Indigenous Knowledge

Working in conjunction with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, the educational and cultural resources collective the Alaskan Native Knowledge Network (ANKN) helps the general public, schools, and government agencies explore traditional information systems, giving users insights into both the content of folk culture and the paradigms used to categorize knowledge.  The program encourages a dialogue, one in which the interaction of traditional Alaskan and European-American cultures strengthens the development of education and offers new ways of exploring community life.

The site includes an intriguing “Spiral Chart for Integrated Learning,” a tool for visualizing the relationship between indigenous Alaskan and European folkways in a way that helps teachers create curricula that balance cultural influences and respond to local needs.  The diagram correlates subject content with student grade level, allowing users to download information be clicking the appropriate section of the chart.  The spiral—at least aesthetically—seems an interesting way of mapping knowledge.  ANKN uses the same model to explore other material–including the culture-specific subsistence curriculum shown above.

Interest in indigenous Alaskan culture and the state’s settlement has exploded in the past few years in light of a growing appreciation for sustainable development and locally-oriented socio-economic systems.  The ANKN site offers a wide range of material on local community development and sustainable living, and presents the information within the context of individual cultural systems.  This recognition of the complex relationship between culture and environment—paired with essays on legal and ethical issues related to indigenous knowledge systems—will hopefully avert some of the problems and abuses that have appeared in the past when people have tried to appropriate aspects of native cultures.