Science and Sustainability: Learning from Indigenous Wisdom

202 Pages·2014·2.06 MB·English

by  Joy Hendry (auth.)

Science and Sustainability
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Science and Sustainability
Learning from Indigenous Wisdom
Joy Hendry
science and sustainability
Copyright © Joy Hendry, 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-43590-3
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a
division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this
is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered
in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire
RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has
companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-137-43591-0 ISBN 978-1-137-43006-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137430069
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hendry, Joy.
Science and sustainability : learning from indigenous wisdom / Joy Hendry.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Indigenous peoples—Ecology. 2. Ethnoscience. 3. Traditional ecological
knowledge. 4. Ethnophilosophy. 5. Science—Philosophy. 6. Science—Social
aspects. 7. Sustainability. 8. Sustainable living. I. Title.
GN476.7.H46 2014
500.89—dc23
2014009618
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Amnet.
First edition: September 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of my older brother, William Forbes Hendry,
and his wife of 50 years, Chirsty Marie Macdonald, who
appear in chapter 3. Bill had agreed to give me a medical
scientist’s view of the manuscript but sadly died
suddenly just before I finished writing it.
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Prologue xi
Introduction 1
1 Fire and Water: Sustaining the Land 21
2 Making a Sustainable Living 39
3 Architecture and House Building 55
4 Health and Death 71
5 Calendars and Climate Change 87
6 Astronomy and Navigation Skills 103
7 Physics and Mathematics 119
8 Technology and Sustainability 135
9 Facing Both Ways: Possibilities for Bicultural
Education and Science 153
Conclusion: “Seeing through Both Eyes” 169
Bibliography 175
Index 185
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List of Illustrations
Figure I.1 This linocut print by the Torres Strait
Islander artist Billy Missi is entitled Zagan
Gud Aladi, which refers to a constellation of
stars that appears in a particular season. The
print illustrates the movement of living beings
in land, sea, and air at that time. For example,
the pregnant sharks can be seen chasing big fish
that are chasing little fish (called “zagal”) that are
prevalent in that season (Missi 2008:12). See also
chapter 5 for more examples of Missi’s work. 8
Figure 1.1 Aboriginal burning in northern Australia. 23
Figure 1.2 A banksia seed, named for Joseph Banks,
the scientist traveling with Captain Cook,
needs to be “roasted” to regenerate. 24
Figure 1.3 Dean Stewart shows a tour group an artist’s
impression of how the spot where he is
standing at the Yarra River, Melbourne, would
have looked when Europeans first arrived here. 31
Figure 1.4 Erosion and plans for improvement at
Darebin Creek. 34
Figure 2.1 Michael Stevens inflates a freshly opened kelp
bag in the port-town of Bluff in preparation
for the 2006 tītī harvest. 52
Figure 2.2 Kura-matakitaki Stevens, age three, learning
to pluck a tītī chick on his family’s island,
Pikomamaku-nui, during the final stages of
the 2012 tītī season. 53