Learning Ethnobiology: Creating Knowledge and Skills about the Living World

Zarger, R. K.

doi:10.1002/9781118015872.ch22

Cited by 42 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…It is a social mechanism in which the culture's technological knowledge, behavior patterns, and cosmological beliefs are communicated and acquired (Hewlett & Cavalli-Sforza 1986). Knowledge transmission is conducted through everyday practices, such as learning by doing, helping adults with daily tasks, participating, observing and copying adults, interacting with the natural environment within a cultural context, developing abilities required for practical actions (Wyndham 2010;Zarger 2011), and by oral transmission (Berkes et al 2000). In this sense, Cavalli-Sforza et al (1982) indicate three main paths for the transmission of knowledge: vertical between generations related by kinship, horizontal within the same generation, and oblique between individuals of different generations without kinship relation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Formal education through schools, for example, may become a negative driver when not considering the use of local resources, knowledge, and culture (Cruz-Garcia 2006). However, other authors point to successful initiatives to integrate knowledge and local culture into school subjects, such as the use of local language, exploratory and outdoor activities to identify and collect plants, and flexible timetables, so that students can participate in culturally relevant activities outside of school (Cruz-Garcia 2006;Wyndham 2010;Zarger 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of the botanical knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng indigenous people in Southern Brazil

Heineberg

Hanazaki

2019

Acta Bot. Bras.

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We analyzed the botanical knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng people in the Ibirama Laklãnõ Indigenous Territory. Th ey are the last remnant of this ethnicity living in a unitary socio-political organization. Th e objective was to investigate the dynamics, distribution and transmission of botanical information. We interviewed 112 people in two villages about known and used plants. Data were collected through structured socioeconomic questionnaires, free lists and walk-in-the-woods tours. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and metrics of social network analysis. Of the 314 plants mentioned in the interviews, 77 % were currently used, 15 % were used in the past, and 8 % were known but never used. Men cited more plants than women. We found no correlation between the distribution of knowledge and age, but there was a relationship between families that valued Laklãnõ-Xokleng culture and individual knowledge. Transmission of knowledge about plants used medicinally and for handicrafts occurs mainly between generations and during childhood. Transmission networks emphasize the central position of elders as knowledge transmitters for their families. Diff erent network topologies refl ect particular dynamics in the medicinal and handicraft use of plants. External and internal pressures have caused changes in the transmission of the botanical knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of the botanical knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng indigenous people in Southern Brazil

Heineberg

Hanazaki

2019

Acta Bot. Bras.

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“…This does not mean that cognitivist research on folkbiology has vanished. Although questions about folkbiological cognition appear increasingly relegated to the periphery of "ethnobiology 5", they have found a new institutional home in the cognitive sciences and have been connected to heterogenous issues from foundational debates about cognitive modularity (Atran and Medin 2008) and essentialism (Gelman 2003;Sousa et al 2002) to their implications for issues such as childhood anthropocentrism (Waxman and Medin 2007), learning about environments (Zarger 2011), or folk categories of race (Machery and Faucher 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Cognition Still Matter in Ethnobiology?

Ludwig

2018

EBL

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Ethnobiology has become increasingly concerned with applied and normative questions about biocultural diversity and the livelihoods of local communities. While this development has created new opportunities for connecting ethnobiological research with ecological and social sciences, it also raises questions about the role of cognitive perspectives in current ethnobiology. In fact, there are clear signs of institutional separation as research on folkbiological cognition has increasingly found its home in the cognitive science community, weakening its ties to institutionalized ethnobiology. Rather than accepting this separation as inevitable disciplinary specialization, this short perspective article argues for a systemic perspective that addresses mutual influences and causal entanglement of cognitive and non-cognitive factors in socio-ecological dynamics. Such an integrative perspective requires a new conversation about cognition in ethnobiology beyond traditional polarization around issues of cognitive universals and cultural relativity.

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“…[33-35]; see [36] for a review of literature to date). The distinction between knowledge and skill may be important for research that seeks to identify trends in TEK (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An empirical comparison of knowledge and skill in the context of traditional ecological knowledge

Kightley

Reyes‐García

Demps

et al. 2013

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundWe test whether traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about how to make an item predicts a person’s skill at making it among the Tsimane’ (Bolivia). The rationale for this research is that the failure to distinguish between knowledge and skill might account for some of the conflicting results about the relationships between TEK, human health, and economic development.MethodsWe test the association between a commonly-used measure of individual knowledge (cultural consensus analysis) about how to make an arrow or a bag and a measure of individual skill at making these items, using ordinary least-squares regression. The study consists of 43 participants from 3 villages.ResultsWe find no association between our measures of knowledge and skill (core model, p > 0.5, R 2 = .132).ConclusionsWhile we cannot rule out the possibility of a real association between these phenomena, we interpret our findings as support for the claim that researchers should distinguish between methods to measure knowledge and skill when studying trends in TEK.

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Learning Ethnobiology: Creating Knowledge and Skills about the Living World

Cited by 42 publications

References 50 publications

Dynamics of the botanical knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng indigenous people in Southern Brazil

Dynamics of the botanical knowledge of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng indigenous people in Southern Brazil

Does Cognition Still Matter in Ethnobiology?

An empirical comparison of knowledge and skill in the context of traditional ecological knowledge

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