Adapting the Scientific Method to Traditional Knowledge
In the chapter "Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass" in her bestselling book "Braiding Sweetgrass," Robin Wall Kimmerer tells the story of guiding her graduate student Laurie through the restoration and cultivation of sweetgrass for her thesis.
Kimmerer recalls how guiding Laurie in learning about sweetgrass using the scientific method was something she was wary about because of the persistent "barrier of language and meaning between science and traditional knowledge, different ways of knowing, different ways of communicating" in academia. Sweetgrass itself, as she described it, isn't something to be experimented on as the scientific method would require, because the plant is a gift to humanity. It's a sacred plant.
What Kimmerer's student was learning about sweetgrass was based on "the traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous peoples," contradicting what a "scientific theory" meant to scientists. Kimmerer knew she was in for a battle to support Laurie in defending traditional knowledge and stepping outside the scientific method, but went ahead anyway.
When presenting her thesis proposal to her department, Laurie was met with immediate criticism for deviating from the scientific method. "Getting scientists to consider the validity of Indigenous knowledge is like swimming upstream in cold water," Kimmerer writes. "They've been so conditioned to be skeptical of even the hardest of hard data that bending their minds towards theories that are verified without the expected graphs or equations is tough."
Laurie's graduate committee hung their heads when Laurie defended her thesis and demonstrated the traditional knowledge about harvesting sweetgrass actually worked for its growth and restoration (and contradicted data found through experiments on sweetgrass using the scientific method). The experience of learning about Laurie's findings made the committee question the nature of theory, hypotheses, experimentation, and how things are "proven."
This is just another example of why some of the best and most viable ecological knowledge lies with the original stewards of these lands. It's up to us to integrate different "ways of knowing" into science and not force traditional knowledge to adapt to what we think science and knowledge are.
It's been nice to see more industries intentionally enter into intentional partnerships with FNIM nations across Canada's provinces. They are admitting that Western knowledge, or how knowledge is acquired, isn't always the "right" knowledge, and traditional knowledge may help undo what we've done to this planet.
It's not lost on me that this chapter was written by Kimmerer using the scientific method format. A fantastic, humourous irony in one of the most beautiful and enlightening books from a holder of Indigenous knowledge and plant wisdom.
A highly recommended read.
Anne-Marie E. Fischer, BA (Hons), M.Ed., blends her passion for the written word with her vocation to create a better world through effective communications, education, and Community Based Research (CBR).
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