Overview
This lecture examines the interface between Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and science in Arctic resource co-management, highlighting both progress and ongoing challenges in integrating indigenous perspectives in policy and practice.
Introduction to TEK and Co-management
- TEK is a cumulative, culturally transmitted body of knowledge about relationships between living beings and their environment.
- Co-management involves resource users, managers, and stakeholders sharing power over common resources.
- TEK integration is increasingly institutionalized globally, especially in Arctic governance structures.
Institutionalization and Global Context
- International initiatives (e.g., IUCN, UNESCO, UN programs) promote TEK's role in conservation and management.
- Indigenous organizations like the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) have shifted policy focus toward viewing the Arctic as a homeland, not just a conservation zone.
- TEK is politically significant due to climate change, resource depletion, and indigenous rights activism.
TEK, Indigenous Identity & Knowledge Systems
- Indigenous identity is deeply linked to land, animals, and shared community memory ("memoryscape").
- TEK and scientific knowledge differ: TEK is holistic and embedded, science tends to be detached and quantifiable.
- Cultural changes, external pressures, and bureaucracy can fragment or politicize TEK, shifting identity from land-based to ethnic labels.
Case Studies of Co-management
- Greenland’s whaling industry illustrates conflicts when TEK is subsumed under non-indigenous management, even with local autonomy.
- The Tuktu and Nogak Project in Nunavut documents and systematizes Inuit knowledge, using participatory methods and databases to bridge TEK and science.
- The Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Co-op combines local observations and scientific research for caribou management, emphasizing mutually respectful knowledge co-production.
Challenges and Gaps in Implementation
- Assumptions that indigenous people overexploit resources ignore internal rules, sanctions, and conservation ethics in TEK.
- State management systems often impose centralized authority, written rules, and external values, risking loss of TEK legitimacy and assimilation pressures.
- Even with co-management, power often remains with non-indigenous governments, limiting TEK’s actual influence.
Best Practices for Bridging TEK and Science
- Effective frameworks encourage collaboration among users, managers, and researchers as equals.
- Mutual respect, attention to gaps between knowledge systems, and participatory methodology are key.
- Knowledge co-production, where TEK and scientific data inform each other, produces more holistic and informed policy outcomes.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) — Culturally transmitted knowledge about the environment and its relationships, accumulated through generations.
- Co-management — Shared governance structure involving resource users, managers, and stakeholders.
- Memoryscape — The communal landscape infused with shared memories and cultural meaning.
- Knowledge co-production — Collaborative process where TEK and scientific knowledge inform each other.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review the Greenland and Canadian caribou case studies for details on co-management practices.
- Reflect on the differences between TEK and scientific knowledge in your own fieldwork or case analysis.
- Prepare for potential exam questions on the theoretical and practical aspects of TEK integration in policy.