Article

Abstract This study used the Developmental Niche (DN)

framework to examine perceived intergenerational changes in the
transmission of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Under a
cross-sectional and exploratory design, in-depth semi-structured
interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample, stratified by
gender and generation, of 30 Uitoto (Amazon, Colombia) and 26
Itza’ Maya (Peten, Guatemala) adults about their perceptions of
intergenerational variations in TEK transmission/acquisition
practices. Interview data were analyzed using a grounded
approach and resulting coding categories were assigned to text
units. Grounded themes were then examined in light of the DN
components. Both Uitoto and Itza’ Maya participants perceived
generational changes in the settings (from natural to school
settings) and in the strategies (from experiential to conceptual
learning) used for TEK transmission. These changes were attributed
to various environmental (biodiversity loss, urbanization),
socio-cultural (acculturation, changes in social norms) and
individual factors (lack of motivation to teach and learn).

Key Words cultural learning, developmental niche, indigenous

communities, knowledge transmission, Latin America, Traditional
Ecological Knowledge

Sergio Cristancho
University of Illinois, USA
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
Joanne Vining
University of Illinois, USA

Perceived Intergenerational
Differences in the Transmission of
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
(TEK) in Two Indigenous Groups
from Colombia and Guatemala
Our knowledge about the forest, the knowledge that allows us to survive in this
environment, has vanished and I am really worried that the young people are not
learning it. I don’t know what is happening but we must solve this problem otherwise
neither the forest nor our youth will survive . . .
R. Letuama (headman of an indigenous community in the
Colombian Amazon; personal communication, 2000)
Culture & Psychology Copyright © 2009 SAGE Publications
(Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore) http://cap.sagepub.com
Vol. 15(2): 229–254 [DOI: 10.1177/1354067X09102892]
Culture & Psychology 15(2)

Introduction
As psychologists, we have an ethical call to advance our science while
also addressing psychological issues of social significance by bringing
scientific tools to identify such issues and possible solutions (Lewin,
1948; Oskamp, 2007). In the United Nations Permanent Forum for
Indigenous Issues (UNPFII, 2005), indigenous leaders have amply
debated their concerns about the gradual loss of traditional ecological
knowledge (Zent, 2001), which is crucial for indigenous peoples’
survival in the natural environments they have inhabited for thousands
of years. Some of the potential threats to this type of knowledge include
cultural assimilation, loss of traditional territories, destruction of
ecosystems, in and out migration, poverty, climate change, urbaniz-
ation, and the death of community elders, among others.
We start from the premise that this is a complex phenomenon that
might result from the interaction among these various factors. Conse-
quently, in this article we use a holistic developmental psychology
model, called the Developmental Niche (Super & Harkness, 1986,
1997), to understand the influence of environmental, cultural, and indi-
vidual factors that are known to affect human development (and for
the purposes of this article, knowledge transmission/acquisition) in
significant ways.
Intergenerational transmission of knowledge is a process of keen
interest to cultural psychology because it is dynamic and transactional
by nature. This offers researchers the opportunity to deepen their
understanding of the role of culture in human teaching and learning
processes that are at the same time community-relevant. However,
there is a dearth of studies of this topic with groups that are tradition-
ally underrepresented in Western psychological research. As a conse-
quence, despite the importance vested in this subject by indigenous
communities, as evidenced by the UNPFII statements, we could not
find in the psychological literature studies specifically examining
generational differences in the process of transmission of ecological
knowledge (TEK) affecting indigenous groups in Latin America. We
hope this article provides new insights into this process, both for
cultural psychology as a discipline and for affected communities as
agents of pragmatic change. The purpose of this article is to explore
what are the most relevant factors associated with the process of trans-
mission and acquisition of TEK as a culturally relevant type of knowl-
edge. The context for this study comprises two Latin American
indigenous communities: the Uitoto from Leticia (Colombian Amazon)
and the Itza’ Maya from San José (Peten region in Guatemala).

