Knowledge Connects Our Hearts and Lands: A Qualitative Research Study on Stewarding Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledges for Community Well-Being

TL;DR

This study explores how Indigenous communities in the southwestern U.S. steward traditional ecological knowledge to protect their lands, health, and cultural heritage.

Contribution

The study provides community-driven insights into protecting traditional ecological knowledge through qualitative research with Indigenous Peoples.

Findings

Historical and current barriers hinder the sharing of traditional ecological knowledge.

Language preservation is crucial for passing down traditional ecological knowledge across generations.

Protecting lands and medicines is essential for community health and environmental well-being.

Abstract

Indigenous Peoples have developed and stewarded complex knowledge systems that have contributed to thriving societies. With continued threats to Indigenous lifeways, there is increasing need to further protect traditional ecological knowledges (TEK). We carried out a qualitative study to explore Indigenous community perspectives on stewarding and protecting TEK while identifying gaps in community-level protections of TEK. We conducted ten semi-structured interviews in December 2024 and one focus group in January 2025 with Indigenous Peoples in the southwestern United States. Reflexive thematic analysis through open coding was carried out using qualitative software. Six overarching themes were characterized in the interviews, which overlapped with findings from the focus group, including the following: (1) Historical and current barriers impact the sharing of TEK; (2) Preserving our language is necessary for intergenerational transmission of our TEK; (3) Our TEK reveals changes to our Lands; (4) Protecting our Lands and medicines is vital to our health; (5) We must take the time to learn our TEK for future generations; and (6) We need to protect our TEK. Our research highlights the importance of supporting Indigenous communities’ capacities to protect their TEK for personal, community, and environmental well-being.

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