Enduring Expertise
How Indigenous innovations are shaping modern technology
Indigenous Peoples span every continent in the world. From the Arctic to the Andes, each community has learned to adapt to their unique and changing landscape, all while living within Earth's finite boundaries.
On a planet impacted by rising temperatures and biodiversity loss, we can learn a lot from the way Indigenous Peoples relate to their environment.
“I guess we think a little bit differently about land”, says Clyde Rigney, a Traditional Owner of Ngarrindjeri Country in South Australia. “We don’t think that it belongs to us, we think we belong to it.”
Perry Bellegarde, a former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Canada, echoes this sentiment. “We’re part of nature. We don’t own nature. You can’t own Mother Earth.”
In changing how we view our relationship with the natural world, can we live in greater harmony with it?
Advances in modern technology have been critical for human development, but this doesn’t mean casting nature aside. In fact, some of the most effective technologies are firmly rooted in a connection with the Earth. Whether it’s the medicines derived from plants in the Amazon rainforest or the cyclical burns that prevent dangerous wildfires, so many of the answers we seek already exist.
Traditional knowledge lies in nature; it’s scattered in the soil and swimming through the streams, and it has been tried, tested, and honed over thousands of years.
Many Indigenous leaders are urging us to utilise this traditional knowledge, reconnect with the natural world, and act on its behalf. Now is the time to listen.
With thanks to following contributors:
Perry Bellegarde, Former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada
Jennifer Tauli Corpuz, Fellow at Nia Tero
Clyde Rigney, Ngarrindjeri Korne (Man) Traditional Owner
Elinor Breman, Senior Research Lead, Kew
Saurabh Sinha, Program Lead, IDH
Krishna Rao, CEO, Kovel Foundation
Garrett Dickman, National Parks Service, Yosemite
Leroy Little Bear, Blackfoot Knowledge Keeper
