Indigenous Knowledge for Development: Opportunities and Challenges

This paper introduces indigenous knowledge (IK) as a significant resource which could contribute to the increased efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the development process. IK is defined as the basis for community-level decision making in areas pertaining to food security, human and animal health, education, natural resource management and other […]

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Taonga Online: Managing and Preserving Culture in a Digital Age

Introduction The pace of change of information technology is not in dispute. We are all familiar with the way electronic storage media become obsolete. The hardware and software combinations that use these storage devices mutate even faster and, of course, one is of no use without the other. While we […]

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The Asháninka and the Internet

The other day, I found an IDRC report about the Asháninka and their use of the Internet dating back to 2000. Coincidentally, the Atlantic just ran a post about the Asháninka based on some photos and text released by Survival International. I have cobbled various bits together below with the […]

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Technology, Education and Indigenous Peoples: the case of Maori

Introduction Technology was introduced, as a formal ‘subject’, into New Zealand’s compulsory education curriculum in 1993, as part of the ‘stunning’ changes which commenced at all levels in 1988. The government’s latest paper ‘Bright future: five steps ahead’ (New Zealand Government, 1999) suggests that we are about to enter, without […]

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