Decolonizing Ethnobiology Resources
This page is a collection of materials compiled by members of the Society of Ethnobiology with the purpose of sharing ideas for moving toward an ethnobiology which prioritizes (1) power equity, (2) receptiveness to diverse ways of knowing, and (3) social justice.
The contributors are active in social justice and environmental work, and are dedicated to unravelling the colonial nature of research and work in settler nations and Indigenous communities. Ethnobiology as a discipline has a history of transcolonial legacies and even biocolonialism and biopiracy (especially 19th and early 20th Century economic botany that used ethnobotany with Indigenous communities to bioprospect for new medicines, crops, and commodities). As noted by one of our Distinguished Ethnobiologists, Gary Nabhan: "We would be remiss to ignore the blatantly colonial or imperialistic tone of some early ethnobotanical studies. They were explicitly undertaken to either a) learn what value could be extracted from another culture's natural resource base as crops, or b) learn how immigrants could take cues from native residents on how to make a living on their shared home ground, even as some of those immigrants usurped water and harvested native plants and wildlife from the homelands of the people that they were studying." (Here, Dr. Nabhan is referring to settlers when he uses the word "immigrants.")
Our purpose here is to provide resources that help people understand the colonial nature and inherited legacies that are throughout the fabric of the disciplines and knowledges we study, while consciously foregrounding tools and methods for relationship-building and decolonizing academia that may be vital for positive change. Please send any questions/comments and resource suggestions to socialmedia@ethnobiology.org
Decolonizing CURRICULAR RESOURCES,
The Decolonizing Curriculum Working Group, Karuna Center for Peacebuilding
A Decolonizing Curricula Working Group formed out of the Karuna Center’s “Erasure and Restoration” Indigenous Speakers' series in the spring of 2021. The group met from March through August to envision and discuss how to make strong, truthful, and culturally grounded Native American and Indigenous Studies resources available to the public, and to professionals in all of these fields who are tasked with educating the next generations of Americans. This resulting bibliography spans age levels, integrating general education with area-specific studies. It includes information and links for written, audio, and film resources from across Turtle Island (North America) with a special emphasis on Indigenous nations of the Northeast. You will find about 350 listed resources for learning, organized into a Zotero database, including books and articles on history, fiction, poetry, political philosophy, archaeology, oral history and creation stories, Native science, health, ethics, podcasts, children's books, films, graphic novels & more.