NASX 303E Native American Ecological Perspectives - Midterm

Why is Indigenous Science said to be a relational science?

Indigenous Science honors a deep biological and cultural attachment of humans to nature.

Why is Indigenous Science said to be a mature science?

Indigenous Science reflects knowledge that has evolved from thousands of years of humans interacting with nature.

Why is Indigenous Science said to be a multidisciplinary science?

Native Science pursues knowledge discovery and problem solving through holistic endeavors that comprise a range of different knowledge systems and disciplines.

Why is Indigenous Science said to be a participatory science?

Indigenous Science fosters a direct engagement of humans with nature.

Why is Indigenous Science said to be a systemic science?

Indigenous Science demonstrates that natural elements are interdependent and their interrelation creates emergent properties in the human-nature system.

In general, what properties are similar in both Indigenous Science and Western scientific traditions?

• Both leverage empirical knowledge and inference for knowledge discovery.

• Both use empirical observations of the natural world.

What characteristics differentiate Indigenous Science from Western scientific traditions?

• Native Science makes a more even use of several mechanisms for knowledge discovery, compared to some Western scientific traditions.

• Native Science places more emphasis on the scientist’s sense of kinship with their environment.

Why does Gregory Cajete state that Indigenous Science is a reflection of the biophilia hypothesis?

Because affiliation to Nature is both an innate part of being human and as well as something that underlies Indigenous knowledge.

How are the different mechanisms for knowledge discovery used in Indigenous Science?

All the different mechanisms for knowledge discovery are used more evenly.

Why is Indigenous Science said to be a pedagogic science?

Indigenous Science leverages traditional ways of teaching, learning, and understanding.

According to Greg Cajete in his article "Native Science and sustaining Indigenous communities"...

• puts the emphasis on participation and experience that embeds the sense of kinship with all the natural world.

• By mimicking the processes observed in nature, communities have learned how to be reciprocal and responsible in relationships.

• Native Science was an attempt to create closer resonance with those aspects of the natural world that individuals and tribes felt to be important.

• Native technologies are ways to deal with issues that come up in the process of living in a particular place.

What is true about Traditional Ecological Knowledge?

• Knowledge that has resulted from direct observation.

• Knowledge that has been acquired over time.

What meanings have Native American peoples historically attached to wild lands?

• Wildlands provide resources for sustenance and healing.

• Wildlands represent places of tribal origin and residence.

How is the Native American concept of giving applied to environmental conservation?

Wildlife is regarded as gifts from a higher power

What Middle Age European concept of land use evolved over time into the idea of wilderness as a space that is hardly affected by human intervention?

terra nullius

Traditional Ecological Knowledge...

• is an academic concept

• includes both empirical knowledge and belief systems

What properties of Indigenous Science can be identified in kincentric ecology?

• participatory

• systemic

• relational

What perspectives on wild lands are recurring in Native American traditions?

Local characteristics of places led to place-based strategies to interact with the environment.

What critique of Traditional Ecological Knowledge has Enrique Salmon made?

TEK does not represent Indigenous knowledge systems in their entirety.

What is it true about kincentric ecology?

• Humans play a role in the natural world.

• The kinship of a person is seen as comprising both people and nature.

Fill in the blanks to describe the Principle of Reciprocity in environmental and ecological conservation:

As a way to ______ appreciate the ______ received from nature, every person has the responsibility to ________ by becoming the ______ of those gifts.

respectfully; benefits; reciprocate; steward

How is the natural world understood from kincentric ecological principles?

• The natural world is an environment for humans to connect to.

• All the ecological niches in nature, including the human one, come together for ecosystems to continue functioning.

What is the role of people according to a kincetric ecological perspective?

Humans live interdependently with all forms of life.

What processes are threatening Native American traditional connections to aquatic habitats?

• Warmer water in rivers and streams is affecting the life cycle of freshwater fish.

• Large engineering projects on rivers have created barriers to the natural migration patterns of salmonids.

What are Native American traditional perspectives on water resources?

• Access to water resources is seen as a gift from a higher power and that gift is to be reciprocated.

