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Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Climate Change

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Indigenous Pacific Approaches to Climate Change

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Disaster Anthropology ((PSDA))

Abstract

Parker et al. describe indigenous peoples as being resilient in meeting past challenges to their world views and lifeways. Utilising ‘traditional strengths’ (Parker et al. Climate Change and Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations. Washington, DC: Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute (NIARI), The Evergreen State College, Olympia, 2016, 12) makes them well placed to meet the new challenge from climate change head-on. The IPCC called for including indigenous knowledge (IK) to underpin adaptation. This chapter discusses IK, traditional ecological knowledge, and the A/NZ indigenous framework, Mātauraka Māori. The origin stories of how the land and sea became interlinked with people and the way people have worked with the environment for mutually beneficial outcomes will be analysed. The way IK frameworks work through a system of relationships will be expanded here to further support the notion that mitigation and adaptation cannot be thought of as separate events.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Posey, p. 39.

  2. 2.

    Carter, 2003, 2004a; Sillitoe, 1998; Berkes, 2012; Posey, 2002.

  3. 3.

    Berkes, 2012, 9.

  4. 4.

    McNamara and Westoby, 2011, 887.

  5. 5.

    Doherty, 2010.

  6. 6.

    Berkes, 2012, xxiii.

  7. 7.

    Berkes, 2012, xxiii.

  8. 8.

    King, et al., 2007.

  9. 9.

    Combining Traditional knowledge and Meteorological forecasts in the Pacific to increase community resilience to extreme climate events, The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), www.sprep.org/pein/samoa.

  10. 10.

    Chand et al., 2014.

  11. 11.

    Te Waipounamu weather and climate forecasting, NIWA Poster Series No. 2017-3 (Te Reo Māori version) and 4 (English language version), funded through the National Science Deep South Challenge. For further information and to see the list of Kāi Tahu kaumātua (elders) who contributed knowledge to the project, see www.niwa.co.nz.

  12. 12.

    McNamara and Westoby, 2011, 888.

  13. 13.

    Report: Indigenous People, Marginalised Populations and Climate Change (IPMPCC), Vulnerability, Adaptation and Traditional Knowledge 19–21 July 2011, Mexico City, ‘http://indingeous%20knowledge%20and%20climate…ples,%20marginalised%20Climate%20climate%20change.html’, 1 accessed 17/2/2015.

  14. 14.

    International workshop on Indigenous Peoples, Marginalised Populations and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation and Traditional Knowledge – Mexico City, Mexico 19–21 July 2011, 1.

  15. 15.

    International workshop for Indigenous Peoples, Marginalised Populations and Climate Change, Adaptation, Mitigation and Traditional Knowledge, 26–28 March 2012, Cairns, Australia.

  16. 16.

    IPMPCC report, Indigenous Peoples, Marginalised Populations and Climate Change, 2011, 4.

  17. 17.

    IPMPCC report, Indigenous Peoples, Marginalised Populations and Climate Change, 2011, 4.

  18. 18.

    Carter, 2014.

  19. 19.

    Davidson-Hunt et al., 2013.

  20. 20.

    IPCC WGII AR5 Report Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Summary for Policy makers, 2014, p. 23.

  21. 21.

    Fuary, 2009, 32.

  22. 22.

    Fuary, 2009, 33.

  23. 23.

    Fuary, 2009, 33.

  24. 24.

    Fuary, 2009, 32.

  25. 25.

    Brougham et al., 2009, 59.

  26. 26.

    Beckwith, 1970, 63.

  27. 27.

    Beckwith, 1970, 61.

  28. 28.

    Beckwith, 1970, 61.

  29. 29.

    Nunn, 2003.

  30. 30.

    Beckwith, 1970, 231.

  31. 31.

    Beckwith, 1970, 232.

  32. 32.

    Cowan, 1923, 238–43.

  33. 33.

    Thornton, 1992.

  34. 34.

    Buck, 1954, 52.

  35. 35.

    Buck, 1954, 122.

  36. 36.

    Nunn, 2003, 360.

  37. 37.

    2003, 360.

  38. 38.

    The story is a summary of various ‘tellings’ about the origins of Te Wai Pounamu, A/NZ South Island that are commonly known to Kai Tahu tribal members.

  39. 39.

    Carter, 2014.

  40. 40.

    Vierros, 2013.

  41. 41.

    Craig, 1989.

  42. 42.

    Berkes, 2012, 190.

  43. 43.

    Davidson-Hunt et al., 2013, 44.

  44. 44.

    Davidson-Hunt et al., 2013, 1.

  45. 45.

    Davidson-Hunt et al., 2013, 1.

  46. 46.

    Berkes, 2012, 172.

  47. 47.

    Berkes, 2012, 191.

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  1. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Lyn Carter

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Carter, L. (2019). Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Climate Change. In: Indigenous Pacific Approaches to Climate Change. Palgrave Studies in Disaster Anthropology. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96439-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96439-3_3

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