. f.c.). Ambonese Malay has a long-stand- was formerly known as Amahei Islam, ing role as the regional lingua franca and was located alongside Amahei The test methodology also permits and is the dominant marker of regional Christian until the late 19th century, assessment of intergenerational trans- identity. In the post-colonial era com- when it was relocated following a de- mission of indigenous knowledge. The mencing in 1945, the national language, structive earthquake and tidal wave. first stage of the test is designed to test

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Graph 1 Lexical recognition test results

listens to the description and selects a photo that matches it. The researcher or community language worker notes the responses. Graph 1 shows the results of the recognition test from the four research sites (Florey 2006b).

It has been widely reported in the literature that languages spoken in Christian villages in Maluku are becoming obsolescent more rapidly than languages spoken in villages which historically aligned politically with the north receptive ability in the target language. maintenance, modes of hauling and car- Malukan sultanate of Ternate and con- This involves a lexical recognition rying water, food processing, preparation verted to Islam. However, in the mod- task in which respondents are shown and cooking, housework and childcare. ern era it is apparent that threats to five sets of photos (totalling fifty-three the transmission of knowledge are felt photos) depicting familiar items from The first set of photos is arrayed in across the boundaries of religious affilia- the cultural and physical environ- front of the respondent. A taped de- tion (Florey 2006b, Musgrave and Ewing ment. The photos exemplify a range scription of the first item is played twice 2006). Graph 1 demonstrates that lan- of semantic domains. (Ethno)botani- in the target language. The respondent guage shift is advanced in the Christian cal photos include bananas, coconuts, taro, nutmeg, betel nut, bamboo, sago, various stages of sago processing, plant- ing and harvesting of rice, an irrigation system, working in the field, and carrying produce home. Tools and weap- ons include a machete, sago processing adzes, bow and arrow, fruit harvesting tool, implement to mix sago porridge, fire tongs, fish spear, fish trap and baskets. Everyday activities include tool

Researcher Drs Betty Litamahuputty testing Alune linguistic vitality in Lohiasapawela ©Margaret Florey

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village of Allang and Muslim village of the wider community. Opportunities Integrating traditional Rutah. These villages are following the for informal, experiential learning & modern modes of same trajectory of language shift. The have also diminished in recent delearning in Maluku results identify what Dorian has called cades. While most villages have a pri- ‘tip’ or abrupt transmission failure. ‘In mary school (grades 1 to 6), few have terms of possible routes toward lan- In all locations, the social and politi- their own junior or senior high school. guage death, it would seem that a lan- cal changes that are triggering shifts in Children continuing their education guage which has been demographically knowledge and use of language, culture live away from their village. They are highly stable for several centuries may and the environment have also pre- removed from daily interactions with experience a sudden ‘tip’, after which cipitated shifts in modes of intergen- the physical environment and oppor- the demographic tide flows strongly in erational transmission of knowledge. tunities to observe and participate in favor of some other language’ (Dorian In earlier times, learning took place indigenous cultural practices. 1981: 51). In Allang and Rutah, tip took through observation, apprenticeship place between Generation 1 (50+) and and participation alongside elders. This It is with this background that a train- Generation 2 (30–50). Twenty-five years mode of learning is still evident in some ing programme has been developed for later, Muslim Tulehu is following the more isolated villages such as the Alune the specific conditions of this region to same path. In this site, tip is taking place village of Lohiasapalewa. Through the support the revitalisation of indigenous between Generation 4a (high school) twentieth century, and particularly in languages. The philosophy underpin- and Generation 4b (primary school). the post-colonial era since 1945, learn- ning the training programme is detailed Gradual language shift is apparent in ing now takes place primarily through in Florey (2004). It aims to delimit the Lohiasapalewa, and is accelerating to- formal education. The shift to formal role of non-indigenous professionals and wards tip in the youngest generation. education has disrupted social relation- empower speakers of Moluccan languag- ships, particularly the role of elders and es and their descendents to undertake The researchers draw on the findings knowledge holders in the teaching and language documentation and imple- to provide feedback to the wider com- learning process. Teaching is a high sta- ment language revitalisation or main- munity, raise community awareness tus profession throughout Indonesia, tenance at the grassroots level. At the about language vitality and language from primary school through to univer- heart of the philosophy is the integra- shift, assess language maintenance sity level. The knowledge held by elders tion of modern and traditional modes of needs and develop appropriate lan- has no place in the modern education learning in order to recognise and value guage learning materials. system, and increasingly, no place in knowledge and expertise across all generations. In this setting, this technique is proving the most effective method to repair paths of transmission.

Training materials (Florey et al. f.c.) were developed for the first week-long residential training workshop which was held in Masohi, Seram Island, in February 2005. The materials draw on local themes which ensure the cultural

Rutah elder Mr Hatab Lewenussa working with a schoolteacher (left) and a Pattimura University lecturer (centre) ©Margaret Florey

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Allang elder Mr Oyang de Fretes in a song-writing session with Allang apprentices

appropriateness of the lessons. The workshop structure builds teams and networks with all key stakeholders. Decision-makers in government and education were included in the organisation and opening of the workshop. The twenty-four participants were placed in four workshop teams based around four target languages: Allang, Alune, Rutah and Tulehu. Each team was led ©Margaret Florey by a linguist and included two speakers and indigenous knowledge custodians to work with each other. In a healthy skills they brought to the workshop. It and practitioners, who were usually linguistic environment, children learn was challenging for the elders working older community members, although their language/s through natural process- in this new setting to see themselves the Alune team comprised younger flu- es of language socialisation and language as masters or teachers. A feeling com- ent speakers. Each team also included acquisition.1 Parents neither require nor mon to this group was that of being two younger community members are given any training to transmit lan- overawed by sitting and working with who were non-speakers and language guage. However, in a situation of lan- university lecturers and school teach- learners, and five of this group were guage shift, the processes of transmission ers. It was similarly challenging for the school teachers. The groups thus mod- and acquisition are disrupted. In Rutah younger people to learn to become stu- eled traditional learning methods with and Allang, for example, there is no lon- dents. The process of building mutual younger people studying in apprentice- ger any setting in which children can ac- respect between these groups is critical ship and participation with elders. At quire their heritage languages naturally. to intergenerational transmission and the same time, the non-speakers (learn- Some younger people (including those at was reinforced at every opportunity. ers or apprentices) developed an aware- the workshop) aspired to learn their heri- A goal of these early lessons was to ness among the elders of the styles and tage language but had no idea about how strengthen the language groups which needs of modern learning modes. In to approach and study with elders in the might continue in informal settings addition, there were two regional pro- community. Similarly, some of the elders beyond the life of the workshop. fessionals in each group representing felt deep sorrow that young people were relevant institutions such as the univer- not speakers, but did not understand how The workshop provided a range of core sity, state library, museum and so forth. to intervene in the process of language skills in language documentation and In this way, participants are able to loss. It was therefore necessary to teach language maintenance activities. These share skills and widen the resource pool the elders how to transmit their language included training in the use of record- of language maintenance practitioners knowledge and to teach the apprentices ing equipment, elicitation techniques upon whom they can draw. how to become language learners. and methods for working with speakers, and techniques for archiving data. Through the week, the workshop This crucial step involved encour- Some sessions focused on understand- addressed a wide range of topics, com- aging all participants to identify the ing language variation and language mencing with training the language change, taking into account age-based 1 provided they have no disabilities speakers and language learners in how which might impede the process. and regional differences. Participants

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Language worker Mr Yohanis Soriale (right) testing Alune linguistic vitality in Lohiasapalewa ©Margaret Florey

Follow-up & future prospects

Positive outcomes began to emerge almost immediately following the 2005 workshop. In December 2005, the author witnessed participants from the learned about the Austronesian lan- Four groups were then built around Alune group documenting a ritual in- guage family and the historical rela- the topics in which participants had volving their own and three other vil- tionships between languages. Sessions expressed interest and expertise: agri- lages. The pela (inter-village alliance) re- on literature production examined culture, education, history and litera- newal ritual had not been held for more genres, audience, language choice and ture. A goal of this session was to begin than forty years, and was thus a very the development of orthographies. focusing attention on the revitalisation significant event. Language worker Mr of indigenous knowledge. The groups Wempi Manakane recorded and photo- A day-long session trained the partici- developed the following projects: graphed the ritual using the equipment pants in developing a project and apply- the team was given at the workshop ing for funding. This session drew on the 1 Melestarikan bahasa tanah mela- (see photo p24), and completed a tran- metaphor of language as an umbrella, lui Kamus Pertanian Tradisional scription of the ritual speech the fol- encompassing all aspects of indigenous ‘Maintaining indigenous lowing day. Ewing (pers. comm.) reports knowledge. Participants were asked to language through a dictionary that the Allang group has applied to the address the focus questions of: What of traditional agriculture’ Governor of Maluku for funding to be- knowledge do I have? What project gin language work in their village. could I develop with that knowledge? 2 Paket pelajaran bahasa lokal Again the participants faced the chal- (Siswa SD kelas I–III) ‘Packet The workshop discussed in this paper lenge of reflecting on their expertise and for the study of local languages was the first in a series of training work- what they could contribute to language (classes 1–3)’ shops. Follow-up was and is considered revitalisation. Elders were encouraged essential to reinforce the technical and to look beyond their language skills to 3 Dokumentasi bahasa-bahasa tanah interpersonal skills which were learned their knowledge of genres of storytell- dalam upacara adat di Maluku at the workshop. In June 2006, the re- ing, ritual practice, and environmental tengah ‘Documenting indigenous search team held a one-day workshop practices. Young people were encour- languages in ritual speech in at the Siwalima Anthropology Museum aged to consider their educational and Central Maluku’ in Ambon. Community members and literacy skills, knowledge of technology Pattimura University staff who had and how it might be applied in literature 4 Pelestarian budaya dan bahasa themselves undergone training in the production, and their ability to network Alune yang terancam punah 2005 workshop became facilitators to beyond the village. Both groups began ‘Maintenance of the Alune train museum staff members in lan- to see how their various skills could culture and language that is guage awareness and language docu- come together in language projects. threatened with extinction’ mentation strategies.

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Twenty-five Indonesian linguists We consider these are very successful rials. Despite these challenges, a sense of and community language activists outcomes of the training programme excitement and potential has pervaded were trained in language documenta- and augur well for the future of local the training workshops, and many of tion techniques in a ten-day training documentation projects. However, it is the participants remain in contact with workshop funded by the Volkswagen too early yet to assess the outcome of each other, supporting their aspirations Stiftung which was held in Bali in the training workshops and to deter- for the future. It is this sense which gives July 2006. There were four partici- mine whether or not they will begin to us hope for the future. pants from Maluku (representing impact upon intergenerational trans- the Siwalima Museum, Ambon State mission and ongoing language main- Library, Pattimura University and tenance activities. AcknowledgementS Lohiasapalewa Village) all of whom had taken part in the two earlier training Some challenges remain, and these workshops. In order to qualify for par- should not be underestimated. Lan- The research on which this paper ticipation in a follow-up Volkswagen guage maintenance activities, funding is based has been funded by a Major workshop held in July 2007, the 2006 opportunities and training are all too Documentation Project grant from the participants were required to fulfil often out of reach of those who most Hans Rausing Endangered Languages two criteria: 1) preparation of a re- need it. There is an English language fo- Programme, SOAS, UK (MDP0009), search proposal and 2) the recording cus in many of the major funding bod- and by an Australian Research Council and transcription of linguistic data. A ies and we need to ask how we can cater Discovery Project grant (DP0343379). total of fifteen of the twenty-five par- for non-English speaking communities. I am very grateful to my colleagues ticipants fulfilled the criteria, includ- There is a need for advocacy in the grant Michael Ewing, Betty Litamuhuputty ing three Maluku participants. Two application process. There is also a criti- and Simon Musgrave, for their feedback of the Maluku participants are now cal need for wider access to training at and support. I thank the many people collaborating on an Alune project various levels and funded support for in Indonesia and the Netherlands who in Lohiasapalewa Village, and one is training activities. It is also very difficult have assisted us in gathering the data working on a Haruku project. to find publication outlets for training reported here and who participated in materials and community literacy mate- training workshops. In addition, the training workshops have heightened awareness of language endangerment in Maluku among community members, staff in

key partner institutions such as uni- ©Margaret Florey versities, the museum and library, local and regional government, and members of the public. They have greatly increased cooperation between local institutions and language communities, and have resulted in a pool of trained local language activists.

Alune language worker Mr Yohanis Soriale during the language documentation workshop in Bali

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References

Anonby, S.J. 1999. Reversing Language Florey, M. 2004. Countering purism: con- Gordon, R.G., Jr. 2005. Ethnologue: Shift: Can Kwak’wala Be Revived? In fronting the emergence of new varieties Languages of the World. SIL International, Reyhner, J., Cantoni, G., St. Clair, R.N. and in a training programme for community Fifteenth edition. Parsons Yazzie, E. Revitalizing Indigenous Lan- language workers. In Austin, P.K. (ed.), guage. Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University. Language Documentation and Description. Haugen, E. 1972. The ecology of languages: London, SOAS. Pp. 9–27. essays by Einar Haugen. Stanford, Stanford Austin, P.K. (ed.). 2003. Language documen- University Press. tation and description, Vol. 1. London, SOAS. Florey, M. 2005a. Overview: the languages of Central Maluku. S. Musgrave Himmelmann, N.P. 2009. Language Benton, R., and Benton, N. 2001. RLS (ed.), Language Contact, Hybrids and New endangerment scenarios: A case study in Aotearoa/New Zealand 1989-1999. Varieties: Emergent Possessive Construc- from northern Central Sulawesi. In M. In Fishman, J.A. (ed.), Can threatened tions. (Special issue of) Monash University Florey (ed.), Endangered Languages of languages be saved? Clevedon, Multilingual Linguistic Papers, Vol. 4 (1/2). Austronesia. Oxford, Oxford University Press. matters. Pp. 423–450. Florey, M. 2005b. Language shift and Hinton, L. 1994. Flutes of Fire: essays on Benton, R.A. 1996. The Maori language endangerment. In Adelaar, K.A. and California Indian Languages. Berkeley, in New Zealand education and society. Himmelmann, N.P. (eds.), The Austrone- Heydey books. In Mugler, F. and Lynch, J. (eds.), Pacific sian Languages of Asia and Madagascar. languages in education. Suva, Institute of London, Routledge. Pp. 43–64. Hinton, L. 2001. Teaching methods. In Pacific Studies. Pp. 209–227. Hinton, L. and Hale, K. (eds.), The green Florey, M. 2006a. Malukan languages. book of language revitalisation in practice. Collins, J. T. 1982. Linguistic research In Brown, K. (ed.), Encyclopaedia of San Diego, Academic Press. Pp. 179–189. in Maluku: a report of recent field work. Language and Linguistics. London, Elsevier. Oceanic Linguistics, 21:73–146. Pp. 471–473. Hinton, L., and Hale, K. (eds.). 2001. The green book of language revitalization in Crawhall, N. 2004. !Ui-Taa language shift Florey, M. 2006b. Assessing the vitality of practice. San Diego, Academic Press. in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, endangered languages in Central Maluku. South Africa, Ph.D. thesis, University of Linguistic Society of the Philippines and King, J. 2001. Te Kohanga Reo: Maori lan- Cape Town, South Africa. ICAL (eds.), 10th International Conference guage revitalization. Hinton, L. and Hale, on Austronesian Linguistics (10ICAL). Puerto K. (eds.), The green book of language revi- Crawhall, N. 2005. The story of !Ui: Causal- Princesa City, Palawan, the Philippines. talisation in practice. San Diego, Academic ity and language shift in Africa. In Crawhall, Press. Pp. 119–128. N. and Ostler Stellenbosch, N. (eds.), Florey, M., and. Ewing, M. f.c. Endan- Creating outsiders: Endangered languages, gered languages and endangered cultures Linn, M.S., Naranjo, T., Nicholas, S., migration and marginalisation. Stellenbosch, in Oceania. In Senft, G. (ed.), Language re- Slaughter, I., Yamamoto, A., and Zepeda, Foundation for Endangered Languages. vitalization in Maluku in the post-kerusuhan O. 2002. Awakening the languages: Chal- era. Canberra, Pacific Linguistics. lenges of enduring language programs; Fishman, J.A. 1991. Reversing Language field reports from fifteen programs from Shift. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide, Florey, M., Ewing, M., and Musgrave, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. In Multilingual Matters Ltd. S. f.c. Let’s study indigenous languages: Burnaby, B. and Reyhne, J. (eds.) Indigenous study materials for the documentation of languages across the community. Flagstaff, Fishman, J.A. 2001. Can threatened indigenous languages. Utrecht, Landelijk Northern Arizona University. Pp. 105–126. languages be saved? Reversing language Steunpunt Educatie Molukkers. shift, revisited: a 21st century perspective. Maffi, L. (ed.). 2001. On Biocultural Diversity: Clevedon, Multilingual Matters Ltd. Florey, M. and van Engelenhoven, A. linking language, knowledge and the 2001. Language documentation and main- environment. Washington D.C., Florey, M. 2001. Threats to indigenous tenance programs for Moluccan languages Smithsonian Institution Press. knowledge: a case study from eastern in the Netherlands. International Journal of Indonesia. In Maffi, L. (ed.), On biocultural the Sociology of Language, 151:195–219. diversity: linking language, knowledge, and the environment. Washington D.C., Smith- sonian Institution Press. Pp. 325–342.

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McCarty, T.L., and Watahomigie, L.J. 1999. Wolff, X.Y. and Florey, M. 1998. Foraging, Indigenous community-based language agricultural, and culinary practices among education in the USA. In May, S. (ed.), Indig- the Alune of west Seram, with implica- enous community-based education. Clevedon, tions for the changing significance of Multilingual Matters Ltd. Pp. 79–94. cultivated plants as foodstuffs. In Pannell, S. and von Benda-Beckmann, F. (eds.), Old Mühlhäusler, P. 1996. Linguistic ecology: world places, new world problems: exploring language change and linguistic imperialism resource management issues in Eastern Indo- in the Pacific region. London/New York, nesia. Canberra, Centre for Resource and Routledge. Environmental Studies, Australian National University. Pp. 267–321. Musgrave, S. and Ewing, M. 2006. Language and religion: a case study of Wong Fillmore, L. 1991. When learning a two Ambonese communities. Interna- second language means losing the first. Early tional Journal of the Sociology of Language, Childhood Research Quarterly, 6:323–346. 179:179–194.

Nettle, D. and Romaine, S. 2000. Vanish- ing voices: the extinction of the world’s languages. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Reyhner, J. 1999. Introduction: some basics of language revitalisation. In Reyhner, J., Cantoni, G., St Clair, R.N. and Parsons Yazzie, E. (eds.), Revitalizing indigenous languages. Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University. Pp. v–xx.

Steinhauer, H. 2005. Colonial history and language policy in insular Southeast Asia and Madagascar. In Adelaar, A. and Himmelmann, N.P. (eds.), The Austrone- sian Languages of Asia and Madagascar. London, Routledge. Pp. 43–64.

Steinhauer, H. 1996. Endangered languages in Southeast Asia. (The study of) endangered languages and literatures of South-East Asia, International Workshop on South-East Asian Studies No. 11. Leiden, KITLV.

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Aichi 2.indd 38 28/2/09 18:02:54 Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and biocultural diversity: a close-up look at linkages, delearning trends & changing patterns of transmission Stanford Zent

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of species and languages are not the 2002; Zarger and Stepp 2004; Zent 1999). Introduction only possible measures of biodiversity One of the important lessons learned and cultural diversity respectively. A bet- from a dynamic perspective of TEK is Concerned about the rapid rates of ter theoretical understanding of this re- that its persistence and resilience over extinction of biological species and hu- lationship will require more fine-grained time is critically dependent upon envi- man languages throughout the world, investigations at the empirical and com- ronment and culture specific contexts environmental scientists, activists and parative levels. and customary methods of knowledge policymakers have recently become transmission. This points to the need for interested in understanding the links Local and traditional ecological studies of the dynamic patterns and pro- between biodiversity and cultural diver- knowledge (TEK) provides a key window cesses of knowledge variation, change, sity. Some scholars maintain that the for viewing at close range how the nat- transmission and the local contextual two kinds of diversity are interactive, ural environment shapes, penetrates or factors affecting these. The transmission interdependent and possibly coevolved, even permeates human cultural expres- process is especially crucial from an in a viewpoint expressed in the emerging sion and vice-versa. Such knowledge situ biocultural conservation standpoint concept of biocultural diversity (Cocks is often intimately tied, on one hand, because the reproduction and continu- 2006; Harmon 2002; Maffi 2001, 2005). to local language, social organisation, ity, or alternatively the transformation The implications of this insight for con- economic goals, religious beliefs, aes- and/or loss, of historically-accumulated, servation policy are obvious: protection thetics, ritual observances and material culture-specific knowledge from one gen- of organic nature and human culture culture, and on the other hand, to re- eration to the next depends on it. Among should proceed hand in hand. The hy- source appropriation and management whom, what, when, where and how is pothesis of biocultural diversity draws practices, environmental impacts, vari- knowledge passed along or acquired in support mainly from macro-geographi- ety and distribution of natural species, specific cultural and ecological settings? cal studies showing a strong spatial cor- the structure and functioning of biotic What factors of the local social or ecolog- relation between species richness and communities and long-term landscape ical setting (e.g. local language, childcare, number of endemic languages when modifications. However, the particular biotic complexity) most affect its trans- tabulated by country or when plotted substance and structure of these inter- mission? How are traditional patterns of on a world map (Harmon 1996; Loh and relationships may vary considerably transmission being affected by changes Harmon 2005; Stepp et al. 2004). Despite by place and group. Thus local-level in the wider social and environmental this intriguing evidence, the nature and studies of TEK can contribute to a more context? These are some of the questions extent of the linkage between diversity coherent understanding of biocultural that need to be answered if conservation in the natural and the cultural realms diversity precisely by documenting measures are to be tailored specifically to at smaller spatial scales are still not well the complex, variable and often subtle fit local situations and equipped toad- understood. Correlation does not neces- ways that knowledge is systemically dress the problem of knowledge protec- sarily indicate causation and we do not connected to elements of the surround- tion. Furthermore, the careful observa- know whether the observed overlaps re- ing cultural and biophysical milieus. tion and documentation of the empirical ally reflect mutual determination (e.g. facts of knowledge transmission in par- coevolution of ecological communities A number of studies in recent years have ticular places and peoples will also permit and human societies over time), asym- emphasised the dynamic properties of more precise and meaningful compari- metrical causation from one side to the TEK systems: their adaptability, mobility, sons among cases, which should give us other (e.g. unique cultural adaptations reproduction, transformation, innova- a better idea of some of the more general to biogeographical characteristics versus tion, hybridisation, incorporation of non- principles and trends in operation. anthropogenically modified landscapes), local knowledge fragments, sensitivity to analogous but independent phenomena surrounding factors, fragility in the face The present paper provides an explora- caused by third factors (e.g. fragmenta- of globalisation, and revitalisation efforts tion of these issues by examining the dy- tion of habitat types and socioethnic ter- (Alexiades 2007; Brodt 2001; Carlson and namic bio-cultural matrix of TEK from ritories caused by mountains, islands or Maffi 2004; Ellen et al. 2000; Heckler in a local perspective. Examples are pro- climatic conditions), or some combina- press; Hunn 1999; Ohmagari and Berkes vided from my ethnobotanical research tion of these. Moreover, simple counts 1997; Ross 2002; Toledo 2002; Zarger among Jotï and Piaroa Indians of the

Aichi 2.indd 40 28/2/09 18:02:55 Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity

Venezuelan Amazon, two groups which, trend of intergenerational knowledge 2002). However, few studies actually il- like many other indigenous peoples of erosion caused by contemporary cultur- lustrate how and why this is so, beyond Venezuela and throughout the Amazon al change and modernisation. pointing out the general fact that much Basin, are undergoing rapid social and information about the surrounding environmental change. The close con- environment is encoded in language. nection between vernacular language Piaroa grammatical Knowledge is structured, stored and ex- and folk botanical classification among classifiers of changed through language at at least botanical forms the Piaroa is discussed in the following three primary levels: lexicon, grammar, section. A brief case study of ethnobo- and discourse. At each level, it is pos- tanical knowledge transmission and Local language in particular has been sible to identify different domains (i.e. change among the Jotï group is then highlighted as crucially important for integrated sets) of linguistic forms and presented. Finally the general findings TEK preservation (Crystal 2000; Maffi meanings that are directly associated of the Jotï study are compared with the 2001; Nettle and Romaine 2000) and with specific cultural domains of eco- results obtained from a similar study global studies of the density and distri- logical knowledge and practice (Table conducted among the Piaroa, in order to bution of cultural diversity use language 1). Tracing the linkages between these highlight what may be a more general as the main proxy indicator (Harmon domains of language, knowledge and

Table 1: Associated domains of traditional ecological language, knowledge & practice

Language Knowledge Practice

Lexicon Ethnobiological nomenclature (taxa, morpho- Ethnobotany Resource procurement activities: behavioral characters, functional properties) Ethnozoology crop cultivation Toponyms Ethnoentymology pastoralism Biotic community names Ethnomycology hunting Body part names Ethnopedology trapping Illness terms Ethnominerology fishing Soil type and property terminology Ethnogeography gathering Weather vocabulary Ethnoecology Settlement & territoriality Food type names Ethnoclimatology Land use patterns Ethnoastronomy Landscape modification Ethnoanatomy Water management Ethnomedicine Resource localisation Ethnogastronomy Activity scheduling Ethnoarchitechture Curing practices Grammar Tool & craft production Classifiers Life form & land form classifications Tool repair Evidential markers Ethnoepistemology Food preparation & storage Compound verb constructions Activity signatures of biotaxa Housebuilding Other morpho-syntactic aspects Routine activity scripts Ceremonialism Food taboos & prescriptions Discourse Sacred site observances Mythical–historical narratives Plant & animal natural histories Harvest restrictions Ritual songs/chants Social & ecological behaviours Conservation practices Oratorical & dialogical performances Ecological relationships Resource & practice transfer (ceremonial & mundane) Social & spiritual values Artwork Joking Aesthetic appreciation Experimentation Proverbs Experimental techniques Metaphors

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practice in specific cultural settings offers which is to say lexical-based codifica- vernacular grammar and local envi- a promising method for substantiating tion. Less attention has been paid thus ronmental knowledge will be provided the connections between biodiversity far to the knowledge contained at the here through a brief description of the and cultural diversity at the local scale. grammatical and discursive levels even botanical applications of nominal clas- though these are more likely to be asso- sifiers among the Piaroa. The most well-known and common- ciated with more complex and abstract ly-cited examples of language-bound knowledge types, such as organising The Piaroa are an indigenous society knowledge concern the cognitive cat- principles, explanatory models of be- numbering about 15,000 individuals, egorisation of living beings, expressed haviour, natural processes or interrela- who inhabit a large, mostly tropical through ethnobotanical and ethnozoo- tionships among species (cf. Kempton forest territory in southern Venezuela. logical nomenclatures. This type cor- 2001; Maffi 2001). An illustration of the One of the terms the Piaroa use to de- responds to concrete object naming, potentially close connection between scribe themselves is de’a ruwa ‘owner/

Table 2: Piaroa botanical shape classifiers

Classifier Gloss Classifier Gloss

isabæ length of narrow, flexible vine isæræ~ ~ hanging, branching-stemmed fruit bunch

isade thin, delicate stem isæsa drooping, soft-stemmed fruit bunch

isahwe branching structure isæsã grass growing in separate clumps

isame fruit bunch on drooping skeleton-like stalk isæsu thick, curved stem of fruit bunch

isamu hard, rounded, almond-like nut or seed isætæ spike-like fruit bunch

isana tubular, hollow stem isæte flower type

isane baby stem shoot or sprout isæt’e tuberous root

isaphæ stringy fibre isætã~ thin, woven-like covering or skin

isaphe powdery substance on leaf isæte~ small fruit/seed/nut/pit

~ ~ isarl thorn isæthã fruit type

isate multi-part leaf bud isætha fruit type

isæ’æ banana-like canopied plant isæthi campanate-shaped flower

isæba spherical fruit shape isæwa thick, gelatinous sap

isæbæ thin, flat leafy cover isæwã herbaceous form?

isæbi small, roundish, flattish fruit/seed isæyu oblong fruit shape

isæbi single-rooted, multi-stemmed, herbaceous plant isæyu? spongy material at centre of certain trees

isæc’eˇ smaller plant form? isec’eˇ tight cluster of several small fruits

isæc’eˇ hair-like grass isek’e stilt roots

isæcaˇ fruit type? isoha legume pod-shaped fruit

isæcãˇ dry leafless branch or fruitless stalk isohæ leaf or leafy plant

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master of the forest’ and in keeping hunting, fishing and collection activi- The Piaroa speak a language classi- with this autodenomination, they are ties. While the major portion of food fied as one of three extant members widely regarded as being exceptionally energy is supplied by a few cultivated (along with Sáliva and Maco) of the knowledgeable and skilled at extract- crops, several hundred wild plant and small Saliban family. One of the out- ing a living from the forest. Before the animal species really make vital contri- standing grammatical features of this 1960s, they dwelled in small, dispersed butions to the overall subsistence pat- language is the common use of more and shifting settlements located in in- tern as sources of supplementary foods, than 100 nominal classifiers that func- terfluvial forest and avoided contact medicines, narcotics, tools, handicrafts, tion semantically to group all nouns with surrounding criollo (i.e. white or construction materials, firewood, ritual into a bounded number of referentially mestizo) peoples. Their traditional sub- objects, indicators of ecological infor- meaningful classes based on shape, sistence economy depends on an exten- mation and plant foods for game ani- size, texture, internal arrangement and sive mixture of swidden horticulture, mals (Zent 1992). number attributes, and syntactically to

