The United States government is built on a framework crafted by wealthy, slave owning, colonizing white men.¹ Lack of inclusion and oppression of traditional and indigenous communities in government has led to dysfunction in both human and natural systems. Traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) offers local stewardship knowledge learned over generations. Western cultural bias has led to the exclusion of TEK in environmental management. Contemporary tools, like social media, can empower indigenous communities and improve American land ethics.^{2 3}

Survival of traditional communities in the face of oppression shows how powerful TEK is as a management tool.^{4 5} Traditional environmental knowledge uses folklore to showcase the connected relationships and spirituality of nature. Like many great stories, these folklores have pragmatic lessons hidden behind metaphors.⁶ Using a feng-shui, Chinese TEK, one might see mountain alterations as cutting “the dragon’s pulse.” The pulse represents the vital connection of the mountain to the livelihood of the local people and nature. The folklore of the dragon may be seen as mysticism which is not valid to western science. Here, lack of cultural understanding leads to western bias against the inclusion of traditional perspectives.

Besides economic and regulatory incentives, how can cultures incentivize land ethics or stewardship?⁷ Spirituality is a key to TEK and is a cultural driver behind community stewardship of the environment.⁸ Here, spirituality is defined as having a sense of responsibility and kinship to self and place. As inclusion and appreciation of TEK grows in western science, understanding the relationships indigenous communities have with their environment can inform more effective land ethics and management.

Despite its challenges, social media is a versatile education tool that is used by 70% of all U.S. adults.⁹ Since its early 2000’s boom, social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, continue to play an important role in demystifying and amplifying TEK and indigenous voices. When used ethically, social media can strengthen our connectedness and desire for environmental change. In 2016, the #NoDAPL movement utilized social media to amplify TEK and indigenous voices. Social media gave the Great Sioux Nation and other indigenous communities the tools to organize, amplify messages, and educate the public about the impacts of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

From infographics to the live streaming of police brutality against the Water Protectors, social media catapulted the #NoDAPL movement onto the global stage. Indigenous land ethics and other TEK went viral and changed western mindsets. In response to the public outcry driven by #NoDAPL, government and financial institutions began pulling permits and funding to distance themselves from the pipeline project. Although the fight for #NoDAPL is ongoing, the social media movement continues to disrupt state, national, and international systems. This shows how social media as an education tool can disrupt the western cultural bias by showcasing unfiltered indigenous voices in an accessible way.

While TEK is an invaluable tool in the environmental management toolset, relying on TEK for management guidance can overburden traditional communities and is inefficient and inequitable.¹⁰ Due to globalization, environmental functions and stakeholders are diverse. Additionally, large countries cause more environmental degradation and have more of a global impact when making environmental policy. Capturing the needs of all stakeholders and ecosystems to create sustainable environmental management (SEM) requires a transdisciplinary team of experts and dedication to the inclusion of traditional communities.

Bias standards continue to stunt the inclusion of TEK in environmental management, Social media can be an effective education tool in empowering indigenous communities and promoting land ethics. Fostering interdisciplinary relationships and greater TEK understanding is key to integrating western and traditional frameworks to sustainably serve stakeholders and the environment. Linguistic and ethnographic study of western environmental management and TEK are integral in pinpointing areas to improve implementation and reception of effective and SEM practices. As western science embraces TEK, it is important to remember that sustainable environmental management must come from a place of inclusion and diversity.

Resources

1. Maloy, M., (2020) The Founding Fathers Views of Slavery, American Battlefied Trust, –REV WAR | ARTICLE, December 8, 2020, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/founding-fathers-views-slavery
2. Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There, Pg 5-23, 235-245, 1949.
3. Carlson, B., Berglund, J., (2021) Indigenous Peoples Rise Up : The Global Ascendency of Social Media Activism. Rutgers University Press,
4. Rehak, J.K.,(2019) Aging in Place: Changing Socio-ecology and the Power of Kinship on Smith Island, Maryland. Anthropology & Aging, [S.l.], v. 40, n. 1, p. 48-62, feb.2019. ISSN 2374-2267
5. Berkes, F. (2008). Sacred Ecology: Vol. 2nd ed. Taylor & Francis [CAM]
6. Anderson, E. N. (1996). Ecologies of the heart : emotion, belief, and the environment. Oxford University Press
7. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. 1854
8. Emery, A. R. 1997. Guidelines for Environmental Assessment and Traditional Knowledge. A Report from the Centre of Traditional Knowledge to the World Council of Indigenous People. Ottawa: Centre for Traditional Knowledge.
9. Perrin, A., Anderson, M., (2019) Share of U.S. adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018, Pew Research Center, April 10, 2019
10. Barnes, J., Dove, M., Lahsen, M. et al. Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change. Nature Clim Change 3, 541–544 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1775