Abstract
This essay presents an overview of foundational considerations and perceptions which collectively form a framework for thinking about Indigenous community building in relationship to the tasks of addressing the real challenges, social issues, and consequences of climate change. The ideas shared are based on a keynote address given by the author at the International Conference on Climate Change, Indigenous Resilience and Local Knowledge Systems: Cross-time and Cross-boundary Perspectives held at the National Taiwan University on 13–14 December 2019. The primary audience for this essay is Indigenous Peoples and allies of Indigenous Peoples who are actively involved in climate change studies, sustainable community building, and education. As such, it presents the author’s personal view of key orientations for shifting current paradigms by introducing an Indigenized conceptual framework of community building which can move Indigenous communities toward revitalization and renewal through strategically implementing culturally responsive Indigenous science education, engaging sustainable economics and sustainability studies. As an Indigenous scholar who has maintained an insider perspective and has worked extensively with community members around issues of culturally responsive science education, the author challenges all concerned to take Indigenous science seriously as an ancient body of applied knowledge for sustaining communities and ensuring survival over time and through generations. The author also challenges readers to initiate new thinking about how to use Indigenous science, community building, and education as a tool and a body of knowledge which may be integrated with appropriate forms of Western science in new and creative ways that serve to sustain and ensure survival rather than perpetuate unexamined Western business paradigms of community development.
Highlights
In many Indigenous communities, efforts are underway to find sustainable and culturally responsive community-based models that help to strengthen Indigenous communities and do not perpetuate their long-standing social or cultural issues
This essay explores strands of thought and previous writing of the author leading to the articulation of a general framework for contemporary Indigenous community building
It begins with the philosophy of Indigenous science, followed by the challenges of climate change, and issues with Western models of development
Summary
In many Indigenous communities, efforts are underway to find sustainable and culturally responsive community-based models that help to strengthen Indigenous communities and do not perpetuate their long-standing social or cultural issues. Over the last three decades, various Native initiatives in the United States have evolved which attempt to rebuild Indigenous nations from the inside out Their intent is to build infrastructures that serve a broader spectrum of the community, explore local resources and solutions, advocate for local rather than governmental control of community development, and most importantly evolve from the cultural and practical knowledge foundations of the communities themselves. This essay explores strands of thought and previous writing of the author leading to the articulation of a general framework for contemporary Indigenous community building It begins with the philosophy of Indigenous science, followed by the challenges of climate change, and issues with Western models of development. These strands set a context for understanding why learning about community is important, the importance of creating relevant community building models, and the need for a new generation of Indigenous studies that prioritizes sustaining healthy Indigenous community
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