Classifier Gloss Classifier Gloss

isædu individual, small, roundish, hard fruit/seed isõhæ~ fruit endocarp type

isæhu single narrow vine isoho fruit type

isæi big woody tree isoi~ palm class

isæk’æ non-rounded stem isok’æ rosette-shaped herbaceous plant

multiple fruits or flowers in circular arrangement isæk’e isok’e~ stick-like around stem or base

isæk’e~ dehisced fruit isoka single section of multi-sectioned fruit bunch

isækæ intricate, multi-part root system isokã planted or anchored stick

isæke slender length of stem isokæ spiny plant

isækha arched, multi-sided fruit skin or shell isone small, juicy, teardrop-shaped fruit

fruit shape rounded on one end, pointy on the isækhe~ single section of sectioned stem isoñe other end

isækwa overgrown, bushy or tangled vegetation isopha small, fluttery, fern-like, leafy plant

isæma medium-sized, compound flower type isoræ fruit type

isæmæ flattish, whorled fruit pod isose hard empty shell

isæmi tiny, round, flat (two-dimensional) fruit/seed isot’a cup-shaped fruit

isæmi multi-bulbous fruit or root with common base isot’æ thick woody vine

isæna round woody stem isotha flower shape

isæra noded stem isoya thin, free-flowing sap

isæræ pencil-shaped fruit or flower type

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mark concordially constituents of the The contribution of shape classifier the test made constant and consistent noun phrase outside the head (Krute markers to the memorisation and re- reference to the tree stem shape when 1989). The classifiers usually appear in call of a prolific number of plant group naming the test plants through a con- speech as monosyllabic suffixes of the categories is suggested by Krute’s (1989) trasting set of classifier suffixes, -na form –(C)V attached to the modifier(s) thorough analysis of the semantic or- ‘rounded stem’ and -k’æ ‘non-rounded within a noun phrase or to other words ganisation of Piaroa classifiers, by my stem’. I was initially puzzled about their making anaphoric reference to some own observations of Piaroa plant nam- insistence at making repeated reference previously named head noun, but may ing and classification performance, and to what seemed to me to be a rather also be expressed as abstract concepts by statements of the Piaroa themselves. inconsequential attribute (with the when suffixed onto the generic root Krute contends that the classifiers oper- possible exception of its suitability as isV–‘thing’. The Piaroa employ at least ate as prototypical images to which re- a housebuilding pole). So at one point seventy-five nominal classifier suffixes ferred objects are assigned on the basis during one of the interviews, I could to categorise, distinguish and refer to of their perceived resemblance, wheth- not help but ask the respondent why he different botanical life forms, plant er literal or metaphorical, to the ideal chose to name these classifiers instead parts, growth habits and ecological form expressed by the classifier. Rosch of the more general classifier used to associations (Table 2). Different clas- (1977) has written that prototypes are designate the tree life form, and he just sifiers may occur with the same root, important aids for the mental organi- smiled and said for him it was ‘easy’ to and more rarely two classifiers may sation and processing of knowledge in say it that way while for other people it co-occur, depending on which form(s) that items judged to be typical can be was ‘easy’ to say it another way. After or property(ies) the speaker wants to categorised more efficiently (recalled further reflection, I believe what he was emphasise, where the root refers to faster and longer, transmitted more ac- trying to tell me was that his mental as- the essential plant group (folk species curately, sorted with fewer errors). The sociation and vocalisation of the plant or genus) and the classifier(s) to the possible role of classifier marking for taxon together with that particular set attribute(s) of it. For example, arara-i categorical memorisation also surfaced of classifiers simply helped him to re- ‘cashew tree’, arara-sa-de ‘cashew sap- during a controlled study of individual member it and if this interpretation is ling’, arara-yu ‘cashew fruit’, arara-te competences of tree/liana identifica- correct it suggests the mnemonic func- ‘cashew seed’. The set of classifiers that tion, naming and utilitarian knowledge tion of classifier categorisation. applies to a particular plant taxon is fre- that I made in a Piaroa community in quently quite idiosyncratic, so few taxa 1994. The results of that study have share exactly the same set with any oth- been reported elsewhere (Zent 1999, Jotï ethnobotany er. The selective combining and con- 2001) and some of those will be sum- trasting of classifier-encoded meanings marised below (see section on com- Beyond tracing the vital connections which reflect observable morphologi- parison with the Piaora case, page 53), among language, cognition and behav- cal and behavioral attributes undoubt- so I will not repeat them here beyond iour, an adequate understanding of the edly contributes to the ability of the stating the general finding that a sta- biocultural matrix of TEK requires de- Piaroa to distinguish several hundred tistically significant difference between tailed consideration of the local patterns taxa at the basic (i.e. folk generic) level. younger and older generations’ ethno- and processes of knowledge acquisition, Although undoubtedly a phenomenal- botanical knowledge was observed, with variation and change. A dynamic, differ- ly complex semantic system to learn, the former exhibiting lower knowledge entiated perspective of TEK is also mo- once mastered it provides an efficient competence levels. However, another tivated by concerns that much valuable key that enables the folk botanist to potentially significant result of that local knowledge is being eroded due to quickly identify encountered individu- study, not previously reported upon, cultural and ecological change and that als, to cognitively locate and incorpo- was that the more knowledgeable (i.e. in-situ knowledge preservation efforts rate unfamiliar specimens and, perhaps higher competence score) respondents must take into account this dynamic pro- most importantly, to memorise a large tended to use more classifiers in their cess and the factors driving it. Partly mo- inventory of taxa at the generic and answers to my questions about plant tivated by this problematic, a compara- specific ranks by assignation of clearly names and uses. In particular, a couple tive study of ethnobotanical variation recognised perceptual markers. of older men who scored very high on and change was carried out in 1996–1999

Aichi 2.indd 44 28/2/09 18:02:55 Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity

among the Jotï, a traditional nomadic Table 3: hunter-gatherer group who inhabit a Summary statistics of wild plant species by use category remote, mountainous, tropical forest region of southern Venezuela. The Jotï Use Category Families Species Undetermined Ethnotaxa were completely isolated from Western society until 1969 when they were con- Edible 58 222 43 253 tacted by missionaries. At the time of Magic and Medicine 67 182 76 229 first contact, they were found living in small, fluid, nomadic bands, subsisting Construction 59 285 46 294 by hunting-gathering and incipient cul- Fishing 18 36 4 39 tivation, and possessing a rudimentary material technology, including stone Firewood 54 325 51 351 axes, and very few items of Western ori- Beverages 9 11 4 14 gin. However, two missions were established in the Jotï territory, at Caño Iguana Hygiene 15 23 7 29 in 1971 and on the Río Kayamá in 1983, Technology 59 193 50 245 and since then these have gradually attracted more than half of the formerly Animal Food 91 550 89 591 dispersed, mobile population to come * Complete lists of scientific and folk taxa on which these statistics are based are detailed in Zent et al. 2001 and settle permanently at these fixed locations. The missionaries have taught the From 1996–99, E. L. Zent and I car- (Zent and Zent 2004b). The ethnobotani- mission residents the Christian religion ried out quantitative floristic inventories cal study involved general collections, and basic non-traditional educational and ethnobotanical studies at four Jotï interviews and observations in regards to skills (such as literacy in the native or communities: Caño Mosquito, Caño plot as well as non-plot plants (see below). national languages), provided Western Majagua, Caño Iguana and Río Kayamá. This part of the study revealed that these trade goods and medicines, and advo- At each site, a one hectare primary for- people possess an extraordinarily exten- cated agricultural innovations. Since the est plot was set up and all trees greater sive knowledge and use of primary forest 1990s, some Jotï bands who chose not than or equal to 10 cm diameter at breast species, including more than 220 edible to move to the missions have instead height were inventoried. The results of species and approximately 180 medicinal migrated down the rivers to the lowland the floristic study indicate that the forests plants (Table 3; cf. Zent et al. 2001). fringes of their territory and as a result occupied by the Jotï exhibit surprisingly have expanded their social and econom- high levels of species richness. Three Before reviewing certain aspects of ic contacts with surrounding Indian and out of four forest plots contained greater the current transitional state of Jotï criollo peoples. The sum result is that than 180 species of large trees per hectare plant knowledge acquisition, I would within the space of a generation the Jotï (Zent and Zent 2004a). These figures are like to consider briefly how such knowl- have gone from total isolation to more remarkable for two reasons. First, they edge is organised in terms of the mor- or less permanent contact with outsid- show the highest levels of tree diversity pho-behavioral characters and cues used ers with the consequence that they are thus far recorded for the Guayana Shield to distinguish among the wide variety of now experiencing a phase of rapid cul- region of South America. Second, all plants found in local environments. The ture change, including the introduction of the plots from which the figures are expert Jotï botanist can usually iden- of new technology, changes in settle- drawn are within a few minutes walk of a tify most trees from a distance of 10 m ment pattern and economic focus, and Jotï community. Thus one may conclude to 20 m or more away, from its overall ideological conversions. However, these that the Jotï demonstrate that human oc- appearance, especially the stem form. impacts are uneven across the ethnic cupation, exploitation and disturbance If not, he or she will take a closer look group, with mission groups being more (in the form of low-impact fruit, leaf and at the trunk or bark, perhaps cut it with deeply affected while independent (i.e. bark harvesting, seed dispersal and gap a knife and smell it or see what kind of non-mission) groups maintain a more creation) are not necessarily incompat- resin or sap flows out. If it still cannot be traditional (i.e. pre-contact) lifestyle. ible with high diversity maintenance identified, he or she will look up at the

Aichi 2.indd 45 28/2/09 18:02:55 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today

Table 4: Jotï plant classification characters & terminology

Plant Characters part

circum- abun- height– habit form girth buttress habitat location shape dance length

Stem jyëï: tree libude: jkyë- (jae): jtamïna: uli: large jlajla: bëkya: anywhere jtödö: far ji: palm round singleton tall or long jani: small vertical inëwanï: rock outcrop jamena: near ibuju: liana ñë-: jkwëda: alikwëde: jyona uli: buttress jkyonï: high forest jkyaka: jena: non- numerous short largish jlajlade: me: savanna downriver hollow- round individuals jtamïwëña: jyona jani: without jkyo jwï: forest hill mameka: stemmed wilo: x jkyo: branches smallish buttress inëwa jwï: rocky hill upriver jele: small twisted x-dominant high above ulii: jlëya: jedö anï: riverbank woody plant stand ground very large lateral jani jedönï: creekbank jya: ground jedö jtunï: headwater herbaceous roots spring leafy plant jnemekï (jaenï): forested jwajwa: plain herb with balojkwa: swidden plot leafy canopy jkyo mabau: lagoon or on top flooded forest jtejte: grass me oneka: forest- savanna ecotone jtujtiko: scrub forest

layer thickness colour texture hardness taste–smell

Bark mi (ji): bajtu: thick jwalëjte: black jtejtena: juluwëka: tough jlebona: fragrant odour inner bark nane: thin duwëjka: brown smooth baliyeka: brittle jlebonade: odourless mi jkyoka: nujtibo: green jwaeka: ridged ikyeka: hard yaka jlebona: pungent outer bark kyabo: white jolowaka: rough jkolaibe: fibrous iniwëjka: onionlike duwëwe: red nenowa: slick & jtilo: mildly pleasant non-fibrous jtijtikë: very bitter ba: thorny lowekado: nauseous iyeba: flaking nujtiyëbo jibu: chlorophyllous

presence abundance colour texture taste-smell

Exudates nana: generic term aewa: a lot duwëwe: red/yellow jyubomajae: milk-like jtilo: mildly pleasant for exudate ejlau: flowing kyabo: white jtïjkëwaka: sticky yaka: mildly bitter nanade: no exudate janiwana: jwalëjte: black ojtewaka: oily jkujtiwaka: malodorous a little aubounajae: transparent ikyekabae: hardens jwaka: rotten smelling

leaves, then perhaps the fruit or flowers. tions, and the human uses or actions ap- encoded in a formal vocabulary. Many In other words, the procedure for keying plied to it. Each part has its own specific species are recognised and classified by out a plant goes from perceptually larger set of features (Table 4). Many of these reference to other known species, often to smaller properties, from more to less features are formally labelled and it is not expressed in the form ‘species x has fruit accessible percepts, from ground-level to uncommon to hear such labels being at- the same size and shape as species y’ or aerial strata. However, in fact numerous tached verbally to different plant types ‘the exudate of species y smells like that characteristics of the different parts of when people are out in the forest and of species z.’ Thus the ability to learn a plant are taken into account simulta- talking about what they see or report- and remember a large number of taxa neously in order to ‘classify’ it, such as ing their discoveries to someone back at depends on prior associative knowledge pattern, shape, abundance, size, habitat, home. However, it is also clear that plant of a number of other taxa and we can location or niche, colour, texture, hard- classification does not depend entirely infer that learning large inventories is ness, taste or smell, interspecific associa- upon abstract character categorisation not merely an additive process but also

Aichi 2.indd 46 28/2/09 18:02:55 Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity

Plant Characters part

colour hardness taste–smell

Wood kyabo: white waño: soft yuwëjka: noxious jtawï jyëï: generic term for wood duwëwe: red ikyeka: hard jwalëjte: black

abundance size girth–width texture venation substance

jwï jele: Leaf aewa: a lot jtamï(wa): uliwa: large jtejtena: smooth ikyeka: midvein jya: leaf janiwana: a little long janiwa: small jtiwa: glossy hard jlëya: aiyë: yowa(kï): bajtu: thick iyeba: flaky jkenowano: primary leaves long & thin nijluka: broad jkuwëjte: sharp soft veins alikwëde: ijlukï: slender jwï yuku: abrasive juluwëka: jtïnëkï: short janiijawa: very small kö: tomentose tough secondary anï jkuwëjte: jnajnae: thin & fragile najnï: smooth baliyeka: vein pointed nilujkado: powdery brittle

pattern abundance size shape colour texture taste–smell seasonality

Fruit ju/ujtö: aewa: jani(wa): jköjkönï: duwëwe: ïnëkade: ïnëka: delicious jtuwönï: spherical a lot small rosette red-yellow dry & inedible jtijtikë: bitter dry season adë jujkwa: janiwa: uli: large dujwe: duwëjka: ejlau(jkwa): jtijtide: ojkunë: round with a little yowakï: small flat orange juicy not bitter wet season seeds inside jtuweneka: jele ajkunï: kyabo: jolowaka miji: ejkaka: spicy jtidoju: long grows on white rough skin yuwëjka: oblong alikwëde: stem nujtibo: jtejtena miji: noxious (various dalë/adë: short jeme: green-blue smooth skin lowekado: finer small fruit multi- jwalëjte: nea: nauseous distinctions ja/ïëya: stemmed black humid jlebona: made for legume fruit kao: turns jnajna: pleasant each type) bunch dark purple dry meat wikë: sour

abundance size pattern colour texture seasonality behaviour

Flower aewa: jani: small jköjkönï: kyabo: white jena: jtuwönï: dry season jkukë(deke): bu: a lot janii: very small rosette duwëwe: red-yellow nectar ojkunë: wet season falls to generic janiwana: uli: large jkwiinï: duwëno: intensely red ground term for a little alikwëde: short compound kyajka: maroon-purple (various finer distinctions flower jtamïwa: long nujtibo: green-blue made for each type)

a ramifying and contextual one, with fu- interinformant knowledge patterns forest transitional habitats (Majagua ture learning potential being a function across the four study communities. and Kayamá). Thus each community of prior learning achievements. Mosquito and Majagua are smaller, in- was distinct in terms of the cross-cutting dependent, less acculturated settlements parameters of settlement and habitat while Iguana and Kayamá are the larger, as follows: Mosquito (traditional settle- Variation & change in mission-based, more acculturated com- ment, traditional habitat), Majagua knowledge acquisition munities. Another key variable for our (traditional settlement, non-traditional sample design was whether they oc- habitat), Iguana (non-traditional settle- In order to study the dynamic pro- cupied traditional premontane forest ment, traditional habitat) and Kayamá cesses of ethnobotanical knowledge ac- habitats (Mosquito and Iguana) or non- (non-traditional settlement, non-tradi- quisition and distribution, we compared traditional fluvial forest and savanna- tional habitat).

Aichi 2.indd 47 28/2/09 18:02:56 Figure 1 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today Generic, specific & nomenclature classification by age

1 1

0.9 0.9 R² = 0.572 0.8 0.8 R² = 0.607 0.7 0.7 R² = 0.231 0.6 0.6 R² = 0.501 R² = 0.134 0.5 0.5

0.4 R² = 0.169 0.4

0.3 Competence score 0.3

Competence score

0.2 0.2 Mosquito Majagua 0.1 0.1

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 Age Age

1 1 R² = 0.804 R² = 0.325 0.9 0.9 R² = 0.783 R² = 0.302 0.8 0.8

0.7 0.7 R² = 0.196 R² = 0.671 0.6 0.6

0.5 0.5

0.4 0.4 Competence score score Competence 0.3 score Competence 0.3

0.2 0.2 Iguana Kayamá 0.1 0.1

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 Age Age

The research method consisted of car- change over time, we used age as a proxy Due to space constraints, in this paper rying out structured interviews in refer- for modelling time-based learning, an I am only able to present a very brief ence to the plot trees and lianas among inferential technique that is commonly and laconic summary of the results that a broad range of community members used in developmental bio-psychological are most relevant to the main topic of varying by age and sex. The respective research (cf. Chipeniuk 1995; Hatano knowledge transmission and change sample sizes were: 24 individuals (15 and Inagaki 1999; Kellert 1985; Ki-fong (see Zent and Zent 2004 for a more de- males, 9 females) at Mosquito, 20 indi- Au and Romo 1999). We then compared tailed discussion). The first set of results viduals (12 males, 8 females) at Majagua, the statistically modeled learning curves reviewed here are scatterplots and poly- 62 individuals (31 males, 31 females) at across the four communities and the re- nomial regression trendlines for generic, Iguana, and 63 individuals (32 males, 31 lationships of these to change-indicator specific and nomenclatural classification females) at Kayamá. Each person inter- variables in order to infer the impact (indicated in black, grey and green reviewed was walked through the plot and of social and ecological changes on the spectively) by age in the four commu- asked to provide the name, taxonomic knowledge acquisition process. This last nities (Figure 1). ‘Generic’ classification classification and use values for every step is especially important because it refers to middle-inclusive groupings, marked plant in the plot. Individual provides the context needed to inter- ‘specific’ to lower level terminal taxa, and knowledge was measured by perform- pret correctly the observed knowledge- ‘nomenclature’ to the particular names ing a cultural consensus analysis on the upon-age differentials by community, given to a plant. Please keep in mind that totality of answers using the Anthropac as representing either a normal learning the two plots on top correspond to the computer program (Romney et al. 1986).2 trend (i.e. age-based knowledge accumu- two non-mission groups and the bottom Linear and curvilinear regression was lation) as may be expected under steady- two refer to the two mission communi- used to model and test the relationships state conditions or rather as a delearning ties, while the two plots on the left corre- between ethnobotanical competence trend (i.e. failure to learn what elders spond to settlements located in the tradi- and age. Given the difficulties of directly once learned) as may be expected under tional habitat setting and the two on the observing knowledge acquisition and rapid change conditions. right indicate recently-colonised, hence

Aichi 2.indd 48 19/3/09 13:35:52 Figure 2 Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity Generic classification by age

1 1

0.9 0.9 R² = 0.012 0.8 0.8 R² = 0.177 R² = 0.239 0.7 0.7

0.6 0.6 R² = 0.595 0.5 0.5

0.4 0.4

0.3

Competence score 0.3 Competence score

0.2 0.2 Mosquito Majagua 0.1 0.1

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Age Age

1 1 0.9 R² = 0.002 0.9 0.8 0.8 R² = 0.004 0.7 0.7

0.6 0.6 R² = 0.304 0.5 0.5 R² = 0.709 0.4 0.4

Competence score 0.3 Competence score 0.3

0.2 0.2 Iguana Kayamá 0.1 0.1

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Age Age

non-traditional ecozones. In all groups, phase among adults greater than 20 drop in the amount of time spent in the consensus knowledge trends at the years of age can be made more visible the forest. Related to this, the people three levels of classification are closely by dividing our community samples at Mosquito and Majagua are still more parallel, thus indicating that acquiring into younger and older groups and dependent on wild resources for their correct names is closely associated with then plotting the results. Figure 2 dis- subsistence, and children likewise have correct taxonomic identification, and plays the dichotomised competence- more contact and manipulation of for- lower-level taxonomic classification on-age trends for generic classification. est plants. Younger people at Majagua, is closely associated with higher-level The results show very clearly the active we remember, also displayed less knowl- classification. Regarding knowledge- (de)learning trend among children, ad- edge by age than adults, indicating a de- on-age trends, Majagua, Iguana and olescents and young adults at Majagua, layed learning phase, similar to mission Kayamá share the same basic pattern, Iguana and Kayamá whereas there is no communities, but this result can prob- that is a definite rise of competence by significant difference among younger ably be explained by the fact they have age among younger people up until and older people at Mosquito. recently moved into a non-traditional around 20 years of age followed by no habitat, hence historically less famil- further significant acquisition after that, The next graph hints at the reasons iar flora. Thus when viewed in a cross- no matter how much older one is. The for the uniqueness of Mosquito (Figure community context and related to indica- pattern observed at Mosquito is differ- 3). Through time-allocation studies,3 we tor variables of activity or habitat change, ent, there being no significant change of were able to determine that they spend the results suggest that adolescents and knowledge level between younger and a greater amount of their time out in the young adults in the mission communi- older persons. forest, marked by the dark green colours ties and the independent, migrating in the figure. In fact, going from up- community are experiencing a delearn- The marked difference between an ac- per left to upper right and then lower ing trend (i.e. failure to learn knowledge tive (de)learning phase among younger left to lower right, that is from least to that is normally acquired by such indi- people vs. a more static non-learning most acculturated, we see a progressive viduals under traditional conditions).

Aichi 2.indd 49 19/3/09 14:55:54 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today Figure 3 Space–time allocation

Mosquito Majagua forest-far 17% forest-far 21%

house 41% house 43%

forest-near village forest-near 36% 1% 24% village river 4% garden garden river 2% 5% 3% 3%

Kayamá Iguana urban forest-far forest-far 1% 10% 11% house 28% forest-near house forest-near 13% 37% 20%

garden 9%

garden river 10% 2% village river 27% 4% village 28%

The learning process of use know- age. This unlikely result is seemingly communities they are not. Apparently ledge – food and medicine classifica- caused by the fact that the younger mission-raised children are not learning tion – is modelled in the next set of di- people are picking up knowledge about as many medicinal plants as their non- chotomised sample plots (Figure 4). The more commonplace and widely-known mission counterparts. There are other respective dichotomised trends across plant cures while older adults know key results that should be briefly men- communities described above are repli- more rare medicinals. If this assump- tioned: (a) no significant differences in cated once again for food use categori- tion is correct, it would also mean that taxonomic or use value knowledge lev- sation: competence rises with age until the consensus model is not the most els were found according to gender or young people reach their early twenties appropriate method for analysing the according to gender by age; (b) there is in Majagua, Iguana and Kayamá while distributional pattern of this data set a rather strong positive relationship be- there is no significant difference by age (because knowledge of rarely used me- tween ability to classify at the specific at Mosquito. For medicinal use, how- dicinal plants qualifies as a type of spe- rank and food use knowledge among ever, the pattern is somewhat distinct. cialist knowledge, see note 1). As can be all communities except for Mosquito, Younger people at both Mosquito and appreciated in Figure 5, older people at and a similar but weaker relationship Majagua, the two independent com- Iguana and Kayamá display larger in- of this kind with regard to medicinal munities (top two plots), display insig- ventories of medicinal plants (a mea- use knowledge, thus indicating that nificant differences of competence from sure different from cultural consensus) taxonomic and utilitarian knowledge older people. Meanwhile at the two than younger people, as the bottom two are to some extent interdependent; and mission communities there seems to be trends are clearly significant. Our cross- (c) degree of bilingualism and length of a weakly significant bimodal tendency community interpretation of this result school education were not found to cor- for the younger cohort to improve their takes into account the fact that Western relate with ethnobotanical knowledge competency with age and for the older medicines are readily available at the at Kayamá, the only community where cohort to decline in competency with missions whereas at the independent these developments have occurred.

Aichi 2.indd 50 19/3/09 13:35:52 Figure 4 Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity Food & medicine classification by age

1 1

0.9 0.9 R² = 0.076 R² = 0.014 0.8 0.8 R² = 0.139 R² = 0.109 R² = 0.0001 R² = 0.208 0.7 R² = 0.044 0.7

0.6 0.6 R² = 0.488 0.5 0.5

0.4 0.4

0.3 0.3 Competence score Competence score

0.2 0.2 Mosquito Majagua 0.1 0.1

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Age Age

1 1

0.9 0.9 R² = 0.008 0.8 R² = 0.04802 0.8

0.7 0.7 R² = 0.231 R² = 0.280 0.6 0.6 R² = 0.17 R² = 0.125 R² = 0.228 0.5 0.5

0.4 0.4 R² = 0.45

Competence score 0.3

0.2 0.2 Iguana Kayamá 0.1 0.1

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Age Age

Dynamic Context of situated interactions, communications, processing or eating the catch, painting Knowledge Transmission observations and participation in shared the body with vegetable dyes, perform- experiences with older and/or more ing rites with magical plants to enhance The previous section examined the experienced individuals, acquires the hunting success, curing the sick, etc. We socially and ecologically structured pat- knowledge and skills that are needed to did not witness formal or consciously- tern of ethnobotanical knowledge varia- function, and be regarded, as competent planned teacher-led instruction about tion within and between Jotï commu- members of their communities. plants, with the exception of one of the nities as an indirect means of inferring schoolteachers at Kayamá who decided processes of knowledge acquisition and Previous anthropological and edu- to teach his pupils about plants after we its change over time. Now we turn to a cational studies have emphasised the completed our study and then informed brief but more direct consideration of informal, context-dependent, activity- the community of the gap between the actual knowledge acquisition/trans- situated and participatory nature of tra- children’s and adult’s knowledge on mission process, the routine procedures ditional knowledge transmission, and the subject. Only when children asked and contexts through which this occurs, our observations of Jotï ethnobotanical questions first to parents, older siblings and the social and ecological transitions knowledge are largely consistent with or other caregivers, usually in the course affecting these. Although research on the this characterisation (Katz 1986, 1989; of subsistence activities, was specific and informal acquisition of biological knowl- Lave and Wenger 1981; Lozada et al. directed verbal instruction provided. In edge has expanded in recent years, most 2006; Zarger 2002). According to our ex- that sense, we would characterise eth- of this has focused on the psychological perience of Jotï daily life, most talk about nobotanical knowledge transmission rather than the cultural or sociological plants occurs in contexts in which there among Jotï as learner-initiated or mo- dimension. Thus I limit my discussion is direct contact and interaction with tivated: information is verbally trans- to the socialisation process by which a them. These include: walking through mitted from expert to apprentice upon child or novice, through recurrent and the forest, harvesting plant products, the latter’s request. More commonly,

Aichi 2.indd 51 19/3/09 13:35:53 Figure 5 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today Regression of number of medicinal plants identified by age

18 14

16 12

14 10 12 R² = 0.043 10 8 R² = 0.009

8 6

6 4 No. of medicinal taxa 4

No. of medicinal taxa Majagua Mosquito 2 2

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Age Age 25 40

35 20 30

15 25

R² = 0.155 20 R² = 0.112 10 15 No. of medicinal taxa

No. of medicinal taxa 10 5 Kayamá Iguana 5

0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Age Age

however, the child-learner will merely and seemed puzzled at the suggestion. modification in a relatively larger area watch and listen to what adults or older This suggests the largely unconscious surrounding the village, children’s children do or say in the course of their nature of this process. We also asked unchaperoned range has increased. normal activities. Thus it appears that several adults if they taught their plant Less free time is also available to adults the primary method of knowledge acknowledge to their children. Most as- such that when they are at home or quisition in this context is focused ob- sured us that they did but were unable in the village, where children could servation and peripheral participation, to specify how they did so other than potentially spend more time with them, a pattern reported elsewhere (Katz 1986; to say they took them along camping they are often very busy with other Zarger 2002), and the burden of trans- or hunting-gathering. In sum, we can work or visiting other adults; mission is with the learner. This style characterise the ethnobotanical knowl- of learning is also consistent with the edge transmission process as mostly 2 Less time is spent in traditional general norm that individuals are able unconscious, activity-situated, verbally subsistence activities and more time is to choose what activities they engage in and non-verbally communicated, ob- spent in non-traditional activities such free from social pressure or coercion of server-activated and learner-directed. as church, school or organised games; any kind from a young age. What are some of the impacts of so- 3 Less importance is attached to We asked a number of individuals cial and economic change on ethnobo- a large variety of supplemental wild who it was that taught them about tanical knowledge transmission/sociali- resources due to more dependence on plants in general and particular, and sation? Mission groups differed socially, agriculture, including non-traditional how was this done. The most common behaviorally and culturally from non- crops introduced by missionaries, and response was one’s parents, or occa- mission groups in the following ways: imported foods, tools and materials. sionally a grandparent (no one indicated a sibling), but almost everyone 1 Less time is spent with adults, more 4 There is less concern for learning was unable to answer how it occurred time is spent with peers. Due to habitat about medicinal plants because free

Aichi 2.indd 52 19/3/09 13:35:53 Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural diversity

antibiotics, analgesics and other the methods and results). The Piaroa are never be fully made up, rather than a pharmaceuticals are available at also an indigenous horticultural-hunt- so-called ‘normal’ learning curve. This is the mission; ing society and inhabit a tropical forest based partly on the historical datum that habitat similar to that of the Jotï, but the town was also founded thirty years 5 Greater social and economic their history of contact and integration prior to the study. From that point on, value is being attached to with Western society is about a genera- the ecological, economic, social and cul- allotochtonous knowledge, especially tion longer. The study was conducted in tural life of the people began to change among young people, such as Gavilán, a relatively large, nucleated and radically. Children growing up in this school education, Spanish language, sedentary town that was founded thirty environment were exposed directly or Christian religion, specialised skills years prior to the date of the study and is indirectly through their care-givers to (e.g. Western medical caregiving, about an hour’s car drive away from the classrooms, Western medicines, import- carpentry, electricity, masonry, state capital city. While people in this ed foods, exotic goods, frequent visits to lawn-mowing), and the ability to community still generate a large portion the capital city, organised sports, radios, play football or other sports. This of their own daily subsistence, mainly television, Christian religion, retreat- is because these are perceived as through shifting cultivation, at the same ing forest edges, political parties and a training paths to acquiring higher time they have become highly depen- host of other non-traditional agents of social status and material benefits dent on outside markets and a money change. Another telling result of the (for example, people who perform economy and government-provided ser- study contributing to this interpretation such services are rewarded by vices (school, health care, housing, elec- is that intrusive knowledge forms, as the missionaries). Some children tricity, cooperative businesses). A large indicated by years of school education expressed their desire to follow proportion (about 50 per cent) speak the completed and bilingual ability, were novel career paths (airplane pilot, national language, and the preponder- found to be contributing factors to low- agronomist, medical doctor). ance of Western cultural ideals, practices er competence levels. Finally, Gavilán and material items is plainly evident. youngsters also appear to be somewhat One of the main results of the chang- knowledge-deprived when the results are es in patterns of social interaction, ac- The main result from the Gavlián considered in the light of cross-cultural tivities and values is the generation gap study that I want to mention here is that comparison. In other studies of ethno- in ethnobotanical knowledge observed the same general pattern of knowledge botanical knowledge acquisition carried previously. This indicates that TEK is differential among younger vs. older out among rural, agrarian populations in especially sensitive and vulnerable to generations for taxonomic and use com- Meso-America, it was found that adult changes in the surrounding context. petence was found but in this case the or near-adult competency is reached by rise of knowledge with age is even more about the age of puberty (12 or 13 years extended, up to 30 years old and perhaps old) (Hunn 2002; Stross 1973; Zarger Comparison with slightly beyond. Averaging the recorded and Stepp 2004). Taken together, these the Piaroa case competence scores by age cohort, it was data strongly suggest that the observed found that 10 to 14 year-old males are knowledge differences by age in Gavilán As mentioned previously, cross-cultural able to identify and name correctly 46 expose a delearning trend that contrib- comparisons are useful for revealing per cent, 15-19 year olds 53 per cent, 20- utes to a TEK generation gap. The fact more general or explanatory trends in 24 year-olds 69 per cent and 25-29 year that this gap is wider among the Piaroa knowledge transmission and its change olds 76 per cent of the trees or lianas than among the Jotï and that the for- beyond the confined setting of a local that mature adult males of 30 years old mer exhibit a more advanced state of group. With this goal in mind, I now and above typically know. These figures general cultural and ecological change compare some of the results obtained suggest that the knowledge generation suggests that this may be a more gener- in the Jotï study with those obtained gap has become wider in comparison to al, interculturally-valid process resulting in another similar but smaller study I the Jotï case. My interpretation is that from progressive impairment, devalu- made among the Piaroa group that was this differential really reflects a trend of ation or disuse of traditional transmis- mentioned earlier (see Zent 1999, 2001 knowledge decline among the younger sion processes. Further confirmation of for a detailed description and analysis of generation of Gavilán residents that will this hypothesis could be provided by

