Indigenous Knowledge: Place, People and Protocol

In recent decades there has been a growing awareness internationally and in Canada of the importance of Traditional or Indigenous Knowledge. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples focused part of its 1996 final report on Traditional Knowledge, describing it as the "cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs, handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment."[1]

Much of this recent interest has been generated by the fact that Indigenous peoples worldwide possess an unsurpassed knowledge of their physical environment and that it is therefore of crucial importance that this knowledge be preserved and shared. An example of this is article 8(j) of the international Convention on Biodiversity that refers to the need for signatory states to take measures to preserve, promote and encourage the equitable sharing of the "knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles..."[2]

However, Indigenous Knowledge is not confined to knowledge of the physical sciences. It is spiritual as well as ecological and embraces ways of knowing that are sometimes characterized as cultural or artistic. Viewing Indigenous Knowledge through categories such as art, science or culture, however, tends to fragment its inherent unity. As Greg Young-Ing describes it, the Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous peoples

... encompasses a broad range of Indigenous knowledge ranging from: ancient stories, songs and dances; traditional architecture and agricultural; biodiversityrelated and medicinal, herbal and plant knowledge; ancient motifs, crests and other artistic designs; various artistic mediums, styles, forms and techniques; spiritual and religious institutions and their symbols; and various other forms of Indigenous knowledge.[3]

As Rosemarie Kuptana, Inuvialuk activist and environmentalist explains, Indigenous Knowledge always reflects unity rather than separation, and resists losing its connection to word and to sound. Thus, whenever something new is learned,

... the new knowledge is incorporated into a holistic world view and becomes part of the explanation of the entire ecosystem as a whole, and explains the working of the ecosystem and not just an isolated particle. We believe that everything is interrelated and interconnected. Where western science values the written word, Inuit Indigenous Knowledge is an oral culture and cannot be written. To remove it from this oral context is to remove its meaning. Dynamic knowledge such as Inuit Indigenous Knowledge cannot be written down, as written information has a permanence that does not reflect the true nature of Indigenous Knowledge. Furthermore, Indigenous Knowledge is rarely communicated in a direct manner; instead, it is communicated in stories, events, dances, song and dreams.[4]

Indigenous Knowledge is tied to place and the people who live in that place. It takes living form through the many and diverse Aboriginal languages in concepts and linguisticallyreinforced relationships reflective of the places where these languages arose. As Marie Battiste and Sa'ke'j Henderson put it: "We carry the mysteries of our ecologies and their diversity in our oral traditions, in our ceremonies, and in our art; we unite these mysteries in the structure of our languages and our ways of knowing."[5]

Indigenous Knowledge is more about understanding one's role and responsibility in the world than about classifying information. It is a form of consciousness intimately related to the ecological order, a response of a people to their responsibility to participate in maintaining that order. Although recorded and passed on by such means as art, song, myth, story and ceremony, Indigenous Knowledge is not cultural knowledge as such. The Mi'kmaq language, for example, has no single concept or word that captures what most Canadians would refer to as "culture". To the Mi'kmaq, aspects might be captured by telilnuisink, maintaining contact with tradition, or by telilnuo'lti'k, maintaining consciousness, or by tlinuita'sim, maintaining the Mi'kmaq language.

Nor is Indigenous Knowledge a uniform concept shared in the same way by all Indigenous peoples. It is diverse knowledge held by different people in different ways in their respective societies. It is therefore personal knowledge, and is so much a part of the identity of a person, clan, group or nation that it cannot easily be separated from that sense of identity. For this reason, Indigenous Knowledge must be approached with respect and discussed in its own context according to the appropriate protocols.[6]

Thus, as Canadian Heritage began its dialogue with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples about Indigenous Knowledge, it had to consider how to create a collaborative process that would respect these protocols.


Top of Page


Canadian Heritage appointed a twelve person Advisory Group made up of respected individuals drawn largely from Aboriginal communities across Canada:

  • Reg Crowshoe, Piikani-Blackfoot Elder from the Piikani reserve in Alberta;
  • Marie Battiste, Mi'kmaq education professional from the Potlo'tek First Nation of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia;
  • Madeleine Dion Stout, Cree health professional from the Kehewin First Nation of Alberta;
  • Peter Irniq, Inuk teacher and cultural activist from the Kivalliq region of Nunavut;
  • Roberta Jamieson, Mohawk political leader from the Six Nations of the Grand River of Ontario;
  • Misel Joe, Saqamaw (Chief) of the Miawpukek Mi'kamawey Mawi'omi of Newfoundland;
  • Jaime Koebel, Métis Student/Researcher from Lac La Biche, Alberta;
  • Carrielynn Lamouche, Métis health professional from Gift Lake, Alberta;
  • Rosa Mantla, Dogrib language and cultural advisor from T'licho, NWT;
  • René Tenasco, Algonquin research coordinator from Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation of Québec; writer and publisher, Opsakwayak Cree Nation of northern Manitoba;
  • Greg Young-Ing, writer and publisher, Opsakwayak Cree Nation of northern Manitoba;
  • Philippe Doré, former Director-General of the Aboriginal Affairs Branch of Canadian Heritage of Ottawa, Ontario.

Biographies of the Advisory Group members may be found at www.traditions.gc.ca.

With the help of the Advisory Group, a unique blend of Indigenous and non-Indigenous discussion protocols was created on the basis of a traditional circle structure process. Called Venue, Action, Language and Song, or VALS for short, it was adapted with the help of an Elders Council to the local protocols of each of the locations across Canada selected as gathering places for Traditions. Further information on the Advisory Group, Elders Council and the VALS process may be found at www.traditions.gc.ca.[7]

  • [1]Canada, Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Vol. 4, Perspectives and Realities (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services 1996) at 454.
  • [2]1992 UNTS No. 30619. U.N.E.P. June 5. It can be found at www.biodiv.org/convention/default.shtml. Article 8(j) is discussed in Canada, Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures, Towards A New Beginning: A Foundational Report for a Strategy to Revitalize First Nations, Inuit and Métis Languages and Cultures (Ottawa: Department of Canadian Heritage, June 2005) at 72.
  • [3]"Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights in Context" in Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage Discussion Papers: Traditions National Gatherings on Indigenous Knowledge (Ottawa, undated) at 47. The discussion papers may be found at www.traditions.gc.ca
  • [4]"Relationship Between Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Cultural Properties; An Inuit Perspective" Discussion Papers, ibid at 44.
  • [5]Marie Battiste, James (Sa'ke'j) Youngblood Henderson, Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage: A Global Challenge (Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Ltd., 2000) at 9, paraphrasing Linda Hogan, Power (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998) at 227. This theme is discussed in Towards A New Beginning, supra note 2 at 22-24.
  • [6]Protecting Indigenous Knowledge, ibid, at 35-37. The Supreme Court of Canada seems to be aware that Aboriginal cultural practices embrace the identity of those who maintain the practices. The Court has stated that Aboriginal rights under s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 encompass customs, traditions and practices integral to the distinctive culture of the Aboriginal group in the sense that the "practice, tradition or custom was one of the things which made the culture distinctive - that it was one of the things that truly made the society what it was"(emphasis in the original): Van der Peet v. The Queen [1996] 4 C.N.L.R. 177 at 204.
  • [7]The traditional circle structure process and VALS will be included in a separate National Gatherings on Indigenous Knowledge Engagement Report. Short descriptions of each may be found at www.traditions.ca

[ Table of contents ]