11/18/2021
Hi Inclusive Earthers! This month is Native American Heritage Month. At the University of Utah, we must acknowledge that the land we live and work on, which is named for the Ute Tribe, is the traditional and ancestral homeland of the Shoshone, Paiute, Goshute, and Ute Tribes. For this week's Reading Club post, we will be reading an essay titled "Understanding Our Environment Requires an Indigenous Worldview" by Raychelle Daniel. Here are three important points, although we highly recommend reading the entirety of the essay:
Recently, there is more interest in including indigenous knowledge in the development of scientific research, policies, and natural resource management. However, it is contradictory to integrate indigenous knowledge inside a framework and worldview that was developed outside of an indigenous worldview. Doing so loses valuable information and concepts.
We need an equitable approach to including indigenous knowledge, and one way to do this is to have a location-based approach that brings together governing agencies and indigenous communities, as opposed to a decision being made for a community from thousands of kilometers away.
Another way to ensure equitable inclusion of indigenous knowledge is to create spaces for indigenous peoples to participate throughout a research project or the process of federal resource management, and an expert indigenous knowledge holder contributing to a project should have their contribution recognized and valued in proposals.
As always, let us know your thoughts, comments, and recommendations for future readings!
Link to essay: https://eos.org/opinions/understanding-our-environment-requires-an-indigenous-worldview