Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

It would not be irregular, nor unsubstantiated, for one to conclude that in an era marked by technological advancement and an increasingly homogenised world, that indigenous knowledge systems, be they folklore, language or medical practice/experience, are now at risk of being completely erased from human memory. The pitfalls of society’s insatiable hunger for more have exposed these otherwise intimate relations with one’s land, community and tradition to the red-hot heat of modernisation. Those practices which had once guided communities of people through drought, ceremony, conflict, and harvest are now too often being dismissed as anecdotal, unscientific and/or irrelevant. Indigenous healing techniques such as prayer, chants, drumming, singing, storytelling, and the use of sacred objects are now being placed alongside the likes of crystal healing as ‘pseudoscience’ as some scientists have noted the lack of empiricism behind much of the practices found within indigenous medical tradition. 

It was this wave of scepticism that initially prompted the Sovereign University of the Native Territories to establish its Centre for Indigenous Research, squarely aimed at adding empiricism to long-held indigenous knowledge. By applying ethnopharmacology, archaeoastronomy, etc, the centre would primarily aim to boost the efficacy of indigenous science, thereby enabling it to be considered as serious as, say, chemistry, physics and biology. “What we wanted to do with the CIR was to remove doubt related to our traditions. It is my firm belief that much of the skepticism held by some of my ‘collegues’ in other universities throughout the country is steeped in racism and that we are attempting to do here is to add that scientific rigour what centuries of testimonials have spoken to: indigenous practices work,” Dr. Atsila Woodpar, an ethnopharmacologist and the Director of the CIR.

Dr. Woodpar stated that one of the Centre’s first initiatives would be both the development of an encyclopaedia of indigenous medicine alongside a dictionary of indigenous language. On the former, she explained that the CIR’s Department of Indigenous Health & Healing Practices, led by Dr. Sinopa Hobbs, would engage shamans from across the various tribal communities, including the Ilutat, Inuwatu, Mirowak, Paasat, Paluk and Sarnaaq. Much of the initiative’s work would be primarily focused on documenting the various ethnopharmacological make-up of various indigenous medicinal plants and herbs. Dr Hobbs noted that her team, which comprised both undergraduate and postgraduate students alongside tenured researchers, would conduct interviews and build out the encyclopedia. It is expected to take on the shape of both a physical and digital database wherein persons can insert questions and the database would produce information on the various herbal treatments related to the question. 

“We want it such that when someone asks the database a question, it spits out three things: (1) detailed but digestible information on the various indigenous medicinal remedies, (2) the science behind how the remedy works and (3) detailed videographic guides on how to prepare the medical treatment. So for example someone has a headache and queries the database, it produces information on (1) a decoction of willow bark; (2) a description of willow bark’s anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties and (3) a detailed video guide (performed by a saman) on how to prepare the willow bark for consumption. That is the extent of what we want to do with this encyclopaedia,” Dr. Hobbs explained. Dr. Hobbs noted that the encyclopaedia would not replace the community shaman as it would not provide individual (specific) consultation and diagnosis as one would have with a shaman or tribal doctor.

On the tribal dictionary, Dr. Woodpar stated that the initiative is expected to be the largest of its kind as it would be the first attempt by any entity to formally document an indigenous language. She noted that the existence of the various aforementioned tribal communities is such that each community speaks its own language, albeit with a commonality in certain words, phrases and dialects. The initiative, according to Dr. Woodpar, is likely to draw the CIR’s Departments of: Language Revitalisation & Linguistics; Historical Memory & Decolonial Archives; Indigenous Arts, Storytelling & Material Culture; and Indigenous Education & Pedagogical Practices together to document indigenous linguistics and storytelling. Dr. Nastas Moss, the head of the Department of Language Revitalisation & Linguistics and the initiative’s principal coordinator, noted that the dictionary would likely mirror the Tropican dictionary with respect to its scope and usability. 

He noted that much of the inputs would primarily come from interviews with tribal leaders and historians as he explained that the creation of an indigenous dictionary was not as simply as asking the meaning of certain words, but understanding the context through which the words were developed and giving the user/reader a greater understanding of its use. “A dictionary of this scale isn’t as simple as asking what the Sarnaaq word for meeting is, or what the Ilutat word is for river. It goes beyond that to show the etymology of these words, to show how they ought to be used in context and more importantly, how to pronounce them. Part of that process is listening and recording the history of our communities,” Dr Moss said. The Bureau of Native Affairs has expressed interest in collaborating with the SUNT on providing manpower and modern transcribing technology, recognising that, similar to the encyclopaedia, much of the personnel behind the dictionary initiatives would likely be students, researchers and other volunteers.