Indigenous Science Hidden in Plain Sight

• In Event: Community-Based Science Learning: Models to Make Classroom Learning Relevant to Students' Everyday Lives

Abstract

Usually the reference “hidden in plain sight” requires an understanding that some things are able to go undetected on a visual plain. Indigenous science concepts are good examples of how knowledge can be hidden in plain sight. In order to understand this claim, it is important to understand the essence of indigenous scientific knowledge. Many indigenous peoples, including Hawaiians, believe that there are two types of knowledge—that which is good and must be nurtured for the livelihood of the people. The other, which is bad, must be crushed. The notion of good is embodied in the concept of pono* —or a way of doing things that is “true”. It could also refer to reason, motive, purpose, or intent (Mead, 2003). As such, there are expected ways for people to conduct themselves in relationship with ancestors, iwi, ʻohana, and the land. The purpose for knowledge or knowledge discovery is to advance the wellbeing of the people (both living and gone before) and uphold their mana. It is on this traditional understanding that any indigenous science curriculum must be built.
Euro-American educational systems implemented since the illegal overthrow of Hawaii in 1893 have profoundly failed Hawaiian students. The discipline of science as taught in school triggers cultural conflict and disconnect between the Euro-Western world view and the world views of indigenous cultures of science held by the students (Cajete, 1994). “ When someone with the authority of a teacher describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing” (Rosaldo, 1989). For Hawaiian students, classroom science can cause those feelings of not belonging.
The Hawaiʻi SPIRALS project will illustrate through surveys, interviews and student work how children in a predominantly Hawaiian community overcome this disconnect by participating in research projects that document traditional ways of knowing and doing and are grounded in local systems (values, traditions, and practices). Students participating in the program had an opportunity to study and work with their own communities, learning science through both cultural and western scientific perspectives.
Indigenous stories, including the stories of Maui, were immersed with culture based scientific knowledge. Rather than dismissing these stories as a quaint folk tale, students explored how past generations not only understood the importance of solar energy but harnessed it for the Hawaiian people’s use on Earth. For example, in one story Maui captures the sun and makes him go slower across the sky in order for the people to be able to utilize his solar energy for drying tapa cloth as well as for fishing and other daily activities. The presentation will provide examples how to offer children opportunities to connect with science and begin to understand how to draw out their unique Hawaiian science concepts in their stories and teachings so that their knowledge is no longer hidden in plain sight.

* The concepts of mana and pono are shared by Māori, Tahitian, Hawaiian, and other Polynesian peoples. There are no equivalent references in the English language.

Author

• Daniel Lipe, University of Hawaii at Manoa