• Some uses of water resources are tied to kincentric ecological relationships between a Tribe and living forms.

What do Hopi contend when opposing the use of treated water for snowmaking on San Francisco Peaks?

• It impacts the religious connections of the community to the spirit world.

• It impacts the ecology of the local ecosystems.

What are Native American traditional values that are attached to riparian ecosystems?

• provide access to key foods such as salmon

• provide spaces for ceremony

In what ways is the disturbance of hydrological cycles affecting Native American traditional practices?

• Water quality is degrading for certain ceremonies.

• Traditional phenological knowledge will need to be adjusted to changing seasonal cycles.

What cultural values are attached to the peaks of Nuva’tukya’ovi (San Francisco Mountains) by the Hopi?

• Snow there is expected to be generated by natural processes.

• The peaks are sacred places.

What traditional values do the Winnemem Wintu attach to the McCloud River?

• The river is home to chinook salmon.

• Adulthood ceremonies are celebrated in the river.

What does Prof. Linda M. Stumpff contend in her paper "Living Waters: Linking Cultural Knowledge, Ecosystem Services, and Wilderness"?

• Indigenous traditional cultures also provide ecosystem services.

• Indigenous knowledge account for a long record of human interaction with water.

What cultural or ethical values are typically attached to forests among Native American traditions?

• Fire is understood to be an essential component in fire-adapted ecosystems.

• There are kincentric relationships between communities and forest resources.

• Forests are regarded as a gift to people.

What are the ecological benefits of fire in fire-adapted ecosystems?

• Seeds from some tree species are released when cones are burned by low intensity fire.

• Under-story plants grow better as they received more solar radiation.

• Mosaics of open space in forests can be used by wildlife as natural nurseries.

What are the ecological benefits of fire in fire-adapted forest ecosystems?

• It reduces buildup of wood fuel.

• It helps to provide nutrients to the soil by breaking down burned biomass.

• It allows wildlife to access soil that would otherwise covered by too much fuel.

What are the characteristics of a fire-adapted ecosystem?

• Native tree species have biologically adapted to resist low intensity fire.

• Native species benefit from the destructive effects of low intensity fire.

• Fires occur naturally, normally seasonally.

What statement best summarizes the 20th century legislation on fire suppression in the United States?

Fires were not allowed to happen in forests.

How is cultural burning different from a natural fire regime?

• Fire typically occurs in an area more frequently than expected from such natural events as lightning.

• Human-ignited fire is applied to target specific resources.

• The timing of burned operations can be different from that of naturally-occurring fires.

What benefits of ecological fire can be mimicked by bringing prescribed and cultural fire back to fire-adapted ecosystems?

• Release of nutrients to soils.

• Control of fuel build-up.

• Management of plant pests.

• Creation of habitat mosaics.

Why is cultural burning considered part of the process for basketry-making among the Yurok Tribe?

Hazel naturally grows in tangled bushes, making stems difficult to be used for basket weaving. After burning, hazel grows back with straight shoots that are more suitable for weaving.

How has fire suppression legislation impacted fire-adapted ecosystems?

• Fuel has excessively accumulated in the forest understory.

• High severity wildfires are more likely to happen.

What characteristics best define traditional fire knowledge across Native American traditions?

• It has been applied in ways that are different from nature fire regimes (e.g., to control wildlife behavior and plant growth).

• It is place based.

• It aims to mimic the benefits of natural fire.

What ecological or biological benefits do the Three Sisters provide?

• A balanced diet based on carbohydrates, essential aminoacids, essential vitamins, and essential minerals.

• Food yields that can be stored and used over the year.

• A natural regeneration of soil nitrogen.

What is characteristic about cropping systems based on Three Sisters?

• Plants have been modified to fit the land. 

• They are culturally complex and enriched with stories and ceremonies.

• They reflect place-based knowledge.

What Native American tradition uses the next Three Sisters cropping design?

Haudenosaunee

How far in time does the earliest archaeological evidence of Indigenous agricultural practices date back in the Americas?

