George Ahmaogak: Don't ignore Alaska Native knowledge

Monday, June 13, 2011  

"It is too bad the Alaska Legislature can't come together on coastal zone management and will lose a program that helps the development process, brings in federal money and creates jobs.

It seems unfortunate that state coastal zone management legislation imploded over the lack of agreement on "a provision to allow local knowledge to be considered alongside scientific evidence," as I've seen reported in several articles.

Most of the time, indigenous or traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge don't compete and conflict -- they complement each other. Our hunters and people get their knowledge by observing day-in and day-out how our environment works. Scientists also gather their knowledge by observation -- usually during an eight-week field season.

The goal is the same -- we all want to know the truth to better make decisions."

Get the Story:
George Ahmaogak Sr.: Ignoring Native lore surely leads to poor results (The Anchorage Daily News 6/13)