ConservationBytes.com

Have you ever done any research that relied to any degree on Indigenous Knowledges? How did you cite those Knowledges, if at all?

It’s probably time we rethink how we engage with Indigenous Knowledge systems.

In a new article published in BioScience, we — a large group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars in Australia — call for a fundamental shift in how universities and scientists publish research that draws on Indigenous Knowledges (proper noun; the sum of the understandings, skills, and philosophies developed by Indigenous societies with long histories of interaction with and custodianship of their natural surroundings).

Therein we warn that current academic practices risk sidelining First Nations authority while benefiting from their expertise.

Without question, Indigenous groups must be treated as active partners in research publications — not just contributors acknowledged in footnotes or ‘personal communications’.

Governments, funding bodies, and other institutions increasingly emphasise Indigenous engagement, yet publication practices have failed to keep pace, leaving communities without real control over how their Knowledges are used, cited, or shared.