Lesson Plan: Embracing Indigenous knowledge Helps Save the Planet
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
- Indigenous |inˈdijənəs| adjective originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native: the indigenous peoples of Siberia | coriander is indigenous to southern Europe.
- Maori |ˈmourē| noun (plural same or Maoris) 1 a member of the aboriginal people of New Zealand.
- encroach |inˈkrōCHenˈkrōCH| verb [no object] (usually encroach on/upon) intrude on (a person’s territory or a thing considered to be a right): rather than encroach on his privacy, she might have kept to her room.• advance gradually beyond usual or acceptable limits: the sea has encroached all around the coast.
- environment |inˈvīrənmənt| noun 1 the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.
- integrate |ˈin(t)əˌɡrāt| verb [with object] bring (people or groups with particular characteristics or needs) into equal participation in or membership of a social group or institution: integrating children with special needs into ordinary schools.
- coexist |ˌkōəɡˈzist| verb [no object] (of nations or peoples) exist in mutual tolerance despite different ideologies or interests: the task of diplomacy was to help different states to coexist.
- exploit verb |ikˈsploit| [with object] • use (a situation or person) in an unfair or selfish way: the company was exploiting a legal loophole | accusations that he exploited a wealthy patient.
- preserve |prəˈzərv| verb [with object] maintain (something) in its original or existing state: all records of the past were zealously preserved | (as adjective preserved) : a magnificently preserved monastery.
- ecosystem |ˈēkōˌsistəm| noun Ecology a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. • (in general use) a complex network or interconnected system: Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial ecosystem | the entire ecosystem of movie and video production will eventually go digital.
- pesticide |ˈpestəˌsīd| noun a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals.
Source: New Oxford American Dictionary
Grammar Focus: Structure and Usage
I-1- was
The New Zealand highway was planned two decades ago.
II – 2-are
Western-trained researchers are recognizing that Indigenous communities have valuable knowledge.
III -2- is
The scientific method is designed to be indifferent to morals or values.
Identify The Speakers
Dan Hikuroa, a senior lecturer in Māori studies at the University of Auckland and member of the Ngāti Maniapoto tribe.
“I’m still waiting for the headline, ‘Mythical Creature Saves the Taxpayer Millions.”
“Why didn’t you just say it’s a flood risk area?”
Dominique David Chavez, a descendant of the Arawak Taíno in the Caribbean, and a research fellow at the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona and the National Science Foundation.
“As Western scientists, we are trained to go into communities, get that knowledge and go back to our institutions and disseminate it in academic journals.”
“That can be disruptive to traditional knowledge sharing, from one generation to another, which should be the priority.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer, the director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the State University of New York and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
“In Indigenous sciences, it’s not possible to separate the knowledge from the ethics of the responsibility for that knowledge — whereas in Western science, we do that all the time.”
“The scientific method is designed to be indifferent to morals or values. Indigenous knowledge puts them back in.”
Violet Lawson, a land owner in Kakadu, Australia.
“That’s one of the reasons Native people were systematically removed from what are today’s national parks, because of this idea that people and nature can’t coexist in a good way.”
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