#traditionalknowledge — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #traditionalknowledge, aggregated by home.social.
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#Biocultural families: Study centers #Indigenous priorities in connections to #environment
by Seth Truscott, August 11, 2026
"Washington State University horticulturist #JeffreyWall partnered with members of the #Mikmaq #FirstNations people of #Canada to create a new, #IndigenousCentered model of the connections that link humans with plants, animals and the environment.
"Wall interviewed over a dozen traditional knowledge keepers in Unama'ki, the #CapeBreton Island homeland of the Eskasoni Mi'kmaq. He asked tribal elders and allies to describe #BioculturalConnectivity — the relationship between human cultures and local #ecosystems — as they see it. The findings were published in Environmental Science & Policy.
" 'I wanted to show the connective forces that the Mi'kmaq prioritize,' Wall said. 'The goal was to be in tune with their deep #CulturalHeritage, traditions and the #indigenization of the future that they want to promote.'
"With more than 66,000 registered members, the Mi'kmaq are a resilient people native to the U.S. Northeast and Canada's Atlantic provinces who are revitalizing their language and growing their landholdings. Wall's work can guide future mapping and inform the institute's land acquisition strategy.
"The project reflects the concept of #TwoEyedSeeing — understanding the world from both #Indigenous and #Western approaches — introduced by Mi'kmaq elders Albert and Murdena Marshall.
" 'There is a growing understanding that environmental conditions can improve if we bring more Indigenous ways of knowing and being into the conversation,' said Lisa Young, executive director of the Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources. 'Maintaining a #reciprocal relationship with the land is in itself a way to protect and preserve it.' "
Read more:
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-biocultural-families-centers-indigenous-priorities.html#SolarPunkSunday #EnvironmentalAwareness #EnvironmentalStewardship #TraditionalKnowledge #Technology #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge
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Nutrition programs work better when they include #Indigenous food knowledge
Researchers found nutrition programs work better when they include Indigenous food knowledge, local languages, and traditional practices.
By Raquel Brandao, July 24, 2026
Excerpt: "Cameras, cooking and conversation
"Some things worked. #Storytelling, #workshops, and #CookingDemonstrations turned up again and again across the 39 studies, alongside #TalkingCircles, #ShortFilms and #SmartphoneApps.
"The common thread is direction. Each of these methods lets people speak in their own words rather than sit and receive instruction.
"In #NewZealand ( #Aotearoa ), researchers built a mobile health app together with #Māori and #Pasifika partners. The language, the stories, and the pictures all came from the communities the app was meant for.
"Speaking with Earth.com, Rao described a project she led. 'In my own work, and one of the papers reviewed, I have used cameras and #DigitalTools with young women and men in an Indigenous community in #India to document their traditional food knowledges by speaking to the elders, visiting the forests and local markets, talking to women engaged in #foraging and #FoodPreparation.'
"That project is one of the 39 studies in the review. An earlier paper followed ten Santhal young people in eastern India who were trained to make films.
"They made nearly 50 films and screened them in their own villages. Older relatives supplied much of what went into them.
Elders as teachers
"Who holds the knowledge matters as much as what the knowledge is. #Elders, #healers, #farmers, and #women each carry different parts of it.
"None of it arrives as a curriculum. It moves between generations through cooking, gathering and long conversation, which is exactly what a nutrition leaflet cannot carry.
" 'Reclaiming and recognising #IndigenousKnowledge , values and practices to address the different elements of nutrition and health involves recognising intergenerational and wider social relations, and engaging everyone from the elders, healers, educators and farmers to service providers, policymakers and academics, to together raise issues and find solutions,' said Rao.
"Traditional foods carry knowledge of the local landscape in a way nothing else does. The review treats them as practical resources rather than heritage."
#SolarPunkSunday #Technology #IndigenousCommunities #TraditionalKnowledge #TraditionalDiets #FoodForests #Foraging #SharingKnowledge #PreservingCulture #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #FoodKnowledge #TraditionalFoods
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Why are quality standards and research important in Ayurveda?
