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FORUM July-August 2012
THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE
on
Indigenous
Alexander G. Flor, PhD Professor 12 Faculty of Information and Communication Studies UP Open University
Flor: The university can assist IPs in their struggle for self-determination through inclusive education and nonintrusive research. Indigenous peoples are among the most educationally marginalized communities due primarily to access, equity and quality issues. The UP Open University (UPOU) provides access to quality education even to marginalized communities through its open and distance learning delivery systems. Some may argue that UPOU’s technology-based learning platform is more exclusive than inclusive. However, consider the ubiquity of mobile devices. IPs in the remotest areas use mobile phones. Through mobile learning, we can make educational opportunities available to IP communities without much investment in classrooms, roads or even telecommunications infrastructure. Mobile devices may even lead to the active participation of indigenous peoples as content providers, which leads us to the second point: non-intrusive research. Since the past decade, the UP Open University has been conducting knowledge management research, not within the corporate or organizational standpoint, but within the context of development sectors. One such
study is the design, development and testing of a video-based indigenous KM system using mobile devices and Web 2.0 protocols. During its conduct, the study encountered major challenges intervening variables—that have shaken its basic assumptions that rested upon open access and open knowledge resources. As a faculty member of an open university, I have long been an advocate of open courseware and open educational resources, adopting the view that knowledge is free. Within the current information and communication technology environment, the ideal of having all explicit or documented knowledge made available on the Web is now possible. Furthermore, the prospect of digitally capturing all tacit or undocumented knowledge and making these available openly is real. Extending this view to indigenous knowledge, we can argue that having been the product of generations of practice and thus steeped in wisdom, indigenous knowledge should be made freely available, at the very least, to flatten generational learning curves. This is particularly true in traditional agriculture and folk medicine, which have recently become valuable sources of prescriptive technologies for organic agriculture
Nestor T. Castro, PhD Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology College of Social Sciences and Philosophy UP Diliman
Alejandro N. Ciencia Jr., PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Political Science (DEPS) Director, Cordillera Studies Center (CSC) UP Baguio
Q How can UP help in struggle for self
and ethnomedicine, respectively. However, these arguments are undermined by the following: Many studies conducted in the academe have failed to respect indigenous belief systems. Indigenous belief systems covering knowledge transfer, sharing and reuse is guided by a tradition of hierarchy. Indigenous communities, as a rule, have tribal elders, chieftains and healers who regard themselves as custodians of knowledge, which may only be shared with prudence, responsibility and, on occasion, sanctity. Thus, the prevailing belief system dictates that indigenous knowledge on feeding (agriculture) and healing (medicine) cannot just be made openly available to any person who may misuse it or irresponsibly wield the power attendant to it. It is incumbent upon mainstream cultures to respect such belief systems. Many studies have failed to respect the privacy of IP communities. Thirty years ago, while developing
and testing the ethnovideographic methodology, I conducted fieldwork among the indigenous peoples of Central Mindanao. I video-documented the indigenous agricultural practices of the Talaandig-Higaonon tribe residing in Mt. Kitanglad in Bukidnon. One practice in particular is the planting of sweet potato, which is one of their staple crops, during full moon, naked. Like many of their counterparts from all over the world, the members of the tribe plant the crop during full moon, naked. For purposes of academic research, the video capture of such an event may be acceptable and may even be repackaged into a rich media knowledge product. However, uploading this knowledge product to YouTube would be ethically indefensible. The privacy of IP communities should be respected. Non-IP users of indigenous knowledge are prone to prejudice and value judgments. Mainstream cultures have often prejudged