Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Towards inclusive practices with indigenous knowledge

Nature Astronomy volume 3, pages 1035–1037 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Astronomy across world cultures is rooted in indigenous knowledge. We share models of partnering with indigenous communities involving collaboration with integrity to co-create an inclusive scientific enterprise on Earth and in space.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Representation of what is required to co-create in collaboration with people with differing worldviews.

Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State University / Education & Public Outreach

Fig. 2: Conference participants at the 2015 I-WISE meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

References

  1. Begay, D. H. & Maryboy, N. C. Nanit’a Sa’ah Naaghai Nanit’a Bikeh Hozhoon, Living the Order: Dynamic Cosmic Process of Dine Cosmology. PhD thesis, California Institute of Integral Studies (1998).

  2. Aikenhead, G. S. & Michell, H. Bridging Cultures: Indigenous and Scientific Ways of Knowing Nature (Pearson, 2011).

  3. Maryboy, N., Begay, D. & Peticolas, L. The Cosmic Serpent: Collaboration with Integrity. Bridging Native Ways of Knowing and Western Science in Museums Settings (Indigenous Education Institute, 2012).

  4. Schultz, P. W. in Psychology of Sustainable Development (eds Schmuck, P. & Schultz, P. W.) Ch. 4, 61–78 (Kluwer Academic, 2002).

  5. Sutherland, D. & Swayze, N. Cult. Stud. Sci. Educ. 7, 83–92 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Venkatesan, A. & Burgasser, A. Phys. Teach. 55, 456 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Venkatesan, A. et al. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 51, 20 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kimmerer, R. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2015).

  9. Thornton, T. F. Am. Indian Q. 21, 209–228 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Witze, A. Nature 565, 278–279 (2019).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Mele, C. That first black hole seen in an image is now called Pōwehi, at least in Hawaii. The New York Times (13 April 2019); https://go.nature.com/2BH4JjA

  12. Vidaurri, M. et al. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 51, 276 (2019).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hall, S. After SpaceX Starlink launch, a fear of satellites that outnumber all visible stars. The New York Times (1 June 2019); https://go.nature.com/2NcGOO4

Download references

Acknowledgements

A.V. gratefully acknowledges support from the University of San Francisco Faculty Development Fund. We dedicate this Comment to the world’s wealth of indigenous knowledge and to two beloved indigenous colleagues who were taken too soon: Dr ‘Auntie’ Verlie Ann Malina-Wright, Hawaiian–Chinese–Irish educator of over 50 years and wise elder; and Dr Paul Coleman, cherished field mentor and the first Native Hawaiian to earn a doctorate in astrophysics. As Paul said to his family, “I offer the lesson of the stone mason; the greatest works require a tremendous effort with surprising patience, one stone at a time.”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Aparna Venkatesan

  2. Indigenous Education Institute, Friday Harbor, WA, USA

    David Begay & Nancy Maryboy

  3. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    David Begay & Nancy Maryboy

  4. University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Adam J. Burgasser

  5. San Francisco Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Isabel Hawkins

  6. ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i, Hilo, HI, USA

    Ka’iu Kimura

  7. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, USA

    Laura Peticolas

Authors
  1. Aparna Venkatesan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Begay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Adam J. Burgasser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Isabel Hawkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ka’iu Kimura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Nancy Maryboy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Laura Peticolas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aparna Venkatesan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Venkatesan, A., Begay, D., Burgasser, A.J. et al. Towards inclusive practices with indigenous knowledge. Nat Astron 3, 1035–1037 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0953-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0953-2

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing