Navigating science in society: Multiple Ways of Knowing - Exploring the Commonalities and Differences between Indigenous Knowledge and Science

Abstract

6th International Conference on Science in Society, Vancouver, Canada. Indigenous peoples worldwide have had varied interactions with science, and similarly the science academy’s relationship with the ‘indigenous’ has also varied. For many years indigenous knowledge (IK) has been considered incompatible with western empirical based science, mainly due to differences in knowledge inquiry and transfer, as well as more fundamental beliefs about the inseparable nature of material and non-material aspects of the universe held by the former. Increasingly however, commonalities between the two are being recognised. Both scientists and IK holders, and in particular practitioners, are beginning to work with each other. The recognition that aspects of IK have been generated following the scientific method affords the exciting opportunity to explore how IK can be integrated with science to add to our collective understanding. In this paper I will (i) demonstrate that in the field of natural hazards and disasters research IK can be viewed as an encoded database of natural hazard events and (ii) discuss a method by which to un-encode the database. Accordingly, this research affords the unique opportunity to explore and build a relationship between IK and science, in essence putting indigenous society into science.