Handing Down of Culture | Chapter 15 | Carole Levesque

Chapter 15 | Carole Levesque

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2. questions about the nature and transmission of indigenous knowledge

The problems in characterizing the field of study of traditional knowledge go beyond the issue of how this knowledge relates to science. When we look at how traditional knowledge should be defined or how it is transmitted, there are still a number of questions and challenges. Since this knowledge is oral in nature, it is clearly transmitted from one individual to another in a very personal way. Elders are considered to be the legitimate holders of this knowledge, which was handed down to them by their ancestors, and which they in turn are logically expected to pass on to others. Moreover, this knowledge reflects a particular way of life, generally the hunter’s way of life. Yet very few Indigenous youth want to become hunters nowadays.6 Since traditional knowledge is largely assimilated through experience, it must be given concrete form in action. In other words, it is through the practice of hunting that it will probably continue to exist and be handed down. Without hunting, is the knowledge likely to disappear, or to lose its relevance? Does this mean that Indigenous people living in urban areas or who no longer hunt or fish have no such knowledge, or have no access to this knowledge? Does this also mean that this type of knowledge does not change, or that it does not evolve? That it is in some way the reflection of a natural and primordial order that existed prior to the modern order, which can be said to have marked the end of this “authentic” way of life?

Moreover, the way in which this knowledge is currently understood and defined is clearly associated with environmental issues: the provisions dealing with Indigenous knowledge in international conventions and government programs are all concerned with issues of environmental assessment, natural resource management or the protection of biodiversity. The relationship with nature, the transmission of this special relationship, and the continual use of natural resources are seen as specific characteristics of the knowledge held by Indigenous people. From this perspective, can we then suppose that in all other areas, Indigenous people have no knowledge?

Some of these questions have already been raised by researchers attempting to conceptualize the field of traditional knowledge and to clarify its scope. Stevenson (1996), for example, has produced a sophisticated classification in which traditional knowledge is considered in a category independent from that of non-traditional knowledge. In the category of traditional knowledge, Stevenson distinguishes between ecological knowledge and social, cultural and spiritual knowledge. And finally, in the category of ecological knowledge, he considers knowledge specific to the environment, knowledge concerned with the relations that human beings have with ecosystems, and the ethical principles governing these relations. Similarly, Berkes (1999) and Usher (2000) have also proposed their own particular definitions and categorizations highlighting various types of information and different levels of analysis.

When it is a matter of the transmission of Indigenous knowledge, once again, science has no clear answers. Given its nature, can Indigenous knowledge be transposed, that is, transmitted to scientists, written down, and analyzed according to scientific parameters, without being distorted? In other words, can we study this knowledge? Can we at least disseminate it more broadly? Is Indigenous knowledge ultimately a matter for initiates only? Questions of this kind are not insignificant (Wentzel, 1999). They are currently supporting an ideological position to the effect that only Indigenous people themselves can understand the real scope of their knowledge. This position is also dominating the debate on intellectual property rights associated with this knowledge.

On one level, it is clear that the very complexity of the topic may appear to be a source of obstacles that are hampering attempts to develop a specific field of study on the knowledge held by Indigenous people. It is these obstacles that are currently making it difficult to take this knowledge into account and to apply it, and that are resulting in the rejection of this knowledge by a number of scientists. And yet, in my view, these problems are related not so much to the nature of the knowledge and how it is transmitted, but rather to an incomplete and, indeed, inadequate characterization of this knowledge. When, in discussing traditional knowledge, the only reference is still to a type of science mistakenly limited to academic knowledge, there is little chance of avoiding the dual pitfalls of comparison and/or integration. It is also very difficult to separate the issue of traditional knowledge from the larger context of relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Chapter 15, continued >