Traditional Knowledge (TK) from Native American/Alaska Native (NA/AN) communities is often met with dismissive attitudes due to its perceived qualitative nature, however, careful examination of what TK represents, and how it formed, leads to the realization that TK is a mixture of qualitative, quantitive, and spiritual knowledge utilizing the same rigor as western science. TK represents knowledge about place, historical insight, and spiritual beliefs with a longstanding and tested understanding about terrestrial and aquatic systems. Theoretical positioning of this study supports the ideology that providing NA/AN students with culturally aligned educational opportunities creates equitable and inclusive learning environments, thereby increasing sense of identity and belonging. We present focus group data collected from two national conferences focused on success of NA/AN students in geoscience. Using a small discussion group format respondents were asked to consider: (1) How do you define science?, (2) How do you define TK?, and (3) What does coupling TK and science mean to you? Our findings revealed a holistic definition of science using typical (e.g., biology, geology, etc.) and atypical (e.g., social science, cultural identity, equity) descriptors. These findings emphasize the importance of developing culturally
Moving toward a sustainable global society requires substantial change in both social and technological systems. This sustainability is dependent not only on addressing the environmental impacts of current social and technological systems, but also on addressing the social, economic and political harms that continue to be perpetuated through systematic forms of oppression and the exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. To adequately identify and address these harms, we argue that scientists, practitioners, and communities need a transdisciplinary framework that integrates multiple types of knowledge, in particular, Indigenous and experiential knowledge. Indigenous knowledge systems embrace relationality and reciprocity rather than extraction and oppression, and experiential knowledge grounds transition priorities in lived experiences rather than expert assessments. Here, we demonstrate how an Indigenous, experiential, and community-based participatory framework for understanding and advancing socio-technological system transitions can facilitate the co-design and co-development of community-owned energy systems.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.