Traditional knowledge, documentation, and research all contribute to preserving and advancing Ayurvedic knowledge for future generations.
Read more: https://patanjali-life.blogspot.com/2026/06/why-quality-and-research-are-important-in-ayurveda.html
#Ayurveda #TraditionalKnowledge #Research #QualityStandards #HolisticWellness
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A new dawn rises in the #Arctic: the #Inuit plan to reclaim their sea
By Ossie Michelin in Rigolet, #Nunatsiavut , Sun 27 Aug 2023
Excerpt: "While there are other Inuit-led marine conservation programs in Canada, this will be the first to bear the title of #InuitProtectedArea. This #ConservationZone, which is now the subject of a feasibility study, would span nearly 15,000 sq km (5,800 sq miles) of the #LabradorSea bordering the #TorngatMountains national park.
"Built on Inuit values and culture, this type of conservation area would allow Indigenous people to continue traditional practices of hunting and fishing.
That was not always the case. Past conservation policies saw Inuit at best only consulted and at worst completely ignored. Many Inuit hunters and fishers faced fines, had their equipment confiscated and their catches from hunting and fishing taken."Despite being granted the power to self-govern in 2005 (after 30 years of negotiations with the Canadian government), Nunatsiavut still lacked the final say over conservation in its waters. Final decisions defaulted to federal or provincial ministers.
"Now, at last, Nunatsiavut can jointly create and co-manage the protected area, based on Inuit priorities, as an equal authority. This will allow Inuit to practise #TraditionalHunting and #fishing in the area, while protecting the waters from industry and development.
" 'Just because we’re small doesn’t mean we can’t do something,' says #JamesGoudie, deputy minister of lands and natural resources in the Nunatsiavut government. 'We can show the world that a small region can protect a massive amount of #BioDiversity.'
"The Inuit Protected Area would only cover about a third of Nunatsiavut’s nearly 50,000 sq km of offshore waters, but the region is home to important populations of fish such as #salmon and #ArcticChar, the breeding grounds for many #MigratoryBirds, and the habitat of Arctic marine mammals including #PolarBears, #BelugaWhales and #Seals.
"Establishing a protected area is also a pre-emptive strike against #ResourceExploitation. Significant #NaturalGas deposits have been found offshore along the #LabradorShelf, but it has remained largely unexplored because of the ice. As the climate warms, however, the region is becoming more accessible – the Inuit Protected Area would prevent such resource exploration."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/LfYRZ#SolarPunkSunday #ProtectingTheArctic #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #TraditionalKnowledge #FirstNations #InuitValues #TraditionalFishing #AnimalProducts #Conservation #Nature
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Native Knowledge: What Ecologists Are Learning from Indigenous People
From Alaska to Australia, scientists are turning to the knowledge of traditional people for a deeper understanding of the natural world. What they are learning is helping them discover more about everything from melting Arctic ice, to protecting fish stocks, to controlling wildfires.
By Jim Robbins • April 26, 2018
Excerpt: "The #Skolt #Sami people of #Finland, for example, participated in a study that was published in the journal Science last year, which adopted indicators of #EnvironmentalChanges based on #TEK. The Sami have seen and documented a decline in salmon in the #NäätämöRiver, for instance. Now, based on their knowledge, they are adapting – reducing the number of seine nets they use to catch fish, restoring spawning sites, and also taking more pike, which prey on young salmon, as part of their catch. The project is part of a co-management process between the Sami and the government of Finland.
"The project has also gathered information from the Sami about insects, which are temperature dependent and provide an important indicator of a changing Arctic. The Sami have witnessed dramatic changes in the range of insects that are making their way north. The scarbaeid beetle, for example, was documented by Sami people as the invader arrived in the forests of Finland and Norway, far north of its customary range. It has also become part of the Sami oral history.
"It’s not only in the Arctic. Around the world there are efforts to make use of traditional wisdom to gain a better and deeper understanding of the planet – and there is sometimes a lot at stake."
