Indigenous Knowledge Systems (Towards a Holistic Inclusive Conservation)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Although there has been, in recent times, a widespread interest in preservation and promotion of Indigenous Heritage or Knowledge Systems from a variety of disciplines and sectors, from across the globe- the design principles or modalities of a holistic conservation remains largely un-explored. This volume explores this lacunae and proposes the concept of Ecosemiotic Community Museuology (ECM), and a road map for it, through theory and practice. Based on the trajectories of conservation - natural, cultural and museological - down time, and indigenous epistemological premises brought forth from previous research, the treatise proposes the concept of ECM as a paradigm for successful community-based conservation of indigenous knowledge systems or indigenous biocultural heritage in its holistic wholeness.

While taking into cognizance the issues of interfacing - namely, cross-cultural knowledge integration, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), the volume attempts to add value to its basic ecosemiotic museological proposition, and strengthen its case, through presentation of, and comments on, a diverse range of secondary case studies of ongoing conservational initiatives from across the globe that highlight the ingredients of success as well as non-performance of such efforts.

The ultimate goal of the historical surveys, intellectual exercises and the case studies in this volume are to capture the nuances that can help decolonize not just 'museology' or 'conservation' but 'development' and 'sustainability' itself. And, hopefully, help make advances towards a decentralized museological governance for the invaluable indigenous biocultural heritage that still lies strewn across the globe, in various stages of decimation.

Satarupa Dutta Majumder has a PhD in anthropology with a specialization in Indigenous Knowledge Systems from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She had her initial training in Earth Sciences, and worked in USAID environmental projects, before veering into interdisciplinary sustainability issues as also indigenous biocultural heritage, engaging with the Crafts Council movement in India and the Asia-Pacific. She has been a Nehru Trust Fellow, a Charles Wallace Fellow as well as a Gulbenkian Scholar studying the various Indian collections in museums across UK and Europe.

Over the millennia, indigenous peoples have developed distinct 221 systems of knowledge each comprising not just natural resource practices but an entire repertoire of social institutions and traditional 261 cultural expressions like music and song, stories, symbols, dances, Data 313 rituals, architecture, arts, crafts, and so on. These grounded indigenous knowledge systems rely on holding a commons consisting Science Traditions 316 of land, material resources, knowledge, ancestors and spirits, and Linkage between are characteristically dynamic, evolving and holistic with strong 320 interconnections between the component parts. These fast-eroding knowledge systems are a priceless resource for sustainability science. Integration 322 Though there has been a widespread interest in preservation/promotion of indigenous heritage from a variety of disciplines and sectors - beyond the traditional arena of museums/archives preservation, management and promotion of indigenous knowledge appear fraught with challenges since the design principles or modalities of holistic conservation that can benefit or empower the original custodians have not been properly worked out. The basic goal here is to posit the essentiality of an integrated community-based approach to IK conservation nature, place, artefacts and intangible cultural resources and their interconnections. And providing a roadmap towards this holistic inclusive approach through theory and practice.

The volume is divided into five parts. The two chapters of Part I briefly look into the evolution of the concept of indigenous people and indigenous knowledge systems, the controversies surrounding these concepts, and the relevance of such concepts to sustainability in the context of the global ecological crisis. The chapters also present some global and national scenarios and data on the way and pace at which indigenous habitats are being destroyed, communities displaced, languages lost and knowledge systems fragmented to high-light the need to expedite an inclusive conservation agenda.