Unit Seven 7.

Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Practices Study Hours: 8 Face to Face Hours Dear
Students! You have discussed customary and local governance systems and peacemakingin Chapter 6. In
this chapter, you will discuss issues related to indigenous knowledge systems and practices. The chapter
discusses who indigenous peoples are and their knowledge; special features of indigenous peoples;
significances of indigenous knowledge; indigenous knowledge and development; preservation,
challenges and limitations of indigenous knowledge; and the erosion of indigenous knowledge systems.
Dear students, as this is modular course, your active participation is of vital importance. Contents of the
Unit: In this part of this module, we will explore more about indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). The
conceptualizations of IKSs starting from definitional concerns to scholarly agreed up on features and the
development, significance and preservation of indigenous knowledge will be highlighted.Finally, analysis
is made on the challenges associated with the decline and erosion of indigenous knowledge. Unit
Learning Outcomes: Up on the successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:  Identify who
indigenous people are, and their knowledge  Describe the significances of indigenous knowledge 
State the challenges facing indigenous knowledge  Suggest viable ways of promoting and protecting IK
134 7.1. Definition of concepts 7.1.1. Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) IKS is defined as technical
insight of wisdom gained and developed by people in a particular locality through years of careful
observation and experimentation with the phenomena around them. IKS is not just a set of information
that is in the minds of the people, which can be simply taped and applied. It is accessible by recall and
practice (Mangetane, 2001). IKS is embodied in culture and is described as an integrated pattern of
human knowledge, beliefs and behavior. It consists of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes,
institutions, tools, techniques, artifacts, rituals, ceremonies, folklores and gender. This culture is passed
down from one generation to the next generation and generally it provides a holistic view of how to use
natural resources based on traditional ethical perspectives (Atteh,1991). Indigenous knowledge systems
(IKS) refer to a body of empirical knowledge and beliefs handed down through generations of long-time
inhabitants of a specific locale, by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings with each
other and their environment (Warren 1991). In sum, IKS refers to “ a total of knowledge and practices,
whether explicit or implicit, used in the management of socioeconomic, ecological and spiritual facets of
life (Hoppers, 2005: 2), stored in the collective memory and communicated orally among members of
the community and to the future generations [through, stories, myth, songs, etc]. 7.1.2. Indigenous
peoples, and Indigenous Knowledge Indigenous peoples In international context, while the term
‘indigenous’ is understood (mostly by Europeans) as being similar or synonym to ‘traditional’,
‘aboriginal’, ‘vernacular’, ‘African’, ‘Black’, and ‘native American’, the phrase ‘indigenous people' refers
to a specific group of people occupying a certain geographic area for many generations (Loubser, 2005).
Indigenous people possess, practice and protect a total sum of knowledge and skills constitutive of their
meaning, belief systems, livelihood constructions and expression that distinguish them from other
groups (Dondolo, 2005; Nel, 2005). 135 However, the concept “indigenous” is a social and historical
construct with high political, social, and economic stakes. Definitions of indigenous in international
governing organizations (IGOs), in indigenous communities, and in the academic literature are highly
contested. The World Bank's definition of indigenous peoples includes close attachment to ancestral
territories and the natural resources in them; presence of customary social and political institutions;
economic systems primarily oriented to subsistence production; an indigenous language, often different
from the predominant language; and self-identification and identification by others as members of a
distinct cultural group (The world Bank in Corntassel, 2003:86). Indigenousness, as defined by
indigenous peoples, focuses on the relationship with the community in which they live. In each
definition the distinction between the communities is cited. Both definitions also highlight the
relationship of indigenous peoples to the power structure within the state, noting that indigenous
groups are disadvantaged or lack control. Territory is also essential in the definitions. Being indigenous is
about “continuity of habitation, aboriginality, and often a ‘natural’ connection to the land” (Clifford
1997[1994]:287). For example, in the cosmology of Native Hawaiians the land is an ancestor who gave
birth to Hawaiians (Trask 1999). Thus, the relationship to the land is a form of kinship. There is a sense of
stewardship and of duty to not only use the resources that the land gives for sustenance, but to do what
each generation can to perpetuate the health and fertility of the land. Academic definitions focus on the
following elements of indigenous identity: living in tradition-based cultures, having political autonomy
prior to colonialism, and seeking to preserve cultural integrity in the present (Corntassel, 2003). They
also recognize the role of land to indigenous peoples—noting that they are descended from inhabitants
of the land they occupy (ibid). In 1986, however, a working definition of Indigenous peoples was offered
by the UN Working Group on Indigenous Issues, developed within the comprehensive Study by Martinez
Cobo J. on the problem of discrimination against indigenous populations. According to this definition:
136 Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with
pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct
from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at
present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to
future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued
existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems
(MartinezCobo, 1982).