Hidden, scattered and reconstructed: indigenous lifeways, knowledges and intergenerational learning

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is concerned with diverse ways in which indigenous people learn, engage with and construct knowledge in their everyday lives and livelihoods. Drawing on the concepts of lifeways it explores the nature of the shared values, meaningful social interactions and multiple forms of communication – including interactions with human, non-human entities and the spirit world – of indigenous peoples of the Southeast Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous Arakbut knowledges and ways of knowing are the basis of their ‘education system’ and emerge from their history and vision of the world. However, their lifeways and education system have become fragmented, scattered and go unrecognised in the context environmental destruction from gold mining and lack of territorial control. The article draws on indigenous perspectives and ethnographic research to demonstrate the importance of indigenous education systems for the maintenance and continuing transformation of vigorous place-based lifeways attuned to 21st century visions for the future.