Traditional native knowledge and Western science don‘t have to be polar opposites, an indigenous people‘s conference was told Thursday.
The Indigenous Earth: Praxis and Transformation conference at the Penticton Lakeside Resort looks at revitalizing indigenous knowledge while promoting a new approach to
environmental sustainability.
It has attracted 35 guest speakers representing a number of indigenous peoples around the world – from the Philippines to Peru to Norway.
Ellen Simmons, a biological science instructor at the En‘Owkin Centre and the Forrex B.C. Indigenous knowledge program, said science can learn from indigenous peoples.
“It‘s a voice that you don‘t hear much about,” she said. “With indigenous
people there‘s this connectivity that they‘ve always had – a continuation with the land for thousands and
thousands of years.”
Simmons said the conference brings together academics and native practitioners who work directly on the land base.
“We have a lot of indigenous scholars, and even non-indigenous scholars, who are passionate about inclusion. We have to do it together,” she said.
Don Gayton, a Forrex ecologist and Henry Michel, the Penticton Indian band‘s director of education, said there are some key areas where science and traditional knowledge can work in tandem.
“Science can afford to get out of the box a little bit,” Gayton said. “It doesn‘t have to be hiding from culture.”
Gayton said two prime examples are fish and fire. He said intense fire suppression efforts over the past 100 years have had a detrimental impact on
the forest ecology. However, that can change by lighting prescribed burns based on traditional knowledge.
He also pointed to the Okanagan Nation Alliance‘s efforts to restore salmon spawning habitat along a stretch of the Okanagan River near Oliver.
“It‘s a wonderful project,” he said. “It‘s small scale, it‘s one-on-one, it allows people to get their hands dirty.”
Michel noted thousands of salmon used to be harvested from Vaseux Lake, Okanagan Falls and other locations along the river. By working to apply
indigenous knowledge, fisheries officials can protect species at risk.
The conference, co-hosted by the En‘Owkin Centre and Forrex, wraps up this morning. The seminars are open to the public. Top of Page
