Indigenous knowledge: Elevated or up in the air?
Interior guidance document drops amid uncertainty
James C. Rattling Leaf at AGU in December.
During a keynote panel on bridging faith and science at December’s American Geophysical Union meeting in Washington, D.C., James C. Rattling Leaf shared some of the Indigenous knowledge he learned growing up on the Rosebud Lakota Nation.
The Lakota phrase “Mitakuye Oyasin” flashed on a screen behind him on the AGU stage. He said the phrase encapsulates how his culture views the other people, plants, animals, rivers and fish around them as relatives—epitomized in the phrase that loosely translates as “all my relations.”
“We are called to live in peace and harmony with one another and with the land,” said Rattling Leaf, an Ecological Society of America board member who has worked for decades on integrating Indigenous knowledge traditions with those of western science.
His work thrived under the Biden-Harris administration, which made it a priority to “elevate” Indigenous knowledge. Executive orders during the administration tasked federal agencies with developing official plans to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into federal decision making. The Department of the Interior’s plan was released January 17.
The Trump administration has been unraveling some of those gains, but it remains unclear exactly how much the current administration will back track those intentions.
It doesn’t look good. We have a president who is pursuing what many say are unconstitutional efforts to deny American citizenship to Native Americans, even though they were here first, and to restrict federal funds already promised to tribal nations. The Navajo Nation is reporting ICE agents are refusing to accept tribal ID cards as identification of citizenship.
Two Biden memorandums associated with tribal nations and their tribal colleges and universities were rescinded on Trump’s first day in office. I talked about the latter, Executive Order 14049, in a January 24 post. The other one, Executive Order 13990, “recognized the value of traditional knowledge and participation by Alaska Native Tribal governments in decisions affecting the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area.”
Since that pronouncement, we’ve also seen the apparent online purging of a 46-page document providing “Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge” issued jointly on November 30, 2022, by the Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
An attempt to access that memo at its established website address returned a notice “This www. whitehouse. gov page can’t be found.” For researchers and others interested in reading the document, which evolved after consultations with more than 1,000 people, a link is provided below from another source. Get it while you can.
Despite that apparent purge, a press release last week announced the Department of the Interior’s new 104-page handbook on Indigenous Knowledge. The January 23 release from the University of Colorado highlighted the work of one of its own, James Rattling Leaf.
I met Rattling Leaf in December following his participation in AGU’s keynote panel, at an associated event where about two dozen of us formed a circle to introduce ourselves and then disbanded to chat. When I mentioned I had worked for Tohono O’odham Community College, Rattling Leaf nodded with interest.
During our chat, he mentioned he holds a bachelor’s degree from another one of the nation’s three dozen tribal college, Sinte Gleska University. It’s located on the Rosebud Lakota Nation in South Dakota, where he grew up. After graduating, he worked there for nine years, including on projects to integrate Indigenous knowledge with the map-making software of western science.
A standing-room-only crowd attended the subsequent learning session he hosted at the AGU conference for Earth and space scientists interested in working ethically with Indigenous peoples and knowledge holders. The interest may have reflected in part the National Science Foundation’s recent dictate that any funded research on tribal nations must have approval from relevant tribal officials.
“There’s no shortcut to tribal engagement,” he said during the keynote. “You’ve got to build relationships.”
It’s a bit challenging to pursue collaborative relationships at the moment. Trump seeks to dismantle programs addressing climate change, a topic that has drawn together Indigenous knowledge holders and western scientists.
Also, tribal nations and their colleges and universities fall among the entities recently threatened with federal fund withdrawals. For that matter, many scientists at research universities face similar threats. A judge has temporarily halted that attempt to create chaos. Meanwhile, federal scientists have been ordered not to talk to the media.
Trump’s adherents are not fond of the type of critical thinking fostered by higher education, whether in tribal colleges or mainstream ones. Vice President J.D. Vance capitalized on this when campaigning for senator—and vice president. In his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Eligy, he credited higher education with helping to lift him out of poverty. In 2021, Vance took a 180-degree turn and began calling university professors “the enemy.”
So, on the one hand, this may not be the best moment to plan federal projects together. On the other hand, perhaps the Trump directives make it even more important for western scientists and Indigenous knowledge holders to unite.
At any rate, the guidebook’s use goes well beyond helping agency employees, including scientists, work with Indigenous peoples and/or on tribal nations. It contains insightful explanations on the meaning and relevance of Indigenous knowledge.