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Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Culturally Relevant

Knowledge Domain
TEK has been defined as ‘a cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs
handed down through generations, by cultural transmission, about the
relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and
with their environment’ (Gadgil, Berkes, & Folke, 1993, p. 151). Such
knowledge seems to be critical for the environmental sustainability of
the regions humans inhabit, as well as for the successful human
adaptation to those environments (Posey, 1983). Moreover, TEK is
known to be the basis for local-level decision-making in areas such as
natural resource management, nutrition, health, education, and
community organization for many indigenous communities (Warren,
Slikkerveer, & Brokensha, 1995). TEK tends to be:
collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs,
cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language, and agri-
cultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal
breeds. Traditional knowledge is mainly of a practical nature, particularly in
such fields as agriculture, fisheries, health, horticulture, and forestry.
(United Nations Environmental Program, 2007)
Berkes (1999) considers four interrelated levels within TEK, which
he terms the knowledge—practice—belief complex:
1. Knowledge based on empirical observations essential for survival
(species taxonomy, distribution, and life cycles);
2. Understanding of ecological processes and natural resource
management (practices, tools, and techniques);
3. The socio-economic organization necessary for effective coordination
and cooperation (rules and taboos); and
4. The worldview or ‘cosmovision’ (religion, belief, and ethics).
Hence, examples of TEK include knowledge about the names and
categorization of species, about the techniques to harvest cornfields,
and about the moral norms regulating human behavior towards
certain species or towards nature as a whole.

Methodological and Theoretical Approaches Adopted

in this Study
We used an Indigenous Psychology approach (Kim, Park, & Park, 2000)
for the definition of our research problem and to outline a general
approach to address it. TEK transmission can be considered as
a community-relevant phenomenon that we seek to study using

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frameworks, tools, and methods provided by psychological theory. In

this attempt, we theoretically conceptualized our research drawing on
the Developmental Niche (DN) model. We used this framework
because its comprehensive approach to cultural transmission is com-
patible with the complex nature of our problem of study. In short, the
DN theory specifies that human development (and for the purposes of
this study, ecological knowledge transmission/acquisition) is shaped
by four closely inter-related components, which we organized into three
main categories. These are: (a) the ‘Settings’, which we broadly refer to
as the environmental aspects; (b) the ‘Customs’, which we refer to as the
socio-cultural aspects; (c) the ‘Child’s psychology’; and (d) the ‘Teacher’s
psychology’, both of which we refer to as the individual aspects, as
shown in Figure 1.

TEK Transmission as Part of the Socialization Process

We situate the cultural transmission of TEK as part of the socialization
process insofar as it involves the deliberate transmission of values,
knowledge, and skills from older to younger generations at various life

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the Developmental Niche as applied to the TEK

transmission process (adapted with permission from Super & Harkness, 1997, p. 26)
Note: External arrows represent the influence of external factors into each component of
the DN. Two-sided arrows represent each component’s ability to affect and be affected
by the other components.

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 Cristancho & Vining Intergenerational TEK Transmission

stages. Such values, knowledge, and skills are intended to facilitate

youngsters’ adaptation to the larger society within which they are
embedded. In this context, the acquisition of TEK content is extremely
relevant for adult survival, particularly for human groups living in
(and subsisting from) natural environments. In other words, accurate
knowledge about the natural world as a result of a successful process
of intergenerational transmission will allow an indigenous child living
in the forest to become a competent adult in her cultural and environ-
mental contexts. The acquisition of TEK as a particular type of cul-
turally relevant knowledge in the context of indigenous groups may
occur through a variety of channels, including social learning
(Bandura, 1976) and direct contact with nature (Atran et al., 1999),
among others. As part of the socialization process, intergenerational
transmission of TEK involves teaching and learning strategies that
meet the adaptive purpose of shaping human behavior towards nature
in such a way that it is congruent with the human species’ survival.
The processes of transmission and acquisition of TEK are completely
interwoven insofar as certain cultural teaching practices used by
indigenous teachers may promote the use of congruent learning
strategies by their apprentices. This is well illustrated in the DN frame-
work presented above, as the socializer’s psychology is one of the main
factors having an effect on children’s behavior. For example, a teaching
style that is highly focused on cooperation will promote a student’s
development of a learning style that is based on a more intensive
interaction between teacher and apprentice or among apprentices.
Likewise, a person’s prevailing learning strategy may in turn give the
teacher clues as to what teaching techniques would be most effective
to employ with that particular apprentice.
Accordingly, our approach to studying TEK transmission and acqui-
sition strategies involves adult indigenous people’s perspectives, both
as transmitters and apprentices of this type of knowledge. In order to
understand better the relationship between teaching and learning
strategies, we briefly examine relevant literature about the process of
knowledge acquisition.

