Abstract:
The subject of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is currently attracting interest from many quarters,
including biologists and philosophers as well as the more traditional mix of anthropologists and other social scientists. Given
rapid contemporary rates of change, as well as the novel species and environments being created by six billion humans, what
is the relevance of TEK for today’s world? Why would a working ecologist be interested in this area, and are there
implications for practitioners in other fields related to contemporary resource analysis and management?
This essay will discuss three of many possible related answers to these questions. First, most ecologists only encounter their
study systems over very limited time spans. Thus, there is a wealth of local observations at the level of populations and
species that can be contributed by astute observers whose lives and livelihoods are tied to the land in complex ways. Second,
conventional science, particularly ecological science, is not well-tooled for recognizing, analyzing, and responding to
emergent properties of complex systems such as ecosystems. TEK, however, is holistic by nature, and so can clearly
complement conventional science, which can only study whole system behavior using models that extrapolate from known
conditions and processes. Third, it seems particularly counterproductive to fail to include the broadest possible diversity of
problem-solving approaches during these times of emerging novel problems.
The literature on TEK is voluminous, and it is not the intent, in this brief essay, to provide anything approaching a
comprehensive review. Rather, I hope to provide both food for multidisciplinary thought, and a few references that may open
the way for readers interested in pursuing these ideas.