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measuring and comparing the relative reviewed here suggests however that tra- the retention of rich ethnobotanical generation gaps among groups who ditional environmental language, classi- inventories from one generation to the have travelled even further down the fier suffix designations among the Piaroa next. Meanwhile the positive feedback road of cultural modernisation. and plant names and plant part attribu- (i.e. deviation-amplifying) effects of tions among the Jotï, may already be declining knowledge on processes of experiencing decay in the sense of struc- cultural and ecological change are less Conclusion tural (categorical) and functional (use) well understood at this time but may be reduction, with serious consequences equally significant. For example, it seems for continued maintenance of ethnobo- logical to assume that the loss of knowl- When viewed at a national scale, it tanical knowledge and use abilities. This edge about edible and medicinal plants seems all too obvious that many if not observation elicits the hypothesis that makes people increasingly dependent all indigenous peoples in Venezuela are traditional environmental language is upon cultivated or imported foods and currently experiencing a widespread one of the linguistic domains that first medical care provided by outsiders, thus trend of TEK erosion associated with suffers decay in a context of rapid cul- reinforcing pressures toward settlement rapid cultural and ecological change (cf. tural and ecological change. nucleation and sedentism, agricultural Zent and Zent 2007). However, I have at- intensification, market integration, na- tempted to show here how a closer look Clear trends of TEK erosion were de- tional language learning and sustained at the unfolding of this general trend tected in the two case studies described contact with surrounding societies. As in specific localities can enrich our un- and the displacement of traditional well, diminishing knowledge and use of derstanding of the variation and com- methods, actors and contexts of knowl- wild plant resources appear to be linked plexity of this process. The particulars edge transmission was emphasised as a to corresponding shifts in the ecological of biocultural connections, acquisition main contributing factor. Comparing impact of subsistence and settlement dynamics and contingent variables of the two cases brought to light that the patterns on local biodiversity. Among change among the Jotï and the Piaroa al- erosional process is manifested locally as the Jotï, knowledge of the seasonal hab- low us to distinguish (partially) separate an ever-widening generation gap, which its and dispersed locations of a diverse realities of the TEK transition within the further underscores the importance of range of plant and animal species plays a larger picture. The careful comparison of better understanding how and why key role in traditional trekking (i.e. mo- differences as well as similarities across transmission of knowledge from older bile camping) and foraging behaviors. different groups permit sharper defini- to younger generations is or is not occur- These activities are in turn associated tion of the general processes and causal ring. The data reviewed here suggest that with micro-scale, low-impact ecological factors involved. Thus local language the Piaroa have moved further along disturbances (e.g. seed banking and was highlighted as an integral compo- this intergenerational transition and dispersal, felling of senescent trees, gap nent of TEK management among both therefore more drastic measures aimed creation, cultivation in tree fall clearings groups. Although there is no indication at revitalising, reinventing or revaluing and selective fire application) that main- that either the Jotï or Piaroa languages threatened mechanisms of knowledge tain and create biodiversity within the are facing imminent endangerment and transmission may be needed. surrounding landscape (Zent and Zent in none of these groups are vernacular 2004b). With the decline of nomadic for- mother tongue speakers declining, a What are the implications of TEK aging habits, one may also expect fewer closer look at their situations suggests delearning trends for maintenance of diversity-enhancing disturbances caused that the local language may be under- cultural and biological diversity? The by humans. Among the Piaroa, the tra- going significant shifts. Villalón (n.d.) case studies reviewed in this chapter and ditional long-fallow shifting cultivation characterises Jotï as a generally stable elsewhere (Begossi et al. 2002; Benz et al. cycle coupled with frequent settlement but threatened language given the small 2000; Caniago and Siebert 1998; Case et mobility produces a heterogeneous mo- population and rapid transculturation al. 2005; Estomba et al. 2006; Luoga et saic of secondary vegetation in various they are experiencing, and classifies al. 2000; Voeks and Leony 2004) support stages of succession interspersed with Piaroa as hypothetically threatened the hypothesis that local acculturation primary forest types. Different invento- due to the rapid increase of bilingual- processes driven by exogenous agents ries of utilised plant and animal species ism among young people. The evidence and forces of change negatively impact are associated with each vegetation type,

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thus providing incentives for their con- Acknowledgements Notes tinued maintenance and reproduction (Zent 1995, 1997). The commercialisation and intensification of slash-and- Previous versions of this chapter were 1 Cultural consensus analysis, as burn cultivation practices, resulting in presented at the UNESCO/Japan Center developed by Romney and associates the lengthening of the cultivation phase for Area Studies, National Museum of (1986, 1987), is a mathematical technique and the shortening of the fallow phase, Ethnology Symposium and Experts based on principal components analysis, along with greater population pressure Meeting ‘Safeguarding the Transmission which is designed to measure patterns of on local resources due to greater con- of Local & Indigenous Knowledge of interinformant agreement/disagreement centration and sedentarisation of settle- Nature: Exploring Linkages between about selected culturally shared domains. ment, has produced habitat and biodi- Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity’ The method requires obtaining a single versity degradation in the home ranges held at Aichi Prefectural University, factor solution (expressed by a first of some Piaroa communities (Melnyck Nagoya, Japan, April 14–15, 2005, and eigenvalue three times greater than the 1993; Zent 1994, 1999). Thus the dy- at the Christensen Fund/Terralingua- second eigenvalue), which indicates that namic interrelationships between tradi- sponsored Workshop ‘Gaps and Needs a group consensus model exists. Having tional knowledge, socioeconomic prac- in Biocultural Diversity Research’ held established that consensus configures the tice, ecological impact and biodiversity at the University of Florida, Gainesville, domain, it permits: (a) determination are clearly inferable from a close consid- Florida, United States of America April of the correct (i.e. consensual) answers eration of these case studies. 21–22, 2005. The author wishes to (when such answers are unknown thank the participants of those events beforehand) and (b) rating of the Whether the changing knowledge for stimulating feedback that helped individual knowledge levels, expressed in base can be implicated as a contributing me to sharpen some of the ideas pre- terms of competence scores. The method cause, rather than merely an effect, of sented in the written version. Useful is limited in the sense that it is appropriate larger social and environmental trends comments and criticisms of an earlier for rating generalist knowledge but not still needs to be answered and will re- draft were provided by Egleé Zent, Janet appropriate for specialist knowledge. It quire a more focused research design, Chernela, Jenny Navas, Jeyni Gonzalez, has been widely used in studies of TEK preferably implemented at different Francisco Tiapa, Yheicar Bernal, Marie variation and change (Atran et al. 2002; sites. If future research does determine Claude Mattéi‑Müller, Peter Bates and Guest 2002; Miller et al. 2004; Reyes- that changing patterns of TEK interact Sabine Kube. Any errors of fact or in- García et al. 2005, 2007; Ross 2002; Ross in a causal or synergetic sense with other terpretation are the sole responsibil- and Medin 2005; Zent 1999, 2001; Zent change indicator variables, then this ity of the author. The data on the Jotï and Zent 2004). would give some support to the hypoth- was collected and analysed together esis that biological diversity and cultural with Egleé Zent. Material support for 2 To measure time allocation, the spot diversity are interdependent (rather than the Piaroa fieldwork was given by the check method innovated by Johnson analogous) phenomena. It would also Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones (1975) was used. The method involves reinforce the idea that TEK erosion is Científicas (IVIC), International random selection of individuals and not necessarily an inevitable outcome of Institute of Education Fulbright hourly time periods and the instantaneous modernisation processes and therefore Fellowship Program and the Explorer’s observation and recording of the person’s underline the importance of promot- Club. Material support for the Jotï field- activity and location at the designated ing the intergenerational transmission work was provided by the IVIC, the hour. The sum total of observations of TEK as a means for defending biocul- Consejo Nacional para la Investigación per activity type is converted to a time tural diversity over time. In conclusion, Científica y Tecnológica (CONICIT), allocation figure (i.e. minutes per day) by we recommend that more local-level and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for multiplying the relative frequency of the studies of the causal or systemic linkages Anthropological Research. activity by the number of hours (thirteen) between TEK and the broader historical covered by the daily observation period and ecological context are needed to (0600hr to 1900hr). The overall result is a advance both the theory and the policy quantitative profile of the time spent per applications of biocultural diversity. activity by the community.

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Aichi 2.indd 58 28/2/09 18:02:59 Biodiversity regeneration and intercultural knowledge transmission in the Peruvian Andes Jorge Ishizawa & Grimaldo Rengifo

Aichi 2.indd 59 28/2/09 18:02:59 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today

Introduction

There is currently a widespread recognition among the traditional authorities in Andean Amazonian communities that their present lack of well-being is due to a generalised loss of respect for each other, and for their deities and nature. In the central Andes, this situation appears to be one of the consequences of modernist ideologies about progress, held by reformers of all types during the past century. The consequence of loss of respect is the increasing threat to biodiversity conservation in the cen-

tral Andes, which is recognised as one ©Julia Cheftel of the planet’s major sites of biological diversity and as one of the ‘centres of takes place, in which the use of local Peruvian Andes the origins of agriculture’.1 languages is crucial.

This paper presents two programmes The second programme, the ‘In-Situ carried out in the past decade by local Project’, is based on the ritual agricul- community based organisations coordi- ture practiced in the central Andes for nated by PRATEC (Proyecto Andino de millennia, and its role in agrobiodiver- Tecnologías Campesinas), the Andean sity conservation. The Andean campesi- The main characteristic of the Project for Peasant Technologies. The nos (peasants) maintain a cosmovision Peruvian Andes is their high ecologi- first programme, titled ‘Children and in which diversity is a key aspect of life cal diversity. According to Valladolid, Biodiversity’, highlights the central and they therefore nurture the diver- Tosi (1985), using Holdridge’s (1978) role played by children in the regen- sity of plants and animals. This is the concept of ‘life zones’, identified in eration of biodiversity. As the loss of specific contribution of these lands to Peru 82 of the planet’s 103 life zones, respect in the communities seems to the well-being of humankind. that is 80 per cent of the ecoclimatic have increased with modernist school- zones existing on the planet (Valladolid ing, that the communities themselves 1998: 52). Climatic phenomena, like should nurture their school is given Background rains, temperature, humidity and frost, special emphasis in this programme. vary drastically according to altitude, This requires teaching that is based slope, exposure, latitude and longitude. on the community’s own educational This paper refers to the diverse peoples The coastal desert area, the arid west- culture. This needs specific attention living in the Peruvian Andes, a highly ern slopes and the interandean valleys to the ways in which the intergen- varied geographical configuration en- and heights condition climatic regimes erational transmission of knowledge compassing not only the sierra or high- characterised by short rainy seasons lands, but an entire area in which people in the summer (January to March). 1 In 1926 the Russian agronomist Vavilov share a similar worldview. It consequent- Generally – except for in localised in- proposed a theory explaining the origin of domestic crops. According to this theory, the ly includes the Andean high mountains version points – rain correlates with geographic region where the greatest ge- and their western and eastern piedmonts, altitude and at higher altitudes rain is netic diversity of a particular crop was found the narrow coastal strip of desert land in- more abundant (Mayer 1981: 19). The was the region of its origin. The central Andes were thus identified as one of eight terrupted by temporary rivers and water reverse is true of temperature, which ‘centres of origin’ (Harlan 1992: 48–53). courses, and the Upper Amazon region. decreases with altitude, and the average

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temperature of the highlands is lower Some data will be given here to demon- majority of fresh food in the country is than that in the valleys. There are also strate the importance of the campesinos therefore produced through the campesi- drastic seasonal variations. Climate in or peasant farmers in Peruvian life and nos’ knowledge. the Andes changes constantly; the ‘av- the reasons for valuing their knowledge. erage’ climate is not experienced and According to the last agricultural census The central Andes is one of the eight extreme fluctuations are the norm. in 1994, 85 per cent of the 1,745,733 global ‘centres of origin’ for agriculture farms were peasant farms of less than and exhibits the highest interspecific The heterogeneity and variability 10 ha. There is no other economic sec- and intraspecific diversity of cultivated of the climate, both temporally and tor in Peru that incorporates such a plants in the world. This diversity is spatially, contribute to the extreme di- sizeable population, some 7,372,625 found in the peasants’ chacras and its versity of plants, animals and human people. Peasant families work the land persistence is owed to the care, protec- communities that inhabit the Andes. in different modes of cooperation, and tion, affection and respect that the peas- The challenges posed by this environ- the peasant community is the most im- ants show toward their plants. Peasant ment are met by these human commu- portant organisation in the rural sector. culture, agriculture and biodiversity are nities with a repertoire of knowledge More than 50 per cent of the peasants thus inextricably linked; one cannot be which allows them to ‘converse’ with (approximately 751,571 families) be- understood without understanding the any kind of climate in such a way that long to communities (Valera Moreno others. The knowledge embodied in the agricultural produce is always gener- 1998: 20). By 1998, peasant communi- peasants’ practices is that which is of- ated (Valladolid l994: 322). ties numbered 6,872 and were located in ten referred to as ‘traditional’ or ‘local’ the coastal area, the highlands and the knowledge. Against this background, PRATEC was founded in 1987 with Amazon region. Most of these commu- we shall attempt to explore its intergen- the objective of recovering and dis- nities include the fifty-eight Quechua, erational transmission. seminating this knowledge in the form Aymara and Amazonian ethnic groups. of technological booklets. At this time, However, despite 85 per cent of farms two decades had elapsed since one of being peasant small-holdings, this repre- PRATEC’s view of knowledge the most radical changes in the rural sents only 10.5 per cent of the total ag- generation in the Andes property regime of the Andes had been ricultural land – 35,381,808 ha in 1994. implemented through a massive agrar- Yet it is estimated that up to 60 per cent ian reform.2 Throughout the Andes, of the fresh produce that reaches the ur- At present PRATEC holds one of the large plantations and haciendas3 were ban markets comes from the peasants’ most important catalogues of agri- substituted for cooperative firms owned chacras or cultivated fields (Earls 1998: cultural practices in the Andes. Some by their former workers. Later these 19). Such agriculture is mainly based 2,500 peasant practices are document- firms were transformed into commu- on local practices and inputs, and the ed in booklets of on average eight pages nities and other associative forms. As a result, the major characteristic of the Andean rural productive structure be- Sowing potato seeds came, and remains, the peasant com- in Ayacucho, Peru munity and small farm production.

2 In 1969 the military government headed by General Juan Velasco Alvarado initiated a process of radical social and economic change in Peru with an agrarian reform. 3 Haciendas were large estates for export crops like sugar and cotton in the coastal area, and for cattle and sheep in the highlands. They were a legacy of the Spanish colonial period and continued in the Republican period as the economic base of

the rural oligarchy. ©CONACA

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to the other projects in which PRATEC Harvesting beans, Lamas, San Martin is also involved, which are also intimately linked to this understanding of traditional knowledge in the Andes.

Andean cosmovision and traditional knowledge in length. One hundred copies of these have been printed to support the activities of a number of libraries and Cosmovision interested groups, mostly peasant communities and educational institutions. Agriculture and culture are one A number of the booklets are returned and the same in the Andes, in such a to the campesinos who authored them, way that a seed is considered to carry in and help to animate conversations and it the culture in which it has sprouted. to re-create this knowledge in diverse In the modern technical tradition, soils, settings. The booklets cover different water, forests and animals are consid- aspects of campesino practice, from soil ered to be resources, which humans can

diversity, microclimates and ways of ©Wamanwasi utilise and manage for their benefit. In nurturing water and landscape, to the modern thought nature is an object, signs read in nature for sowing, harvest- based on import substitution, but the from which the subject, the human ing, processing and storing the diversi- agricultural indices for production and being, is considered to be removed. In ty of cultivated plants. They also cover productivity had also decreased on aver- contrast, in the Andean life-world the handicrafts, dances, food diversity, ritu- age. As a result the country joined the relationship between humans and na- als and how to nurture the diversity of net food importing countries in the ture is filial and full of feeling. For ex- domestic animals. world. Development had not fulfilled its ample, how can one understand a rit- promise, and yet development had been ual to Pachamama (Mother Earth),4 by This activity attracted debate from predicated on the eradication of the na- adopting a mechanistic worldview that its inception. Some people considered tive cultures as the price to be paid for perceives nature as a set of objects to be that, before being disseminated, such progress (Escobar 1995: 20). manipulated and exploited? knowledge should be tested for validity through the protocols of scientific re- This recognition of the success of For the human communities of the search. In PRATEC it was however con- local knowledge and the limitations ayllu (the natural collectivity or ex- sidered that this knowledge had already of science led PRATEC to explore an tended family that inhabits the local proved its worth through the experience alternative approach that is based world (pacha) and includes deities and of living in harmony with the Andean on a legitimate understanding of our nature), all entities in their world are environment for millennia. This knowl- peoples’ life-world. This process of cul- alive. The mountains are considered to edge therefore deserved to be understood tural regeneration demanded not only be protecting deities who can speak, and respected within the cosmovision a new attitude and conceptual frame- nurture plants and animals and take of the cultures in which it had pros- work but also different training from a turn as authorities in nurturing the pered. In comparison, the poor results that of mainstream ‘rural development pacha, just as any member of the hu- of four decades of ‘development pro- experts’. Developing an understanding man community. In the same way, grammes’ founded on scientific knowl- of the cosmovision that fundamental- 4 Pachamama is honoured and receives edge were evident when the PRATEC ly underpins traditional knowledge in all kinds of offerings in every event of the research process was initiated. Peru had the Andes was therefore essential. This agricultural cycle. For instance, in a very simple ritual, She is offered a triplet of not only become less independent as cosmovision and knowledge will there- coca leaves (quintu) when asking Her for a result of an industrialisation process fore be explained now, before we turn permission to plough.

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the Earth is not an inert receptacle of This is the way to learn the secrets Learning plants. It is Pachamama, a living being of the chacra… For instance, if the who is mother of all that exists, includ- The testimony of Santos Cahuana soil is hard, we wait for rain. You ing human beings. Jesús Urbano Rojas, from the community of Huayllapampa may have to sow late in the season… a renowned artisan from Ayacucho, in Cajamarca illustrates the way com- As you work you learn. To water your expresses it thus: munity members learn to attune them- plants you know where water goes. selves to the circumstances of the agri- We already know the time to plough, I myself am the child of my parents, cultural cycle: where and what to sow… Learning is may they rest in peace, but I am being happy. You should leave work also a son of Pachamama… Some things we can learn from our that you do not like. Any task should (Urbano and Macera 1992: 164) thinking, and other things, watching. be done with affection. I have faith That way we learn, and also by in agriculture. It seems that I can The same can be said of the wind, listening. We campesinos do not see how the plants are going to the rocks, the hail and the rivers. It is study to learn. We do it this way grow… My father did not like common in the Andes to hear people because for the farmer each year is the chacra and I do. I used to say ‘rivers walk’ or ‘the Apus or moun- different and every year we have to go with my grandparents. tain deities nurture us’ or ‘seeds walk’. learn. For instance, from what we see (Vásquez 1998: 34) As every aspect of the environment is this year, we have to drain our chacras. alive, even the rocks, they are all in- (Vásquez 1998: 39) Don Cruz Huaccha Fernández from volved in and subject to processes of the community of Choropunta in regeneration and growth. The testimony of Don Domidel Sangay Cajamarca gives more details on how from the community of Cashapampa in such intergenerational transmission of To value this knowledge on its own Cajamarca, northern Peru further illus- knowledge takes place: terms requires a different relationship trates how such transmission took place: with the world from that of a Western- I learned watching the elders, [for trained scientist. Needed instead is an Learning is very easy, you just watch instance] working with the yoke. Our attitude of attuning oneself with the and practice. From childhood you parents taught us to yoke the oxen, entities of the world, being open to learn to work, to do things, watching first the tamer one, then the other them and of letting oneself be pen- those who do. Thus you learn well. could be brought near to accompany etrated by them, in order to live and the other. Then you teach the oxen to to fully appreciate the experience, plough. To reap the grain you also and thus to accompany its recreation learn from childhood seeing how your and strengthening. Water festivals, for parents or your elder brothers work, example, are instances of this experi- how they do it, and we learn from it. ence. Water is a person and humans We learn to work this way, because dance with her to propitiate her and some of us are very keen. We ensure her regeneration (Machaca accompany our father, with our 1998: 1–69). In such an understand- grandparents, we go together to work. ing, life is a web of which one person We also watched our elders form the is just a thread. pile of grain and we went along to the piling of soil around potato plants too. From early childhood we took our Feast of the Cross in Ayacucho small pick to the plot of potatoes, or maize. From very early childhood we went to the chacra, following behind our father. We looked at how they cut and did likewise… We, the

©APU campesino farmers, learn like playing

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from early childhood. That is what we plagues come while formerly there was characteristic is heterogeneity both in do and we do it because we like it… no plague. (Vásquez 1998: 36–7) space and time. Each agroclimatic cycle Our parents also knew well how to differs from the previous ones. There cure people and animals. We cure For someone who values a culture, to may be an intense rainy season (para ourselves with the herbs from the know it on its own terms implies par- wata) or a dry year (chaqui wata). Each field… we could treat each other for ticipating in the festivals and rituals, to practice is useful in a given situation. every disease. I am illiterate, I can only fully experience that culture in order write my name. This I learned only by to be able to show it to other people. The knowledge possessed by a family watching. I saw, looked at what they or a community cannot therefore claim wrote on the blackboard. I watched to be universal. The most that can be that, I also copied it, they wrote my Campesino knowledge as done is to attune it with the particu- ‘local’ knowledge name and I too did likewise. I lar circumstances of a given chacra in learned to write my name that Two critical characteristics of Andean any given situation. Re-creation is the way, watching, watching I learned… knowledge resulting from what has expression for nurturing diversity. A (Vásquez 1998: 35–6) been described above are that it is cir- campesino tells what he knows to those cumstantial and local. The technologi- who value his experience with only the Participating in community cel- cal booklets produced by PRATEC show wish of initiating conversation with ebrations is also another important the practices of a family or a community his peers. These conversations become way of learning to become a full mem- and do not pretend that such practices holistic dialogues. The conversation ber of the community. Don Trinidad could be exactly reproduced elsewhere. revolves around the attributes of the Huaccha Minchán from the commu- The campesinos say, when referring to seeds, including preferred soils and nity of Paccha in Cajamarca recounts: the way they carry out some agricultural sowing period, but also around the se- task, ‘this is the way I do it’. Never will crets of nurturing them: relationships For the community celebrations, our they be heard saying, ‘this is the way to with the phases of the moon, the cycles parents themselves taught us how the do it’. They know that the method of of women, with the hand of the nur- festival was done and when you grow nurturing potatoes in their chacra is dif- turer and with the community’s festi- up, you remember the celebration as ferent from the neighbouring chacra. Soil vals and rituals. Everyone will do what you saw it and what is done is just type changes over very small distances, is pertinent and convenient in his own what your parents did. But formerly the microclimate in each plot is specific chacra. The testimony of Don Zenón festivals were better and my grand- and the varieties of potato sown are not Gomel Mamani, a campesino from the parents say that in the old times it was similar. Each chacra is even given a dif- ayllus Colquejahua and Koriñahui in much better because the land produced ferent name to distinguish its personal- the Quechua part of the Southern al- a lot more… They believed in the ity. Knowledge is intimately associated tiplano of Puno, is very telling of the saints and they had lots of rain. The to a particular place. It is thus local. In campesinos’ creativity and readiness to crops grew much better and they the absence of homogenous production adapt to changing conditions. Farmers harvested plenty. The saints also zones, as indicated above, the salient in his community had become used to harvested and there were good festivals. Now it has become scarcer, more changed, the land does not produce and from everywhere

Preparing soil for sowing ©Julia Cheftel

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learn many aspects of the local culture Children meet and environment. The result of making the village elders in Lamas, their chacras on the plain was the total San Martin, Peru destruction of their sown fields by frost, so now they practice agriculture on the slopes. At first, however, when they at- tempted to make chacra on the slopes they did not have the proper tools. Oxen ploughs do not penetrate in virgin soil, and the possibility of success was even more reduced on steep ground. However, they learned the use of the chaquitacla,

©Ida Gonzales a hand plough, from their neighbours. The tool was recreated by the newcomers tractors in labouring their fields but, ow- drove the plough while whipping them. in a very peculiar way, reversing some of ing to drastic economic policy change at I had never driven an oxen plough and its elements. The plots that they adopted the beginning of the 1990s,5 he turned I saw that it required skill. You have to in the slopes were similar to the ones to donkeys to pull an oxen plough. know how to drive it. At first I was they kept near the lake, small in size and very tired and I finished with a pain in with a diversity of crops. Among the new I had already seen a man working his my back. The following years I have wild foods they found were sancayo and chacra in Chijnaya with donkeys tried it with only one donkey. That was llama, which they quickly adopted. Also pulling the plough. I wondered how he better because one drives it well and remarkable was their quick familiarisa- did it and just then the tractor rental turns easily. It also was unnecessary to tion with the wild animals of the place went up. Pedro Zanga from Ayrampuni tie so many clothes. I placed a pillow (ASAP 1998: 24). sold me one of his ploughs and with on its chest and that was enough him we tied the donkey to it. As I to keep it from hurt. One donkey Local knowledge in this understand- did not know how to do it, I tied alone works well, two just disrupt ing sprouts from a given landscape to the plough between the two donkeys each other. (Asociación Savia which a human community belongs thinking that together they would give Andina Pucará 1998: 21) and with which it interacts. In the case more strength. I tied clothes to their of the Andes, this locality is called pa- back and chest so that the ropes would The case of the community of Tuni cha, a word that refers to a territory of not hurt them. They pulled for a long Grande in the same area is also interest- ritual and plastic boundaries, which is time. They tired too quickly. One of ing from the perspective of adaptation nurtured by the human community the donkeys was very capricious; it to a different environment and the lo- that inhabits it while the pacha simul- would fall all the time. It would even cal nature of campesino knowledge. In taneously nurtures that community. kick the other. Besides, they did not go 1986 a group of community members straight because each of the donkeys migrated from the district of Taraco on Knowledge that is expressed in tra- pulled to its own side. We sowed oats the shore of Lake Titicaca, displaced by ditional wisdom permits living together for several days… Pedro pulled the two the flooding of their lands. Taraco is situ- in tune and empathy with the reality donkeys by their rubber collars and I ated on a sheltered plain that allows two in which we live, with no mediation harvests of crops a year. The soils have by thought. What is most characteristic 5 In August 1990, the newly elected a relatively light texture that facilitates of such knowledge is its relational and government applied a harsh economic easy ploughing. The community mi- holistic qualities rather than its analyti- programme after the mismanagement of the previous government. Prices rose to grated to their new area with their own cal quality. Such qualities are shared by such levels that consumption was reduced distinct culture, strongly conditioned by all beings that inhabit the pacha or local to a minimum. The rural population was their conversation with the lake. In their world. In Quechua the word yachay ex- less affected regarding food but reliance on external inputs (petrol and tractors) new home in Pucara, in the district of presses that what we know results from was heavily taxed. Ayaviri some 80 km away, they had to the affectionate conversation among

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Altiplano region in Peru

humans, nature and deities. There are numerous ways to attain yachay: the senses, dreams, the mind and revelations ©Julia Cheftel (Rengifo 2005: 4–8). The result of these conversations is not a technical manual but multiple suggestions and possibili- curriculum and to involve parents in as a basis for literacy. Overall, the pro- ties for nurturing life. The knowledge school activities. It also aims to restore gramme was based on the recognition recorded in the PRATEC booklets is con- the autonomy and authority granted of the community’s educational culture sidered to be like a person who initiates to children in the traditional system of and the consideration that schooling dialogue. It allows all those who did not governance, as in the past children were must be incremental to it. know a certain practice – whether be- able to exercise control within the com- cause it had been forgotten in the community, for instance taking care that The broad focus of the project was de- munity or because it came from a differ- animals did not enter the chacras and termined through conversations with ent culture – to consider the possibility sanctioning those who let their animals traditional authorities in the Andean of re-creating it. This is one way of nur- trample their neighbours’ crops. The Amazonian rural communities, dur- turing the diversity of knowledge. focus of the Children and Biodiversity ing a one-year exploration in 2002 in Programme was thus to explore the pos- almost twenty places all over the coun- sibility of the community nurturing its try. The initial indication came from The Children and school. In its second phase (2005–2007), the highlands of Ayacucho. The tradi- Biodiversity Programme the objective of the programme was to tional authorities in charge at the time outline the characteristics of a culturally attributed the present difficulties and friendly rural school in the context of lack of well being in their communities Since 2002, PRATEC has also been con- the recovery of respect in all its mani- to a generalised loss of respect among ducting a programme called ‘Children festations. The project strategy regarding all beings in their pacha or local world. and Biodiversity’. It coordinates the knowledge transmission adopted an in- This lack of respect was not only found fieldwork of seven community based tercultural approach allowing the coex- among human community members organisations (CBOs),6 of which six are istence of diverse ‘educational cultures’. but also from humans towards their located in the Andean highlands and The concept of educational culture re- deities and natural entities. According one in the Upper Amazon region. The fers to the modes of intergenerational to the communities’ traditional author- programme has an important educa- knowledge transmission of a given ities, one of the major contributors to tional component that seeks to incor- community (Rengifo 2005: 3–46). It ap- this situation was the rural school. porate local knowledge into the school pears to be a particularly useful one in order to go beyond the dualism between However, they were not demand- 6 These community-based organisa- home-based versus school-based local/ ing that their teachers pack up and leave tions (CBOs) are small institutional setups indigenous knowledge transmission. their community. Neither were they ask- founded formally as NGOs by graduates of the Course on Andean Campesino The project strategy included the training for the state’s educational reforms. Agriculture that PRATEC has offered from ing of rural teachers as cultural media- Nor were they prodding their children 1990 to 1999 in agreement with the state tors, capable of integrating local knowl- to ‘escape education’ as social activists universities of Ayacucho and Cajamarca. These CBOs are autonomous from an edge into the school curriculum. Also were proposing. Of course, they recog- administrative and financial point of view. included is the consolidation of orality nised that the educational pact with the

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Table 1 The attributes of the educational cultures currently found in Andean Amazonian communities, presented in contrasting forms (Rengifo 2005: 27)

Criteria Educational culture in official schools Andean Amazonian educational culture

Relationship to the world Thinking Lived experience Distance between humans and nature Immediacy Predominance of abstraction and experimentation Predominance of senses and emotions ‘Book learning’ Transmission of knowledge through living

World view World as a machine World as alive Nature as a resource World as a weave of kinship

Validity of knowledge Universal Local ‘This is how it is done’ ‘This is how I do it’ Homogeneity Diversity

Orientation of knowers Individual Residing in the Ayllu Only experts know All know Theoretical Practical

Objectives of learning Transformation of nature Mutual nurturance with nature

Language Written Oral

Sphere of proper application Industry Chacra, the cultivated field

Sphere of transmission Institutionalised Contextual

Concept of childhood Chronological Wawa,7 a holistic concept Play as distraction Play as celebration, learning and announcement

Concept of work A means of making a living A way of life

Application of learning Reproduction or repetition Re-creation under given circumstances

7 Wawa both in the Aymara and Quechua languages is usually translated as ‘small child’ or ‘baby’. However, the concept of wawa goes beyond an age-based condition. Wawa is anyone that is being nurtured and, in this sense, all of us are wawas.

state on which the present educational system is predicated had already proven Seed exchange in Lamas, San Martin obsolete. As we found out through con- ©Wamanwasi versations facilitated by the project activities, the new educational pact with the state that rural communities are now demanding takes the form of what in the Aymara language, spoken in the Altiplano area of Puno, is expressed as Paya Yatiwi, and in the Quechua language as Iskay Yachay. The phrase means ‘two kinds of knowledge’ and expresses the

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demand of the Andean Amazonian rural are also circumstantial. Universal words, The role of local communities for ‘two kinds of knowl- languages in designating concepts or ideas which edge’ to be taught in school: their own knowledge transmission transcend contexts, do not exist. It is and the modern project of literacy, sci- interesting for instance that there is ence and technology. The communities When attempting to teach ‘two kinds no word for ‘respect’ in the indigenous realise that the present educational sys- of knowledge’ in schools the difference languages. The meaning is transmitted tem does not prepare young people for between oral and written languages can through the description of the attributes life, and parents are sorely aware of this become especially important. We will of a person who is respectful (Machaca fact. Table 1 contrasts the ways of learn- therefore discuss these issues here. The 2001). This is not to suggest that campesi- ing and knowing utilised in campesino predominant languages in the Andean nos do not have ideas or mental repre- agricultural activities with those found Amazonian communities are mainly sentations. Rather, what is found here is in the didactic educational regimes in oral, that is, not much informed by that thought, as a mental attribute, does Peruvian schools. writing, whether Spanish, Quechua or not obliterate other ways of knowing. Aymara. People in these communities There is also no separation between a The central finding of the Children are exposed to literacy and thus we can- word and what it names; the word is not and Biodiversity Project is that Paya not speak of a primary orality, but the a representation of what is named, but is Yatiwi/Iskay Yachay has three interre- common language is generally spoken what is named. Thus to speak of an ob- lated components: and heard rather than written and read. ject, situation or event is to bring it into Since everything in the world is alive existence. Hence there are expressions 1 the recovery of respect in the and everything is a person, everything or words which are not spoken in some community (towards their deities speaks. Language is not an attribute that circumstances. Gestures, dance, music and environment and among the is exclusive to the human community. and silence also have meaning. community members themselves); Nature has a voice and expresses itself through what human beings call signs. The dominant language in the official 2 learning to read and write educational system is the written one, respecting and valuing their oral The meaning of words is contextual, Spanish, based on the use of the alpha- tradition; and and understanding them sends one bet. The official educational culture has back to the context in which they were promoted literacy as one of the major 3 teaching the ‘seven skills’78 that uttered. Since activities are not repeti- achievements that the school can offer as allow people to ‘pass life’, that is, tive but are re-created, words also ex- a step from the primordial to modernisa- to live a good life. press the re-created situation. Words tion. It has done this in substitution of

As we discovered, the demand that the two kinds of knowledge be taught at school poses the radical challenge of a school promoting cultural diversity based on the community’s educational culture oriented to ‘passing life’. In that context, the school’s contribution should be complimentary to, and enhance, the

community’s educational culture. ©Urpichallay ©APU

8 There are not in fact seven defined skills. Children learning to weave in Ancash (left) and in Ayacucho (right), Peru This appears instead to be a linguistic expression in Quechua canchis oficio, a mixture of Quecha and Spanish. ‘Canchis’ means ‘seven’ in Quechua and ‘oficio’ means ‘profession’ or ‘skill’ in Spanish. Our research so far suggests that that it refers to being useful and diligent in the service of the community.

