Professor Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona, United States
From Indigenous perspectives and worldviews, contemporary ecological education must be rooted in Indigenous and colonial history and historical ecology to understanding the changes in local landscapes over long periods of time. To be a guardian of the future means ecologists are rooted in ancient pasts and Indigenous futures thinking. This includes the revitalization of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Indigenous languages. Indigenous ecologies of inclusion include multiple ways of understanding, perceiving, and narrating local landscapes, for example the differences between native and exotic plant species, or the interpretation of ecological processes, such as the water cycle. To understand different Indigenous ecological perceptions requires a willingness to question established western theories and concepts of ecology to embrace relationality, environmental justice, and even metaphysical aspects of the human-environment continuum. Inclusive ecological education can and should expand its scope and methodologies to include TEK and local, place-based Indigenous knowledge and practices, such as cultural burning, or polycultural agriculture. Through site-specific and tribally-specific examples, this talk will feature key examples of Indigenous inclusive education.
