Culture and Knowledge Transmission in Nicaragua

Reinforcing the transmission of Mayangna culture, knowledge and language

By Natural Sciences Sector

UNESCO Media Services

January 25, 2012

Citation:

http://tinyurl.com/7zdeqry

Like many other indigenous peoples, the Mayangna people of the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua are concerned about the erosion of their culture, language and knowledge. Around the world, indigenous people are experiencing rapid social, cultural and environmental change. While this change may offer new opportunities, it may also put at risk their rich cultural heritage by disrupting the processes by which indigenous culture, language and knowledge are transmitted.

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Due to globalization, indigenous groups are frequently faced with changing social and cultural interactions that lead to new and exciting opportunities; however, globalization may threaten their indigenous cultural background. This UNESCO article deals with indigenous knowledge in Nicaragua from a biodiversity standpoint, since indigenous peoples play an integral role in maintaining environmental biodiversity and protecting the environment form exploitation. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that indigenous knowledge is preserved. The article indicates how the Mayangna indigenous group solicited support from UNESCO's LINKS program to aid them in preserving their local indigenous knowledge about biodiversity in today's globalized world. First, the Mayangna recorded knowledge on natural history, habitats, invasive species, their language, and legends into a book, which they hoped would be incorporated into the Mayangna educational system. In fact the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua recognizes the importance of adapting curriculum and education to local contexts, especially for indigenous children. Members of MINED are working in conjunction with Mayangna educators to adapt and develop curriculum materials, such as teachers guides and textbooks. After a pilot phase and final phase complete with monitoring and evaluation, this project proved successful and will attempt to integrate Mayangna knowledge and culture into the new national curriculum.

I thought that this article was interestingly juxtaposed against my post last week about the Mayans in Mexico and their need to modernize. Unlike the Mexican government, which just went in and built new homes in an attempt to allow the Mayans to live a more modernized life (typical), I found that I was very pleased by the actions of the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua in their treatment of the Mayangna indigenous group (despite the fact that I've never heard of the Mayangna people in all my time in Nicaragua...which is curious). What this article says to me is that perhaps globalization does not have to equate to the death of indigenous culture. Especially if we're talking about environmental conservation and preserving biodiversity, we need to think about ways to preserve this local indigenous knowledge. For so many centuries, indigenous tribes have been taking care of our planet and living in harmony with the environment. Because of this, as the article points out, indigenous communities house "80% of Earth's remaining healthy ecosystems." From an environmentally conscious standpoint then, it is imperative to consider local indigenous knowledge if people want to preserve what biodiversity we have left on the planet.

However, beyond being an article about indigenous people's importance in the realm of preserving biodiversity, I thought this article implicated the importance and possibility of integrating local knowledge into education at a national level, allowing for a dialogue between the traditional and the modern in Nicaragua. With UNESCO acting as an intermediary, the Mayangna logged all of their local knowledge and customs in their own language into a book, which needs to be incorporated into the Mayangna curriculum in order to ensure the transmission of Mayangna knowledge. However, more than that, the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua has actively been working alongside the Mayangna people through education in order to support their local knowledge and culture. While there are obviously many challenges ahead that both the Mayangna and MINED have to face in order to fully integrate Mayangna knowledge and language into the national curriculum, the fact that the Ministry does make indigenous knowledge a priority and engages in dialogue with indigenous peoples is an important first step. As someone studying development, I feel like all we talk about sometimes is how difficult it is to establish collaboration with the people in order to ensure equity in education and development, especially given the context of globalization. Really, a lot of the discussing I have as someone trying to navigate the world of development make me want to bash my head against a wall sometimes. Even my idealization of local knowledge construction has been dashed (after all, we have to ask the question of who exactly is constructing local knowledge?). Despite all this, in the context of educational development regarding indigenous people, I think that Nicaragua is on the right track.