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Children learning pottery (left) and to weave baskets (right) in Lamas, San Martin, Peru

the orality that is characteristic of the indigenous languages in the central Andes. Furthermore, in intercultural bilingual education programmes, indigenous languages have been made instrumental to the transmission of contents alien to the community’s educational culture. ©Wamanwasi ©Wamanwasi

When local languages are subject to standardisation and are written down 1 the chacra and its surrounding space; work conducted by these CBOs in a di- to make them suitable for use in the versity of ecosystems and communities schools, the speech of Andean children 2 the social organisation of in situ across the country. ceases to express the warmth and liveli- conservation; ness of circumstances and becomes rigid The challenge of the In Situ Project was (qatqi simi, insipid, as the Quechuas 3 awareness of the importance of to stop the genetic erosion of the diversi- from Huarcaya, Ayacucho say). When maintaining the diversity of ty of native cultivated plants in the cen- written, a word is separated from what it native cultivated plants and tral Andes, a global ‘centre of the origins names, so one can write something that their wild relatives; of agriculture’. Here the domestication may not take place and express general of plants dates back at least 8,000 years ideas, but also lie and become a person 4 policies and legislation to (National Research Council 1989: 163) ‘with a double heart’. Words become su- promote in situ conservation; and the aim of the project was to con- perficial, without the depth and ‘weight’ serve this important repository of genet- they have in orality. The challenge for 5 market development for agro- ic resources. An extraordinary interspe- a culturally friendly school is to inte- biodiversity; and cific and intraspecific diversity of plants grate the technology of writing into the and animals has been nurtured for mil- framework of orality. 6 an information system for lennia by campesino communities, and monitoring agrobiodiversity. this remains a distinctive characteristic of the Andean campesino agriculture to- The in situ project The execution of the first three in- day. Consequently, campesinos should be volves field work, and has been con- acknowledged as the real experts in con- tracted out to six implementing agen- serving agrobiodiversity. An important PRATEC also participated in a project cies, including two government research part of fieldwork for the In Situ Project for the in situ conservation of the diver- organisations and four NGOs. PRATEC has been devoted to gathering data on sity of native plants and their wild rela- is one of the latter and coordinates ten campesino practices and knowledge. tives in centres of origin of agriculture: local CBOs in four different regions in the In Situ Project (2001–2005). Its stated Peru: the Altiplano region, the Central The objective of collecting this knowl- objective was to conserve agrobiodiver- Southern highlands, the upper Amazon edge is twofold. On the one hand, it sity in the chacras of campesino farmers region of San Martín and the northern would establish the legal conditions rein fifty-two locations in Peru. The proj- department of Cajamarca. PRATEC is quired to secure compensation for the ect addresses six areas of intervention: thus assisting and coordinating field- communities for their contribution to

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biodiversity conservation. This is basically the rationale for making such interventions, and we have justified the validity of this assumption elsewhere (Ishizawa 2006: 214–215). On the other hand, the collection aims to develop a knowledge repository that can later be used for research and teaching pur- ©Wamanwasi poses in order to regenerate the wealth ©Wamanwasi of knowledge about diversity conservation in Andean communities. Communal cooking (left) and women bringing water from a nearby spring (right) in Lamas, San Martin In the execution of the project we found that agrobiodiversity is the result of Andean Amazonian agricultural practices. Here, as in other original agricultural areas, making chacra is not a ‘way of making a living’ but a mode of life. Conclusion: Don Humberto Valera from the Upper Respect and affection have been found indigenous projects Amazon region of San Martín refers to to be the major factors in the regenera- making chacra and biodiversity: tion of agrobiodiversity by campesino agriculture in the central Andes and What we have learned seems to be a It seems that we will never finish Upper Amazon regions. Thus, the major good example of Linda Smith’s (1999: harvesting this porotal (bean chacra). threat to genetic erosion identified by 142–162) classification of indigenous You produce a lot when you know the traditional authorities of the chacra projects, understood as the multiple and how to endear yourself with the is the generalised loss of respect promot- diverse activities undertaken by indige- chacra. Several different varieties ed by more than half a century of mod- nous and local peoples for cultural surviv- appear, some others return… ernisation efforts in the countryside, al, self-determination, healing, restora- (PRADERA 1998: 47) which are termed ‘rural development’. tion and social justice. Indeed, it provides This loss of respect expresses itself in a very useful framework for establishing the breakdown of the intergenerational strategies for intervention with the transmission of knowledge. aim of strengthening intergenerational knowledge transmission. The projects Centring on the recovery of respect range from formulating claims and in the communities involved in the In collecting testimonies, to remember- Children in a session with a local healer in Lamas, San Martin, Peru Situ Project, the CBOs coordinated by ing, revitalising, reframing and naming PRATEC endeavoured to recover and/ (in terms of the indigenous peoples’ or strengthen the traditional authori- own cosmovision), to discovering pos- ties of the chacra and the sallqa (the sibilities. It is our contention that only wild). This was achieved through the interventions framed by local or indig- strengthening and/or revival of rituals enous projects, that may be owned by and festivals in the agricultural cycle. the people themselves, will have some Visits between communities for the ex- chance of success. Based on PRATEC’s change of seeds and knowledge were experience of almost two decades pro- also instrumental in the mutual learn- moting cultural affirmation in the ing that led to the recovery of commu- Andes we have witnessed the power of nity memory about how their ances- some of these projects. Remembering,

©Grimaldo Rengifo tors generated a sufficiency of food. revitalising, sharing and reframing have

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Making baskets in Lamas, San Martin

understanding of their difficulties and building on their ancestral ways of dealing with them. Thus, Iskay Yachay/Paya Yatiwi appears as an indigenous educational project expressing the Andean

©Wamanwasi communities’ demand for a radical cultural plurality. Iskay/Paya can be trans- been quite effective in the recovery of re- appreciated by communities. As a result lated as ‘two’ as we have done, but un- spect in the communities participating of the visits, remembering the customs derstood in terms of the communities’ in the programmes mentioned above. of the ancestors is encouraged and leads own understanding is not restricted We have added a number of projects to other projects like the recovery of rit- to Western culture and their own. All that appear to be as effective and aim uals or the strengthening of the role of cultural traditions are welcome. One at cultural affirmation. For instance, traditional authorities. can also go one step up the scale and collecting practices and knowledge discover that Iskay Yachay/Paya Yatiwi is a project that eventually facilitates Moreover, our experience with the expresses indigenous and traditional the incorporation of local knowledge Children and Biodiversity Programme communities’ demands for their rights into the school curriculum. Exchange reveals the potential of basing external to their land and an autonomous liveli- visits are another such project much intervention on the communities’ own hood as part of Mother Earth.

References

Apffel Marglin, F. (ed.). 1998. The Spirit of Harlan, J.R. 1992. Crops & Man. 2nd. Edi- National Research Council. 1989. Lost Regeneration: Andean Culture Confronting tion. Madison, WI: Crop Science Society of Crops of the Incas: Little-known Plants of the Western Notions of Development. London, America & American Society of Agronomy. Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. Zed Books. Washington, D.C., National Academy Press. Ishizawa, J. 2006. Cosmovisions and Envi- Asociación Savia Andina Pucará. 1998. ronmental Governance: The Case of In Situ Rengifo, G. 2005. The Educational Culture ‘Nadie me ha enseñado, yo nomás me he Conservation of Native Plants and Their Wild of the Andean–Amazonian Community. pensado’ [No one has taught me, I have Relatives in Peru. In Reid, W.V. et al. (eds.), Interculture 148. just thought it myself]. In PRATEC (eds.), Bridging Scales and Knowledge Systems: La regeneración de saberes en los Andes Concepts and Applications in Ecosystem Smith, L.T. 1999. Decolonizing Method- [The regeneration of knowledge in the Assessment. Washington, DC., Island Press. ologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Andes]. Lima, PRATEC. London, Zed Books. Machaca, M. 2001. Niño, Familia y Earls, J. 1998. Aportes del conocimiento Comunidad en los Andes [Children, Valera Moreno, G. 1998. Las comunidades y las tecnologías andinas en el contexto Family and Community in the Andes]. en el Perú. Una visión nacional desde las de la aldea global. In J. Acevedo (ed.), In Brondi, M. (ed.), Culturas e Infancias series departamentales. Pallay 1. Lima, Desarrollo e Interculturalidad en la Zona [Cultures and Childhoods], Lima, Terre Instituto Rural del Perú. Andina. Lima, Escuela para el Desarrollo, des Hommes – Germany. Documento 13. Valladolid, J. 1998. Andean Peasant Machaca, M. 1998. La cultura agrocén- Agriculture: Nurturing a Diversity of Life Escobar, A. 1995. Encountering Development: trica en el ayllu Quispillaccta [The agro- in the Chacra. In Apffel Marglin, F. (ed.), The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. centric culture of the ayllu Quispillaccta]. The Spirit of Regeneration: Andean Culture Princeton, Princeton University Press In ABA (eds.), Kancha Chacra Sunqulla. Confronting Western Notions of Development. Ayacucho, ABA, pp: 1–69. London, Zed Books.

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Aichi 2.indd 72 28/2/09 18:03:03 Loss of traditional practices, loss of knowledge, and the sustainability of cultural and natural resources: a case of Urak Lawoi people in the Adang Archipelago, Southwest Thailand Supin Wongbusarakum

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terms, the archipelago belongs to the to 54 families were identified in the Introduction Satun Province of Thailand and is Adang Archipelago. 74 km offshore to the west of the Thai This paper focuses on the transmis- mainland. The Adang Archipelago cov- Ethnically, the Urak Lawoi belong sion of local and indigenous knowledge ers more than 310 km2 and consists of to the Malay Groups and their lan- about marine life and coastal environ- two larger islands (Adang 29.8 km2 and guage — which is spoken only, without ments among the Urak Lawoi,1 a for- Rawi 28 km2), three moderate-sized is- a written form — is part of the Malayo- merly semi-nomadic sea people in the lands (Tong 4.5 km2, Lipe 4.5 km2, and Polynesian language family. The Andaman Sea, southwest Thailand. It Bitsi 1 km2), and some fifteen small Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago examines the loss of their knowledge islands of only a few thousand square moved from other northern islands in and skills due to the disruption and dis- metres. The climate of the archipelago the Andaman Sea and settled in the continuation of traditional practices of is sub-tropical and is dominated by area in the 1910s. Traditionally they semi-nomadism and their participation monsoons. The southwest monsoon had permanent houses on the beach in the market economy via the com- brings rains from the Indian Ocean strand but were nomadic in their food mercial fishery and tourism industries. from May through October. During foraging practices, especially during The paper points out that the traditional the dry season, from November to the dry season. This long-term for- knowledge of the Urak Lawoi is closely April, the northeast monsoon prevails, aging trip is called bagad in the Urak linked to their traditional practices of making the area suitable for tourism. Lawoi language. nomadic foraging for subsistence, which were compatible with the sustainability All the islands of the Adang of local marine and coastal resources. It Archipelago are surrounded by crystal Traditional way of life & addresses factors that are changing Urak clear waters that support a large variety knowledge transmission Lawoi ways of life and knowledge trans- of corals and marine life. Over 210 coral mission. The paper ends by discussing species have been identified in Thailand, a semi-nomadic food foraging lifestyle ways to help preserve traditional knowl- and 137 of these species from 47 genera providing subsistence from the sea was edge in the rapidly changing situation of can be found in the Adang Archipelago the core of the Urak Lawoi’s tradition- the Andaman Sea. (Phongsuwan and Chansang 1987: al culture. The transmission of tradi- 142). Most reefs are found within a 50 tional and local knowledge about ma- to 300 metre range from shorelines, at rine life and the coastal environment Background a depth of 3 to 12 metres (Phongsuwan took place as learners engaged in the and Changsang 1987: 152). In the daily activities of this subsistence life- This study focuses on a community fish survey conducted by the Phuket style, where food was foraged and other of 880 Urak Lawoi people in the Adang Marine Biological Centre in February necessities of life were produced locally Archipelago. The archipelago is located 1998 (Phuket Marine Biological Center from available material in the area. The in the southern part of the Andaman 1998), a total of 288 species belonging traditional knowledge of the Urak Lawoi Sea, in the Indian Ocean, close to the border of Thailand and Malaysia at approximately 6°30' N 99°15' E. In political

1 Urak Lawoi comes from the word urak meaning people and lawoi meaning sea.

Wooden Statue of To Kiri, the most revered ancestor of Urak Lawoi in the Adang Archipelago (photo previous page)

Last bagad site on Lipe Island in 1997 (photo right) ©Supin Wongbusarakum

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Such knowledge can be best acquired by Urak Lawoi children daily local practice and experience, with particular attention given to such changing environmental factors as weather, tidal conditions and the history of activities carried out in given locations. To successfully engage in their subsistence practices, Urak Lawoi fishers must have is not knowledge-in-abstract, but rather profound knowledge of both large scale knowledge-in-context. In particular it geography and much smaller scale fea- is knowledge generated, demonstrated tures, such as reefs, passes and currents and primarily transmitted in a context that alter with tide and season. Regardless ©Brendan Caroll of active use. Mirroring Urak Lawoi so- of scale, knowledge is acquired first-hand cial structures, traditional knowledge is through a person’s repeated presence at accordingly transmitted through intra- Experiential learning various places and their exposure to dif- household and intergenerational inter- through a semi-nomadic fering conditions. The transmission of actions and practices. Learning is first- foraging lifestyle traditional knowledge among the Urak hand and experiential. Lawoi was thus very much environmen- With their semi-nomadic, foraging tally cued and completely integrated For generations, traditional knowl- lifestyle the Urak Lawoi utilised their into their overall way of life. edge was transmitted from the elders mobility to make maximum use of to the younger generations when they the productivity of their natural eco- Although Urak Lawoi knowledge travelled together, foraged for food and systems. Foraging made it possible for differs in its organisation from science, lived at various sites in the archipel- them to use a wide variety of resources their sea travellers and fishers devel- ago. In most cases, learning occurred at different sites and to subsist with no oped highly detailed and context-sensi- as younger people observed and fol- outside assistance. In the monsoon sea- tive knowledge of tides, currents, lunar lowed family or community members son fish were abundant near shore, and cycles, local wind and wave patterns, who were more experienced, closely hook and line fishing and harvesting and their seasonal changes. With re- observing their behaviour, and then at low tide in the intertidal zone close spect to the many kinds of marine life tried to carry out the same activity by to their permanent houses served suf- encountered by the Urak Lawoi, their themselves. In addition, some knowl- ficiently well as the main fishing meth- use-based learning practices fostered edge transmission — still very much ods. Learning, therefore, took place in detailed knowledge about the disposi- context and site specific — tradition- their immediate environment. In the tions and habitats of local species and ally occurred through song recitations dry season, various types of food were how best to utilise them in support of and story telling. Since the Urak Lawoi less abundant at home than elsewhere daily life. Traditional knowledge thus language does not have a written in the archipelago. For several months, focused on various forms of marine life form, this form of knowledge trans- entire families went bagad at different as parts of a larger overall pattern of mission depends on oral tradition and places to forage. While men and elder relationships which include the Urak direct participation. In all cases, those boys focused on catching and fishing Lawoi themselves. who were more experienced served as in the sea, women and children helped teachers, and distinctive situations and with gathering in the littoral zone at As might be expected, traditionally environments served as classrooms. low tide and with such post-catch pro- much of the Urak Lawoi knowledge of Learning resulted in successful har- cesses as cleaning, drying and salting. marine and coastal resources was em- vesting and improved living for both bodied knowledge — both literally and the learning individuals and the com- Because foraging and fishing are de- in the form of tools and technologies. munity. In short, success in acquiring pendent on natural circumstances, they Primary were fishing-and-gathering skills traditional knowledge is synonymous require a vast store of local and situated and specialised food-processing tech- with successful practice. knowledge to be successfully practiced. niques. Diving was an important har-

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vesting method to gather underwater sea marine life, the Urak Lawoi tradition- Despite the lack of a conservation life, such as molluscs and sea cucumbers. ally did not value the reefs and were ethic, however, Urak Lawoi practices of Knowledge of underwater geography and not concerned about their condition as resource use were in fact consonant with marine life, and skills to dive and move long as fish and other marine life they sustaining local resources and the envi- underwater, could only be acquired by harvested were still available. Hence, ronment, because they were strongly intensively engaging in the activity. Such the relatively modest ‘factual’ knowl- tied to subsistence levels of production. knowledge needed, in short, to be quite edge of corals transmitted among the For example, traditionally Urak Lawoi literally embodied by Urak Lawoi fishers Urak Lawoi can be seen as linked to would harvest only the amount needed and divers, often to quite a remarkable de- their relatively modest direct valuation for short-term use and would not engage gree. For example, Urak Lawoi divers did of corals in terms of their traditional in any long-term storage, would harvest not use any kind of equipment, except subsistence practices, reflecting similar- only sizable edible fish, and would share for a small pair of tailored goggles made ly modest concerns about the quality of harvests among community members. of carved wood and glass. Without a their relationships to the reefs. By harvesting sizable edible fish, the ju- breathing apparatus, they often dived venile fish of edible species have a chance down to 20 m to place and recover traps, to mature. Sharing harvests among com- and to collect shells and prized sea cu- Sustainable resource use: munity members helps support food subsistence economy & cumbers. This diving ability of the Urak nomadic foraging security by reducing the need to catch Lawoi is well-known. Kruahong (1998: large amounts in order to store food for 37) described their comfort with the sea future use. Sharing harvests among rela- by noting that ‘they walk and swim in The Urak Lawoi of the Adang tives and other people in need within the water like us on the land’. Archipelago were able to use marine the community is practiced even today. and coastal resources at a sustainable Those who go fishing do not mind shar- In sum, the epistemic practices of the level even though a traditional con- ing their harvest with those who do not Urak Lawoi tended to emphasise the servation ethic did not exist among go or who fail to catch anything on that conditional, the relational and the em- them. There were no concepts of sea day — a practice which factors into the bodied rather than the strictly causal, tenure or taboo areas or taboo seasons small-scale realities of foregoing long- the essential and intellectual or abstract. for the harvesting of sea life. Most term storage of foodstuffs. Put somewhat differently, the tradition- older Urak Lawoi strongly believe that al knowledge of the Urak Lawoi was marine and coastal resources cannot Nomadic food foraging served to not objective knowledge possessed by be depleted, and do not think that reduce the pressures of human exploi- knowing subjects in substantial isola- conservation is needed. The perceived tation on any particular area in the tion from what was known. lack of any need for conservation may archipelago for a long period of time. be due largely to the fact that, histori- The Urak Lawoi stayed at a bagad site as It is possible that the non-objective, cally, the impact of the subsistence long as harvesting of food was conve- relational nature of Urak Lawoi ways of practices of a small number of Urak niently available. When local resources knowing factored in their lack of both Lawoi foraging in the large area of the were becoming scarce, they moved to a traditional concept of ‘nature’ and a archipelago was quite minor. The Urak a new place. Such a practice has been traditional conservation ethic. As dem- Lawoi simply never faced severe scar- documented among other Urak Lawoi onstrated in the subsistence practices city of coastal and marine resources. In communities. Engelhardt (1989: 138), centred on human–environment inter- addition, their nomadic food foraging for example, has described a practice relatedness, Urak Lawoi understanding practices freed them from dependency among the Urak Lawoi in Phuket that of marine and coastal resources did not on particular resources in a particular has the effect of maintaining the eco- appeal to a sharp distinction between area. They could either change loca- logical balance of the intertidal zone. facts and values. As an example, de- tion in pursuit of similar resources or Urak Lawoi monitored the size and spite the fact that coral reefs are highly content themselves with other, less quantity of oysters gathered by deposit- valued among conservationists as a typically desirable resources, utilising ing the empty shells in carefully strati- critical ecosystem that provides nursery their knowledge of a wide range of rel- fied middens. When the daily take fell grounds and habitats to many types of evant local and regional conditions. below the usual harvest, as shown by

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a visual comparison of midden lenses, can be seen as a functional mapping of propriate setting for learning to take the Urak Lawoi interpreted this to mean the relational space of the archipelago. place. This has important implications that the carrying capacity of the oyster for the conservation of the local indig- population had been exceeded and the It is important to note, however, enous knowledge. To return to the ex- band prepared to move to a new camp that among the Urak Lawoi not all ample of the rammana, the lead singer site. Having learnt to observe human traditional knowledge embedded in at present is the oldest shaman in the pressure on natural resources, the Urak memorised oral traditions is available area and is the only person who knows Lawoi took advantage of different spac- to everyone. Knowledge of a particu- all the words of the songs. The shaman es in the Adang Archipelago. The prac- lar area or subject is often held only does not believe in citing the songs tice helped to prevent overexploitation by certain individuals and not others. or having them recorded because by of a particular resource at any given area In the traditional Urak Lawoi way of doing so the original meaning of the by adjusting the time spent in any one transmitting certain knowledge, spe- performance will be taken out of its place. At the same time, the resources cific contexts are respected as the ap- proper context. had an opportunity to regenerate.

Integrated knowledge system depending on individuals & context

In the traditional culture of the Urak Lawoi, knowledge is embedded in different activities that are reinforced by one another. While geographical and physical environmental knowledge can be acquired through travelling and bagad, it is also embedded in place names, stories and songs. For example, in rammana2 performances, the ceremonial songs tell of important places, sea travelling, physical features and animals in areas of the Adang Archipelago and the neighbouring seas. Such rehearsals of knowledge

2 Rammana music can be considered folk music. The style of the local rammana singing is call and response, in which a lead singer first sings and the rest of the group responds by repeating the same thing back. Musicians and singers use their memory, skills and talents to improvise harmonies. There is no practicing, rehearsal or singing of these songs outside a ceremony.

Village shaman performing traditional rammana ©Supin Wongbusarakum

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and also served to define the territory Today, fishing remains the main occu- Changing Way as part of Thailand. Estimates at the pation of the Urak Lawoi. However, since of Life & Loss of time of the school’s foundation put the the advent of a tourism boom in the Traditional Knowledge population of the archipelago at 50 to Adang Archipelago in 1998, tourism has 60 Urak Lawoi households, with nearly become the second most important oc- Due to the remoteness of the Adang 60 children of school age. For the fol- cupation and the most important source Archipelago and the limited means of lowing two decades, school was seen of cash income during the dry season, transportation to the mainland until primarily as a place where children when harvests from fishing are generally quite recently, the main outside con- learned to speak, read and write Thai. lower than in the monsoon season. The tacts of the Urak Lawoi were only a small The school expanded to junior high number of tourist resorts increased from number of taukay3 who arrived at the level in 1997. However, the founding 5 in 1980 to 23 in 2005, and numbers Adang Archipelago in the early 1950s. of the school on Lipe Island hardly in- of tourist bungalows increased from 153 Commercial fishing, knowledge of creased the number of outsiders, as for to 496 over the same period. The num- modern fishing methods and related many years, there was only one teacher ber of local people, especially younger gear — including long-line net fishing, for all four grades. women and men, working seasonally in drive-in net fishing and dynamite fish- the sector is increasing. ing — were introduced by taukay and In 1974, the Adang Archipelago outside fishers to enable large catches also became a part of Tarutao Marine Since the Urak Lawoi moved into in the area for their own commercial National Park, and in 1988 the Fishery the Adang Archipelago nearly a 100 interests. Urak Lawoi took up these Department started a marine life con- years ago, there have therefore been methods because the taukay made servation unit on Lipe Island. With of- different factors that have contrib- them available. ficial rules and regulations, Urak Lawoi uted to changing Urak Lawoi ways semi-nomadic practices came to be of life and its epistemic foundations. Further outside influence came in legally restricted. Foraging for food all The following part of this paper de- 1959, when Ban Ko Adang School was over the archipelago was considered a scribes the main factors that directly founded on Lipe Island and a stan- practice detrimental to natural resourc- and indirectly affect the transmission dardised Thai curriculum and formal es and in conflict with the mandate of of local and indigenous knowledge. classroom education for grades 1 to 4 the national park. To minimise human were introduced. This contrasted mark- impact on different islands, the park edly with Urak Lawoi experiential learn- also relocated the majority of the Urak Involvement in market economy through ing. According to the former educa- Lawoi to the island of Lipe, which commercial fishery tional administrator of Satun Province, was considered to be already degraded the school was initiated by Praya (Mahidol University 1974: 5). Certain Samanrataburin (Tongumuhamed), a aspects of sea life harvesting were for- The involvement of Urak Lawoi in governor of Satun from 1912 to 1932, bidden, such as collecting giant clams a market economy through commer- who was concerned about the island- and spearing turtles. Limited access by cial fishing started as early as in the ers’ affiliation to Malaysia and wanted the park brought about a process of 1950s. Despite the fact that tradition- to cement Urak Lawoi ties to Thailand sedentarisation and effectively forced ally their relationship with the sea and (Chaisak 1997). The school offered a the Urak Lawoi to concentrate their their involvement in fishing were the standard Thai elementary curriculum resource use in specific areas. main foci of their entire culture, it has

3 Taukay is a local term derived from a Taechiew Chinese dialect, which refers to a middleman. Taukay facilitated the exchange Urak Lawoi women in their free time of goods, services and information between the Adang Archipelago and the mainland and helped with contact to outsiders. Today taukay trade boats and fishing tools for the labour, fishing skills and knowledge of the Urak Lawoi, are buyers of their harvests and offer credit in terms of cash and material necessities. ©Supin Wongbusarakum

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Drying fish on the beach ©Brendan Caroll

become common for the primary purpose of today’s catch to be its commercial sale. Today approximately 80 per cent of Urak Lawoi male household leaders fish for a living and 85 per cent of these people work for a taukay. In this arrangement, taukay have exclusive rights to the Urak Lawoi’s catch at whatever price taukay decide to offer. The Urak Lawoi thus have a guaranteed buyer who takes their highly perishable catch without delay and arranges for further shipping of the commodity to the outside market. Local dependency on these outsiders is further increased as the boats and tools used by local fishers are typically purchased and owned by taukay, while previously the Urak Lawoi owned their own tools and boat. Participation in a market economy home for consumption are usually has several effects on the knowledge of those that are low in price. Traditionally, Local ways of fishing, including tra- the coastal and marine life and its trans- people caught the amount they needed ditional methods such as hook and line mission among the Urak Lawoi. Urak for their subsistence and the size of these and trap fishing, are accepted by the park Lawoi’s use of marine and coastal re- fish was appropriate for their immediate since strictly enforcing a complete ban sources in the Adang Archipelago is now needs. Now any size is caught as long as on harvesting would not allow the Urak based on what the taukay are interested it can be sold and the catch size goes far Lawoi to meet their basic subsistence in purchasing and the prices they are beyond subsistence requirements. It was needs. However, while local fishing fleets willing to offer. The traditional stress on estimated in 1999 that the catch from use traditional methods such as hook a broad knowledge of different marine trap fishing alone (which is commonly and line and trap fishing, they are or- life and sea conditions is giving way to practiced near shore, in the rocky areas ganised in an industrial manner in which knowledge and methods more narrowly or coral reefs that cover about 25 km2) the efficiency is high and the harvest is focused on that which benefits com- was at least 620 metric tonnes per year large. Outside fishing fleets are mostly mercial fishing. Concentration on com- (Coastal Resources Institute 1999: 2.10). purseiners4 and trawlers, which take ad- mercially viable fish, combined with a vantage of lax enforcement of park rules ban on hunting certain species in the Today cash income, credit and local to fish illegally in the area. park, has led to a reduction in the har- shops are available. Travel to a market vest of non-fish species. Younger fishers on the mainland has become much 4 A purseiner is a type of fishing boat focus their learning activity on practices easier. Consequently, home production that uses a large net to surround and catch schools of fish. The large net is pulled relevant to catching economically high- is greatly decreasing as manufactured together and closed at the end. valued species. Fish that are brought goods replace home-made products.

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Most married women whose husbands of course and all members gained first- Increase of technology earn a decent income, stay at home hand experiences of the local geography and have a great deal of free time. and related natural resources. Women The Urak Lawoi were once described Many spend it on daily card playing. and children also learned by being in- as displaying great resourcefulness and Only a few, usually unmarried teens or volved in harvesting and post-catch pro- ingenuity in sea-related activities. They older women, may support themselves cesses. Ironically, although bagad was were referred to as skilled and brave fish- by working at a tourist resort. instrumental in traditional Urak Lawoi ermen, with a great capacity for holding learning processes relating to the natural air in their lungs for long periods of time environment, it was prohibited by gov- and diving to catch fish with their bare Discontinuation of ernmental officials because it hindered hands (Bangkok Post 1992; Ekachai 1991 semi-nomadic foraging children from going to school on a regu- in Eitel 1994). In the past, when technol- lar basis and receiving a ‘proper educa- ogies were limited, knowledge and skills As mentioned, much knowledge tion’. Now travelling and foraging at dif- were crucial to good harvesting and good transmission previously occurred dur- ferent sites in the archipelago has been living. It was necessary for the fishers to ing nomadic foraging for foods in the discontinued. Women, children and acquire a deeper knowledge of particular dry season. Since the establishment of elders concentrate their livelihood ac- marine life, including the nature, habitat the ‘National Marine Park’, most of the tivities on the small island of Lipe. They and contingent conditions that make for area has become state property. While are being exposed to only those types of a better catch. With increasing techno- all Urak Lawoi had access to valuable re- marine life that are brought back home, logical access and use, Urak Lawoi have sources for subsistence before the park which are mostly for food. Local knowl- become more dependent on mediating status, the ban on nomadic foraging has edge has become increasingly restrict- tools and techniques and less reliant resulted in a large-scale sedentarisation ed to only the people who still travel on their personal skills and knowledge. process in the area in which they were around, namely men employed by the Modern technologies such as scuba, hoo- once (semi-) nomadic. fishery or tourism industries. Women, kahs5 and spear guns are supplied to Urak especially the younger ones, become Lawoi fishers and are used to increase Importantly, the discontinuation ignorant of their local environment, their harvesting efficiency. Traditional of a semi-nomadic lifestyle effectively resources in the archipelago and their knowledge and skills are lost as younger eliminates opportunities for experien- uses. As the traditional knowledge of the fishers begin to fish with modern tools tial learning among different household surrounding geography and biology is and techniques without having to train members. In the old days when bagad becoming distant, most Urak Lawoi are for the skills fishers needed in the past. was common, family members travelled not able to transmit local knowledge to Among the troubling consequences of together to different sites. Knowledge their children as had been the case for increasingly widespread use of modern was transmitted among them as a matter prior generations. technologies is that it has become difficult for many fishers to think about catching certain species without modern tools. The basic practices of traditional Urak Lawoi ways of life are eroding.

