Urgency
There is great urgency to accept and respect Traditional Knowledge.
Elders are dying and with them Traditional Knowledge. Weatherford (1988)
tells of the sad death of the last member of a tribe in the South American
tropical rainforest: "When she died a treasure of information went
with her. . . ." Nelson (1993) discusses how Western education and
cultural changes have steadily eroded this knowledge. When we lose
indigenous cultures in their natural environments, we will lose a rich
legacy and powerful potential force to strengthen society's will to
protect what it must. Meffee (1992) concludes: "Humankind has adopted
an arrogant and ultimately a self-defeating attitude toward nature that
places technological mastery over nature at the forefront of our approach
to many environmental problems." He describes the ". . . flawed
attempt to recover Pacific salmonid fisheries. . . " through
dependence on hatcheries. With the urgency of the issues and threats to
cultures and our environment, we need the wisdom of indigenous people in
decision making and problem solving.
Accept Each Other
We are all Brothers and Sisters under the Sun. We must join together and
not let Traditional Knowledge slip away. Weatherford (1988) concludes his
book: "Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, but America
(Traditional Knowledge) has yet to be discovered." We agree!
Indigenous and non-indigenous people must work together and focus on our
shared environment. We need to apply Traditional Knowledge to broader
societal environmental issues and strengthen human understanding of the
web of life, social systems that respect the environment, and live as
mother earth mattered. Is Traditional Knowledge and associated human
rights part of our safety net for securing the future of humans? Social
forces threaten Traditional Knowledge; helping break the string of
learning from elders and teaching environmental values to the young. All
human societies, including ours, are dependent on the quality of our
environment and societal will to protect it (Carnegie Endowment National
Commission 1992; Christopher 1996a; 1996b). We must have democracies to
protect the environment. Open governments are a must. To have democracies
we must involve and share leadership with local and indigenous people. For
many socio-economic issues involving natural resources, we will need to
combine Traditional Knowledge with Western Science. We must extend a hand
to each other; join forces. Our land ethics and hearts are in the same
place. When we value Traditional Knowledge, it empowers indigenous people
resulting in a better environment (Jorgensen 1995).
Accept Traditional Knowledge
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability
and beauty of the biotic community; It is wrong when it tends otherwise"
(Leopold 1949). Leopold stresses that land ethics reflect our ecological
consciences and that the human individual is a member of a community of
interdependent parts. Sounds like "mother earth" to us! This
land ethic changes the role of humans from conqueror of the land community
to plain members of it. Respect for fellow community members is essential,
and, therefore the community as a whole. Yet, the traditional "Western"
perspective has tended to reduce biological diversity through
simplification, fragmentation and selective destruction, and consideration
of only the short term perspective (Franklin 1993; Norse 1986; Harris
1984; Cairns and Lackey 1992; Wilcove 1987). A strong land ethic also
requires respect for Traditional Knowledge. A land ethic that demonstrates
respect for the experience and knowledge of indigenous people is at the
root of sustainable development. Maurice IWU from Nigeria, stated (Davis
and Ebbe 1993) that the only way we can leave sufficient natural resources
for our children's children is to go back and learn from cultures that
used natural resources sustainably. He states that African indigenous
people had symbolic and ritualistic ways of doing this but: "The
symbolism involved in this should not prevent Western Science from
understanding the actual significance of the protective mechanism."
Nelson (1993) stated that it is essential we learn from traditional
societies, especially those whose livelihood depends on the harvest of a
wild environment: "These people have accumulated bodies of knowledge
much like our own sciences and this gives us vital insights about
responsible membership in the community of life, insights founded on a
wisdom we have long forgotten and now are beginning to re-discover."
Berkes, Folke and Gadgil (1994) state: ". . . there is good reason to
believe that the ethics of truly sustainable development will need to
borrow much from the world views of some traditional societies." If
Traditional Knowledge was not scientific, indigenous people would not have
preserved the ecosystems for thousands of years (Davis and Ebbe 1993). We
conclude that Western Science and Traditional Knowledge have much to learn
from each other and gain collectively; and we have so much to lose if we
don't join together. Threats to the environment, and cultures, don't give
us much time. Acceptance of Traditional Knowledge is pre-requisite for
obtaining critical conservation partnerships. Indigenous people will share
Traditional Knowledge if they feel the information is respected and
sharing it will benefit them. The relationships developed from this can
lead to critical collaboration. This is vitally important to world
conservation of biological diversity and security of nations. We agree
with Alcorn (1993): ". . . the modern (conservation) approach is too
narrow and that conservationists (must) have two goals: to stabilize the
traditional conservation ethic wherever it still exists, and improve the
modern conservation ethic . . . ." About 80% of the African Elephants
in Kenya lives outside protective parks. The Kenya Wildlife Service
manages elephants in collaboration with rural Kenyans, including sharing
revenues from elephant management with them (J.Waithaka, "personal
communication: 1996").