Science, Hope and Indigenous Wisdom

04/18/2022

Science, Hope and Indigenous Wisdom

The saddest day has gleams of light, The darkest wave hath bright foam beneath it. There twinkles o’er the cloudiest night, Some solitary star to cheer it.
Sarah Winnemucca, Northern Paiute author, activist and educator

“The world will unravel but you will not. These words reflect the worldview that has overtaken me while working at the front lines of conservation science alongside undying Indigenous knowledge. In a world of accelerating climate disaster, political doublespeak, and horrific colonial legacies, the conviction that we can remain our essential selves throughout the unraveling is what gets me up in the morning,” writes conservationist Alejandro Frid, in a recent article “On Unraveling and Resilience.”

Frid understands that growing our scientific knowledge base while at the same time, honoring and conserving Indigenous ways of knowing leads to a more complete understanding of our world and greater resilience in all of us. Traditional ways of knowing are at risk of disappearing, but thanks to a global movement among early childhood programs for Indigenous communities, efforts to address trauma, preserve Indigenous languages, cultures and knowledge while also building a sense of place and resilience among Indigenous children are growing.

The Indigenous Peoples Action Group of the World Forum Foundation has curated a free guide reflecting and supporting these efforts: Indigenous Early Care and Education Understandings and Perspectives (PDF). In it, they remark, “Children are the conduit for the survival of cultures. Through generations immemorial, the ways of knowing and being of Indigenous people have been shared with our children in families, clans, tribes, and in collectives as diverse as the lands that shape our cultures, philosophies, and languages.”

Members of the Indigenous Peoples Action Group and several other World Forum Working Groups will participate in and present at the 2022 World Forum on Early Care in Education, with both virtual and in-person options for joining the event.

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