5 Air supply from an on-board compressor through a hoist that connects to a regular diving mask.

Long-tailed boats

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Boats used to be the most important Formal education Alternative livelihood material possession of the Urak Lawoi in tourism and the most important traditional Formal education has a direct impact ceremony and festival, loi rua,6 is still on ways of learning among the Urak The tourism industry offers a means of conducted twice a year. However, Lawoi children. For them, in addition livelihood differing radically from the many boats are now owned by some- to exposure to modern life through the traditional subsistence way of life of the one else, often a taukay. Modern boat media, schooling has become a primary Urak Lawoi. From fishers and gatherers technology allows for much shorter instrument of cultural modification, of sea life, the local people, especially time spent travelling and less attention and the school is the primary source of younger women and men, are now to natural circumstances, and for obvi- knowledge about the outside world. All holding hospitality and service related ous reasons modern boats are now pre- teachers in the Adang Archipelago are jobs. Most men drive a taxi boat offer- ferred. A long-tailed boat7 allows Urak outsiders and the textbooks or lessons ing snorkelling trips and excursions to Lawoi men to do a daily fishing trip at are not modified to fit the local way of other areas in the archipelago. For them any point of the Adang Archipelago or life. As Bodley (1982: 113–114) puts it: the most frequently visited sites have to the mainland within a single day, ‘…the years that children are required to come to reflect the interests of visitors. instead of over several days as was spend studying the dominant culture’s Sites once regularly frequented by the previously the case. Staying overnight textbooks are in direct competition with local people have become rarely visited away from home during a fishing trip the normal enculturation process.’ The despite faster means of present trans- has become unnecessary and there- difference between what children are ex- portation. Women work at resorts and fore there is no need for the women or pected to learn in school and what they restaurants as maids, waitresses and family to accompany men. As an unin- experience in their daily life can be illus- cooks. Earning a living through tour- tended consequence, opportunities to trated by the results of an essay assign- ism is largely limited to younger people gain first-hand experiences during the ment for a Thai language class of sixth who are more comfortable interacting trip are reduced and limited to men. graders titled, ‘Lipe in My Dream’. From with outsiders and more interested in Because boats are not built on site with the total number of twelve students, learning some English to communicate. local tools and knowledge, but are in- eight wished for a musical instrument, New skills and knowledge related to the stead usually ordered for outright pur- mainly the piano, and the same number tourism industry, such as language and chase from outside, the transmission a satellite dish. Seven students wished for hospitality skills, are being learned. Such of knowledge on building boats and an expansion of the school and the same knowledge does not exist among people homemade fishing tools is also dissolv- number a computer. Such wishes seem in the older generations, except perhaps ing both directly and indirectly. Today more likely to come from urban students among outsiders. The feeling that the there are few men left with the skills of and seem quite unexpected from a rural younger people cannot learn what they boat building. island community where a central power need for their present situation from the system does not exist and running tap elders causes problems with generation- 6 Loi rua, literally meaning ‘boat floating’, water was only available from 2006. al gaps and disrespect for the elders. festival takes place during the full moon of the 6th and 11th months of the lunar Generally, Urak Lawoi parents see With the recent violent incidents calendar. The Urak Lawoi use the occasion to pay respect to their ancestors and to the school as a place where their chil- in the Muslim communities in South symbolically float away their misfortune dren learn to read and write. Many par- Thailand, including kidnapping, shoot- with a ceremonial small boat, which is ents do not see any need for education ings, arson, bombing and governmen- constructed for this special purpose mainly out of the soft wood of the zalacca palm. after the primary level and would rath- tal reprisals, and the tsunami on 26 7 Ruohomäki (1999) has described longer have their boys work at sea. While December 2004, the number of tourists tailed boats as follows: ‘… long, narrow the teachers complain about the Urak drastically dropped during the tourist canoe-like craft fitted with outboard motors. … They are strong and simple to use and Lawoi children not being interested in season of 2005–6. This greatly reduced use diesel for operation. The engine has a studying and being poor at focusing in the earnings of most of the people who long (4 to 5 m) steel rod attached to it with class, children themselves feel that they usually depend on the tourism sector for a propeller at the end. This steel rod can be lifted up easily and therefore the boat can be cannot do much with what they learn their income in the dry season. While the driven in shallow water if need be.’ in school in their real-life situation. traditional knowledge and practices that

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could help sustain the Urak Lawoi’s cul- Integrating Traditional who have distinct local knowledge, ture, environment and livelihood are dis- Knowledge into Local or gain knowledge through first-hand appearing, the new knowledge and skills School Curriculum experiences. Local guest speakers and involved in tourism-based livelihood fieldtrips should therefore be integrated options have proved superficial, and the One way to facilitate the transmission into the curriculum. In this way, those industries fostering these options have of indigenous knowledge in the present who are not exposed to the local envi- proven volatile and uncontrollable. context is by integrating locally rele- ronment or are not involved in activi- vant subjects into the curriculum. Since ties that allow for gaining local knowl- the school was founded in 1958 a stan- edge will, at a minimum, have exposure Encountering & dardised curriculum has been used that through organised educational activi- countering the loss of has little direct applicability in the local ties and curricula in school. traditional knowledge context. A locally appropriate curriculum should be developed. Among the Issues relating to the language of in- In the rapidly changing situation in important features of such a curriculum struction must also be addressed, and the Adang Archipelago, where mod- are accounts of local history and atten- ideally with significant sophistication. ernisation, globalisation and techno- tion to traditional forms of cultural ex- The current standard curriculum is not logy are being introduced and inte- pression. Consideration should also be only delivered in Thai, it is structured grated into Urak Lawoi society, the risk given to the relational and conditional by concepts and a cultural logic that are of traditional knowledge disappearing nature of traditional Urak Lawoi learn- largely foreign to Urak Lawoi, who are within the next generation is very real. ing and knowledge. For example, while only in the first generation of transition Unless the traditional transmission a scientifically founded component from a profoundly environmentally- of knowledge is augmented by addi- about local ecology would be an impor- situated way of life and learning. As tional methods, it will be difficult to tant element in a locally relevant curric- much as possible, indigenous termi- maintain the depth and breadth of the ulum, this might be complemented by nologies and socio-cultural structures indigenous knowledge needed to con- introducing traditional ‘non-objective’ should be carefully conserved in the serve the Urak Lawoi culture and pro- approaches to conceiving the ‘same’ school curriculum and attempts should mote the sustainable use of local biodi- range of environmental systems. be made to develop new practices for versity and natural resources. The last knowledge-seeking that are at once section of this paper proposes some of Ideally, local community mem- consonant with contemporary realities the methods of countering the loss of bers would play a central role in both and respectful of traditional emphases traditional knowledge that seem fea- developing and implementing this on person and place specific knowing. sible in the Adang Archipelago. curriculum. The best informants and teachers for traditional knowledge are undoubtedly the Urak Lawoi them- Recording knowledge selves. However, training and facilita- through written tion will need to take place in order to language build the capacity of local people, so that they may become apt researchers Because the Urak Lawoi language and teachers of their own culture and is not a written language and knowl- environment in a present-day context, edge transmission is dependent on ©Supin Wongbusarakum in which significant parts of the lean- person-to-person communication, ing process no longer take place at first- learning comes from participating in hand in real-life situations. At the same an activity, observing and engaging Traditional trap made of bamboo time, any locally relevant curriculum with those who know. In the rapidly needs to attach importance to informal changing situation of the archipelago, education and experiential learning in traditional activities and ways of life which students learn from informal are being discontinued. At the same teachers, such as community elders time, the number of those who possess

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Urak Lawoi men participating in recording former villages and bagad sites on maps (left)

Ceremonial boat building for the Loi Rua festival (below)

mainstream population. Even though their nomadism applied only to their foraging practices and was seasonal, they are often referred to as ‘sea gypsies’, a term that implies wander- ing without a home. The advantages of their nomadic food foraging are commonly not understood or accepted by sedentary people who see it as a ‘primi- ©Supin Wongbusarakum tive’, unnecessary practice, and as a de- structive — almost predatory — way of traditional knowledge is decreasing. Building pride in using resources. Their subsistence level This is, of course, not a phenomenon traditional culture of production is associated with an un- unique to the Urak Lawoi. Brock-Utne productive, backward, purposeless and (2000: 153), who did her studies in The Urak Lawoi have social and cul- lazy lifestyle. Africa, cited Ki-Zerbo (1990) quoting tural characteristics distinct from the Amadou Hampate Ba who rightly said: dominant Thai culture and modern Crucially, the low esteem in ‘When an elder dies in Africa, it is a society. However, with little knowl- which Urak Lawoi are often held by library that burns.’ Unless the younger edge of the Urak Lawoi’s cultural his- mainstream populations is also being generation is interested in learning tory and their semi-nomadic lifestyle, internalised. Alternative livelihood and there are opportunities to partici- people often compare this ethnic mi- options and modern social institu- pate in those activities, there is a great nority to, and judge them against, the tions and aspirations bring in new risk of traditional knowledge being lost forever as those elders pass away. Given present realities of increasing integration into market economic activity and wage earning, the immediate prospects of the young seriously engaging with knowledgeable elders are likely to be limited.

As a transition measure, one way to help perpetuate aspects of traditional knowledge is by publishing it in written form. The documented knowledge can be retrieved as the interest among present and future generations of Urak Lawoi grows and as they seek to share their tra-

Making a roof from rattan and nipa palm Final Remarks In reality, the Urak Lawoi possess a significant body of knowledge and skills that others do not have. These Addressing this internalisation of include their profound knowledge of negative esteem is a considerably sen- the local environment and marine life; sitive issue. Grave dangers attend en- their skills in harvesting sea life, div- couraging Urak Lawoi to conserve their concepts that the Urak Lawoi did not ing and boating; and their ability to traditions and resist what appears to have traditionally, which make them live in a sustainable way through their be a more progressive and potentially feel that they are backward or incom- traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle. comfortable way of life and, by some plete. Those who practice traditions Their unique indigenous knowledge measures, a higher standard of living. seem to belong to an older, and for and culture contribute to the richness Yet at present the Urak Lawoi are not some increasingly obsolete, genera- of global cultural diversity and should well enough aware of the full pattern tion. Many young Urak Lawoi see be recognised. As the number of visi- of interdependencies to which they their indigenous traditions as back- tors increases in the area, there is a open themselves with integration into ward, and few treasure their heritage growing interest in the traditional cul- contemporary patterns of globalisation, and culture. Without a strong, coun- ture and traditions of the Urak Lawoi. and this prevents them from thorough- tervailing voice representing the Outsiders’ interest in their culture ly evaluating the resulting outcomes people and their culture, the Urak could provide a starting point for the and opportunities. The imperative is Lawoi have become the group most younger generation themselves to re- to create conditions under which such vulnerable to disruptive changes in visit its value and become interested in a thorough evaluation is possible, and the Adang Archipelago. And yet, a traditional learning. As a young Karen this includes — for the moment — in- self-conscious awareness that parts of man in an eco-tourism community in troducing measures to conserve local in- their culture might be irrevocably lost North Thailand said, ‘If people come digenous knowledge and, because of its if they accept modern development so far to listen to my grandfather, then highly context- and use-specific nature, does not seem to have developed. I need to find out what he knows.’ its traditional means of transmission.

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The suggestion that indigenous and way of life. However, their unique cul- References (T: in Thai) local knowledge might be preserved by ture and way of life have been largely integrating them into the local school reduced to an asset for the tourism in- Bodley, J.H. 1982. Victims of Progress. Melo curriculum and by recording them in dustry. The park management has not Park, California, The Benjamin/Cummings the form of written documents could included Urak Lawoi in decision making Publishing Company, Inc. be considered contradictory to tradi- processes, and there has been no open Brock-Utne, 2000. Transforming African Uni- tional Urak Lawoi ways of experiential acknowledgement of the value of their versities Using Indigenous Perspectives and Lo- learning in and from real-life contexts. unique culture from those whom the cal Experience. In Teasdale G.R. and Ma. Rhea, However, these approaches to preserva- Urak Lawoi consider influential, such Wane (eds.), Local Knowledge and Wisdom in Higher Education. Oxford, Elsevier Science. tion are ways of counteracting the loss as governmental officials. To give the of such knowledge and making it pos- transmission of traditional knowledge a Chaisak, W. Personal communication 19 sible for the Urak Lawoi themselves to chance and to allow pride in traditional December 1997. (T) retrieve and adaptively conserve their culture to be established and deepened, Coastal Resources Institute. 1999. An Ap- own knowledge and cultural traditions it is crucial that an array of interrelated propriate Model for Tourism Development of in the future. Experiences from other efforts are institutionalised as rapidly as Tarutao Marine National Park. (T) traditional cultures, including those possible and are maintained long-term. Eitel, M. 1994. Chao Le of Ko Tarutao Nation- of indigenous Hawaiians and Maoris, Whether these efforts are initiated by the al Park: Myths, Identity, and Lifestyles amongst have delivered a strong message that national government, NGOs or interna- Battlefields and Nesting Grounds. Chiang Mai, CYIT Program – Chiang Mai University. objectively preserved traditional cul- tional organisations that support the tures can be revived. It is therefore cru- conservation of traditional knowledge Engelhardt, R.A., Jr. 1989. Forest-Gatherers cially important for indigenous knowl- systems, they will only prove effective and Strand-Loopers: Econiche Specializa- tion in Thailand. Culture and Environment: edge to be retrievable in one form or if they are truly sustainable and if the A Symposium of the Siam Society. Bangkok, another and not lost altogether. Urak Lawoi themselves increasingly par- D.K. Printing House. Pp. 125–141. ticipate in them. Ultimately, countering Kruahong, P. 1998. Water People (Sea People) At present, the provincial Government the loss of traditional Urak Lawoi knowl- in Thailand. Bangkok, Bannakit Trading. (T) of Satun and the management of Tarutao edge and culture depends on the degree National Marine Park recognise the fact to which the Urak Lawoi, through new Mahidol University, Project on Educa- tion and Research on Environment. 1974. that the Urak Lawoi are different from partnerships and relationships, are able Report of Preliminary Survey of Tarutao the Thais and have their own distinctive to value their own distinctiveness. National Marine Park. (T)

Phongsuwan, N. and Changsang, H. 1987. Coral Reef Resources of the Tarutao National Park, Thailand. In Soedharma, D., Purwanto P., Santoso, R. and Sitompul, D.M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Symposium on Coral Reef Management in Southeast Asia. Bogor, SEAMEO BIOTROP. Pp. 141–155.

Phuket Marine Biological Center. 1998. Coral Reef Resources Study.

Ruohomäki, O. 1999. Fishermen No More? Livelihood and Environment in Southern Thai Maritime Villages. Bangkok, White Lotus Press.

Aichi 2.indd 86 28/2/09 18:03:09 Transmitting Indigenous knowledge through the school curriculum in a diminishing bio-cultural environment: the case of Botswana Herman M. Batibo

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of Western technology, has disrupted As a result of the diminished contact Introduction and diminished cultural diversity in with nature and the traditional cultur- most African countries. Meanwhile, al environment, younger generations In most traditional African societ- the African continent is experiencing are rapidly losing their knowledge of ies, children acquired their indigenous a dramatic reduction of its ecological the ecosystem, such as the names of knowledge through constant interac- diversity due to a number of factors, plants and wild animals, and their tion with both the adult world and the such as deforestation of the equato- characteristics or uses. At the same physical environment around them. rial forests for timber and pulp, clear- time, they are losing interest in their This knowledge included an under- ing of woodlands for cultivation and culture and traditions. standing of the local ecological system, firewood, overgrazing of the rich sa- the acquisition of skills in the use of vannah lands, uncontrolled hunting the various tools and devices of their of wildlife and the pollution of water Efforts to transmit daily activities, familiarisation with the places. As a result, Africa is now experi- indigenous knowledge customs and practices of the relevant encing critical desertification, scarcity in Botswana society, an understanding of societal of clean water, hostile climatic condi- values and beliefs, and the formation tions such as continuing droughts, and The effect of reduced bio-cultural diver- of a worldview that reflected the ex- the disappearance of certain species sity and the adoption of new lifestyles, periences of the society in which they such as the white rhino and elephant with new languages and socio-economic lived. Thus, through constant interac- (Batibo 2001a: 313). set-ups, has had a devastating impact on tion with the adult members of society the acquisition of the ethnic languages and their physical milieu, children were Moreover, there is presently re- and relevant bio-cultural knowledge in able to progressively master not only duced contact between nature and many African societies. the structural aspects of their langua- children, even in their home environ- ges, but also the rich vocabulary which ment, due to new trends in the lifestyles In the case of Botswana, formal educa- reflected their society’s knowledge of of most African societies. There is a tion is provided through the medium of its physical world, cultural experiences growing number of children attending Setswana, the widely used lingua franca and practices, and its conceptualisation school, with most starting at the age of and national language, at the lower pri- of the universe. In this way, traditional six or seven.1 They then spend most of mary school level, and in English, the knowledge was constantly accumulated their time at school or in carrying out official language, at the upper primary and constantly transmitted from one activities relating to their school life and school level and above. No official role generation to the next. therefore have little contact with nature, is accorded to the remaining twenty-six as they do not participate in traditional languages of the country. The official activities like hunting, gathering or herd- school curriculum is basically oriented The reduced home-based ing. Also, they no longer participate in towards the promotion of modern edu- transmission of cultural practices relating to nature, such cation based on Western and mainly indigenous knowledge as cattle herding, fruit gathering, game Christian values. The main goals of hunting, animal tracking, bird trapping, modern education are not to impart However, in recent years this tradi- or food preservation. At the same time, traditional or cultural values and skills tional mode of transmitting linguistic, many societies have developed negative to enable children to be active par- cultural and nature-based knowledge attitudes towards traditional life as they ticipants in their communities, but has been grossly impacted by a reduc- consider it backward or not in line with rather to prepare the young Botswana tion in bio-cultural diversity, that is to the future expectations of children in people ‘for the transition from a tra- say a reduction in the diversity of bio- the modern world. ditional agro-based economy to the logical and cultural phenomena and industrial economy that the country decreased interaction between both. 1 In fact, in places where there are pre- aspires to’ (Government of Botswana The adoption of a Western-based life- schools, children start school as early as 1994: 5). Thus, at present the country’s the age of three. In such cases, they have style, including modern health care, even less time to interact with their home- educational philosophy is to convert classroom-based education and the use based environment. the people of Botswana into a major

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human resource, through education mentions the preservation and trans- training for individuals from the San2 and training, so that they might be ef- mission of indigenous knowledge, and and other minority communities who fective instruments of national develop- states, among other things, that ‘educa- are involved in teaching in pre-schools ment, while simultaneously integrating tion in every society is an institutiona- in the remote areas of the country. them into the moral and social values lised means of enculturation of cultural of development. In the current edu- continuity’ and that to strengthen the The Bokamoso Project started in re- cational system, no efforts have been learning process there must be strong sponse to the need to link local or in- made to link traditional knowledge to ‘collaboration between teachers and digenous knowledge with the Western- the school curriculum or to incorporate parents in the development of the child’ based education provided in the school indigenous knowledge into the school (MLHA 2001: 10–11). However, the system. The Government of Botswana system. It is usually left to the teachers’ Department of Culture in the country, had long recognised the sharp contrast own initiative to familiarise the stu- just like most other countries in Africa, between home and the school among dents with some traditional concepts does not belong to the same ministry as the minority or marginalised groups and objects. Since most of the teachers the Ministry of Education. In Botswana, living in the remote parts of the coun- come from the mainstream Setswana ‘culture’ is overseen by the Ministry of try. At home children used their own groups, this cultural information tends Youth, Sports and Culture. This means ethnic language, in a specific cultural to reflect the worldview of the main- that cultural policy cannot easily per- setting and physical environment, and stream group, namely the Tswana. This meate into the practices of the Ministry made use of local or indigenous knowl- would include the erection of a tradi- of Education. edge. Meanwhile, at school the children tional hut in the school compound, the had to use Setswana, the national lan- collection and storage of traditional ar- guage and lingua franca, and were ori- tifacts in mini school museums, visits Promoting Indigenous ented towards a Western-based lifestyle. to national museums, the formation of Knowledge in Botswana: This caused a sharp disorientation, loss traditional dancing troupes and the dis- The Bokamoso Project of self-confidence, considerable stress play of culture-based performances. and homesickness. This situation was made worse by bullying of the minor- Although there is a remarkable The Origin of the ity students, particularly the San, by the reduction in the traditional transmis- Bokamoso Project mainstream speakers. As a result many sion of indigenous knowledge systems, minority students abandoned school Botswana (and presumably other coun- The efforts of some researchers and and returned home. One can cite, as an tries of Africa) has failed not only to non-governmental organisations to example, Monyemane Primary School appreciate the importance of linking safeguard the transmission of indig- in Kang Village, in the western part of indigenous knowledge to the school enous knowledge, particularly that of Botswana. According to Letsholo (2001), curriculum but also to involve the rel- traditionally marginalised peoples, are about one half of the children of San evant ethnic groups in the promotion clearly visible in Botswana. These efforts origin drop out from this school every of indigenous knowledge (Bernard Van are most visible in a number of NGO- year, for multiple reasons, which include Leer Foundation 1998, Gunestad 2004). run centres in the country. One of the exposure to an alien language and cul- Among the main reasons, one may most conspicuous success stories in the ture, bullying and abuse by other stu- mention the fear of promoting ethnic country is a curriculum and programme dents, lack of support or prejudice from divisions (as each group is presumed to for in-service teachers who are involved the teachers, loneliness, pregnancy and have its own worldview) and the quest to in pre-school education, which was de- unfamiliar food, clothing and environ- promote a mono-lingual and mono-cul- signed and run with the involvement ment. This tended to defeat the primary tural nation as a way of fostering unity of traditional local communities. This 2 The San are also known as Bushmen, and national identity. Thus an integra- programme, known as Bokamoso, has and they are the original inhabitants of tive rather than preservative policy is ad- been established since 1988 and is car- Southern Africa. Other names used to refer opted (Batibo 2001b: 130). In Botswana ried out at the Kuru Development Trust to these people include the word Basarwa, as used by the Botswana people, and the there is a progressive cultural policy, Centre, in western Botswana. The aim of term Khoesan or Khoisan, as commonly put in place in 2001, which explicitly the programme is to provide in-service used by linguists.

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aim of the government which was to The number of these pre-schools has The Bokamoso Project provides teacher integrate the children into the main- swollen since the late 1980s, to reach trainees with a system of educational stream language and culture. Hence al- thirty-four in 2004. Most of these pre- tools and practices that build on the local though pre-schools were meant to act as schools are located in the Kgalagadi and or indigenous knowledge that they will a bridge between home and the formal Ghanzi districts (in the far western parts encounter in the pre-schools in which primary school system for the children, of the country, see Table 1). However, they will teach. The rural children’s pre- they failed to play this role. before the Bokamoso Project came into school knowledge is usually home-based, existence, these pre-schools were simi- nature oriented and focused on the eth- Thus, with the help of the non-govern- larly based on modern structures and nic group’s cultural experiences and mental organisations and community existing school policies, with Setswana as unique worldview. Such backgrounds support, a number of new pre-schools the medium of instruction. They conse- have to be systematically infused into were set up in areas occupied by main- quently suffered from similar problems the formal, school-based, Western ori- ly marginalised groups. The establish- with student drop-outs. However, the ented education (Hays 2002). ment of pre-schools for the remote area Bokamoso Project has helped to re-orient dweller (RAD) locations and farms3 has the approaches of teaching and has creat- The curriculum of the Bokamoso become an important preoccupation ed a more conducive environment in the Teacher Training Centre was developed of NGO groups. The government has pre-schools, thus helping to give children over two years by a special team made also played a supportive role by super- more confidence and had a solid cultural up of not only curriculum experts but vising and providing material support base. Such an educational orientation also parents, community members and through funds provided mainly by the would make it possible to fulfil the gov- members of NGO groups. The curricu- district councils and the drought relief ernment’s desire to integrate the San chil- lum development operation, which was bodies (Matenge and Motshabi 2001). dren into mainstream Setswana society. sponsored by the Van Leer Foundations,

Table 1 Pre-school location Type Enrolment Age Fee Funding range

D’kar VDC 18 3–5 P10 Farm +S & CD A sample of the pre-schools located in the Kgalagadi and Ghanzi districts of Eaton Farm Farm 12 3–6 P10 RADP western Botswana (based on Matenge and Motshabi 2001). ‘VDC’ stands for Kempf Farm Farm 10 3–6 P10 RADP Village Development Committee. Such committees usually deal with the social and economic issues of their respective Hukuntsi Day Centre Council 79 2.5–6 P20 Council villages. ‘S’ and ‘CD’ stands for Social and Community Development. This is a Tshane Day Centre VDC 20 3–6 P20 S & CD government department responsible for the social welfare of the people in the ru- Monong NGO 13 2.5–6 P20 RADP ral areas. ‘RADP’ stands for Remote Areas Dwellers Programme. It is a programme which aims at development for people Kacgae Council 38 2.5–6 P20 Council living in remote rural areas. Most of such people are of San origin. Maake NGO 25 3–5.5 P20 RADP

West Hana Hai VDC 26 3–6 P10 S & CD

Ncaang NGO 14 3–6 P10 RADP

3 These are predominantly commercial farms in which pre-schools have been mainly Lokgwabe VDC 18 3–6 P20 S & CD established for the labourers’ children.

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was based on the philosophy that early learning is most effective if it is based on the child’s home environment and if parents and communities are actively involved not only in curriculum development but also in running the programme (Bernard Van Leer Foundation 1998; Bokamoso Team 2000: 7). The core elements of the Bokamoso Training

Programme are therefore: Donkey-drawn carts as the most common traditional means of transport in the remote areas of Botswana (Source: Bokamoso Educational Training Centre 1996:7) 1 a two-year programme for the Reproduced by permission in-service training of mother tongue speakers who are selected by the communities as pre- school teachers; traditional skills of the marginalised teacher will start with walking or run- communities, such as medicinal ning as a primary means of transport, 2 a mother tongue pre-school herbs, hunting skills, plant names then donkey or donkey drawn carts, as curriculum, built around and tracking techniques. these are the common means of trans- familiar themes, which utilises port in remote rural areas (Hays 2002). locally available resources to The use of mother languages in the lay the foundation for the formal pre-school system has been very impor- Equally, when talking about concepts primary learning environment; tant as it allows children to learn and like refrigeration, the teachers could dis- express themselves in a language in cuss traditional ways of preserving food 3 an extension of the training to which they have the most confidence such as drying, smoking, roasting or parents and community educators and which is the basis of their cognitive soaking. Moreover, since the San child’s so that communities who have no and emotional development. However, background is mainly nature-based, the access to educational facilities will these children also learn Setswana, Bokamoso Project has prepared a theme be able to prepare their children which is the national language and the book on seasons, as they are conceived for formal education. This usual medium of instruction in the for- in the San communities. The book, en- extension can function as an mal primary school system (Keakopa titled Seasons (produced in 1998), de- empowerment tool for the and Qubi 1994). The gradual passage scribes the various climatic changes dur- community to build self-esteem; from mother tongue education to bi- ing the four seasons of the year and how lingual education before speaking these climatic changes have a bearing 4 pre-school enrolment which Setswana in the primary school system on trees, animal behaviour and human coincides with the government’s has ensured an effective and sustained activities. Thus, summer is described in classification of age-groups for the learning process (Genessee 1987). terms of falling rain, hot weather, pres- formal primary school system. ence of thunder storms, long daylight, Bokamoso deals with children aged The teachers are trained to use theme blossoming plants, leafy and shady between three and six years. Usually books based on familiar environments trees, ripening of fruits on trees, animal children start formal primary and culture. The themes include veldt fattening and reproduction, nest build- education at the age of seven; and, food, animals, seasons, plants, means of ing by birds to lay eggs, the gathering transport, singing, dancing, costumes, of veldt food and the wearing of light 5 a series of theme books which have drawings and rock art. The teachers are wraps around one’s waist. Meanwhile, been developed to guide future expected to use or teach these themes winter would be described in terms of teachers. The books contain themes when introducing any Western‑based short daylight, cold weather, the shed- which are based on the local concepts. For example, before talking ding of tree leaves, the hibernation of and indigenous knowledge and about motor vehicles or aeroplanes, the some animals, the migration of birds to

Aichi 2.indd 91 28/2/09 18:03:10 Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today Singing, dancing and musical instruments among the San (Source: Bokamoso Educational Training Centre 1998:66) warmer places, the final harvesting of the pre-schools. As a result, the children Reproduced by permission crops, the wearing of warm wraps, the attending these schools have developed use of fire places and the telling of sto- more interest and confidence, as what ries by grandparents. Such child‑centred, they learn is related to their home envi- nature‑based descriptions would not ronment. Also they have become more only create a child friendly atmosphere, at ease with the school environment but would also provide a sound base for as they see that the teachers use their the child, as it prepares him/her to un- language, understand their customs derstand how climatic conditions have and are familiar with their worldview a bearing on human behaviour and the (Batibo 2001). Thus, drop-outs have way people deal with their daily lives. lessened and the children are now able to sustain their education up to higher On the other hand, given that music levels. At present, the average enrol- and dancing are important forms of ment ranges between ten and eighty entertainment and cultural preserva- in a school, with the average around tion among the San, the Bokamoso twenty-five children. Project has included an important sec- confidence, as they feel empowered and tion in the programme on songs, music On the other hand, the earlier integra- valued in the important matter of their and dance. The musical performances tive or assimilative approach that was children’s education. include singing and humming while advocated by the government was coun- dancing. Such performances may also ter-productive, in spite of the intentions However, the success of the include poetic recitals and listening of the government to promote equal- Bokamoso Project and the pre-school to sounds of nature, such as the whis- ity and unity in the school system. The system in general may be short-lived tling of the wind, the falling of the rain, Bokamoso approach aims to provide a in the long run if the government does noisy thunder storms or the singing of link or bridge in which the disadvan- not become more involved financially birds. The programme aims to use these taged child maintains his/her identity and logistically. At the moment, most nature-based sounds to develop the chil- and preserves his/her culture and world- financial support comes from NGO dren’s musical and rhythmic skills. They view, while progressively understanding groups and various community funds. act also as a means of entertainment the mainstream language, culture and Such sources of funding cannot be ex- and preservation of cultural practices. Western-based school environment. pected to be permanent. The programme encourages the use of traditional musical instruments as a way Moreover, the gradual passage from of relating the child to his/her home indigenous knowledge to mainstream or Conclusion and cultural background. Moreover, the Western-based knowledge, along with teachers are encouraged to use low-cost the change of language from mother- Generally speaking, most African sustainable materials obtained from lo- tongue to Setswana, has been crucial in school systems would like to incorporate cal sources. Thus traditional pots, cala- meeting the expectations of the commu- cultural features in the school curricu- bashes and horns are used instead of nities. These would like their children to lum, and even to instil a smooth transi- Western-manufactured containers. preserve their identity through knowl- tion between the home and the school. edge of their own culture and practices, However, in most cases, the focus in the but at the same time be part of the wider school curriculum is mainly on main- Success of the world and even benefit from modern stream languages and cultures. Only ru- Bokamoso Project opportunities through knowledge of diments of the artistic expressions of the mainstream culture and language. In other groups may figure in some isolated The Bokamoso Project has displayed fact, the involvement of minority com- activities like traditional dances, singing clear success as it has helped to re-orient munities in the preparation of the pre- and art. The children of minority, and of- the approaches of teaching and has cre- school curriculum and the running of ten marginalised, groups therefore tend ated a more conducive environment in school affairs has further given parents to be grossly disadvantaged. Even where

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there is a progressive cultural policy in ways of creating confidence and interest It is, however, unfortunate that the a country, ideals of such policies rarely in marginalised children. Through the government’s support in this endeavour, percolate into the educational system activities of the pre-schools in western particularly where the curriculum has as matters of culture are often part of a Botswana, many young minority speak- been home-based, has been very mini- completely different ministry. Thus, the ers, especially those from the San groups, mal. The main reason is that the govern- ideals of the cultural policy are not given are now able to build a good foundation ment supports an integrative policy in much attention in educational circles. and therefore continue steadily in the which the concepts of equality and hu- school hierarchy. One of the fundamen- man rights are interpreted as the right On the other hand, the rapid erosion tal principles of this programme has been of the minority or marginalised groups of traditional cultural practices and the use of mother-tongue based pre- to have the same treatment and access norms, coupled with linguistic losses school education that concentrates on to resources as the mainstream groups. and the reduction of biological diver- relating new information to the children In fact, just as our governments are sity, means that the child’s home envi- within a familiar cultural and worldview concerned about topical issues, such as ronment is continuously impoverished context. It has also focused on involving the HIV/AIDS pandemic, gender imbal- and that his/her world is oriented in- the relevant parents and the community ances and environmental conservation, creasingly towards a Western‑based or as much as possible and incorporating they should also be concerned about the global village perception. traditional learning and cultural knowl- safeguarding and transmission of indig- edge into a classroom environment. Due enous and local knowledge, particularly The Bokamoso experience has shown to the success of the programme, partici- that of marginalised groups, especially that a proper transition between the pants now come from all over Botswana, where such knowledge would enhance home and the school, and linking home- particularly from traditionally margi- a child’s learning process.

based indigenous knowledge to school- nalised groups, including both San 4 The programme has attracted interest based Western education, are the best and non-San.4 and admiration in southern Africa and also in the other parts of Africa and beyond.

