Indigenous knowledge(s) and science in global contexts is an Indigenous studies course offered by Alaska Pacific University, USA and Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. An annual online exchange connects these classrooms from either side of the Pacific Ocean, providing Alaska Native, Indigenous, Pacific, Māori and non-Indigenous undergraduate and graduate students a forum to share and learn about local knowledge, and apply Indigenous values to critical understandings of colonialism and science. Running since 2007, each course is designed, coordinated and directed by us as Indigenous scholars and learners.

Over 6-8 weeks, students in Alaska and Wellington connect with videoconferencing between synchronised lectures, small group video conversations and online discussion forums. ‘Respect’ is our number one guideline in these engagements. Student-devised questions and forum discussions confront and grapple with a range of cultural, social, political and environmental challenges. In this panel we – students, teachers and students-turned-instructors from Alaska and Aotearoa – meet in person to discuss the exchange, and how such a virtual Indigenous exchange can be made a safe space for learning. What is potentially ‘unsafe’ about the subject material and our situation in the university? What do students from specific, local places learn from a brother or sister in another hemisphere, and how do these circulations promote safe engagements? What measures do we take to ensure ‘safe multi-site space’ for discussing tensions and connections between Indigenous knowers and Western scientists? What are the challenges of maintaining safe space and how do we address these?

Prof Beth Robin Leonard
Alaska Pacific University

Dr Dennis Ngawhare
Victoria University of Wellington

Today, Indigenous scientific knowledge regarding the environment, the causes of severe climatic challenges and the effects of these challenges on the life forms inside and around us are needed more than ever. Contrary to Western science, the majority of Indigenous scientific systems were developed over many thousands of years to ensure the sustainability of life forms within their respective territories. However, bringing this knowledge and scientific understanding forward in a meaningful way has been almost impossible within the current Western scientific framework.

At the request and under the direction of her Elder Lakota knowledge keepers, Running Horse Collin’s work focuses on establishing new protocols for cross-cultural and cross-scientific collaborations involving Indigenous Peoples, the life forms they protect, traditional knowledge and Western science. In these sessions, Running Horse Collin will draw from her experience creating a path for Indigenous scientific knowledge and systems to be brought forward safely in research conducted collaboratively with Western Science. Additionally, she will discuss the process of creating and aligning research within community constructs and Indigenous scientific protocols. Running Horse Collin will share a newly developed and successfully applied model that allows for authentic cross-cultural and cross-scientific system collaboration between Indigenous and Western science for the purpose of sustaining all life. Her team’s award-winning, collaborative research regarding the horse will serve as a case study, and we invite you to join us as we follow our Horse Nation relatives on this new path toward our shared, sustainable future.

A maunga (mountain) named Taranaki stands resplendent on the west coast of Te Ikaroa-a-Māui (the North Island) of Aotearoa. The mountain shelters the iwi (tribe) also named Taranaki. The maunga and the iwi are foundations of identity for Dr Dennis Ngāwhare-Pounamu. Dennis is fascinated with mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge systems) and how the old teachings can be understood historically, and applied in modern contexts.

When development or climate permanently changes the landscape, how can government agencies help indigenous peoples retain their traditional knowledge of the land? The alteration of ancestral landscapes, which leads to a loss of knowledge, is a concern for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand and Indigenous peoples worldwide. Often because these places have been alienated into private ownership or are at risk of development, generations of localised knowledge from observation and practise have already been lost, or are at risk of disappearing.

This presentation will examine the strategies employed by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga to engage with local communities, collaborate with them and thereby support their efforts to retain knowledge about their places. By doing so, we work together to preserve tangible and intangible taonga.