Ethno-ornithology

by Tidemann, Sonia; Gosler, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9781844077830
• ISBN10: 1844077837
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

An African proverb states that when a knowledgeable old person dies, a whole library disappears. In that light, this book presents knowledge that is new or has not been readily available until now because it has not previously been captured or reported by indigenous people. Indigenous knowledge that embraces ornithology takes in whole social dimensions that are inter-linked with environmental ethos, conservation and management for sustainability. In contrast, western approaches have tended to reduce knowledge to elemental and material references. This book also looks at the significance of indigenous knowledge of birds and their cultural significance, and how these can assist in framing research methods of western scientists working in related areas. As well as its knowledge base, this book provides practical advice for professionals in conservation and anthropology by demonstrating the relationship between mutual respect, local participation and the building of partnerships for the resolution of joint problems. It identifies techniques that can be transferred to different regions, environments and collections, as well as practices suitable for investigation, adaptation and improvement of knowledge exchange and collection in ornithology. The authors take anthropologists and biologists who have been trained in, and largely continue to practise from, a western reductionist approach, along another path - one that presents ornithological knowledge from alternative perspectives, which can enrich the more common approaches to ecological and other studies as well as plans of management for conservation.

Author Biography

Sonia Tidemann is an Adjunct Professor at Batchelor Institute of indigenous Tertiary Education, Australia and has been involved in natural and cultural resource management for more than 25 years. Andrew Gosler is Head of the Institute of Human Sciences, Oxford University, UK, where he lectures in Biological Conservation, and University Research Lecturer in the Edward Grey institute of Field Ornithology, Oxford.

Table of Contents

Figures, Tables and Plates	p. vii
Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Contributors	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xxi
Introduction
Indigenous Knowledges, Birds that Have 'Spoken' and Science	p. 3
Ethno-ornithology and Biological Conservation	p. 13
The Broader Significance of Ethno-ornithology	p. 31
Birds: Hunting and Products
The M&abar;ori and the Huia	p. 49
The Impact of Red Feather Currency on the Population of the Scarlet Honeyeater on Santa Cruz	p. 55
Entrapment of Wetland Birds: Local Customs and Methods of Hunting in Krangkeng, Indramayu, Central Java	p. 67
Wildlife Hunting and Bird Trade in Northern Papua (Irian Jaya), Indonesia	p. 73
Birds and Knowledge
Transmutation of Human Knowledge about Birds in 16th-Century Honduras	p. 89
Sound, Sight, Stories and Science: Avoiding Pitfalls in Ethno-ornithological Research, with Examples from Kenya	p. 103
What the Locals Know: Comparing Traditional and Scientific Knowledge of Megapodes in Melanesia	p. 115
Birds: Story and Language
Birds and Nature in the Stepwells of Gujarat, Western India	p. 141
Aboriginal Stories: The Riches and Colour of Australian Birds	p. 153
Tlingit Birds: An Annotated List with a Statistical Comparative Analysis	p. 181
Raven = Heron in Mayan Language Prehistory: An Ethno-ornithological/Linguistic Study	p. 211
What's in a Bird's Name: Relationships among Ethno-ornithological Terms in Nage and Other Malayo-Polynesian Languages	p. 223
Birds and Conservation
An Alternative Reality: M&abar;ori Spiritual Guardianship of New Zealand's Native Birds	p. 241
Everyone Loves Birds: Using Indigenous Knowledge of Birds to Facilitate Conservation in New Guinea	p. 279
Birds, People and Conservation in Kenya	p. 279
Bird Messengers for All Seasons: Landscapes of Knowledge among the Bribri of Costa Rica	p. 291
The Bull of the Bog: Bittern Conservation Practice in a Western Bio-cultural Setting	p. 301
Towards an Indonesian Bird Conservation Ethos: Reflections from a Study of Bird-keeping in the Cities of Java and Bali	p. 313
Index	p. 331
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