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Traditional ecological knowledge and biocultural restoration : restoring relationships between land and community Robin Wall Kimmerer Center for Native Peoples and the Environment SUNY ESF The people of the seventh fire “The Onondaga Nation calls for a healing……. there can be no purpose more inspiring than to begin the age of restoration, reweaving the wondrous diversity of life that still surrounds us” E.O. Wilson Two neighboring centers of ecological knowledge Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Privileged knowledge Scientific Ecological Knowledge (SEK) What is Traditional Ecological Knowledge? • The cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief concerning the relationship of living beings to one another and to the physical environment • an attribute of societies with historical continuity in resource use practice How do native people define TEK? “Traditional knowledge is a way of life -wisdom is using traditional knowledge in good ways. It is using the heart and the head together.“ •“ It is practical common sense based on teachings and experiences passed on from generation to generation”. From Alaska Native Science Commission It sets out the rules governing the use of resources respect, an obligation to share. It is dynamic, cumulative and stable. •“It is knowing the country. It covers knowledge of the environment - snow, ice, weather, resources - and the relationships between things.” •“It is holistic. It cannot be compartmentalized and cannot be separated from the people who hold it. It is rooted in the spiritual health, culture and language of the people”. Kenomagwen mno bmaadiziwin The knowledge for sustaining good life Indigenous environmental philosophy Agricultural knowledge Traditional Ecosystem Management Knowledge Medicine Knowledge Population dynamics and regulation Knowledge of climate change TEK is an important, overlooked resource in ecological restoration • Knowledge for reference ecosystems • Land management practices • Alternative ecological models • Restoration of cultural relationships What is the restoration goal? Identification of the reference ecosystem What species should be there? What habitats? Information on reference ecosystems may be embedded in: • Scientific ecological knowledge • Traditional ecological knowledge: • • • • • oral history ethnographies harvesting practices management practices material culture Indigenous Languages: a library of ecological knowledge Species names Place names A valuable asset for restoration Material culture as sources of ecological knowledge The approach to restoration depends on the meaning of land… What does land mean? Land as property Land as source of ecosystem services Land as natural resources Land as capital The ecosystem as machine: a collection of interacting parts Western paradigm: Nature as “object” The evolution of restoration philosophy: raising the bar Ecological Restoration Reclamation The National Research Council defines restoration as: The return of an ecosystem to a close approximation of its condition prior to disturbance. In restoration, ecological damage to the resource is repaired. Both the structure and the function of the ecosystem are recreated. Merely recreating the form without the function, or the function in an artificial configuration bearing little resemble to a natural resource, does not constitute restoration….the goal is to emulate. NRC 1992 An SEK approach Through a different lens… What does land “mean”? Ecosystem as community of sovereign ”persons” Indigenous paradigm: nature as “subject” Land as Sustainer Land as Residence of non-human relatives Land as Home Land As Identity Land As Enspirited Land as Ancestral Connection Land as Source of Knowledge Land as Healer Land as sacred Land as Moral Responsibility It is not the land which is broken, but our relationship to it Land as: A source of belongings? or A source of belonging? If Land is understood as a set of relationships then to restore land we must also restore relationships Indigenous ways of knowing may prioritize restoration goals differently Restored landscape should provide: • Practice of spiritual responsibility to land • Ability to support subsistence use activities • Focus on cultural keystone species Subsistence Goals: a healthy ecosystem is one rich enough to sustain All Our relatives, human and non Restoration may focus on return of “cultural keystone” species The restored landscape should • Support revitalization of language and culture • Support for sustainable place based economies • Support kincentric relationship to place and history • Enables people to engage in traditional land management/caregiving activities “ Cultural survival depends on healthy land and a healthy, responsible relationship between humans and the land. The traditional caregiving responsibilities which maintained healthy land need to be expanded to include ecological restoration. Ecological restoration is inseparable from cultural and spiritual restoration, and is inseparable from the spiritual responsibilities of care-giving and world-renewal. Collectively and individually, these indigenous spiritual values must be central to the vision of community ecological restoration. Western science and technology, is a limited conceptual and methodological tool-the “head and hands” of restoration implementation. Native spirituality is the “heart, that guides the head and hands. Indigenous Environmental Network 1994 Two paradigms of ecological restoration • Restoration of ecosystem structure and function for delivery of ecosystem services • Imposed solution for equilibrial outcome • Time frame: decades • eg Cairns, National Research Council • Restoration of relationship to land • Respect, reciprocity • Partnership with natural processes • Time frame: generations • Indigenous Peoples Restoration Network The evolution of restoration philosophy and approach- a progressive raising of the bar on what is a healthy ecosystem Biocultural restoration Ecological Restoration Reclamation A new holistic approach to restoration: • Restoration of ecosystem structure and function, species composition • Restoration of relationships between land and community Bio-cultural Restoration To date, the Onondaga Lake Restoration Plan has employed only limited SEK approaches-restoring selected features of ecosystem structure and function Holistic TEK perspectives have not yet been included Can biocultural thinking help us imagine and implement a different future for Onondaga Lake? for ourselves? Biocultural restoration includes re-story-ation An opportunity to tell a different story Economic Values: Material economy Ecosystem Services: Nutrient cycling Hydrologic cycling Air quality Habitat Soil formation Cultural Services : Subsistence Spiritual responsibility identity Knowledge source Reciprocal relationships What should the reference ecosystem be ? What do we envision as the “reference relationship? We can do better for Onondaga Lake Incorporation of TEK and biocultural approaches will: - Increase sustainability and longevity of restoration - Build resilience in a changing climate • Enhance biodiversity through cultural knowledge • Honors history and cultures • Complement purely SEK approaches Biocultural restoration raises the standards for ecosystem integrity • • • • Water clean enough to swim in Fish that can be eaten Habitat to support keystone species Not looking backward…..a vision for the future • HONORS RELATIONSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY The Altai The Amazon The Arctic Why not here? A Model for Biocultural Restoration The evolution of restoration philosophy Reciprocal restoration Biocultural restoration Ecological Restoration Reclamation a bigger vision…….. Reciprocal restoration: in healing the land we are healing ourselves Reciprocal restoration supports • Renewal of material and spiritual relationships • revitalization of language and culture • maintenance and protection of TEK • Strengthened communities • Resilience, adaptability • Biological and cultural diversity • Environmental justice • Peacemaking between land and people Restoration is an act of reciprocity in return for the gifts of Mother Earth to achieve this goal……… we need a symbiosis between ways of knowing Corn supports beans, increases light availability Beans fertilize soil, use light efficiently by positioning leaves opposite to corn Squash shades ground and suppress weeds ….and so all are fed Envisioning a symbiosis… scientific knowledge guided by traditional knowledge and wisdom ….and so all are fed RESTORING RELATIONSHIP •Education, culture and science center on the Lake to re-story the watershed •Environmental education to train next generation of OL scientists, cross-cultural •Public field trips and education •Writers and artists gathering…don’t “write it off” •Ceremonial space