Indigenous Science Letter

April 20, 2017

The Natural History Museum teamed up with the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment and Indigenous scientists to help organize a March for Science endorsement letter affirming the role of Indigenous Science and traditional ways of knowing. It was signed by 1,800 Indigenous scientists, tribal leaders and allies.

An excerpt:

“As Indigenous scientists and allies, we endorse the March for Science and recognize that while Western Science is a powerful approach, it is not the only one. We need to engage the power of both Western and Indigenous Science on behalf of the living Earth.”

Read the open letter and add your name.

Some highlights:

Let Our Indigenous Voices be Heard: Indigenous Scientists Join March for Science, Canada Broadcasting Corporation (CBC.ca)

How the March for Science Finally Found Its Voice, The Atlantic

These Native American Scholars Marched for Indigenous Science, Buzzfeed News

“Indigenous communities in the US, from Louisiana to Alaska to Montana, are already feeling the effects of climate change and preparing to survive despite it, sometimes tapping into indigenous knowledge system.

“Let us remember that long before Western science came to these shores there were indigenous scientists here — native astronomers, geneticists, botanists, engineers — and we are still here,” Kimmerer said, during a speech at the March For Science event in DC.

“There are a lot of people who say when climate change comes to us we’ll just go,” Kimmerer said. “[But] many indigenous peoples are extremely vulnerable to climate change and are in homelands that they cannot leave.””