References

Anonymous 1994. Listen to us: Challenges Bokamoso Educational Training Centre. Minorities in the Millennium: Perspectives facing San children in education. A Report 1998. Seasons. D’Kar, Ghanzi: Kuru Devel- from Botswana. Gaborone: Printing and compiled for the working group on indige- opment Trust. Publishing Botswana Ltd. nous minorities of Southern Africa (WIMSA) Bokamoso Educational Training Centre, Keakopa, M. and X. Qubi. 1994. Parents as Batibo, Herman M. 2001a. ‘The endan- D’kar, 2000. Teacher Training Curriculum for Partners. Report on the Workshop on parent gered languages of African: A case study Early Childhood Educators. D’Kar, Ghanzi: (Involvement in Early Childhood Education. from Botswana’. In Luisa Maffi (ed). On Kuru Development Trust. D’kar, Ghanzi: Kuru Development Trust. Bio-cultural Diversity: Linking Language Knowledge and the Environment. Washington: Genesee, Fred. 1987. Learning through Le Roux, Willemien. 2000. Torn Apart. Smithsonian Institution Press two languages: Studies of immersion and D’kar: Kuru Development Trust. Bilingual Education. Cambridge: Newburg Batibo, Herman M. 2001b. ‘The empow- House Publishers. Letsholo, D. 2001. Patterns of Language Shift erment of the minority languages for and Maintenance among the /hasi Khoesan education and development’. In Richard Government of Botswana. 1994. The Re- Speakers of Monyemane Ward in Kang Vil- Trewby and Sandra Fitchat (eds). Lan- vised National Policy on Education. Gaborone: lage. BA Dissertation, University of Botswana. guage and Development in Southern Africa: Government Printers Making the Right Choices. Windhoek: Matenge, Brigid and Kgosi Motshabi. Gamsberg Macmillan Gunnestad, Arve (ed). 2004. The role 2001. A study of Pre-school Education in the of Culture in Early Childhood Education. RADS and Farms in Botswana. A Report Bernard Van Leer Foundation. 1998. Report from the 6th Network Conference for the Ministry of Education and the Building on People’s Strengths: Early Child- held in D’kar, Ghanzi in Botswana from Botswana Educational Research Associa- hood in Africa. The Hague: Albani. 31st May to 4th June 2004. D’kar, Kudu tion. Gaborone, Ministry of Education Development Trust. Bokamoso Educational Training Centre. MLHA. 2001. National Policy on Culture. 1996. Our Donkey-Cart and Other Kinds of Hays, Jennifer, 2002. ‘Education and the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs: Transport. D’Kar, Ghanzi: Kuru Develop- San of Southern Africa: The Search for Department of Culture and Youth. ment Trust. Alternatives’. In I.N. Mazonde (ed). Gaborone: Government Printers.

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months of the year, allowing skidoo Introduction Knowledge loss access to the mainland. Cambridge Bay is a community of roughly 1300 In this paper I will explore efforts to individuals, 80 per cent of whom are Many older Inuit hunt and travel preserve Inuit knowledge in Nunavut, Inuit, while the remaining 20 per cent frequently. However, the move from Arctic Canada. Current efforts to safe- are predominantly Euro-Canadians. the land into the community, and the guard the transmission of Inuit knowl- Previously the Inuit in the commu- ready availability of store bought foods edge tend to be focused on efforts to nity were nomadic hunter–gatherers and clothing, has meant that many generate books, maps and CDs, and living in small scattered groups in the Inuit today, particularly the young, are to incorporate Inuit knowledge into surrounding area. These groups came spending less time out on the land en- school curricula. I will suggest that together during the 1950s and 1960s gaged in hunting practices than their these efforts to preserve Inuit knowl- to form the community of Cambridge grandparents (Condon et al. 1995). edge, while undeniably important, Bay (Collignon 1993: 71–75; Damas The government’s welfare policy has are founded on Western assumptions 2002: 40–49, 72–73, 112–122, 160–163; also destroyed incentives for Inuit about the transmission of knowledge. Freeman 1976: 46–48). The community to hunt for their food (Nelson 1969: Consequently these methods may is now the administrative centre of the 386; Brody 1975: 166–186; Condon overlook the very thing that many Kitikmeot region, and boasts numerous et al. 1995), encouraging a sedentary Inuit believe gives this knowledge its government buildings, two schools, lifestyle with neither wage earning strength and vitality: its experiential an Arctic College campus, two food nor hunting taking place. Condon et connection to the land and animals. stores, a bank, an ice skating rink and al. (1995), working in Holman in the I will argue that attention to this a seasonal indoor swimming pool. All early 1990s, suggest that many Inuit sphere of experience and learning is homes have running water and elec- youth may not have even seen a cari- essential in order for the information tricity. Despite these amenities, hunt- bou, much less shot one. I similarly taught in the classroom, or stored in ing and travelling on the land remain met eighteen-year-old Inuit youths in books, maps and CDs, to be placed important aspects of Inuit identity, and Cambridge Bay who had recently seen in context. Encouraging and facilitat- caribou, muskoxen, Arctic char, wolves, their first Arctic Fox, despite these ani- ing experiential contact with the land bears, wolverines, seals, waterfowl and mals being a common sight within a should therefore be a central aspect ptarmigan are all regularly harvested by hundred yards of the community. I of any efforts to transmit or preserve the community, depending on seasonal also went out on the land with fam- Inuit knowledge. I will further suggest variations in their numbers. ily groups in which youths had no that attention to this sphere of learning can not only compliment, but also Sea ice melting in the transcend, attempts to address issues spring on the coast of linguistic and cultural change. of Victoria Island

Ethnographic context

The observations for this paper were made during fifteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Inuit community of Cambridge Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, between July 2003 and November 2004. This arctic community is located on the south coast of Victoria Island, which is separated from the Canadian mainland by nar-

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knowledge of how to set fish nets or seen to be the last bastions of true Inuit passed between people or taught in for- skin caribou, despite their families reg- culture (Rigby et al. 2000: 104). Elders mal educational settings (Ingold 2000: ularly engaging in these activities. are interviewed frequently, and their 40–47; Lave 1990: 310). There are a knowledge documented. The physi- number of assertions that are symp- Furthermore, within Cambridge cal products of these efforts are highly tomatic of the intrusion of Western Bay there is little evidence today that visible around the town. Books, pam- concepts of knowledge into discussions young people receive much guidance phlets, posters, maps, CDs and DVDs of indigenous knowledge. The first is from the elders of the community. can be found in government offices, that the elders of any aboriginal com- Differences in aspirations and outlook the library, the heritage society, the munity would, in the past, have passed make the generations rather inaccessi- visitor centre and the two schools. An down their knowledge to younger ble to each other, a process that perhaps Innuinaqtun dictionary has been de- generations. The second is that this started with the formal schooling of veloped, and language and translating knowledge would have been encoded Inuit youth many decades ago (Brody courses are offered at the Arctic College in indigenous languages. Any per- 1975; Balikci 1970: xxiv; Nelson 1969: campus located in Cambridge Bay. The ceived rupture or interference in these 385). Language shift has greatly exacer- Nunavut schools curriculum has also paradigms is thus seen by Western re- bated this problem. In Cambridge Bay come to be seen as a crucial tool in the searchers as leading to a reduction in older people speak fluent Inuinnaqtun, preservation of Inuit knowledge, and what indigenous people know. the local dialect of Inuktitut, and little the aim is for curricula to be devised or no English. Meanwhile, those of so that many of the lessons incorpo- In contrast, Nadasdy (2003: 95–96), middle age may have a good grasp of rate aspects of Inuit knowledge and writing about Athapaskan people, Inuinnaqtun despite using English as culture. Innuinaqtun lessons are also argues that indigenous people may a first language. Most young people, a part of the education programme in generally view knowledge as directly however, speak only a handful of Cambridge Bay’s schools. A wealth of tied to personal experience, as ‘an in- Inuinnaqtun words. The language is endeavours therefore attempt to en- separable aspect of a person’s being’. not used in everyday conversation, and sure that Inuit knowledge is preserved Knowledge cannot therefore be taught, little effort seems to be made on either within the community. or passed between individuals. It must side to communicate between gen- be learnt through personal contact erations. In the overcrowded houses of with the world. Meanwhile, there are Cambridge Bay, in which several gen- Ways of learning undoubtedly cultures in which indig- erations may live side-by-side, there is enous elders would teach their knowl- consequently a noticeable silence be- Current efforts to preserve and edge to younger generations in educa- tween the elders and their grandchil- transmit Inuit knowledge, through the tional settings not dissimilar to those dren. It seems likely that the decline approaches described above, seem to recognisable to individuals schooled in in language will continue, especially be rooted in the didactic educational the West. However, it is likely that this as most fluent speakers of Inuinnaqtun models, which dominate Western teaching was also intimately tied to are reaching old age. teaching processes (Lave 1990; Pálsson contexts of practice and would mean 1994: 902–903). These processes pre- little to learners if not coupled with This reduced contact with the land sume that knowledge consists of a practical experience. and animals, the limited communica- collection of discrete items of information currently seen between generation, which can be extracted from both Furthermore, it can be argued tions of Inuit, and the breakdown of their local context and the people who that in reality learning processes do Inuinnaqtun itself, is thought to pose ‘know’ them. Thus abstracted and gen- not follow didactic models, regard- a severe threat to the continuity of eralised, knowledge can be transmit- less of the learner’s cultural back- Inuit knowledge (e.g. Thorpe 1997). ted independently and in advance of ground. Information supplied out of In Nunavut a flurry of activity current- its subsequent application in specific context rarely becomes knowledge ly surrounds efforts to preserve this ‘real-world’ contexts. What is learned (Palsson 1994). Even in Western teach- knowledge, most often focusing on is distinguished from how it is learned, ing regimes, children may learn more the elders of the communities, who are and knowledge can therefore easily be through personal experience within

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the context of the classroom than they their function was therefore not nec- acquire through internalising abstract- essarily to ‘teach’ and knowledge may ed information (Lave 1990: 320–323). not have been encoded within them. Indeed, forcing Western children to Instead, the purpose of stories and learn decontextualised information songs was more often to establish and for which they can see little use or pur- reinforce connections to the land and pose is blamed for common feelings community. They directed an indi- of insecurity and stupidity associated vidual’s attention out into the land, ©Peter Bates with Western schooling (Lave 1990: to aid with his or her own discovery 320-323). It is also suggested that the of knowledge through personal expe- much younger relatives. Occasionally emphasis on formal schooling of this rience (Cruikshank 1998). Most Inuit a senior man would issue an order to nature decreases the likelihood of find- knowledge is thus not transmitted to a youth to make him or her do a cer- ing employment for all but those who youths from their elders; it is rather tain task, but more often it was sim- reach the ‘top of the pyramid’, as many drawn from the world itself, a world ply expected that everyone would fill forms of employment require years of that reveals itself to younger genera- whichever role they thought necessary. enskillment derived from practical ex- tions depending on the extent to which Doing nothing and simply standing perience, a form of training that now they are prepared to attend to it. This around watching was also an accepted receives little attention or credibility in process of revelation can be delicately alternative. I did not often hear in- the West (Sigaut 1993: 112). structured and guided within contexts structions being given on how to do provided by older generations, but ul- things. No matter how much a youth Inuit provide a good example of a timately successors develop their own might struggle with his caribou skin- culture for which didactic educational unique knowledge and experience ning or with pulling in a fish net, older models do not hold true. It is doubtful (Ingold 2000: 56, 146, 387). Thus in relatives would either appear not to that Inuit knowledge was ever taught the past, while elders were held in high notice or would watch with mild in- in any structured way and learning esteem, younger generations were ex- terest, sometimes apparently taking was instead grounded in contexts of pected to learn by experience within pleasure in the youth’s attempts and practice (Briggs 1991: 269). This lack of the process of doing, lightly guided the learning process therein (see also structured teaching was not only prac- along the way by their older relatives. Nelson 1969: 386). tically necessary in the past; it was also They did not sit, listen and learn. important on a spiritual level. Inuit ab- During my time in Cambridge Bay hor efforts to control others, and per- I also adopted this method of learning, sonal autonomy is cherished (Briggs Knowledge of the land through participant observation while 1968: 53 in Omura 2002: 106; Briggs & animals today hunting and travelling. Questions are 1970: 42; Briggs 1991: 267; Morrow generally frowned upon by Inuit, and 1990: 150). Within this philosophy, The ability to hunt and track is an as- they may find even the mildest que- the unforced development of a child’s pect of their knowledge that most Inuit ries an incorrigible invasion of privacy ishuma, which can be translated loose- hunters hold most dear, and they sorely (Fosset 2001: 7; Fienup-Riordan 1990: ly as ‘consciousness’ or ‘thought’ or regret its decrease in the younger gen- 44; Morrow 1996: 412; Briggs 1991: 269). ‘reason’ (Briggs 1991: 267), was consid- erations. Older hunters would assure The kablunaks’ (white people’s) love ered of particular importance to an in- me with pride that their grandson or of meaningless talk is for many Inuit dividual’s well being. Imposing outside granddaughter knew how to hunt, or a source of frustration and wry amuse- knowledge and ideas onto the process would remark with sadness that they ment. ‘Like Nowyak’ (seagulls), one el- of personal learning and autonomous did not. Today the preference for expe- der told me, mimicking the squawking growth was seen as potentially danger- riential learning and personal autono- of rowdy birds with his hands. Whilst ous interference. mous development remains strong out on the land, I therefore learned within the community of Cambridge to curb my enthusiasm and be pa- While songs, stories and language Bay. I noticed it many times while out tient; watching and joining in rather were passed on through generations, on the land with older Inuit and their than asking many questions. Overall,

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Caribou from the Dolphin-Union herd crossing sea ice (left) and a musk ox, another animal commonly harvested by Inuit hunters (below)

Inuit elders seemed to approve of this use of the gloomy twilight around mid- method of learning. These sentiments day to hunt and travel. Despite the fail- clearly stand in contrast to the rounds ing light my companion, an Inuit man of question-driven interviews in which of around sixty years of age, saw the elders are now expected to participate. tracks instantly and brought his skidoo Consequently, many Inuit politely de- to a halt. They were from large animals, ©Joelene Hughes cline to be interviewed and have their and he reported excitedly that they had knowledge documented and preserved been made recently, perhaps only hours by researchers. This provides a strong before. Tracks we had found two days be- vain, for the wolves had begun to walk indication that many Inuit do not per- fore, belonging to a wolverine, had been again before the caribou had slowed, and ceive current efforts to preserve and dismissed without interest due to their their was no sign of a fresh kill. transmit their knowledge as satisfactory. age, but now these tracks offered a real Inuit told me that they were glad that I opportunity. There were doubtless many As we weaved our way through snow- simply ‘hung out’, that I visited, that I signs that the wolves had passed this way choked gullies between low hills of frost spent time with them on the land and recently, too subtle for me to even guess shattered rock, all the time tracking these that I was slowly learning from them. at. However, the brief twilight hours were animals, it was possible, with Inuit guid- running out, and we reluctantly aban- ance, to get a sense of how the wolves I will now attempt to describe what I doned the spot for our campsite. had spent the last 24 hours; mostly on learnt through personal experience by the move, only resting occasionally, re- giving an account of such a hunting The next morning we got up early, re- lentless in their search for sustenance, trip. This will demonstrate that it is only turned to the spot where the wolf tracks but for the while ultimately unsuccess- through personal experience that Inuit crossed our day-old skidoo trail and be- ful in their hunting. After several hours knowledge of the land and animals can gan to follow them. The wolves had trot- of our pursuit, the tracks led into higher be learnt and how this process is lightly ted through the rocky hills in a some- land of rock bluffs and high cliffs, im- guided by elders. It begins on an excep- what erratic manner, sometimes moving passable to skidoos. The meagre daylight tionally cold day in January 2004 when up onto banks of exposed rock, which of late January was already against us, so an Inuit elder and I skidooed across wolf we circled until we found the place the hunt was abandoned. We never saw tracks in the snow. This was the third day where they had descended back into the the wolves that day, but nevertheless it of a hunting trip on the Canadian main- snow. As we followed their winding trail, had been possible to get an insight into land across the straits from Victoria Island. my companion occasionally pointed out their activities. A while later I was sur- The temperature had hovered around what he saw in the scuffs in the snow. prised to arrive back at our camp, as I minus 50 for the duration of our journey. The tracks of smaller animals crisscrossed was sure that we had been heading away We had camped mostly on the sea ice, the larger prints of adult wolves, reveal- from it the whole journey. Even after making use of the meagre warmth ema- ing that we were following a family of a day of following tracks that twisted nating from the unfrozen ocean beneath, two adults and two cubs. Here, they around the landscape, the hunter was which makes camping on ice warmer had rested a while in the lee of a rocky able to stay oriented and know exactly than on the deep permafrost of the land. outcrop, curled up together. Further on how to return to the camp without dou- The Arctic at this time of year lies in near they had given chase to a small herd of bling back on himself, in an area he had perpetual darkness, and we were making caribou, an endeavour that had been in not visited previously.

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Caribou harvested by Inuit hunters on an island in the straits south of Cambridge Bay

While my companion was able to point out certain aspects of the environment that held information about the wolves, he was influencing the way I was able to learn from the environment, rather than teaching me directly.

Indeed, from his verbalised observa- ©Peter Bates tions I was able to learn a little about the wolves, but not much about how of personhood. Ingold (ibid) writes: ‘to process of conscious learning and re- this knowledge could be discerned from “know” someone is to be in a position membering. Wind direction will orient the environment. For example, I was to approach him directly with a fair ex- an Inuit hunter, and any changes are duly told that the tracks were fresh, but it re- pectation of the likely response… to be noted and compensated for. Similarly, mained a mystery to me how this could sensible to his tastes, moods and idio- snowdrifts will be orientated by the pre- be known. Another elder later told me syncrasies… You get to know someone vailing winds and will give a more fixed that the age of a track can be known by by sharing their companionship. And if view of the direction travelled. The sun, pressing one’s finger into the foot print. you are a hunter, you get to know ani- moon and stars also provide points of If the track is soft, it has been made re- mals by hunting.’ While Inuit clearly reference, while nuances in the land- cently. If it is hard, then the track is old. possess a great deal of knowledge about scape embed the hunter in a set of re- However, once again this information animals, little of this may be amenable lated localities. The wife of one hunter did not mean very much to me until I to direct transmission to younger gen- was very keen to explain to me how her was able to test it on the land. At the end erations as it is more akin to forming husband drew on all these things so that of my time in the Arctic I still had only a personal relationship with them. he would never go astray, even in the a vague grasp of this principal, and no This knowledge must thus be gained least favourable weather conditions in real comprehension of how to utilise it through personal experience. an area he had never previously visited. in practice. It was therefore of little use A deep understanding of these features to me, and will remain so unless I spend Similarly, for the truly experienced, subtends conscious attention and estab- considerably more time hunting and making their way in the land is not lishes instead a sense of intuitive know- tracking. As noted already, information only a matter of recognising landmarks, ing, in which a hunter perceives his po- supplied without an experiential context points or trails, but also of picking up sition in relation to the town, a camp, will rarely become knowledge (Palsson information through a finely tuned or some previously visited destination, 1994). My attempts to learn perhaps perceptual system. This information without even thinking of it. Efforts to demonstrate how much experience is is not in the hunter’s mind, but in the document Inuit place names or hunting often needed for this to be the case. world itself, which opens up to him in routes and teach these to younger gen- greater richness and profundity than it erations consequently may do little jus- The ways that Inuit hunters may know would to the inexperienced individual tice to the knowledge that can be gained and learn about animals is also touched (Ingold 2000: 55–56). Such knowledge through experience. However, as with on in this account. This knowledge of is then accessible far beyond any region traditional stories and songs, these ac- animals is not necessarily of ‘things in which the hunter has travelled pre- tivities may serve to direct the attention and how they work’ (Ingold 2000: 72) viously, in a way that it would not be of Inuit youth onto the land. It must be but is perhaps best couched in terms were it carried in his mind as a result of a remembered however that the final goal

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should be to know the land, and the Dynamism & stagnation their ‘traditional culture’. Iglus are rarely map is thus a means and not an end. constructed as there are tents available, It is also important to acknowledge a kayaks are not manufactured due to the Focusing on Inuit knowledge as further point while discussing the advan- ease of purchasing an aluminium boat, gained by experience, rather than as a tages of an experience-based approach to caribou fur parkas are rarely made as ev- discrete set of teachings by elders, has knowledge preservation, and this is that eryone has goose down coats from the led me to describe here some of the knowledge should not necessarily be store, skidoos are easier to manage than ways that Inuit come to gain knowledge ‘preserved’ at all. While a change in Inuit dogs, and guns are more effective than about the land and animals, through di- knowledge and culture is unhappily rec- bows and spears. For Inuit to refuse to rect experience of them. I myself would ognised by many researchers, it should take up these modern conveniences and struggle to explain what I learnt about be remembered that flexibility and rap- focus instead on the past would actu- animals and the land during my time id adaptation have often been hailed ally be more of a break from pre-contact in Cambridge Bay. This in fact became a as hallmarks of Inuit society (Adams modes of thought and practice than a source of some concern for me as I strug- 1971:9). Inuit knowledge was thus al- continuation of them (Ingold 2000: gled to report what I was learning to in- ways a constantly evolving resource. 147–148). Indeed, having fixed views terested academic colleagues, family and Maintaining this evolution is essential on what it is to be ‘traditional’ can be non-Inuit friends. This revealed to me if the indigenous knowledge learnt by taken by other Inuit as a sign of inflex- the central crux of what I argue in this the youth of Cambridge Bay is not to ibility, a distinctly non-Inuit trait (Dahl paper: that researchers, myself included, become stagnant and frozen, and conse- 2000: 7–10; Omura 2002: 106–108). tend to focus too much for Inuit tastes quently of limited utility. The dynamism on that which can be verbalised, written that is at the heart of Inuit knowledge What therefore emerges as ‘traditional’ down and passed around. The closest I can best be maintained through experi- in Inuit understandings is the use and ac- have been able to come to documenting ential learning, as I will now explain. ceptance of modern infrastructure, such and transmitting Inuit knowledge, or as guns, skidoos, boats, wage labour and my own knowledge gained whilst travel- Rapid adaptation was essential to sur- permanent housing. It might be expected ling and hunting, is to tell stories about viving on the land, and techniques and that this ready adoption of new technolo- some of the interactions that I witnessed tools that were no longer the most effi- gies would, to an extent, have diminished between Inuit, the animals and the cient available would quickly have been Inuit ‘traditional’ knowledge (Aporta and land. Even by describing these processes, modified, or set aside in favour of those Higgs 2005: 740–742). However, these rather than the knowledge itself, it has more suitable for the exploitation of technologies are improvised with, re- become clearer to me just how difficult current conditions and opportunities. made and flexibly utilised in distinctly Inuit knowledge would be to transmit There would have been little room Inuit ways (Omura 2002: 107–108) allow- to future generations, if those genera- for sentimentality over techniques or ing Inuit skills to thrive in the new era tions do not interact with the land and equipment (Omura 2002; Briggs 1991). of machines (see Sigaut 1993: 109–110). animals. Worryingly, presenting Inuit Change and adaptation can therefore Inuit knowledge has thus often evolved children with books, maps and CDs and be said to be the only true Inuit ‘tradi- alongside current changes to Inuit life- informing them that this is the knowl- tion’. Inuit in Cambridge today remain styles, to yield a distinctly Inuit approach edge of their elders may actually serve to fiercely practical and adaptable, to the to their new technology, an approach of restructure, rather than preserve, Inuit point that they can appear brutally un- which Inuit remain proud (Briggs 1991: ways of knowing the land and animals. sentimental about what non-Inuit see as 263; Omura 2002: 107–108).

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There were numerous times during of concepts, ideas and information with for concern, for it will be out of sync with my stay in Cambridge Bay when I was the Western world since first contact a dynamic process of knowing the land struck by the skills of Inuit hunters to was made between the two cultures. and animals that has generally been suc- improvise with what I initially saw as During this process Inuit would often cessful in moving with the times. thoroughly modern technologies. A have willingly, or even unwittingly, tak- leaking modern boat in which I travelled en on what is useful to them and dis- was hauled ashore many hours from the carded what is not. In other situations, Language community and mended with a fish-can colonial educational regimes may have lid. We then continued hunting for cari- actively forced Western knowledge onto As already mentioned, another symp- bou along the coast, rather than fleeing Inuit. Current changes in Inuit knowl- tom of the dominance of Western con- the choppy waters for the safety of the edge could therefore be seen as the lat- cepts of knowledge is the common sup- community. A gash in the hull of an- est stage in a process of fluidity, change position that the fundamental values other friend’s boat was mended using and exchange that has been going on and concepts of a culture are encoded a sheet of scrap metal, rubber from an for thousands of years, and it would in its language. In this conception of old inner tube found at the dump, old certainly be premature and overly pes- knowledge, the failure of younger gen- rivets, and some glue. Skidoos also were simistic to think of current shifts as a erations to learn the language of their frequently remade, mended, taken to point of rupture or a source of direct elders could lead to a direct and im- pieces or plundered for parts, and it was threat to Inuit knowledge and culture. mediate loss of knowledge about the with pride that a hunter would explain As Ingold (2000: 147) notes, change is environment. However, I have argued that he had fixed up a machine at no what we see if we look at a continuous that in the case of Inuit, much of their expense using items scavenged from the process only at separate points in time. knowledge is not directly transmitted village dump. Meanwhile, people who from the elders, but is acquired from bought new things, or paid for their Contemporary Inuit knowledge the land itself, the perception of repair, often seemed to be perceived as incorporates modern weather forecasts, which may be gently guided by older somehow cheating. For those who regu- television documentaries, the findings relatives. I would suggest also, for the larly hunt and travel on the land, their of scientific research and a wealth of same reasons, that younger genera- environmental knowledge is thus mov- other ‘modern’ influences. These sit eas- tions generally derive their moral and ing with the times, and now includes ily alongside field mechanics, machine conceptual bearings not from verbally practical skills on a whole new range of maintenance, the use of firearms, GPS or linguistically encoded messages but topics, to suit this shift in their hunting devices and a suite of other techniques from example and experience situated and travelling techniques. Suggestions that are intimately tied to working within contexts of practical activity. that modern influences may contami- within the land today, all approached Much of this wisdom is not articulated nate Inuit knowledge and diminish in a distinctly Inuit way and combined verbally, but even when it is, the words its value are therefore worrying (e.g. with in-depth knowledge of the land and often derive their meanings from the Wenzel 1999: 117) and may cause Inuit animals. These new skills are adding to contexts in which they are uttered youth who use modern technologies to Inuit knowledge at a time when it needs rather than importing meanings into feel divorced from their culture. to be at its most fluid, and these influ- their contexts (Suchman, 1987: 58–9; ences can augment rather than diminish Ingold, 2000: 147). Languages are thus Moreover, Agrawal (1995), Ander- the knowledge that Inuit need to bring flexible tools continuously moulded son (1999: 158–163), Bravo (2000: 473– to bear on their current situation. Only and reshaped to reflect and express 474) and Ellen and Harris (2000: 11) through sustained experience of hunting changing cultural norms. They are point out that indigenous knowledge and travelling can this dynamism be en- rarely fixed entities in which knowl- systems have rarely developed in iso- sured. This process could be aided greatly edge is encoded. This is not to deny lation, a reality sometimes obscured by encouraging younger Inuit to hunt that language has a bearing on how we by researchers who desire to represent and travel, and advocating experience- perceive the world, but recognises that them as somehow pure and unspoilt. based learning. In contrast, the formal the way we perceive the world has a far In the creation of present-day Inuit teaching in the schools of static visions of greater bearing on the ways that lan- knowledge there has been an exchange what Inuit knowledge used to be is cause guage is utilised and understood.

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While there are undoubtedly some also been highlighted as a crucial issue English does not provide the vocabu- examples of highly specific terms in in- in the failure of some co-management lary. Examples include ‘kamotiks’ (big digenous languages that refer to cultur- schemes (Morrow and Hensel 1992). wooden sleds), ‘ulus’ (distinctive Inuit ally specific knowledge, to suggest that Western resource managers and indig- knives), ‘kablunaks’ (white people) and words in another language will not be enous people may believe themselves to ‘amautiks’ (smocks in which infants can manipulated to convey this knowledge be talking about the same issue, when be carried). These words are generally may greatly underestimate the resilience actually both sides are using the same grammatically treated as though they of indigenous ways of knowing. Just as terminology to describe completely dif- are English words, for example plurals Inuit knowledge and skills can flourish ferent concepts. Examples include the are indicated by adding an ‘s’ rather through modern technologies such as terms ‘conservation’, ‘respect’ and ‘man- than the Inuit ‘it’ (‘two ulus’, rather than skidoos and boats, so too can a distinctly agement’ as they relate to the environ- ‘two uluit’) and verbs are conjugated us- Inuit way of perceiving the world be ex- ment. For Western biologists these terms ing English suffixes, for example, ‘she is pressed through the colonial language. are centred on protecting nature from mamaking’ or ‘she mamaks’ (she suckles English words can often be modified human influences, but for indigenous or nurses), rather than ‘she mamaktuq’. and manipulated to convey embodied people they more often refer to the im- knowledge gained from experience, just portance of human involvement and in- That children no longer know the as Inuinnaqtun words once did. There teraction with the environment, which names for plants or animals that they were many times throughout my stay can include proper hunting rituals in no longer have contact with, or which in Cambridge Bay that I realised that which harvests should not be limited no longer exist in their environment, English words, the meanings of which I for fear of giving offence to the animals. may not prove that the loss in language had initially taken for granted, were be- This again demonstrates the resilience has caused the decline in knowledge. ing utilised differently by Inuit acquain- not just of indigenous knowledge, but Rather, the reverse is true. Even in a tances. An example is the word ‘lazy’. also of indigenous ways of conceptualis- ‘healthy’, rapidly spreading language While I considered the word a mild ing the world, despite the influence of a such as English, changes in language insult, applied to those who were idle, colonial language. use will occur with shifts in livelihood I slowly realised that for Inuit, who have and environment. For example, few different ideas about work ethics and the Moreover, where no convenient English speakers in Britain now know need to be busy, the word did not imply substitute presents itself in English, a the complex terminology associated any value judgement. Indeed, often it multitude of Innuinaqtun words are with thatching roofs or tending for seemed to be considered that a period of seamlessly utilised in everyday English horses. This is because these terms are being ‘lazy’ was a good thing, befitting communication, not just amongst no longer necessary in day to day life, the character of a sensible person. That Inuit youth, but also amongst non- and the language use has shifted ac- English words can be given meanings Inuit in the community who regu- cordingly. It is not the case that the lan- by indigenous people that differ from larly find themselves presented with guage is declining and has eliminated their interpretation by Westerners has items, situations or concepts for which the knowledge with it. Such dynamism is an essential part of a healthy knowledge and language system.

