Misreading Indigenous Knowledge

Tradition, at least the way it is commonly referred to in our culture, functions as often as an anchor as it does a source of comfort or inspiration. I was reminded of this recently as I was finishing preparations for my master’s thesis oral defense. The importance and influence of Indigenous knowledge is central to my thesis. However, during my research and writing the fact that many in academia, government, and elsewhere prefer the term traditional knowledge or traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to Indigenous knowledge kept arising. If Google is to be believed, the word tradition refers primarily to the “transmission of customs and beliefs”, not knowledge as such. Customs and beliefs reflect the disposition (i.e., values, attitudes, and practices) of a culture, not its knowledge. Knowledge may be passed on via various traditional means, but knowledge is not in and of itself traditional. It is something learned and understood about the world that would be more or less accurate regardless of the cultural context in which it was acquired. <a href="https://craig-axford.medium.com/misreading-indigenous-knowledge-8f8dfbdf742">Click Here</a>