Can traditional ecological knowledge and wilderness benefit one another?

Abstract

Traditional ecological knowledge is the system of experiential knowledge gained by continual observation and transmitted among members of a community. It includes spiritual aspects of the proper relationship between humans and their environment. In this context, the Arctic is considered to be “peopled land.” More recent uses of the term “wilderness” recognize the presence of certain types of human activity, among them traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering. Protecting these activities often requires protection of basic ecological processes, and thus is compatible with the overall goals of many protected areas in the Arctic. Indeed, protecting areas can help protect traditional activities, which are the basis for accumulating, perpetuating, and transmitting traditional knowledge within a community. Traditional knowledge, for its part, can contribute not only to our common ecological understanding of a region, but also to an understanding of the various perspectives from which an area and its uses are viewed. Such insight can help in the designation and management of wilderness areas by identifying areas of convergent interest to support the core values of both traditional systems and the concept of wilderness.

Parent Publication

• Wilderness in the Circumpolar North: searching for compatibility in ecological, traditional, and ecotourism values; 2001 May 15-16; Anchorage, AK

Citation

Huntington, Henry P. 2002. Can traditional ecological knowledge and wilderness benefit one another? In: Watson, Alan E.; Alessa, Lilian; Sproull, Janet, comps. Wilderness in the Circumpolar North: searching for compatibility in ecological, traditional, and ecotourism values; 2001 May 15-16; Anchorage, AK. Proceedings RMRS-P-26. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 64-68.