To a time in the Holocene that predates any known contact with non-Native population.

What goals do traditional cropping layouts in dry areas of the Southern US aim to achieve?

• Optimize plant access to water.

• Distribute water demand across space.

• Support pollination.

What pre-Settler foods are included in Native American culinary traditions?

• squash

• amaranth

• green beans

What plant is not part of the traditional Hidatsa Four Sisters?

Peppers

What regenerative techniques for the soil are characteristic of Indigenous traditional agricultural systems?

• Mingling of natural forests and human-made gardens.

• Biomass burning.

What ecological functions do the Three Sisters provide?

• Stimulate the generation of nitrogen-based fertilizer in farmed grounds.

• Provide controls against weeds.

• Provide a habitat suitable for animals that prey on crop eaters.

The symbiotic relationship between the Three Sisters is...

Mutualistic

What Native American tradition is known for the building of floating gardens a.k.a. chinampas?

Aztec

What ecological benefits does squash bring to the Three Sisters cropping complex?

It helps to retain soil moisture by shading the ground.

What environmental conditions does a Haudenosaunee mound generate in a Three Sisters design?

• It expands the area of ground surface that receives sun radiation.

• It prevents plant roots from being waterlogged.

What plants make up the traditional Haudenosaunee Three Sisters?

• corn

• beans

• squash

What are some of the main cultural dimensions of wildlife in Native American traditions?

• Practices of hunting embedded with beliefs and Indigenous ethics.

• A close connection of humans with wildlife through spiritual experiences.

• A strong presence of wildlife in religious beliefs.

What cultural values do Lakota and Salish people attach to wolf?

• Family-oriented

• Problem-solving skills (e.g., hunting)

• Social skills

What are some of the traditional capabilities seen in coyote among Lakota Tribes?

• Intelligence

• Reclessness

What challenges do bison restoration pose for fostering large-scale food security?

Need to keep herds genetically rich (e.g. to avoid consanguinity).

What policies has the CSKT Tribal Council implemented for the reintroduction of the northern grey wolf on the Flathead Reservation?

• Potential for conflicts between wolves and other wildlife, as well as domestic livestock are recognized.

• It aims to protect the cultural and ecological significance of wolves.

• Treats gray wolves as a native wildlife species.

What are some of the cultural values of northern grey wolf among Selish and Qlispe Tribes?

• Wolf's hunting skills are praised in traditional stories and teachings.

• Wolf takes sickness away from herds, helping the herd maintain an overall herd health.

• Wolf is regarded as a distant relative of humans in the animal kingdom.

What traditional principles characterize hunting ethics among the Selish and Qlispe people?

• There is a sense of respect and gratitude for the animal that is killed.

• Game is perceived as a gift from a higher power.

• Hunting is mostly practiced for subsistence purposes.

What of the following concepts are values that guide ethical principles of wildlife in Native American traditions?

• The importance of wildlife to preserve the health of ecosystems.

• Perception of wildlife as a gift for human survival.

• Kincentric views of wildlife.

How has the population of Plains bison managed to grow in the Unites States in the last decades?

• Public agencies developed programs to reintroduce bison in protected areas.

• The business of producing bison for commercial purposes grew.

• Tribes were able to manage herds for cultural and subsistence uses.

What does interdependence in the strict sense imply in the context of Native American traditional wildlife stewardship ethics?

Humans and other living beings depend on each other for survival and these interrelations defines the properties of ecosystems.

Who brought Plains bison back to the Flathead Reservation, based on the story of Atatice?

Latati

What values are being protected nowadays through tribal bison restoration programs?

Cultural (e.g., spiritual practices).

Social (e.g., community engagement).

Ecological (e.g., grassland restoration).

Economic (e.g., food).

What statement best describes the principle of reciprocity in regards to the Native American traditional approach to wildlife stewardship?

Humans are responsible for protecting the environment, inclusive of wildlife, in exchange for the lifes they take when hunting and fishing.

What cultural values do Lakota and Salish people attach to wolf?

• Social skills

• Family-oriented

• Problem-solving skills (e.g., hunting)