60 Kelly Bannister
Central to a biocultural ethics approach is digging deeply into the choice and
meaning of the words we choose as our guiding values and principles related to
Indigenous rights and responsibilities. Bringing this intentionality into our ethos
invites conversation and curiosity, rather than assumption that everyone shares
the same ethical disposition and understanding of meanings across different disciplines, cultures, languages and worldviews. The latter can lead to unintentional
imposition of Western institutionalised values and assumptions on Indigenous
peoples.
An example is “scientific integrity”, which is defined in the Model Policy on
Scientific Integrity (Government of Canada, n.d.) as the condition resulting from
adherence to the ethical principles and professional standards deemed essential
for the responsible practice of Western science. These ethical principles and professional standards include concepts such as transparency, openness, high-quality
work, avoidance of conflict of interest, due credit, ensuring high standards of
impartiality and abiding by research ethics.
For comparison, Tewa author and professor Dr. Gregory Cajete (2015, p.
137) describes Indigenous science as “founded on a body of practical environmental knowledge that has been learned and transferred over generations of a
People through forms of environmental and cultural education that is unique
to the People”. Indigenous science “perceives and reasons from a ‘high context’
relational worldview that reflects a ‘multiverse of expression and possibility’. As
a result, all relational connections are considered”. It is a process for exploring, understanding and explaining the natural world based on lived experiences.
Indigenous science is “based on observation” and guided by additional values
to deepen knowledge, including “spirituality, ethical relationships, mutualism,
reciprocity, respect, restraint, a focus on harmony, and an emphasis on interdependence. These values integrate knowledge about a particular place for the
purpose of living there in a sustainable way” (Cajete, 2015, pp. 137–138).
At its core, “integrity” is the quality of one’s character related to being whole
or complete, and requires acting in accordance with the values, beliefs and
principles of a particular system or worldview. A key question from a biocultural ethics lens is which system and whose worldview? Integrity from an I ndigenous
science perspective (Cajete, 2015) is based on upholding the cultural systems
and institutions of knowledge, values, customs, governance, laws, beliefs and
practices that are specific to a given Indigenous community and their own s cientific systems rooted in their homelands, culture, cosmology and laws. These depend on the particular people, their place, their ways of knowing, being and
doing over generations, and honoring of kinship ties with and within the natural
world. What constitutes “scientific integrity” from a Western science perspective, therefore, may not be the same as from an Indigenous science perspective.
Intentional and thoughtful unearthing and uprooting of entrenched Western ethical traditions and assumptions, and how these are institutionalized in
scientific, legal and educational systems, can make space and create more hospitable ground for co-creating a shared biocultural ethic that respects the different
Central to a biocultural ethics approach is digging deeply into the choice and
meaning of the words we choose as our guiding values and principles related to
Indigenous rights and responsibilities. Bringing this intentionality into our ethos
invites conversation and curiosity, rather than assumption that everyone shares
the same ethical disposition and understanding of meanings across different disciplines, cultures, languages and worldviews. The latter can lead to unintentional
imposition of Western institutionalised values and assumptions on Indigenous
peoples.
An example is “scientific integrity”, which is defined in the Model Policy on
Scientific Integrity (Government of Canada, n.d.) as the condition resulting from
adherence to the ethical principles and professional standards deemed essential
for the responsible practice of Western science. These ethical principles and professional standards include concepts such as transparency, openness, high-quality
work, avoidance of conflict of interest, due credit, ensuring high standards of
impartiality and abiding by research ethics.
For comparison, Tewa author and professor Dr. Gregory Cajete (2015, p.
137) describes Indigenous science as “founded on a body of practical environmental knowledge that has been learned and transferred over generations of a
People through forms of environmental and cultural education that is unique
to the People”. Indigenous science “perceives and reasons from a ‘high context’
relational worldview that reflects a ‘multiverse of expression and possibility’. As
a result, all relational connections are considered”. It is a process for exploring, understanding and explaining the natural world based on lived experiences.
Indigenous science is “based on observation” and guided by additional values
to deepen knowledge, including “spirituality, ethical relationships, mutualism,
reciprocity, respect, restraint, a focus on harmony, and an emphasis on interdependence. These values integrate knowledge about a particular place for the
purpose of living there in a sustainable way” (Cajete, 2015, pp. 137–138).
At its core, “integrity” is the quality of one’s character related to being whole
or complete, and requires acting in accordance with the values, beliefs and
principles of a particular system or worldview. A key question from a biocultural ethics lens is which system and whose worldview? Integrity from an I ndigenous
science perspective (Cajete, 2015) is based on upholding the cultural systems
and institutions of knowledge, values, customs, governance, laws, beliefs and
practices that are specific to a given Indigenous community and their own s cientific systems rooted in their homelands, culture, cosmology and laws. These depend on the particular people, their place, their ways of knowing, being and
doing over generations, and honoring of kinship ties with and within the natural
world. What constitutes “scientific integrity” from a Western science perspective, therefore, may not be the same as from an Indigenous science perspective.
Intentional and thoughtful unearthing and uprooting of entrenched Western ethical traditions and assumptions, and how these are institutionalized in
scientific, legal and educational systems, can make space and create more hospitable ground for co-creating a shared biocultural ethic that respects the different