The coast near Cambridge Bay, ©Peter Bates Thus the cessation of a traditional lan- where Inuit have guage will not necessarily in itself lead hung Arctic char to to a loss of knowledge or a fundamental dry in the sun change in is nature (Ingold 2000: 147). Likewise a shift from one dominant language to another, in this case from Inuinnaqtun to English, does not necessarily entail any corresponding shift in perception and orientation. If Inuit continue to interact with the land, they

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will continue to learn from it. It is altera- fore damage rather than support the as- opportunities to utilise the lessons tions in lifestyles and in the relationship pirations for cultural continuation held learnt in school. Meanwhile, many to the land, guided by their elders, itself by some indigenous groups. families support themselves additionally that will have a greater impact on the through various subsistence activities on ways that Inuit perceive and respond to the land, which reduce family expendi- the world around them. Language shift Practical implications ture on bought food items. The ‘replace- will then trail these alterations rather ment value’ of land food in Nunavut has than bringing them about. Advocating an experiential ap- been estimated at between $30 and $35 proach to learning may be impractical million a year (Hicks and White 2000: It is therefore arguably more important for some indigenous groups. However, 38). In a territory with a population of to encourage Inuit youth to maintain an in Cambridge Bay, which is surrounded less than 30,000 individuals, its impor- active interaction with the land than to by open tundra and ocean as yet unaf- tance should not therefore be down- attempt to preserve the Inuit language. fected by biodiversity loss or drastic played in generating a healthy econo- However, claims that knowledge is di- habitat change, it would not be difficult my. Maintaining detailed knowledge of rectly tied to language may lead to the to arrange regular hunting and camp- the land therefore becomes increasingly dubious conclusion that Inuit children ing expeditions with willing parents and practical and viable for ambitious young will maintain the knowledge of their grandparents, and indeed many Inuit Inuit. This knowledge may therefore grandparents so long as they master families already regularly engage in these provide a path to the future, as well as Inuinnaqtun. In Cambridge Bay far more activities. Furthermore, while learning maintaining links to the past. attention is currently given to teaching in the way I have advocated may seem children the Inuit language than is spent to have limited utility in modern Inuit encouraging them to interact with their society, it should be remembered that Conclusion elders on the land. The result is that chil- knowing the land is becoming increas- dren are expected to learn a dislocated ingly profitable for Inuit. Throughout Throughout this paper I have stream of words which mean little to northern Canada it is now a policy re- argued for an experientially-based ap- them, and Inuinnaqtun lessons become quirement that the knowledge of in- proach to indigenous knowledge trans- unsatisfactory and unproductive as a re- digenous people be incorporated into mission in Inuit communities, which sult, hastening rather than slowing the environmental assessment and resource I have argued transcends concerns for language’s decline. management (Usher 2000). Nunavut’s cultural change or language loss. This Inuit Government has also determined is not to suggest that classroom based Efforts to protect endangered lan- that it will utilise Inuit knowledge as a efforts should be abandoned, or that guages have a crucial part to play in method of aligning the territory’s poli- languages should be allowed to decline. maintaining cultural diversity. It is cies towards Inuit philosophies and It is instead a recognition that these ef- therefore important that paradigms away from Western thought processes forts will mostly prove fruitless without are devised which suitably express this (Bravo 2000: 471–472). As Inuit are paid an experiential context to the learning need. However, directly tying language for research contributions, talking about process, and that only through main- to knowledge and culture must be care- the land and animals has become lucra- taining, encouraging and facilitating fully considered. To suggest that linguis- tive and prestigious for many elders and contact with the land can the distinc- tic diversity is an essential component hunters who are recognised as knowl- tive nature of Inuit knowledge be main- of cultural diversity fails to recognise the edgeable due to their frequent hunting tained. At present, the repackaging of a many diverse cultures of the world which and travelling, despite the limitations of previously experientially-based knowl- speak the same language. Furthermore, transmitting Inuit knowledge in this way edge system into discrete items of in- such assertions may be disempowering and the reservations of many Inuit about formation encoded in books and CDs and rather insulting to the many diverse these processes, as already discussed. runs the risk of precipitating one of the cultures, of which Inuit culture is just biggest shifts in Inuit knowledge pos- one, which have maintained their dis- Furthermore, in a community sible: a restructuring of Inuit concepts tinctiveness whilst adopting a colonial where jobs are limited and unemploy- of what it means to be knowledgeable, language. Such suppositions may there- ment levels are high, there can be few and how one should know the world.

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the labour market is one way in which Introduction the state finds it easier to recognise and value traditional knowledge. Elder with youth: Bakoya elder and youth, Mekambo commune, Gabon ‘Knowledge is power’ – or so goes the saying. This apparently is not the The United Nations’ agencies that are case in Africa, where rural hunter-gath- working in Africa can play a catalytic erer peoples are holders of complex role in mediating intercultural dialogue and unique knowledge of biological and helping the different actors recog- diversity but find themselves vulner- nise their mutual interests and ways of able as peoples, pressured into formal cooperating. To be effective, the differ- schooling, which reduces their knowl- ent agencies of the UN would benefit edge and competencies, and then ig- from a more coherent and consolidated nored or marginalised from external approach, focusing on the relationship efforts to conserve nature. between cultural diversity, human dig- nity, knowledge management, sustain- This paper explores the causality of able development and the monitoring threats to the intergenerational trans- and management of biological diversity. mission of biological diversity knowledge systems among hunter-gatherer peoples in Africa. I look at environmen- Terminology Note ©Nigel Crawhall tal and political issues which lead to indigenous peoples not transferring Two related concepts are in circula- knowledge between generations, and I tion internationally relating to knowl- have expressed hostility to the idea that consider some of the actions possible edge held by communities outside the certain citizens have associated them- to change the relationship between the framework of literacy and formal study. selves with international standards, state and indigenous peoples in Africa. These are Traditional Knowledge (TK), mechanisms and rights frameworks spe- a term which is used particularly by cific to indigenous peoples. However, A set of case studies provides examples the Convention on Biological Diversity there is a growing indigenous peoples’ of what is going on in different parts (CBD), and Indigenous Knowledge advocacy movement in Africa and it of Africa, exploring the types of know- Systems (IKS), which is more widely has the support of Africa’s regional hu- ledge that hunter-gatherers have and used in the UNESCO instruments. man rights body. In 2003, the African what they are doing to stabilise them- Commission on Human and Peoples’ selves and engage with the threats and In this paper, I use the term IKS, in Rights (ACHPR), the treaty and jurispru- opportunities in front of them. part because knowledge is not a collec- dence arm of the Charter and the African tion of facts but a system of thought Union adopted the report of its working I argue that the failure of the state, con- with its own internal logic and epis- group on indigenous communities. The servation agencies and indigenous peo- temology. Having said this, it is one ACHPR noted that the concept of ‘indig- ples to hear each other and recognise of the themes of this paper that all enous peoples’ as a rights category comes the importance and urgency of greater Africans are holders of various forms from the international system, but is ap- cooperation on monitoring and pro- of TK, whether they claim the status of plicable in Africa. There are internal cul- tecting both biodiversity and cultural indigenous peoples or not. The focus of tural and legal precedents for recognising diversity can be seen as a problem of this discussion is on rural IKS linked to that some Africans are particularly vul- intercultural dialogue. Improved facili- traditional economies that are or were nerable to human rights abuses because tation can lead to changes in relation- recently dependent on the successful of their distinctive economic and cul- ships and prejudices, and generate new sustainable use of natural resources. tural practices, in some cases related to ways to recognise and respect indige- being the first peoples of a territory. The nous knowledge systems (IKS). Linking The other issue is the use of the term African Charter on Human and Peoples IKS-related skills and competencies to ‘indigenous peoples’. Some African states Rights guarantees all African peoples the

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right of self-determination (within the out a compelling argument that glob- manner which they have done for cen- framework of the charter). ally, hunter-gatherers have been on the turies or even millennia. Either the bio- retreat since the start of agriculture. logical diversity itself is being destroyed Culturally, the concept of indig- Agricultural peoples have bigger fami- by outsiders, or the indigenous peoples enous or first peoples is not alien to lies and expand over large territories, are being dispossessed of their lands Africa. Some major African cultures and eventually transforming the landscape and no longer have access to their regu- languages have explicit terms for in- so that hunting and gathering becomes lar hunting and gathering territories. digenous peoples. In southern African unviable. In Africa, the tropical rain- Bantu languages there are terms such forests and deserts slow the advance IKS is passed on through usage and as Abathwa, Baroa, Batwa, Basarwa etc. of agriculture (Diamond 1997). It was cultural systems of apprenticeship. which are applied to a range of hunting during colonialism that hunter-gather- Where this is inhibited, the knowl- and gathering peoples. In East Africa, the ers became structurally marginalised. edge systems degrade. This is a central term Dorobo, derived from the Maa word The European powers concentrated on point in the CBD 2004 Addis Ababa Il Torobo, those without cattle, was ap- integrating food producing (and tax Guidelines on the Sustainable Usage of plied to hunter-gatherers of the region. producing) peoples into the education Natural Resources. In brief: use it or lose In the African context, even though the system, commodity economy and bu- it. The guidelines go on to note that term ‘indigenous’ came to Africa from reaucracy. These peoples later took over those who rely on natural resources are the international system, it should be the state system, with hunter-gatherers more likely to be good custodians of understood to describe certain margina- in practice left out of governance. these resources. Those with short term lised groups who actively seek support interests are the greatest threat. to redress their marginalisation while Globalisation, marginalisation asserting their rights to their language, from the agricultural state, centralised The CBD Secretariat has commis- culture and natural resource base. Unlike state planning and weak or poor man- sioned a series of regional papers and in the Americas, Australia or the Arctic, agement of natural resources put the a consolidated global report on the in Africa, those who are not claiming to very survival of hunter-gatherer peoples threats to TK transmission. For Africa, be indigenous are not by contrast ‘non- in question. Whereas once forests and a few main points merit elaboration. indigenous’ (a point often confused in deserts protected indigenous peoples, The most acute and devastating threats African discussions) but local peoples modern technology could overcome to knowledge systems arise from: who do not seek the specific policy rec- these barriers, creating new risks. ognition and protection necessary for Destruction of desert biological indigenous peoples. In traditional subsistence economies, • diversity (mostly by agriculture but also in a labour market, the most and overgrazing); Today, peoples claiming to be indig- valuable asset of hunter-gatherers is their enous in Africa are mostly those who knowledge of biological diversity. It is a Destruction of forest canopy have been living by hunting and gath- resource which has suddenly become • biodiversity (mostly by industry ering or by transhumant pastoralism. important at the United Nations level or agricultural encroachment); These are different peoples who have in discussions about climate change, de- evolved their cultures and subsistence sertification and monitoring and man- Reduction in rights or methods in particular ecological niches. aging biological diversity. Unless some- • opportunities to track and hunt thing substantial is done, the peoples (including alienation of resources and their knowledge will not survive to by protected areas); Causes of the threat assist in the global project of protecting to IKS maintenance the earth and its resources. Displacement from or serious • reduction of access to traditional All hunter-gatherer and post-hunter- The immediate cause of knowledge hunting-gathering and trans- gatherer peoples are ‘at risk’ as peoples loss is that indigenous peoples are humant herding territories in Africa. Jared Diamond, in his book being inhibited from regularly using (by agriculture, industry or Guns, Germs and Steel (1997), lays or managing natural resources in the protected areas).

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These issues vary according to the sub- In both East and Central Africa, ag- representation and very low levels region in Africa. In southern Africa, the ricultural peoples continue to experi- of education and organisational main problems arise from agro-pastoral- ence surging population numbers. In capacity, i.e. they are some of the ists and commercial farms encroaching the absence of effective state environ- most vulnerable people in Africa; on sensitive arid areas and destroying the mental policies and management, they natural biodiversity. The plant system is are invading and destroying forest Even large pastoralist communities overwhelmed by grazing domesticated areas. Indigenous peoples are highly • struggle to be included in policy ungulates, which kills off the resources vulnerable to these larger and usually making and implementation in for different birds, insects and mam- aggressive farmer communities.2 rural areas; mals. Traditional pastoralism involved wide ranges of transhumance, but land In 2006, the African Biodiversity There is a low interest in human alienation causes overstocking and com- Network (ABN) and the Indigenous • rights and democratic or efficient mercial farmers tend to keep their graz- Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Commi- governance in many African states; ing lands at the outer edge of capacity — ttee (IPACC) held a joint workshop on which becomes a crisis during drought. traditional knowledge and biodiversity Many African governments have The need to separate domestic stock in Nanyuki, Kenya. One of the conclu- • limited capacity to spend time in from wild animals has led to extensive sions was that there has been a knock- rural areas getting to know indi- fencing which interrupts migrations and on effect due to globalisation and poor genous communities and under- radically reduces the numbers of larger governance of resources in rural areas. standing how IKS can be supported; mammals, including predators. The food Commercialisation of agriculture and base for San hunters has consequently forestry is impacting negatively on sub- African education systems are been reduced dramatically in the last 50 sistence farmers; they are encroaching • remarkably resistant to change, years throughout the subcontinent. on the semi-arid lands of pastoralists innovations, or using local and and destroying the forests of the hunt- traditional IKS in meaningful ways In East and Central Africa the prob- er-gatherers. In turn, pastoralists are that can help fight poverty; lem is more related to forestry activities. pushed into more marginal lands and Commercial interests, legal and illegal, are displacing or assimilating hunter- Conservation organisations tend are removing large parts of the tropi- gatherers. In each case, there is a related • not to be competent in indigenous cal forests. The Mau Forest complex in loss of biodiversity, indigenous knowl- languages, and do not have the Kenya has been devastated by deforesta- edge systems and livelihoods. time, personnel or funding to tion, causing a collapse in the biodiversity spend adequate time with indige- and radically reducing water reserves nor- The damage to natural biological nous peoples to help them audit, mally stored in high altitude swamps and diversity is compounded by policy/ valorise, and apply IKS to nature springs. The Cheranganyi Forest is be- political problems, including: conservation and new livelihoods. coming the current focus of destruction. Donors are giving Kenya resources to ad- Non-recognition of indigenous Though the conditions for the degra- dress the corruption which is a driving • peoples by the state (despite the dation of IKS are almost entirely created force in deforestation. It is not clear that ACHPR decision of 2003 to by external forces (i.e. neighbouring peo- the government has the will or the capac- recognise indigenous peoples); ples, the state, the private sector) there ity to reverse the current trend. Within are negative sociological processes and this dangerous situation, Kenya still does Hunter-gatherers in particular inha- reactions found within hunter-gatherer not recognise the ethnic groups which • bit small remote rural communities communities. The cumulative impact of have traditionally hunted, gathered and with no voting power, no political these two preceding sets of conditions maintained the biodiversity of the for- means that at community level: Endorois, Northern Waata, Southern 1 ests, the so-called ‘Dorobo’ peoples. Waata, Yiaku, Aweer and Dahalo. 2 For a discussion on the interaction Adults and youth see hunting 1 This includes the Elmolo, who are of forest based hunter-gatherers and recognised by the state, and unrecognised • as something shameful and agricultural peoples in Central Africa, see peoples including the Sengwer, Ogiek, Bahuchet et al. 1982. possibly illegal;

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Youth are losing interest or oppor- • tunities to learn biodiversity IKS in A Hadza archer demonstrates his the normal way through daily technique, Yaeda valley, Tanzania hunting, gathering or herding; ©Nigel Crawhall

Elders lose confidence that their • knowledge is useful, and may not understand the new types of livelihoods which could be gained by youth with access to IKS; consultation with indigenous communities, and how knowledge systems are IKS is intangible and people do not maintained, transmitted and owned. • see how fast it is disintegrating; Hunter-gatherers typically Constant racial/ethnic bias and have flat social structures. Specialisa- • discrimination against indigenous tion of skills is gender and age specific; peoples make some of the youth it is not stratified in any kind of class or want to avoid IKS. hierarchal system. Everyone knows the same things, though some may be better at a certain skill than others. Even Knowing & understanding personal skill is de-emphasised for the sake of keeping social cohesion and A number of aspects of indigenous solidarity. An expert tracker is not the peoples’ knowledge systems are im- As stated by Leacock et al. (1982: 7–8) ‘a one who brags about his competence. portant for conservation and the sus- mode of subsistence per se is not a “mode of A great shaman is able to do what he tainable management of natural reproduction”. The latter includes not only does through the negation of his ego, sources. However, the way indigenous the means for making a living but also not by making it a central consider- peoples hold and manage knowledge the relationships involved... Similarities ation. This can confuse outsiders try- may differ substantially from the way among foragers include: egalitarian pat- ing to pinpoint sources of expertise. that dominant, particularly Western, terns of sharing; strong anti-authoritari- people expect to access, hear or under- anism; an emphasis on the importance One of the ways that learning and stand biodiversity expertise. of cooperation in conjunction with great knowing is maintained amongst hunter- respect for individuality, marked flex- gatherers is a constant sharing of knowl- Knowledge systems are located ibility in band membership and living edge and its collective management. within cultural systems. In the first arrangements generally; extremely per- Hunter-gatherers typically operate in instance, they are coded in languages missive child-rearing practices; and com- small bands that can fuse and fission which arose within particular ecosys- mon techniques of handling problems of easily. This alleviates possible conflict tems. In the case of hunter-gatherers, conflict and reinforcing group cohesion, situations, circulates genetic diversity, languages and speech behaviour are such as often-merciless teasing and jok- maintains identity, and minimises the structured to accommodate non-hierar- ing, endless talking, and the ritualisation ecological footprint of humans on the chical social systems where knowledge of potential antagonisms.’ environment (for a discussion on con- is evenly distributed. Social relations flict management see Lee 2003). are linguistically coded according to The failure to grasp the non-hierarchi- the specific local mode of subsistence cal, anti-authoritarian nature of hunter- The issue of how hunter-gatherers or production. Power relations are not gatherer and even post-hunter-gatherer memorise and transmit knowledge is coded in the same way in hunter-gath- societies often makes it difficult for poli- complex and important to reflect on. erer societies as compared with agricul- cy makers, conservationists and civil ser- Megan Biesele (1993) estimates that tural or commodity driven societies. vants to understand the entry points for the Ju|’hoan language and story telling

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Ostriches in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

could maintain up to 150 years of ex-

perience in the awareness of the com- ©Nigel Crawhall munity. Information is maintained to inform the band about different foods available under different climatic con- its target and blood spoor becomes the Three African cases ditions, as well as information on ani- focus. In each case there is a mutually mal and human behaviour in different reinforcing pattern of background in- times and places. formation and acute awareness of ani- On an escarpment over- mal behaviour and predictability. looking the Yaeda Valley, Folklore and other forms of nar- Northern Tanzania rative, for instance, provide a kind of Knowledge is coded to be applied scaffolding upon which explicit infor- at different times of the day, different Hadza men have identified a po- mation about resources can be vividly seasons of the year, over vast territo- tentially rich bee hive inside a tower- and memorably hung. The cognitive ries, in different annual climactic con- ing baobab tree. A teenager uses a ma- ability to represent situations removed ditions. This is also tied to reciprocal chete to prepare wooden stakes that he from the immediate sensory field is, as individual and family relations of ac- drives into the baobab to create a stair- point out by Robin Ridington (1978: 9) cess to water resources and hunting case. Others prepare a torch of smok- and others, basic to the social hunting rights. Genealogical relationships are ing leaves. The youth smokes the bees and gathering adaptation. Instead of thus important. When documenting to calm them, receiving encouraging seeing the symbol systems of hunter- ‡Khomani San genealogy in South words from below. He opens up the hive gatherers as superfluous aesthetic ac- Africa, we encountered an ‘illiterate’ and tosses down clods of honey soaked tivity, then, we ought to regard them grandmother who had memorised up wax combs. The youth leaves enough as enabling features of their adaptation to 500 genealogical relations in their combs intact for the bees to restart their (Biesele 1993: 42). community (Crawhall 2001). work and continue on undiscouraged.

Food and hunting stories are stitched Working between different cultur- The dripping hot honey is nutritious. It into flexible narrative forms which real systems requires an awareness of the is too rich for those not used to this diet. late knowledge of animal behaviour. dynamics of successful intercultural The Hadzabe show us four different types The ‘folk tales’ are cross referenced dialogue. It would be an incorrect as- of bees and sources of honey in this for- with the technical skills of the tracker. sumption, for example, to think that est. Our guide explains that the Hadzabe In the Kalahari, a set of imprints in the all rural African communities hold and people have no word for famine. sand can reveal an animal’s species, manage knowledge in the same way. sex, age, health, purpose of its journey, Whereas agricultural and herding whether it has young, and the time it In the next section, I consider three case peoples in the area have memorial stories passed within an hour or less. In the studies of hunter-gatherer peoples in dif- of starvation, the Hadzabe have always rainforest, the hunter is using marks ferent parts of Africa, faced with similar relied on a broad spectrum of foods that in the mud and signs left on the foli- problems of decreasing biodiversity, in- are abundant in Yaeda Valley, nutritious age. In the Tanzanian forest, tracking creasing threats from over-consumption food that is invisible to all other peoples is only used once an arrow has struck and severe ethnic discrimination. passing through this semi-arid area.

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Hadzabe their traditional resource territory has a well was sunk by a ‘development’ been reduced by 70 per cent. Some agency near the Mongo wa Mono, the The 1,000 Hadzabe are the aboriginal Hadzabe are now being drawn into wage local district administrative centre. The people of Tanzania (see Madsen 2000; labour and life in towns near the Yaeda area was rapidly occupied by pastoralists Woodburn 1997). They speak a click Valley. There, traditional knowledge is (see Dimmendaal 1989 for a review of language unrelated to any other lan- dying out quickly. However, in the val- hunter-gatherer ecology). guage (Sands 1998). Genetic research ley itself the Hadzabe have remained by Knight et al. (2003) has shown that active on their land despite pressures The Hadzabe are actively using their some of the Hadzabe have a unique and expansion from other peoples. IKS to create new livelihoods and af- genetic signature through their pa- firm their management of wildlife in ternal line (y-chromosomes) and ma- The Hadzabe put their survival down their reduced territory. They have made ternal line (mitochondrial DNA) that to two major factors. Tsetse flies carry the an important alliance with local eco- mark them as the second oldest people fatal cattle disease trypanosomiasis.3 The tourism ventures which have helped on earth, after the southern African tsetse barrier held back the migration of them gain legal control over the Yaeda Khoesan peoples. They have apparent- agro-pastoralist peoples into southern Valley as a community controlled na- ly maintained their cultural integrity Africa for centuries. The valley is par- ture conservancy. The Hadzabe are the for the last 60,000 to 90,000 years. ticularly infested and hence unattract- majority of the voters in this particular ive to surrounding Datoga and Maasai village administrative structure and the In the last century, the Hadzabe have peoples. Also, water is scarce in the val- national government is well disposed to been challenged by the encroachment ley. The Hadzabe rely on vegetable water promoting community based eco-tour- of rapidly expanding agricultural and sources and a few fresh water sources up ism. The Hadzabe formed the Ujamaa particularly pastoralist peoples who on the face of the escarpment. In 2003, Community Resource Trust and use the have themselves been displaced from 3 See http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/ eco-tourism profits made from visiting other areas. The Hadzabe estimate that 224/Trypano.html tourists to help pay their neighbours to keep out of the valley. The results are op- timistic, with the number of game starting to increase again in the territory.

The Tanzanian Government has remained resistant to the recognition of indigenous peoples as being vulnerable constituencies who require state support to protect their ecological context and to manage conflict with other levels of government, external parties and neighbouring communities. Overall Tanzania is still in a colonial and/or so- cialist paradigm of devaluing cultural diversity. Tanzania has over 120 languages but only allows Swahili and English to

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be used in formal schooling. Indigenous bladder, lungs, heart, heart ventricles, Xhara, a Naro elder and shaman, and local cultures are often represented in liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen (the lin- holding a tsamma melon, Nyae political discourse as ‘backwards’, ‘tribal’ guists stop to confer using their recollec- Nyae Conservancy, Namibia and ‘divisive’. Development is squarely tions of high school anatomy class, the located in an agricultural paradigm, grandmother continues). Grandmother even when it is evident that agricultural explains the names of the stomachs ©Nigel Crawhall peoples are unable to adequately man- and the bowel. All of the food trapped age the natural resource base. Overuse in the digestive track is not conceptually of agriculture and constriction of tran- the same. From here to here, we call it shumant pastoralism is rapidly leading n!ara, this is food. Below this point, it is to the silting of local water sources (such cxan, faeces. All faecal words in N|uu are as Lake Manyara), and extensive loss of marked with this sound ‘cx’. However, topsoil and soil productivity. this is a sheep, not a wild animal, so none of the stomach contents is really food. During an exchange visit between Rwandan Batwa Pygmies,4 ‡Khomani In the western Kalahari dialect of San from South Africa and the Hadzabe, N|uu, the term for ‘spiritual power’ or the participants acknowledged that the ‘life force’ is |qe. All living things are in- Hadzabe have the strongest cultural fused with |qe, everything from an oryx and environmental context for inter- to a mosquito, from a human to a leaf generational transmission of knowledge has |qe. Even certain physical sites in isolated language varieties. These groups (Crawhall 2004b). If any more powerful the desert have |qe, according to |Una identify themselves as San, Bushman, group manages to change the ecological Rooi. ‘The N|uu word for “ancestor” is Baroa, Basarwa, Ncoakhoe or by local or political conditions, it is likely that the same as “doctor”, !gaexa. The living names, such as Ju|’hoansi, ‡Khomani, the Hadzabe would disintegrate rapid- look to the dead to help them manage Hai||om, etc. (see Barnard 1992; Hitch- ly, in a manner seen with many other |qe for healing. This knowledge is not cock et al. 2004). hunter-gatherer Africans, including the just intergenerational; it binds together Akie, Aasáx, ||Xegwi and others. the past, the present and the future. |Qe At the time of contact with Europe, does not belong to us, it is dangerous, South Africa was populated by San and can only be temporarily loaned for people who spoke languages from the In the water-scarce healing.’ The ‡Khomani people have Southern Khoesan language family southern Kalahari used the concept of |qe, life force, to (also called !Ui-Taa), almost all of these Desert, South Africa help them cope with the AIDS epidem- from a single sub-branch known as !Ui. ic which reached them after 2000.5 It was these !Ui speaking groups who The San man draws his knife along appear to have been the original oc- the abdomen of the freshly slaughtered ‡Khomani San cupants of the southern Kalahari and sheep. A N|uu speaking grandmother Karoo deserts (Crawhall 2003). narrates the process into a microphone The term ‘San’ is applied to most hunt- for the benefit of two linguists. She is ing and gathering peoples of southern Today there is only one !Ui language only one of twelve speakers of this an- Africa, even though they speak differ- left, which is N|uu, a language spo- cient !Ui-Taa language, a language family ent languages and sometimes have ken by eleven ‡Khomani elders living that is now almost extinct. The vocabu- quite different cultures. Today, there are in Siyanda District, Northern Cape lary comes flowing out: skin, fat, blood, about 100,000 San people in southern Province. Language loss is part of the fascia, large intestine, small intestine, gall Africa, from distinct communities us- pattern of the collapse of hunter-gath- 4 The term ‘Pygmy’ is used in some ing over thirty Khoesan languages from erer economies, particularly in south- countries and found pejorative in others. three language families plus several ern Africa (Crawhall 2005). The larger No offence is intended. Where possible I ‡Khomani community consists of about use the local names which communities 5 See http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ use for themselves. images/0014/001464/146436e.pdf 1000 people, mostly speaking Afrikaans

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and Khoekhoegowab, the languages of All other San were driven out to work With the successful 1999 land claim, the dominant peoples who migrated as cheap labour on local farms. During the ‡Khomani community regained into the area. apartheid the San who remained in the the possibility of being on the land. A park experienced increasing degrada- number of older people in the commu- The southern Kalahari, a desert region tion and humiliation. Among other nity were still highly knowledgeable with no surface water some 300 km things all San people were classified as about animal and bush life. However, north of the Orange River, remained rel- ‘mixed race’. The few San that remained the knowledge was fractured and the atively out of reach of settlers until the in the park were expelled in 1972. community dispersed over a wide ter- 19th century. From the 1860s onwards ritory. With the support of the South Baster and ‘coloured’ (i.e. mixed race) In 1995, the core surviving San group African San Institute (SASI) and British settlers moved into the San territory. came into contact with a human rights NGO Open Channels, the leading There were also !Gorakhoe (Koranas) lawyer, who explained the new land San environmentalist Karel ‘VetPiet’ and Batlharo (Tswana) people along laws that gave them the right to restitu- Kleinman took up the challenge to the Orange River with whom the San tion for the losses they had experienced teach tracking and ecology to a new probably had some interaction. Many since 1913. A land claim was launched generation of San who had grown up San groups were displaced during this with the help of the South African San in squatter settlements and towns. period of internal colonisation. Institute (SASI) that was successful in 1999. Some 40,000 hectares of land out- The ‡Khomani are attempting to sal- In the 1920s, the southern Kalahari San side the national park has been given to vage their knowledge system by creat- were in crisis due to the alienation of the San. A further 25,000 hectares inside ing new forms of education and train- land, severe restrictions to their mobil- the park was returned to the ‡Khomani ing. They have the only indigenous ity in a fragile desert ecosystem and the San in 2002. The amalgam of differ- run project in Africa for using IKS to famine caused by over-hunting by set- ent people of San ancestry adopted the train trackers who can get national cer- tlers. In 1931 the government declared name ‡Khomani to represent the identification. Similarly, young women are a national park on their traditional ter- tity of their newly reunited community. learning oral history and getting quali- ritory. Lobbying by national parks and fied as tour guides. settler farmers was able to influence the During the forty years of displace- parliament to suppress recognition of ment and abuse, the San lost most of Whereas everything would have the San as rights holders. their ancestral languages and major originally been learned through expe- aspects of their traditional knowl- rientially hunting and gathering, now During the 1940s the few San still edge. Their faith system was singled youth are learning in a mixed format living in the park as labourers were al- out for destruction by fundamental- of overt didactic instruction and be- lowed to hunt and gather there as well ist Christian settlers who saw the San ing on the land with elders. They are as assist with conservation and tracking. ancestor animism (and their langua- becoming ‘literate’ in the educational ges) as pagan and evil. Most San aban- systems available to them. The moti- doned not only their faith system but vation is linked to entry into the wage also much of their medicinal and heal- economy reinforced by national certi- ing knowledge (Crawhall 2004a). fication of their specialised skills. ©Nigel Crawhall

Being displaced from the land meant that families could not hunt together A small village in the Traditional ‡Khomani leader, Dawid or gather plants. The state claimed the equatorial rainforest, Kruiper. Welkom, South Africa ownership of all animals, or wildlife be- northern Gabon came the private property of the settler farmers. The most important practice I ask the famous Baka healer, Papa for learning about biodiversity and eco- Nze, about literacy and education. Are A traditional ‡Khomani leader, Dawid systems was made illegal, demonised these important for the Baka? Helene Kruiper, in Welkom, South Africa and persecuted (Skotnes 1996: 274). Nze translates the question from

