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Indigenous Women and Traditional Knowledge Reciprocity Is the Way of Balance

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Indigenous Women and Traditional Knowledge Reciprocity Is the Way of Balance IV. GIFT GIVING FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION MILILANI TRASK Indigenous Women and Traditional Knowledge Reciprocity is the Way of Balance I. Reciprocity Reciprocity is a fundamental value of the gift economy. It is also a fundamental cornerstone of Indigenous communities. Reciprocity implies that there is an ebb and flow in relationships, a give and take. Reciprocity infers that there is a mutual sharing, something given for something taken. In Indigenous societies, reciprocity is the way things work—in society, within the family and extended family frameworks, and in the relationships between human kind and the rest of God’s creation. Reciprocity is not defined or limited by the language of the market economy because it implies that more is owed than financial payment, when goods and services exchange hands. Reciprocity is the way of balance—planting precedes harvesting, sowing precedes reaping. In most Indigenous societies there is a common understanding (sometimes referred to as the “original instructions”), that humankind’s role in the world is to be the guardians of the creation. Indigenous peoples know that if we care for, nurture, and protect the earth, it will feed, clothe, and shelter us. II. Market Economics and the Gift Economy The gift economy is diametrically opposed to the market economy. The Gift Economy is collective, the market economy favours individualism. The Gift Economy thrives when there is a bounty to be given. The market economy increases the price and fiscal value of items that are rare commodities. The values, activities, and outcomes of these diametrically opposed economic systems also conflict. Capitalism/Globalization Values: consumption/individualism Activities: production and marketing/allocation based on ability to pay/buy Results: profit and debt /polarized development of the wealthy versus the poor Practice: secularization. 293 MILILANI TRASK Gift Economy/Indigenous Communities Values: sustainability, preservation/collectivism, social obligation Activities: gifting, exchange/allocation based on need Results: community development and advancement Practice: spiritualism. III. Indigenous Women and Traditional Knowledge In all Indigenous cultures, gender roles and responsibilities flow from and are part of a broader socio-cultural environment. That is to say that Indigenous peoples and societies delineate between the roles which women and men assume based on the cultural protocols and survival needs of their collective society (Cohen 1999). The essential feature of a peoples’ socio-cultural environment is “meaning.” As Walter Rochs Goldschmidt (1990) states: Each culture provides pathways by which individuals may satisfy their needs for positive affect, prestige and meaning. Small-scale, hunting-gathering societies provide several such pathways: excellence in hunting or story-telling or as a healer. More complex societies offer a greater array of “careers.” Whatever its size, complexity or environment, a central task of any culture is to provide its members with a sense of meaning and purpose in the world.” “Gender” is a sociological concept that encompasses economic, social, and cultural distinctions between women and men as manifested in their differing roles, authority, and cultural undertaking. In recent times there has developed an understanding that gender roles in In- digenous cultures establish who in that society (male or female) is the keeper of traditional knowledge. In traditional societies women are the keepers of certain knowledge systems and make use of different resources than those used by men. Where women might gather healing herbs or edible fruits from trees, men would more likely be employed in the timber industry. For several years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has explored the relationship between gender and food security, agro-bio- diversity, and sustainable development. FAO’s research and development projects have documented the important role that Indigenous women play in these three critical areas. FAO’s (1999) findings are as follows: 1. Through their different activities and management practices, men and women have often developed different expertise and knowledge about the local environment, plant and animal species and their products and uses. These gender-differentiated local knowledge systems play a decisive role in the in situ conservation, management, and improvement of genetic resources for food and agriculture. It is clear that the decision about what to conserve 294 INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND TRADTIONAL KNOWLEDGE depends on the knowledge and perception of what is most useful to the household and local community. 2. Women’s and men’s specialized knowledge of the value and diverse use of domesticated crop species and varieties extends to wild plants that are used as food in times of need or as medicines and sources of income. This local knowledge is highly sophisticated and is traditionally shared and handed down between generations. Through experience, innovation, and experimentation, sustainable practices are developed to protect soil, water, natural vegetation, and biological diversity. This has important implications for the conservation of plant genetic resources. 3. Through their daily work, rural women have accumulated intimate knowledge of their ecosystems, including the management of pests, the conservation of soil, and the development and use of plant and animal genetic resources. 4. It is estimated that up to 90 percent of the planting material used by poor farmers is derived from seeds and germplasm that they have produced, selected, and saved themselves. This means that small farmers play a crucial role in the preservation and management of plant genetic resources and biodiversity. 5. In smallholder agriculture, women farmers are largely responsible for the selection, improvement, and adaptation of plant varieties. In many regions, women are also responsible for the management of small livestock, including their reproduction. Women often have a more highly specialized knowledge of wild plants used for food, fodder and medicine than men. The critical role which Indigenous women play in maintaining biodiversity, conservation, and promoting sustainable development is acknowledged in two international instruments and the action plan of the FAO. The Convention on Biological Diversity (1993) and FAO’s Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (1996a) acknowledge the role played by generations of men and women farm- ers and by Indigenous communities in conserving and improving plant genetic resources. Two key objectives of Chapter 24 of Agenda 21: The Rio Declaration on Environ- ment and Development (UNCED 1992) are to promote the traditional methods and the knowledge of Indigenous people and their communities, emphasizing the particular role of women relevant to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources and to ensure the participation of Indigenous women and peoples in the economic and commercial benefits derived from the use of such traditional methods and knowledge. The Convention on Biological Diversity and the FAO Global Plan also affirm 295 MILILANI TRASK the need for women to participate fully in conservation programs and at all levels of policy making. Despite these legal pronouncements and the existence of other international instruments that specifically prohibit discrimination against women (such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW] and the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), In- digenous women continue to be marginalized and excluded from policy making and program services. FAO (1999) reports the following: … [L]ittle has yet been done to clarify the nature of the relationship between agro-biological diversity and the activities, responsibilities, and rights of men and women. Women’s key roles, responsibilities, and intimate knowledge of plants and animals sometimes remain “invisible” to technicians working in the agriculture, forestry and environmental sectors, as well as to planners and policy-makers. The lack of recognition at technical and institutional levels means that women’s interests and demands are given inadequate attention. Moreover, women’s involvement in formalized efforts to conserve biodiversity is slight because of widespread cultural barriers to women’s participation in decision- making arenas at all levels. Modern research and development and centralized plant breeding have ignored and, in some cases, undermined the capacities of local farming com- munities to modify and improve plant varieties. With the introduction of modern technologies and agricultural practices, women have lost substantial influence and control over production and access to resources, whereas men often benefit more from extension services and have the ability to buy seeds, fertilizers and the necessary technologies. FAO’s conclusions in this area are verified by the work of the LinKS Project in Africa: For a long time, despite an increased recognition at the international level, the importance of local knowledge and gender in agriculture has been neglected in policies and development programs related to agriculture and natural resource management. Modern research, science, and national poli- cies undermine even further the capacities of local farming communities to sustain and manage agro-biodiversity and secure food production. In this
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