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

skill with fire was commented upon in
Their
by early settlers that described the
accounts
as “park-like”. Bill Gammage, historian
landscape
the Australian National University, notes five
at
in the use of fire by the Aborigines (2011).
stages
land management regimes around the
Modern
struggle with stage 1, which is the most
world
stage. basic
1. Control the amount of fuel for wildfires.
2. Maintain diversity.
3. Balance species.
4. Ensure abundance.
5. Locate resources conveniently and predictably.
extent and precision of the Aborgines’
The
of land prompted Gammage to write
management
“Australia was not natural in 1788, butmade”
that
(2011).
degradation can impact the
Environmental
preservation and reliability of Indigenous
transfer,
knowledge has developed a concept
“Traditional
the environment that emphasizes the symbiotic
of
of humans and nature. It oers an approach
character
local development that is based on co-evolution
to
the environment, and on respecting the carrying
with
of ecosystems. … Western science is
capacity
and materialist in contrast to traditional
positivist
which is spiritual and does not make
knowledge,
between empirical and sacred. Western
distinctions
is objective and quantitative as opposed to
science
knowledge, which is mainly subjective and
traditional
Western science is based on an academic
qualitative.
literate transmission, while traditional knowledge
and
often passed on orally from one generation to the
is
what extent are the following characteristics
To
TEK similar to or different from the natural
of
practical, based on empirical observations,
•
and trial and error, and it
experimentation,
tools for pest control, fire prevention,
provides
accounting and conservation
resource
For example, the Aamjiwnaang
knowledge.
of Anishnaabe First Nations people
community
Ontario, Canada, have reported a decline in
in
communication as a direct consequence
traditional
petrochemical contamination in their region.
of
in foodstuffs, wood, rocks, and
Contaminants
supplies, have forced the community to
water
traditional activities such as berry-
abandon
foraging for medicine and food, and
picking,
Because those activities are not happening,
fishing.
oral instructions and stories which surround
the
and allow them to pass from one generation
them
the next are no longer being shared and are in
to
of being lost (Hoover et al 2012).
danger
only does environmental degradation affect
Not
health of Indigenous Peoples, it can hit doubly
the
by undermining the preservation and
hard
of Indigenous knowledge and
transfer
their ability to rebound from the environmental
so
impact.
the extract above, Mazzocchi asserts strong
In
about science and traditional ecological
dichotomies
To what extent do you agree with these
knowledge.
What are some of the assumptions
assertions?
6, III.3, explores nature-religions and the
Chapter
made by a number of anthropologists, that
argument,
and religion are adaptive processes that enable
culture
group to survive in their environmental niche. That
a
also explores the diering perspectives on nature
section
forth by Muir and Pinchot. Chapter 7, II, discusses
put
what ways is TEK aligned or unaligned with these
In
What might explain dierences in these
perspectives?
taught experientially and passed down
•
generation to generation, typically
from
oral histories, and embedded into
through
and community practices
family
holistic, rooted in culture and identity,
•
language, spirituality and
including
III. Methods and tools
III. Methods and tools
Making connections
TEK, religion and science
inherentin them?
Francis Bacon’s view of nature.
perspectives?
next by the elders.” (Mazzocchi 2006)
Practising skills: Analysis
and human sciences? TEK is:
health
129