An official website of the United States government
In recent years, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has gained prominence in ecosystem science and governance, enhancing understanding of landscape conditions, systems dynamics, and ethical restoration practices. However, Indigenous community engagement in science and practice remains limited. In this paper, we investigate TEK’s contribution to forest ecosystem research for resilient livelihoods, methods for bridging TEK with Western science, and share insights from Ojibwa perspectives on ecological restoration and wellbeing. A systematic review of TEK literature from 2001 to 2022 was conducted using Web of Science, with bibliometric analysis and narrative review using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny. Our findings suggest that while TEK is prevalent in social-ecological resilience and climate change mitigation research, forest ecosystem restoration receives less attention. Most literature considers Indigenous peoples as research participants rather than collaborative research partners. Differences in ontologies and sociological barriers between Indigenous peoples and government agencies may hinder TEK’s inclusion in restoration practices. Reflecting on the wild rice restoration efforts of Ojibwa in the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, we discuss timescale dimensions of research partnerships and restoration projects with Indigenous communities. Guided by Indigenous knowledge systems, we conclude that restoration activities have the potential to strengthen humanecosystem livelihoods in our shared landscapes and futures.
more »
« less
How Community-Driven Design Research Endures When the World is on Fire
Scholars have called for equity-oriented, community-centered approaches to STEM related research and design to help address the persistent disparities and inequities in these fields. In response to this need, we explore a community-driven design research approach, a collaborative research process in which Indigenous partners maintain sovereignty. As a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, researchers, and designers, we present our thinking in-progress of how we have engaged the initial phases of our community-driven research and endured in the midst of global pandemic and unrest in 2020. Findings capture a snapshot of our ongoing insights for effective strategies to engage and sustain community-driven design research as a critical methodological approach.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1943630
- PAR ID:
- 10406297
- Editor(s):
- de Vries, E.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of 15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences
- ISSN:
- 1573-4552
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1085-1086
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Towards Haudenosaunee research sovereignty: Investing in local research and training to support community developmentThe article emphasizes the importance of Indigenous Research Governance in Six Nations of the Grand River, addressing the harmful historical effects of academic research on Indigenous Peoples and advocating for structural changes that promote Indigenous data sovereignty and community ownership of research. In both Canada and the United States, academic research has long been part of the colonial project (Hodge, 2012; Williams et al., 2020). The impact research has had on Indigenous Peoples has resulted in a legacy of deep mistrust and negative perception of research by many Indigenous communities (Garrison et al., 2023). Indigenous scholars and leaders who have advocated for repairing this relationship have led major transformations away from the way in which research has traditionally been approached and administered. Most recent paradigm and policy shifts seek to support the establishment of self-determined Indigenous Research Governance (Garba et al., 2023; Morton et al., 2017), which encapsulates many interconnected key concepts, including Indigenous data sovereignty (Schnarch, 2004; Kukutai & Taylor, 2016; Cannon et al., 2024), Indigenous research ethics (Castellano, 2004; Kuhn et al., 2020; Fournier et al., 2023), Indigenous/ decolonizing methodologies (Kovach, 2009; Smith, 2021), and Indigenous epistemologies (McGregor et al., 2010; Karanja, 2019).more » « less
-
Background: Characterizing principles of co-learning and stakeholder engagement for community-engaged research is becoming increasingly important. As low-income communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color all over the world disproportionately feel the social, health, and economic impacts of environmental hazards, especially climate change, it is imperative to co-learn with these communities, so their lived experience and knowledge guide the building and sharing of a knowledge base and the development of equitable solutions. Objectives: This paper presents recent theoretical and practical support for the development of co-learning principles to guide climate adaptation and health equity innovations. We describe this development process, which included both a literature review and stakeholder engagement. The process and the resultant set of principles are relevant to community health partnerships. Adopting principles to guide design, development, and implementation prior to commencement of community health projects will help to ensure they are nonextractive and achieve maximum benefits for beneficiaries. Methods: A multiuniversity research team adopted this approach at the outset of a research endeavor in 2022. The team is currently conducting principle-based field research in non-U.S. locations where climate hazards and structural inequities have created health disparities. Conclusions: The team’s advisory board and its funder expressed enthusiasm about the development of these principles and about the prospect of Western researchers conducting a project in a way that values Indigenous and traditional communities as partners and knowledge-holders and has the potential to bring benefits to the communities involved, including increased capacity for activities promoting health, equity, and well-being.more » « less
-
ABSTRACT In this research, we bridge knowledge systems and perspectives from Indigenous and rural fishers alongside state and federal managers and biologists regarding the state of salmon management and research processes in the Kuskokwim Region of southwestern Alaska. The key objectives were to identify strategies to improve salmon management, document perspectives on Alaska Native inclusion in current management and research processes, and illustrate ways to develop more inclusive management processes and organizations. We also identify key opportunities and barriers to relationship building between Tribes and management agencies. Lastly, we explore perceptions of equity and equality and how research and management account for these dimensions. This was a two‐component research project, with one component being primarily Indigenous‐led and community‐engaged, and the second component involving agency management and research staff. We carried out 28 semi‐directed interviews with 45 Indigenous and community knowledge holders across five different communities from June 2019 to May 2022, in addition to 12 interviews with state and federal managers and researchers in 2023. Our study revealed both key differences and shared understandings between state, federal, and community perspectives regarding salmon management and research and around agency inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge systems and Tribal governments. Shared visions and solutions for improving salmon management in southwestern Alaska and elsewhere reflect a greater need for community and Indigenous empowerment and inclusion in fisheries management and research, in addition to increased relationship building and agency time spent in communities. A key recommendation arising from this study is that trust and respect are precursors to meaningfully bridging knowledge systems. Our team encourages further investigation of current power and resource disparities that prohibit equitable knowledge sharing in fisheries management and research, while identifying broad solutions for improving the current salmon management system given diverse sharing across Indigenous, federal, and state experts.more » « less
-
This paper presents methodological research approaches utilised with Indigenous communities in the Kuskokwim Region of southwestern Alaska. The project is situated in the communities of Kongiganak, Quinhagak, Bethel, Aniak, and McGrath, spanning the Kuskokwim Bay and Kuskokwim River, and with Alaska Native Peoples who have been Salmon Peoples and stewards of their ancestral homelands since time immemorial. We specifically expand upon methodologies that have made this project successful, highlighting Indigenous and qualitative methodological approaches and Tribal youth engagement in Indigenousled, Tribal and community-engaged research, given the importance of research process with and in Indigenous communities. Circle dialogues served as a core methodology for building initial relationships and partnerships between Tribes and the University, and as a mechanism to shape the research in a way that is aligned with Tribal priorities and respecting Tribal sovereignty. We uplift the voices of Tribal citizens who participated in these dialogues regarding their concerns and hopes for salmon and Salmon Peoples, while bringing youth along this research journey. Lastly, we emphasise the importance of spending time in community and building relationships, because it is these relationships that serve as a core foundation for carrying out research ‘in a good way’.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