There’s an aspect of Indigenous knowledge that helps explain Rattling Leaf’s participation in a panel regarding faith and spirituality in science. It shows up in a a graphic on page 6 of the handbook, which compares the qualities of Indigenous knowledge with what I’m calling western science.
Indigenous knowledge includes the physical and metaphysical, the graphic shows, while western science limits itself to evidence and explanation within the physical world. While both approaches involve a “stable body of knowledge subject to modification,” western science focuses on the parts to gain insights on the whole and encourages an attitude of skepticism. Indigenous knowledge, in contrast, approaches the system holistically and encourages a habit of respect for all things.
The “all my relations” concept of respect captured in “Mitakuye Oyasin” is similar to a Cree word, “Wahkohtowin,” Rattling Leaf told the AGU crowd at the keynote talk. He also compared it to the Jewish tradition of Shalom.
“Thirty-one thousand people are here today,” he said. “What if we take the messages that we’ve heard here today back to your community, back to your homes, to talk about ‘what do we do together? How are we going to advance a better future for all of us?’ We need to coexist. So Mitakuye Oyasin, Wahkohtowin, is a call to action to co-exist.”
Mitakuye Oyasin. That’s a rallying cry we can all get behind. Even if some of us can’t pronounce it yet.
Melanie Lenart is an environmental scientist and writer, as well as former faculty member of a tribal college. She publishes Eco-Logic posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
James Rattling Leaf showed this example of a Lakota “winter counts” tradition, a form of Indigenous record keeping, during a June 22, 2023, talk on “What is Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge & Why Does it Matter?”.
What is Indigenous Knowledge?
For those unfamiliar with the tenets of Indigenous Knowledge, here’s an excerpted list from the Department of the Interior handbook, more formally titled Procedures for the Inclusion and Application of Indigenous Knowledge.
Indigenous Knowledge is applied to phenomena across biological, physical, social, cultural, and spiritual systems.
Indigenous Knowledge was developed over millennia and continues to develop.
Indigenous Knowledge systems are bodies of observations, oral and written knowledge, innovations, technologies, practices, and beliefs developed by Indigenous Peoples through interaction and experience with the environment as well as lessons and skills passed from generation to generation.
Indigenous Knowledge is developed, held, and stewarded by Indigenous Peoples and is often intrinsic within Indigenous traditions, customary law, or traditional governance structures and decision-making processes.
Indigenous Knowledge uses systematic methodologies and verification through repetition and observation and is derived from relationships with the environment and new technologies. It continues to evolve over time as the Earth changes and new generations are born.
Indigenous Knowledge rests upon the principle that all parts of our environment—the Earth, sky, animals (including humans), plants, waters, and fish—are important and related to one another. These relationships must be tended to and kept healthy and intact for future generations. Instead of viewing fish, wildlife, and plants as “resources,” Indigenous Knowledge considers them to be relations.
Notes and Resources
Department of the Interior handbook: Procedures for the Inclusion and Application of Indigenous Knowledge in the Actions of the Department, Handbook 301 DM7 From the Department of Interior, in association with U.S. Geological Survey, January 17, 2025.
Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge, a memorandum issued by the Biden-Harris administration on November 30, 2022.
Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships, a memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies issued January 29, 2021.
Trump's attempt to overturn birthright citizenship uses century-old Native American case, by Stephanie Cram, CBC News, January 29, 2025
White House backs down on funding freeze—for now, by Steward Huntington for ICT news, January 29, 2025.
Trump swings at tribal colleges: Initiative to integrate languages zapped, by Melanie Lenart for Eco-Logic, January 24, 2025.
Finding Common Ground: New guidelines require federal agencies to include Indigenous knowledge in research, policy and decision making, by Melanie Lenart for Native Science Report, February 22, 2023.
J.D. Vance Called Universities ‘The Enemy.’ Now He’s Trump’s VP Pick, by Katherine Knott for Inside Higher Ed, July 16, 2024.
Navajo Nation leaders raise alarm over reports of Indigenous people being questioned and detained during immigration sweeps, by Alaa Elassar for CNN, January 27, 2025.
What is Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge & Why Does it Matter? Presentation by James Rattling Leaf, Sr., for the Crow Canyon Archeological Center, June 22, 2023.