Indigenous Science

-Indigenous people- Aboriginals with strong familiarity with their areas

- Science- Systematic approach to comprehend what is real
Indigenous Science- A science developed independently by indigenous people.- blueprint
- “Nature Healing” so if they aree…- age of humandfdf- era= harmful specie
- “What is out there” (no ethics)-interacting with local ecosystems- harmful and
hopeful
-O gawa (1995)- Own science; own culture- . Ogawa (1995) proposes that every
culture has its own science and refers to the science of a given culture as its “indigenous science” (p. 585).
Ogawa quotes (p. 585).
Objective: Wisdom rather than knowledge (eurocentric destination)- yamada Yamada (1970), a Japanese
historian of Oriental science, who writes, “every culture and every society has its own science, and its
function is sustaining its mother society and culture”
Explores the basic questions on:
a. Nature of Language, Thought and perception- product of architecture,
b. “Living knowledge”- less dependence
Basis:
a. Spirituality- Falls outside the realm of WS- spiritual beliefs, Ws- spiritual- consciousness,
b. Fundamental law- Respect to the nature- “stewardship of resources, unlike the WS value securing an
economic commodity to gain benefit.- each have own resurces
Why Indigenous Science is considered as Science? cajete
- Science is the perceiving of reality and constructing it. Basing again from Ogawa 1995 while cajete 1999, -
broad science that includes metaphysics to philosophy intertwining it with practical technolgoies from the
past until now.Models, but also with higher thinking experiences.
Importance:
1. Preservation of bio cultural diversity- meee,,, they isolate themselves
2. Solutions to the loose ends of Western Science
3. ”Blueprint of Western Modern Science”-mee
a. Roots of food- dependet knowledge (first hand resource) for the environment, 3/5 ,corns squash,
beans, potatoes., north, soutch and central america
b. Roots of medicine- about the medicinal properties of plants , North america -Cure new comers’ life
threatening scurvy disease by developing tonics that are rich in vitamin C. Medicinal plant- for aspirin- from
willow tree acetylsalicylic acid
c. Transportation- Innovations from Canoe, Kayak,toboggan adapted by european sttelers, - egyptian
canoe- kayak
d. Traditional ecological Knowledge-passed by the generations to the generations from the ancestors of
the native people provided insight into environmental change, wildlife preservation, sustainable harvesting
practices, and ecological relationships, etc.- cultures from the Heiltsuk First Nation in B.C. recognized two
types of wolves that is limited to WS- Coastal and inland , recent moose from north america
4. Indigenous Education
5. Caters the poor communities-mee- POverty alleviation from South Africa- filter paper from trad methods
and of course their agriculture is different from our ways. - no concept of monetary….
Indigenous science practices:
Other countries:
1. India- Plants as contemporary pharmaceuticals
2. Mayans (Mesoamerica)- Complexities of structures (architecture)- me Like many Mesoamerican pyramids,
each was constructed around a core of rubble held in place by retaining walls. The walls were then faced
with adobe bricks, and then covered with limestone.
Philippines:
1. Prediction of weather and natural disasters
a. Atok, benguet- “Puwek ni killing” or the Lunar Halo
b. Zamboanga Del Sur- Kasili (mythical fish) or Bayawan
c. Zamboanga Del Sur- the punishment of Shapo Magbabaya
2Herbal Medicines- me- Tadyawans- (mangyans in mindoro, luzon)- Tawa-tawa, ampalaya,Balbas Pusa.
a. Mindoro- Tadyawan used 114 plants- tonic, direct , cigarette
3. Preserving of foods
a. Cordillerans- Tapey, Etag
4. Agriculture- me
a. (IFugao)- Banaue Rice, 800 and 1,500 metres above sea level
b. Zamboanga Del Sur- Subanon tribes - Subanon- Pendupi: Jun- Sep (winds
southwest) ,miyan : Dec Jan Moonsoon rains also winds, pemeres- March to april
(hot and dry season)
c.Mindanao - Constellation of Orion- - Constellation of Orion- formation of stars to form
hunter figure, october to may ; harvesting season - cold (Mindanao)

5. Technology-
-Pottery, weaving, finer metalcraft, sumbiring, bidyo,etc.

6. Houses - me
- Built in hillside, Hut ,subanon house, etc. re built along hillsides and ridges overlooking family fields.
The homes are usually rectangular and raised on stilts with thatched roofs.

Summary:
Indigenous Science is still the foundation of the Western Science and the two disciplines co-paralleled
together.

Western: The search is driven by inquiry, limited by human abilities and technology, and guided by
hypotheses, observation, measurements, plausible reasoning and creativity, and accepted procedures that
try to limit the potential influences of non-target variables by utilizing controls.
- intent is to create sets of rules to prove justification