Read more:
https://e360.yale.edu/features/native-knowledge-what-ecologists-are-learning-from-indigenous-people#SolarPunkSunday #Science #TraditionalKnowledge #Biodiversity #ForestGardeners #Australia #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousKnowledge #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #TEK
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#Agroecology as the path to #ClimateResilient and just food systems
By Dr Susan Chomba, Director Food, Land and Water at World Resources Institute Africa
Monday, July 28, 2025 — updated on August 02, 2025
"The 2nd National Agroecology Symposium, held in Nairobi from July 10–11, 2025, marked a pivotal moment in #Kenya’s food systems transformation.
"The event brought together farmers, researchers, civil society, private sector actors, media, and policymakers with one clear message: Agroecology must move from the margins to the centre of national agricultural strategy. It is not just an alternative; it is the most viable path forward to achieve our intertwined goals for #people, #nature, and #climate—without compromising one for the other.
Agroecology offers a coherent framework for #RegeneratingSoils, producing safe and nutritious food, and building #ClimateResilient and #equitable #FoodSystems."As #ClimateChange intensifies, this approach provides Kenya and other #AfricanNations a powerful opportunity to lead a just transition—rooted in #LocalKnowledge, backed by #science, and responsive to the realities of #smallholder #farmers.
A crossroads for Kenya’s food systems
"Kenya’s food systems are at a crossroads. The dominant model—based on chemical-intensive agriculture and ultra-processed foods—is driving soil degradation, poor nutrition, increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases, and the pollution of our rivers and lakes. This model also contributes significantly to #biodiversity loss and #GreenhouseGasEmissions.
"Alternatively, a more resilient and #sustainable path is within reach—one that aligns human health with ecological integrity. But this transition cannot be left to smallholder farmers alone. It requires coordinated leadership from governments—particularly ministries of agriculture, health, environment, and finance—as well as development partners, scientists, and the private sector.
"Farmers should not be expected to feed a growing population and withstand escalating #ClimateShocks while being under-supported or misdirected by ineffective policies and subsidies. Without the right investments and incentives, we risk deepening the crisis.
What agroecology is—and isn’t
"Agroecology is too often misunderstood as a nostalgic return to low-productivity farming. In reality, it is a sophisticated, evidence-informed, and farmer-driven approach to transforming food systems in ways that are locally appropriate and ecologically sound. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but a dynamic practice that integrates scientific research with #TraditionalKnowledge.
"The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) outlines 10 elements of agroecology, while the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) has identified 13 principles. These include #RecyclingNutrients, enhancing biodiversity, strengthening synergies, and co-creating knowledge."
Source [paywall]:
https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/blogs/agroecology-as-the-path-to-climate-resilient-and-just-food-systems-5140556Archived version:
https://archive.ph/QxY8u#SolarPunkSunday #AgroEcology #FoodSecurity #Africa #ClimageChangeResiliency #SharingKnowledge
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In other news...
Meet the 2024-2026 #NDN #Changemakers
By Jordynn Paz • March 5, 2025
"In October, NDN Collective announced the recipients of the 2024/26 Changemaker Fellowship, a cohort of 21 #Indigenous leaders from throughout #TurtleIsland, Islands of #Hawaii, #Borikén / #PuertoRico, the U.S. territories of American #Samoa, #Guam, the Northern #Mariana Islands, and the U.S. #VirginIslands. These incredible fellows are transforming their communities, defending Indigenous lands and waters, developing solutions for #regenerative and #sustainable futures, and revitalizing #IndigenousLanguages, #governance, #ceremonies and ways of being.
"We are honored to support the important and necessary work of each of these changemakers through this two-year fellowship program. With the NDN Changemaker Fellowship, individuals will focus on education, skill building, networking, community building, theory of change mapping, and mentorship."
Read more:
https://ndncollective.org/meet-the-2024-26-ndn-changemakers/#TraditionalKnowledge #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #SocialJustice #IndigenousHealth #IndigenousWellBeing #FoodSecurity #Decolonize #ProtectMotherEarth #LanguagePreservation #CulturePreservation #NDNCollective #IndigenousPeoplesDay