Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

claim made about Indigenous
Another
is that they are holistic—they
knowledges
of domains such as history, art,
conceive
religion, language and medicine as
culture,
overlapping, inseparable and
interconnected,
into a whole. Think about how
integrated
is different from the way knowledge is
this
in the TOK course, where separate
presented
of knowledge have their distinct scope
areas
methods, producing different and possibly
and
perspectives on the world. This
irreconcilable
the questions of whether, and when,
raises
is appropriate to use the tools of the areas
it
knowledge to understand Indigenous
of
in their interconnected complexity.
knowledges
we use the methods of science, or art or
Would
to evaluate an Indigenous knowledge
religion
Does the holism of Indigenous knowledges
claim?
a different understanding of the world,
facilitate
compared to the fragmented view arising from
as
different academic disciplines? Keep these
the
in mind as you encounter claims across
questions
knowledge is often described as
Indigenous
but dynamic; a cumulative body
traditional,
knowledge and set of practices, developed
of
millennia through direct experience and
over
5.2 Painting depicting a location from an Australian
Figure
songline
Aboriginal
a better metaphor for Indigenous
Perhaps
is a compass—a tool for orienting
knowledge
knowledge is not a fixed body of
Indigenous
that can or should be preserved in
knowledge
authentic state. It is continuously adapting
some
growing in response to the forces that affect it.
and
view of the diversity, as well as the
In
local, holistic and dynamic nature
supposed
Indigenous knowledge, consider the
of
questions.
following
Recall the map metaphor of knowledge
1.
we explored in Chapter 1. To what
that
is your knowledge, your map
extent
the world, informed by Indigenous
of
suggested that Indigenous knowledges
Shiva
be rendered invisible by denying them
can
status of “knowledge”, and threatened
the
“erasing and destroying the reality which
by
What is this reality that Indigenous
2.
attempt to represent?
knowledges
3. What are the forces destroying this reality?
context of Australian Aboriginal songlines,
the
through the landscape used by
pathways
beings of the Aboriginal creation
ancestral
(known popularly as the Dreaming).
story
meld together geography, history and
Songlines
with song and art, and those who can
astronomy
many songs in the right sequence hold an
sing
knowledge about their environment
expansive
the meanings of their world. Each song
and
important landmarks and other clues
describes
help a traveller to navigate vast distances.
that
Australian continent is said to be covered
The
songlines, some of which extend hundreds of
in
and cross numerous tribal, cultural
kilometres
linguistic boundaries. Songlines can be
and
in multiple languages in sequence,
composed
I. Scope
I. Scope
For discussion
The scope of Indigenous knowledge
knowledge?
the chapters in this book, and elsewhere.
they attempt to represent” (Shiva 1993).
transmitted orally, in an ongoing process. Thatis,
Box 5.2: Songlines—storytelling, music, geography and astronomy
oneself in the world. Consider this metaphor in
and their rhythm, rather than words, is said to
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