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French to Baka for Papa Nze, who is Nze and his family sing polyphonically. Gabon is dropping off and the govern- partly deaf these days. Helene is one of They invite the ancestors and forest ge- ment and private sector are looking for the few Gabonese Baka who has a high nies to share some of their ageless wis- other areas of revenue. One of these is school education and now lives in the dom. The chain of learning and know- forestry. Gabon is committed to sus- city. Papa’s family surrounds him in ing crosses from this world through tainable logging of its equatorial for- the communal shelter. He considers time and space into the world of the ests. Though selective and sustainable the question. Papa Nze replies: ‘They ancestors and future generations. The logging is better than clear cutting, it tell us we should go to school. Reading healing can begin. The forest is not a still has a major impact on biodiversity and writing are useful. The school is resource for today, it is forever. and puts indigenous peoples at risk. far from here. When Baka children go Disruption of the canopy of virgin for- to school far away, then they cannot Bakoya, Babongo & est alters the light and temperature in come back to the forest. They do not Baka ‘Pygmies’ — Gabon the forest, having a major impact on biodiversity. Secondly, Gabon has limited resources to monitor what foreign Babongo girls in Digha village, forestry companies really do. Ikobey commune, Gabon ©Nigel Crawhall During an IPACC mission to Gabon in March 2005, we listened to testimonies by national parks staff and indigenous peoples about the immense damage done the previous year by a know the names of things. They do Malaysian logging company. The local not know where to find food. They do people thought that jobs would come not know about the healing ways. We with the Malaysian companies. The have a school. The forest is our school, jobs were few and indigenous people our ancestors are our teachers.’ There are three major indigenous were always last to be considered. The communities living in Gabon. They company sliced up the forest, built Later, conservation managers con- are in various stages of being sedenta- major roads which accelerated outside firm what we have heard. To be hired rised by external forces. The Bakoya are commercial hunting and caused erosion as an eco-guard you need a high school mostly settled in villages where they and degradation of the forest. When the leaving certificate to ensure literacy live in ‘client’ like relations with more Malaysians were asked to leave by the in French. In practice, those with the dominant Bantu communities. The government, they allegedly increased certificates are lucky if they can name other two peoples live both in perma- their culling of trees, this time also tak- more than three trees in the endless nent village settlements, but also in the ing out the protected sacred trees of the forest. The conservationists prefer if bush, off the road system. The forest indigenous people. The Babongo people possible to work with so called ‘illiter- Babongo and Baka dress like other rural were traumatised to find sacred trees, ate’ Baka who can melt into the forest, African peoples, but they live mostly off resting places of their ancestors and with extraordinary skills, stamina and forest products, including wild meat, sites of great ritual importance, wiped knowledge that turn scientists into honey, fruit, roots and other plants. out by the foreign companies. children. For the Baka and other indig- They sometimes have small manioc enous people, the forest is their home, and banana gardens under cultivation The indigenous peoples in Gabon their university, their dispensary, their (for overview see Knight 2003). technically do not have land rights. All cathedral and their larder. They know forest lands belong to the state, part of and respect its myriad of secrets. The biggest impact on indigenous the French colonial legacy in Central peoples has been logging. Gabon’s Africa. They have the right to apply for That night an intricate rhythm is gross domestic product grew strongly certain community based conservancies. tapped out on bamboo poles, hands over two decades thanks to substantial However, as indigenous people do not clap and leg rattles reverberate. Papa oil reserves. Now, the oil production of hold any positions in local government,

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village chiefs are always Bantu. It makes in cooperation with WWF and the the externally imposed principle that it almost impossible for indigenous peo- Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is nature and people may not coexist in ple to follow the official channels (see looking at ways in which local commu- protected areas. Jackson 2005). nities, including indigenous peoples, can benefit financially from the pres- The manager of WWF in Gabon ex- The creation of the national parks in ence of the national parks. Some op- plained that the goal of the national Gabon and the likely application of tions include eco-tourism, guiding, an- park process was not to stop people World Bank Operational Directive 4.20 ti-poaching and research assistance. A from subsistence hunting and continu- (now 4.1), which requires participat- few Baka have already been employed ing cultural practices. Rather, the aim ing countries to develop an Indigenous as forest guides and are involved in go- was to overcome the lucrative poach- Peoples Development Plan (IPDP) that rilla tracking and habituation. ing of ivory and the uncontrolled addresses the equitable involvement logging and mining that were both of indigenous peoples in the Forest Most of the indigenous people that destroying the environment but also Environment Sector Programme (FESP), IPACC interviewed felt that nature con- greatly increasing commercial hunt- are likely to bring to the surface the unre- servation was in keeping with their cul- ers’ access to bush meat that was being solved issues of Pygmy access to natural tural and spiritual values (see also Posey taken back to the cities for sale. resources and the conservation of their 1999). They had seen with their own territories (Schmidt-Soltau 2005). Most eyes that logging brought much more All indicators are that human popu- of the indigenous peoples interviewed by harm than good. At the same time, lation increase, weak governance sys- IPACC in 2005 were not clear on where Baka people were quite concerned that tems, global warming and extractive in- they were allowed to hunt, if at all. the regulations around national parks dustries such as logging and mining are might substantially reduce their rights posing a grave risk to the forests of the The Government of Gabon has em- to the resource base of their livelihoods. Congo Basin, the second largest contin- phasised the importance of respecting Minor access to the cash economy could uous forest track on Earth, and one of cultural diversity and maintaining ritu- not be considered adequate compensa- the most important lungs for the plan- als and rites, such as the annual hunting tion. The ability to feed one’s family, et. Here would be an ideal opportunity of an elephant by Baka to lift mourning collect medicine and practice tradition- for indigenous peoples, international for the deceased. Gabon’s Government, al animist rites were all threatened by agencies and African states to work as a team, seeking creative solutions that benefit all parties and the planet.

The case studies reveal communities in different situations of displacement from natural resources, and the related integrity of knowledge systems. All of them are at risk. The ‡Khomani lost everything and have a second chance

Baka children eating in a hut, Doumassi village, northern Gabon

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partners with national parks, they had only a vague idea how the parliament Kabuys and Betty Kruiper with family, Kagga Kamma, South Africa operates and decisions are made about protected areas, and they rarely knew that the United Nations existed or that there were international agreements related to human rights, indigenous peoples or the environment.

with a supportive legal and political Evidently, in each case, there is a framework but little help in terms of need for greater dialogue between the practical support for IKS management. state and its indigenous citizens. The The key issue is that they recognise that question is, who is going to facilitate they are holders of knowledge which is that process? How are two different a resource they can tap. The Hadzabe perceptions about roles and power, dif- ©Nigel Crawhall are rich in knowledge, a healthy society, ferent languages and ways of knowing, but live on a knife edge without much two different views of nature and natu- legal security in a fairly hostile political in which this knowledge of hunter-gath- ral resources going to be communicat- setting. The Baka have more physical se- erers is practiced. These are peoples who ed so that they are understandable by curity, but there are signs that the forest have not been caught up in the cash bureaucrats and villagers? is going to be cut down and the Baka are and commodity economy to the same becoming sedentary and experiencing degree as dominant peoples. They have knowledge loss and growing poverty. the possibility of a sustainable relation- United Nations’ ship with the natural resource base in Reaction & Actions In each case, the community is rich in their territories. Government planning knowledge. Where the community is us- is often anchored in paradigms that The United Nations system is primar- ing natural resources, the IKS is being ef- are related to earning incomes, having ily a space where member states come fectively used, managed and transferred. employment, getting qualifications that together to make decisions and focus on Where people lose their land tenure or will get you that employment, economic strategies for addressing world problems. experience displacement, knowledge growth and unsustainable consumption As the UN has grown over the last de- ceases to transfer and will wither. of resources. The hierarchy of govern- cades, its agencies have taken on a more ment often excludes hunter-gatherers, important role in strengthening good In all cases, the official state policy sometimes due to ethnic discrimination, governance by being intermediaries or should be engaging and supporting these but equally due to them ‘not fitting in’, catalysts for greater communication be- communities. All three states are signa- not having the same opportunities or tween citizens and the state, promoting tories to the Convention on Biological not having the same qualifications. The universal standards, and making con- Diversity (CBD). Though Tanzania has Hadzabe are the only community that nections between the civil society and some reservations about cultural diver- have managed to embed themselves in the multilateral system. A number of sity, it generally encourages local com- some kind of local government. UN agencies have important functions munities to promote protection of the in relation to threats to the environ- environment. Gabon and South Africa In the interviews and workshops I con- ment and to the custodians of cultural are both countries that affirm and value ducted in the course of my work with and biological diversity. their cultural and biological diversity. the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co- ordinating Committee (IPACC) I have The United Nations has been attempt- Evidently there is a gap — a problem observed that many of the hunter-gath- ing to promote awareness of indige- of aligning interests, actions and policies. erers living in or next to protected areas nous peoples’ issues for several decades. Part of this problem has to do with the were not aware of national policies on In the early 1990s, several events coin- different cultural and economic systems biodiversity. They were not equitable cided to boost indigenous visibility and

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participation in the multilateral system. Article 8(j) people in all aspects of conservation These included the ‘Earth Summit’ in Subject to its national legislation, respect, and defining sustainable strategies hints Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and the start of preserve and maintain knowledge, innova- at the similarity of the forces that are the UN’s First International Decade of tions and practices of indigenous and local threatening both the world’s environ- communities embodying traditional life- the World’s Indigenous Peoples in 1995. styles for the conservation and sustainable ments and its first peoples. use of biological diversity and promote At the 1992 UN Conference on Envi- their wider application with the approval The UNCED/WSSD platforms have and involvement of the holders of such ronment and Development (UNCED) knowledge, innovations and practices highlighted that the survival of indig- conservationists and indigenous peoples and encourage the equitable sharing of enous peoples’ knowledge systems, cul- found each other and realised that they benefits arising from the utilisation of such tures, languages and livelihoods are di- knowledge, innovations and practices. had a common cause. The Rio ‘Earth rectly related to the protection of the Summit’ Conference adopted a number environment and biological diversity, as of environmental instruments, guide- Article 10(c) well as securing and maintaining rights to lines and action plans. Three interlock- Protect and encourage customary use of land and natural resource management. ing conventions were adopted to try to biological resources in accordance with address the grave threats to the environ- traditional cultural practices that are com- The other major agency in the United patible with conservation or sustainable ment; these include the Convention on use requirements. Nations system dealing with knowledge Biological Diversity (CBD), the Conven- management is the UN Educational, tion to Combat Desertification (CCD), There has been a strong involvement Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Framework Convention on of indigenous peoples in the work of the (UNESCO). UNESCO’s General Confe- Climate Change (FCCC). 8(j) working group and the Conference rence only adopted a framework agree- of Parties (COP), notably through the ment on cooperation with indigenous The alliance between indigenous peo- work of the International Indigenous peoples once it had started to adopt its ples of Latin America and environmen- Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB). A further normative instruments on cultural di- talists ensured that indigenous peoples document emerged from the CBD that versity. UNESCO is still strongly driven were recognised as a ‘major group’ in emphasises the most important princi- by member state agendas without high relation to the Rio Conventions, and ple in the protection and management level involvement by civil society and the Convention on Biological Diversity of indigenous IKS — namely that the indigenous peoples. (CBD) in particular. The Conventions practice of natural resource usage and were supplemented with Agenda 21, management by local and indigenous IPACC is cooperating with UNESCO’s a comprehensive plan of action to be peoples is the basis for intergenerational Division for Cultural Policies and taken globally, nationally and locally by transfer of IKS related to biological diver- Intercultural Dialogue, as well as the United Nations bodies, states and major sity. This is embodied in the 2004 Addis inter-division team working on the groups in every area in which human be- Ababa principles and guidelines for the sus- Decade of Education for Sustainable ings impact on the environment. Agenda tainable use of biodiversity. Development. UNESCO is interested 21 was refreshed with specific calls for in how participatory cultural map- strengthening the role of major stake- Ten years after Rio, the 2002 World ping can be a tool to help communi- holders including indigenous peoples.6 Summit on Sustainable Development ties engage with the Convention for (WSSD) in Johannesburg re-affirmed the Safeguarding of the Intangible Of the three conventions, the CBD and amplified the importance of the Cultural Heritage (2003) and the is the most explicit about the role of partnership between states, conservation Convention on the Protection and indigenous peoples. The Convention agencies and indigenous peoples. The Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural on Biological Diversity includes two full implementation of Agenda 21, the Expressions (2005).7 articles that promote a partnership to Programme for Further Implementation save the planet. Signatory states agree of Agenda 21 and the Commitments 7 Two papers related to participatory to comply with the following: to the Rio Principles were strongly reaf- cultural mapping and modelling were pro- firmed at the WSSD. The realisation of duced by the UNESCO Division on Cultural 6 See http://www.iisd.org/rio+5/agenda/ Policies and Intercultural Dialogue. These chp26.htm the importance of involving indigenous are online on the UNESCO Culture website.

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The 2003 convention in particular sense that a single hunter is not a single African governments, major conserva- provides an important interface with species specialist but a specialist in a tion agencies and indigenous peoples the goals of Article 8(j) of the CBD, as range of plant, animal, insect and bird to the urgent tasks of reversing the de- well as components of FCCC and CCD. species. They also do not see the mod- cline of African biodiversity IKS, and It is possible to link the audit/inventory ern applications of IKS and how easily putting it to work in Africa. requirements of the 2003 convention it can be supported with Information with the IKS auditing/inventory oppor- Communication Technology (ICTs), tunities presented in the CBD and cur- including geographic information sys- New approaches to policy rent reports on IKS management. tems and complex data capturing tools such as the Cybertracker.8 At the UN Permanent Forum and in UNESCO has the benefit of linking the CBD process, indigenous peoples education with communications and The true value of IKS is apparently of the planet have been asserting their technology, with cultural policies and not evident to African governments. rights to their territories, their natu- science. In February 2006, UNESCO’s Following interventions at the UN ral resources, their self-determination regional office in Havana, Cuba or- meetings, awareness of the value of IKS and their right to free, prior and in- ganised a Latin American conference seems to be more prevalent in Europe formed consent. These are all laud- on the conventions and best practices and Japan than it is in Africa – despite able standards, but in Africa we have of cultural inventories of intangible Africa having many more diverse in- a situation where states are reluctant heritage, including the use of cultural tact or semi-intact knowledge systems to even recognise indigenous peoples, mapping. The issues raised in the CBD than other continents. The Republic of let alone acknowledge that they are study of threats and opportunities for South Africa has reacted to the patent rights-holders. TK among indigenous peoples natural- claims on Hoodia gordonii and is mov- ly overlaps with state projects stimu- ing rapidly to adopt legislation on ac- A more strategic approach to winning lated by UNESCO to comply with the cess and benefit sharing. However, at over African states may be necessary. 2003 and 2005 conventions as well as the time of preparing this paper there The resistance by some African states the Universal Declaration. had still been no joint consultation to recognising indigenous peoples can between government departments on possibly be circumvented by empha- Other UN agencies are also influen- identifying traditional knowledge of sising that all African TK is a resource tial in Africa. The UN Environment Pro- biodiversity, threats to TK/IKS, or how in national development and good TK/ gramme has its headquarters in Nairobi to interpret and implement Article 8(j) IKS management can contribute to ad- and cooperates with the UN Develop- and 10(c) of the CBD. vancing science, tourism and nature ment Programme to support on the conservation. If the word ‘indigenous’ ground projects around the continent. Greater communication between is the problem, this can be temporarily CBD, CCD, FCCC, UNEP, UNDP, put to one side. Traditional knowledge Application of indigenous knowl- IFAD, FAO, WHO and UNESCO on of biodiversity is widespread in Africa, edge systems to national develop- the theme of IKS management, pro- though it is evidently of different com- ment and environmental issues is the tection, assessment, certification/for- plexity and accuracy. If governments greatest resource available to African malisation and its integration into can accept that African traditional hunter-gatherers. Most governments livelihood and conservation projects knowledge systems are a major re- which persecute or marginalise hunter- could shift African decision-makers’ source for dealing with environmental gatherers tend to justify their actions by opinions. A concerted inter-agency threats and creating sustainable liveli- arguing that this way of life is a back- approach could positively influence hoods, then it is a natural progression wards activity, embarrassing to modern to recognising that knowledge systems Africans. They fail to grasp that the IKS 8 Cybertracker is a combined GPS/palm- are themselves rooted in ecosystems pilot technology and software developed is more sophisticated than their nation- by Louis Liebenberg of the Cybertracker and livelihoods. The right of indig- al secondary school curriculum, and of- Foundation. It allows illiterate yet skilled enous peoples to survive is part of the ten more sophisticated than what uni- trackers to capture complex data about equation of sustainably using cultural animal movements, behaviour, tracks and versities are able to generate — in the other elements of biodiversity. diversity and biodiversity.

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Pilot projects to promote tification, plant identification and Elders must be integrally involved IKS usage & recognition animal behaviour can all be assessed • with young people in planning and certified according to national how TK can be transmitted, to help IPACC has been exploring some new and international standards. This set standards for assessment, and to partnerships to create forums where helps the government and private attach their values and wisdom to indigenous peoples in different sub- sector value TK and integrate it the application of TK in projects regions of Africa can carry out partici- more easily into sector planning; with external partners. patory auditing of biodiversity IKS and establish realisable action plans to pro- Participatory cultural mapping, IPACC’s partner in participatory 3D mote intergenerational transfer. • including 3D modelling, creates modelling is the Centre for Technical opportunities for youth and elders Agricultural Cooperation with Rural Some priorities that have emerged to work together in making tacit Areas (CTA). IPACC’s partner on the include: intangible knowledge more visible assessment and certification of tra- and anchored in the landscape; ditional knowledge of tracking is the IKS competency and skills need to Cybertracker Foundation. • be formally recognised. Currently, Youth can use mapping to bridge only formal schooling is recog- • technology divides — linking IKS nised in relation to employment to GIS capacity, and in so doing in the conservation/tourism sector increase recognition and respect or as expert knowledge for research from the state, conservation organi- and training. Tracking, spoor iden- sations and dominant communities; Wodaabe dancers, Agadez, Niger ©Nigel Crawhall

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CTA funded the Environmental understand for government officials, Recycling knowledge Research Mapping and Information educators and conservation agencies. Acacia erioloba, or !u, on the Systems (ERMIS Africa) to help the An important concept in managing border of South Africa, Ogiek people of Nessuit map their As Rachel Olson, a First Nations threatened IKS among hunter-gather- Namibia and Botswana memories of the forest and natural Canadian researcher, noted in the ers is that of ‘recycling knowledge’. If and cultural resources of the Mau UNESCO workshop on participatory and IKS exists in a cultural, ecological and Escarpment. The experience has been cultural mapping in November 2006: economic context where learning and documented in a number of reports Native Canadians were once tricked out apprenticeship are tied to the regular and publications (see Rambaldi et al. of their land by not having the same type and sustainable use of natural resourc- 2007). The most significant point is of literacy as the European colonisers. For es, then disconnection from the land that IKS was degenerating rapidly Native Canadians today, competence in and economy can spell death for both amongst the Ogiek, directly as a result GIS is part of being indigenous, part of the community and their IKS. of the destruction of the forest and their way of managing their own knowl- their loss of land to unsustainable for- edge and setting the facts straight when In both the case of the ‡Khomani estry and encroachment by farmers. dealing with government. Through tech- people of South Africa and the Ogiek of The 3D modelling allowed elders and nology, aboriginal Canadians are em- Kenya, the hunting–gathering economy youth to work together, using their powered to link their IKS with rights and has generally collapsed. Destruction of own language and intellectual system, natural resource management systems. biodiversity and land alienation means to make visible and explicit what oth- it is difficult for young people, especially erwise would have been invisible and CTA and IPACC are working on a those now in urban areas, to spend time tacit. A number of indigenous peoples number of Participatory 3D Modelling in the bush learning the IKS in context. attended the training and there is a lot (P3DM) projects which are targeted at of interest in how mapping and vari- strengthening the mutual understand- However, this does not mean that ous participatory methods can be used ing between indigenous communi- the IKS is lost or cannot be recon- as media to build a common purpose ties, conservation agencies, ministries textualised for a new purpose. The in indigenous communities in Africa, of the environment and the school ‡Khomani community has spent sev- but also to create GIS maps, models system. This initiative is supported eral years looking at how IKS and cul- and other tangible platforms for mak- by UNESCO’s Division for Cultural tural resources can be documented, ing their knowledge systems easier to Policies and Intercultural Dialogue. shared, and converted into new livelihood opportunities. Oral history and geographic place names were a major resource in their land claim. Now they

©Nigel Crawhall are using IKS to create jobs in tourism and conservation — mostly related to tracking and guiding. Similarly, though the Ogiek do not appear to hunt and gather regularly, that knowledge system is very much present in the older generation. The P3DM exercise helped expose young Ogiek to the sophistication

Sengwer hut, Kapolet, Western Kenya

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of the topological, toponymic, botanic, hydrologic and geographic information existing in their communities.

Support to indigenous communities, and the all important partnerships with conservation and technology partners, can allow young indigenous peoples to learn IKS from elders and re-apply it in new and useful ways. The value and the shape of the IKS will be transformed by new applications, but it is a much wiser African governments are not gen- standard high-school leaving certifi- approach than abandoning intellectual erating assessment and certification cates to establish the competence of and cultural resources in the face of dis- methods for IKS. They are struggling their employees. This habit can be re- crimination and marginalisation. with existing formal education de- versed by creating assessment standards livery, let alone important reforms to which emphasise real knowledge and merge African knowledge systems with skills related to biodiversity rather than Formalising IKS schooling. Considering the southern basic literacy and irrelevant school recognition African situation, which is similar to certificates. African bureaucrats have a East and Central Africa, governments general idea of what IKS involves, but In southern Africa, the IPACC network are willing to let the civil society and in terms of legislation and the public is emphasising the issue of formalising/ the private sector come up with the as- service standards, they need IKS to be certifying certain types of indigenous sessment protocols and standards for measurable and certifiable before they knowledge. Tracking, for example, is certification. They still need to be lob- can convert this into equivalences wor- both a traditional skill and an employ- bied to even understand that formalis- thy of employment. able profession. Currently, it is easier for ing IKS is a step in the right direction. people of European descent to get cer- In September 2006, IPACC cooper- tified as there is a bias towards people One example of where certification ated with Cybertracker Conservation with wealth and education. However, and formalisation could have a trans- and WWF Namibia to run a workshop Louis Liebenberg, of the Cybertracker formative impact is in protected areas. on the assessment and certification Conservation, has demonstrated that Indigenous peoples in Africa struggle of the traditional knowledge of track- talented traditionally-educated San to be employed in national parks, even ing. San trackers from three countries trackers tend to have higher skill levels when they evidently have higher com- attended the workshop in a bush and a broader base of knowledge than petence in species identification, track- camp in Nyae Nyae Conservancy, Sengwer hut, Kapolet, Western Kenya some senior non-indigenous trackers. ing, spoor recognition, understand- outside Tsumkwe, Namibia (IPACC Reliable assessment of IKS, in this case ing of animal behaviour and so forth. 2007). The workshop was opened tracking, helps render visible the com- Usually the problem is that the indig- by the Namibian Deputy Minister of plexity of both knowledge and skills, enous youth do not have high school the Environment and Tourism, who and makes the indigenous standards leaving diplomas. National parks and emphasised the importance of local the norm for certification. major conservation agencies rely on initiatives to conserve knowledge

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and help apply it in protecting the environment, and creating new livelihoods through conservation and tourism. The Tsumkwe workshop concluded that San people need to have more intergenerational dialogue about knowledge transfer, and that young people need partnerships with NGOs to convert traditional knowledge into recognised qualifications to create jobs and have more of a role in managing their traditional territories. CBD and CCD with support from the Global Environment protected areas and conservation agen- cooperative relationships between protect- Facility (GEF) are creating new oppor- cies is fairly negative. Indigenous peo- ed areas and local peoples. The most well tunities for cooperation between the ples have been expelled from or had documented of these was the Campfire state, the private sector, communities their rights seriously reduced in some Programme in Zimbabwe which created and conservation agencies. of the most famous national parks financial incentives for conservation. A on the continent: the Hai||om from quieter but more sustainable effort has Etosha; the Naro, |Gwi and ||Gana been made by Namibia with its commu- Role of conservation from Central Kalahari Game Reserve; nity based conservancies which include agencies the ‡Khomani and !Kung from three conservancies on San lands which Kalahari Gemsbok Parks; the Maasai benefit these communities while allowing One of Africa’s great resources in the and Barabaig from Serengeti and them to continue hunting. 21st century is its biodiversity and na- Ngorongoro, and the Batwa from most tional parks. National parks generate of the parks in the Great Lakes includ- The winds of change were expressed important tourism revenue and a forum ing the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, at the 5th World Parks Congress in for north–south exchange of skills and Parc National des Volcans, Virunga 2003, in Durban, South Africa, where resources. Developed countries of the National Park, Kahuzi-Biéga, Nyungwe delegates affirmed a new vision of part- north are willing to make some resourc- and Kagera National Parks (See Jackson nerships around national parks. The es available to help Africa conserve these 2005). This is not counting all of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in complex and vulnerable spaces. Almost other local peoples who have been dis- Bangkok in 2004, adopted Resolution all African governments recognise the possessed. Indigenous peoples, due to 081, which included the following growing value of protected areas. their low social status and limited for- wording (IUCN 2004): mal education are almost completely There are many conservation agen- excluded from any future relationship ‘In recalling the outcomes of the World cies in Africa, both local and inter- with the parks system. Parks Congress, the resolution takes ac- national. They have different styles of count of the fact that at the Vth World management and reputations. Overall, There are counter-examples, and Africa Parks Congress held in Durban, South the history of indigenous peoples, has been at the forefront of exploring Africa 2003 the Congress inter alia:

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Adopted a new paradigm on is increasingly informing the Western Without concerted interventions • protected areas that respects world’s engagement with Africa. Yet, and a paradigm shift, we can predict indigenous rights; it is not clear that a rights based ap- that hunter-gatherer economies will all proach is adequate to transform rela- eventually collapse and the sophisticat- Called on the CBD to ensure that tions between hunter-gatherers and ed knowledge held by the elders of these • indigenous peoples fully partici- the central state, not to mention the communities will die out with them. It pate in the establishment and global economic markets and multina- is clearly not in the interest of the plan- management of protected areas; tional companies extracting resources et to eradicate IKS that was born in bio- from Africa. diverse ecosystems and would be a vital Called a halt to forced resettle- resource in monitoring and conserving • ment and involuntary seden- The daily life of hunter-gatherers in re- natural resources. Yet, it is not clear terisation of indigenous peoples lation to national parks remains one of who will create the platforms to change without their free prior and anxiety, dispossession, humiliation and the perceptions and relations between informed consent; uncertainty. To summarise IPACC’s ex- states and hunter-gatherer peoples, and perience in Africa: the less formal (and between conservation agencies and in- Encouraged national reviews remote) the conservation arrangements, digenous peoples. • of innovative governance for the better for the local people but the protected areas; more vulnerable to outside encroach- The first UN International Decade on ment; the more formalised the protected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples placed Called for participatory area arrangements the less accessible to most of its emphasis on human and civ- • mechanisms for the restitution of indigenous peoples. This is something il rights of indigenous peoples. Though indigenous lands that were which needs serious attention by the human rights is an important and on- incorporated into protected areas conservation agencies. They are weak- going process, it needs to be recognised without their free, prior and ening their own ability to monitor bio- that this topic is not of much interest informed consent, by 2010; diversity by displacing hunter-gatherers to the powerful consumers of resources from their own territories and/or treat- in Africa. Saugestad (2001) argues that Urged the setting up of a Truth ing them as if they are ignorant. the Botswana state is not inherently • and Reconciliation Commission undemocratic or opposed to human on Indigenous Peoples and rights, it is rather that the ‘problem’ of protected areas.’ Conclusion: facilitating the San sits outside the elites’ paradigm intercultural dialogue of governance and development, and IUCN has also recommended to the thus becomes ‘inconvenient’. Conference of Parties (COP) of the CBD Hunter-gatherer peoples have that it endorse the proposed Akwé: Kon been rendered vulnerable due to envi- Globalisation, it can be argued, voluntary guidelines for the conduct of cul- ronmental changes and political mar- weakens the state’s ability to protect its tural, environmental, and social impact as- ginalisation. Unsustainable expansion citizenry from abuses by industries, par- sessment regarding developments proposed of agriculture into forests and arid lands ticularly in remote rural areas and with to take place on, or which are likely to im- has destroyed the biodiversity necessary endemic corruption. Hunter-gatherers pact on, sacred sites and on lands and waters for hunter-gatherers and now the com- are small minorities that are not usu- traditionally occupied or used by indigenous mercial extraction of natural resources. ally even acknowledged as distinct and local communities (IUCN 2004). Colonialism structurally marginalised people within the country. They have hunter-gatherers by concentrating on no political voice, and they sit typically Evidently, the major NGOs deal- integrating food producing peoples in fragile ecological systems. Focusing ing with nature conservation and pro- into the education system, modern purely on human rights claims against tected areas have come to recognise economy and state bureaucracy. Today, the state is not necessarily going to be that their work takes place in an eco- the state is overtly or passively contrib- effective in changing the current trend nomic, historical and social context. A uting to the reduction of biodiversity of land degradation, displacement, pov- rights based approach to development and consequently cultural diversity. erty and cultural disintegration.

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There are other international instruments which provide opportunities for indigenous peoples to connect with the multilateral system, and use this at home to strengthen new types of partnerships and visibility. Policies, standards and mechanisms that govern the use of natural resources and protected areas can also provide new hope and opportunities for indigenous peoples. They also hold new threats. Commoditisation and privatisation of land threatens African holistic concepts of collective natural resource management. Indigenous peoples should be able to rely on alliances with African national parks, but thus far environmentalists have been slow to act on this partnership. There is, arguably, a conflict of paradigms in the communication between indigenous peoples keeping the planet intact. Indigenous platforms for greater intercultural dia- and conservationists. peoples bring knowledge, but they also logue. The other theme to be explored bring a value system and an equilibrium is the formalisation, assessment and More attention to intercultural dia- oriented paradigm for sustainable devel- accreditation of IKS to make it measur- logue between indigenous peoples, con- opment that needs to be considered side- able and sufficient to secure employ- servationists, UN agencies and govern- by-side with globalist models of growth ment and status as ‘experts’. The quid ment officials could help focus attention and trade-centric development. pro quo making indigenous IKS more on the strong mutual interest that is accessible to the state and other exter- present when considering the sustain- The combination of programming ef- nal actors is that states are obliged to able management of biological diversity. forts from UNDP, CBD, UNEP, IFAD, FAO, recognise that indigenous peoples are Greater interaction between the state, in- UNESCO and other UN agencies could important partners, as well as rights- digenous peoples, the multilateral system play a major role in encouraging African holders, and that new forms of tenure and the conservation NGOs means each states to value IKS and give more atten- (hybridised from traditional African can understand the other better, and tion to local and indigenous peoples’ systems) are articulated to ensure indig- checks and balances can be put in place. cultures and strategies for sustainability. enous peoples’ natural resource security in perpetuity. Economies will change, UN agencies are uniquely placed to Pilot projects which explore how biodiversity will change — but reinforc- bring indigenous peoples from the phys- tacit and intangible knowledge can ing local and indigenous custodianship ical and conceptual periphery of the be surfaced and made visible through will help make old knowledge valuable world to the centre stage of action for technology are one way of creating and accessible for future generations.

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Aichi 2.indd 126 28/2/09 18:03:26 African hunter-gatherers: threats and opportunities for maintaining indigenous knowledge systems of biodiversity

References

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Aichi 2.indd 127 28/2/09 18:03:26 The loss of their specialised knowledge of nature is a grave efforts are being made to better align educational curricula concern for many indigenous communities throughout the with indigenous realities and to incorporate local knowledge world. Education, as it is understood in a Western context, and language content into school curricula, but the occupies a pivotal role in this process, highlighted by many as interrelationship and balance between these two different both a major cause of the decline of indigenous knowledge, ways of learning remain delicate. These issues, and attempts and also as a potential remedy for its demise. Commendable to address them, are explored within this book.

Natural Sciences Sector Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Programme Culture Sector Intangible Heritage Section Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue