Indigenous Knowledge
President Biden is working to strengthen the relationship between the Federal Government and Tribal Nations and to advance equity for Indigenous people, including Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Indigenous peoples of the U.S. territories. These efforts include ensuring that Federal agencies conduct regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal officials in the development of federal research, policies, and decisions, especially decisions that may affect Tribal Nations and the people they represent.
Consistent with the Administration’s commitment to scientific integrity and knowledge and evidence-based policymaking, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a memorandum to recognize Indigenous Knowledge – also known as Traditional Ecological Knowledge – as one of the many important bodies of knowledge that contributes to the scientific, technical, social, and economic advancements of the United States and to our collective understanding of the natural world in decision-making.
Indigenous Knowledge is a body of observations, oral and written knowledge, practices, and beliefs that promote environmental sustainability and the responsible stewardship of natural resources through relationships between humans and environmental systems. It is applied to phenomena across biological, physical, cultural and spiritual systems. Indigenous Knowledge has evolved over millennia, continues to evolve, and includes insights based on evidence acquired through direct contact with the environment and long-term experiences, as well as extensive observations, lessons, and skills passed from generation to generation. 1,2
1: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Fact Sheet (Feb. 2011), https://www.fws.gov/nativeamerican/pdf/tek-fact-sheet.pdf.
2: Inuit Circumpolar Council, Indigenous Knowledge, https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/icc-activities/environment-sustainable-development/indigenous-knowledge/.
For More Information:
June 2022: Readout: OSTP and CEQ Initial Engagement on White House Indigenous Knowledge Effort
