Track: Workshop
Track: Career Track
Robert Newman
University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND, USA
There is growing awareness and interest among ecologists in Indigenous knowledges (IK) and ways of knowing. IKs encompass holistic knowledge about ecological systems in specific places, acquired over many human generations, and also ways of gathering, transmitting and using that information that are woven into and inseparable from the cultures and identities of Indigenous peoples. Accordingly, the value of IKs for understanding ecological phenomena are ethically accessible only through collaboration or partnership with the people themselves and only in a manner that provides benefits for, and respects the rights of, the people to share only what they are willing and in a manner they deem culturally appropriate. Nevertheless, students of ecology would benefit from IK, but without a deep background in relational accountability of place-based identities, non-Indigenous educators are generally poorly equipped to do more than assign readings for their students.
In this workshop, we will provide guidance on best practices for appropriate inclusion of IK in ecology courses and curricula to help all students understand and acknowledge history of place to better appreciate what IK is, how it relates to Eurocentric science, and respect cultural values. We invite attendees to submit their ecology syllabus to the workshop leader prior to the workshop, and indicate which topics they currently teach that they consider highest priority. The workshop leader(s) will review the current state of ecology course content and select a few topics to serve as examples for alternative perspectives.
Presenting Author: Michelle R. Montgomery – School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences in American Indian Studies and Ethnic, Gender and Labor Studies., University of Washington - Tacoma