Abstracts Geography

Importance of experiential context for understanding indigenous ecological knowledge : the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Quebec

by Scot Nickels

One of the more recent and alluring phrases used by development and resource management practitioners and theorists is "traditional ecological knowledge." Although there is a substantial amount of the literature on this subject, these studies have unfortunately an inadequate characterization of the way in which indigenous people view, order, internalize, and manipulate environmental information. This deficiency indicates a need to (a) improve our understanding and use of indigenous knowledge as an instrument for sustainable development and resource management and (b) revise some of our present conceptual, theoretical, and methodological understandings. This dissertation examines these issues by investigating the ecological knowledge of the Barriere Lake Algonquins, living largely within Park La Verendrye in northwestern Quebec. The scope of this study concentrates on three aspects of this indigenous knowledge, namely, the (1) cyclicality within, the (2) utilization of, and the (3) terminology for the Algonquin forest environment. Theoretically, I draw to some extent on an approach taken from cognitive science called "connectionism" which helps integrate ecology and cognition. Within this theoretical framework I examine the experiences and understandings that different individuals and groups bring to common every-day situations involving environmental resources. Three principles are put forward from the empirical findings of this thesis. First, indigenous knowledge formation is a contextual and experientially driven process rather than a static and timeless content. This process involves the natural-material and socio-cultural environment, expanding the typical cognitive unit of analysis beyond the individual person to include his or her entire natural and social surroundings. Second, this contextual and experientially driven process gives rise to heterogeneous, fluid, and contested knowledges. The knowledge-formation process goes beyond the mere generation and transmission of knowledge to how knowledge is articulated and used in particular everyday situations. Third, this process-approach has important implications which, if ignored, will prevent researchers from developing an adequate understanding and appreciation of the contextual nature of IK because the research will fail to consider the everyday experiences which become internalized, shared, and later put to use. The process-approach has important practical, theoretical, and methodological implications for IK and its use in development, resource management, and resource conservation.