Knowledge Acquisition and Generational Differences through

Cultural Lenses
Within indigenous groups, there might be generational differences in
TEK acquisition strategies. Greenfield (2000) suggests that increased
commerce and formal schooling among groups like the Zinacantec
Maya from Southern Mexico have resulted in a more widespread
expression of individualistic modes of weaving apprenticeship

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(Triandis, 1995). Thus, younger generations who have been increas-

ingly exposed to formal commerce and schooling may be more likely
to engage in independent discovery than their older counterparts who
live a more traditional lifestyle and may be more likely to engage in
collectivist (interdependent) learning activities. Regarding the specific
domain of ecological knowledge acquisition, several studies have
reported indigenous perceptions of TEK loss, providing evidence of it,
but they have not examined changes in the actual process of TEK trans-
mission that might have led to such loss (Ross, 2002).
Drawing on classic research conducted by well-known figures such
as Thorndike and Vygotsky, cross-cultural developmental psychol-
ogists have identified three basic strategies of human learning that
involve complex psychological processes. These are: trial and error,
shaping, and scaffolding (Greenfield & Lave, 1982). According to
Greenfield and Lave, trial and error is an individual process that
consists of learners being confronted with a novel situation and then
making successive adjustments in order to approach it successfully.
This learning technique encourages the acquisition of ‘conceptual
knowledge’ and is largely an independent learning strategy. On the
other hand, shaping and scaffolding require direct and close interactions
with a teacher, so they are more compatible with interdependent
learning. Shaping is a process in which learners are presented with
sequential and well-organized steps that teachers use to guide them
towards the successful approach to the new situation. Scaffolding
consists of learners being presented with the new problem in its
entirety by a teacher, who provides orientation and even models the
behavior for the learner, so the learning is more ‘experiential’.
The observation and imitation of others, which are the basic
behaviors underlying shaping and scaffolding, seem to predominate in
informal learning, whereas trial and error predominates in formal
education contexts (Segal, Dasen, Berry, & Poortinga, 1999). This
would suggest that younger generations of indigenous peoples who
are more exposed to formal education might be more likely to learn
TEK through trial and error than through shaping and scaffolding.

Generational Shift vs. Difference

One of the key issues in intergenerational research is to distinguish
between generational shifts and generational differences. To assert the
presence of generational shifts requires longitudinal studies compar-
ing one generation at different points in time, which would allow
researchers to draw causal connections. It is our intention here to
explore only generational differences that might form the foundation

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for future longitudinal studies that more thoroughly examine gener-

ational shift. Thus, our study might provide insights regarding the
extent to which erosion of folkbiological knowledge might in fact be
related to generational differences in the process of TEK transmission
in the particular cases of the Uitoto and the Itza’ people. Furthermore,
it might shed light on specific generational differences in the process
of TEK transmission, based on which future instruments could be
developed to assess TEK transmission more accurately.

Research Question
Based on this overview of our problem and the relevant literature, we
selected the following questions to guide the study:
1. Do adult Uitotos and Itza’ Mayas perceive generational differences
in the transmission of TEK? And if so;
2. What aspects of the TEK transmission process do they perceive as
having changed and what are the potential causes of such changes?

Methods
Study Settings and Groups
A Uitoto and an Itza’ Maya village (in Colombia and Guatemala,
respectively) were chosen as research sites (see Figure 2).
We chose these settings for various reasons. First, access to these
regions and groups was facilitated due to the first author’s previous
interactions with indigenous authorities as a former health officer in
the Colombian Amazon, and as a consultant to a research project on
folkbiological knowledge in the Peten. Second, the characteristics of
these two regions make them very attractive to cultural psychology
research because of their environmental and cultural diversity and
their potential as natural laboratories to examine how the interplay
between environmental and cultural forces shapes human develop-
ment in areas concerning social and environmental behavior (Cohen,
2001; Maffi, 2001). Third, these two settings are environmentally
relevant, being the two largest tropical rainforests in the American
continent, and thus they have been targets of aggressive international
conservation efforts. Finally, in spite of their similarities, these two
communities also differ culturally and in their levels of ‘rurality’,1
allowing us to examine whether or not this factor plays a role in
the intergenerational transmission of TEK. Next, we provide a brief
description of each group:

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Figure 2. Map indicating general location of research sites in Colombia and Guatemala
Note: Specific sites are indicated with dark dots in the enlarged maps.

Uitoto
This patrilineal, virilocal group inhabits a small rural village called
Nimaira-Naimeki Ibiri, located in the Southern Colombian Trapecio
Amazonico.2 The village consists of a multi-ethnic community of 191
people, most of whom identify themselves as Uitoto of the subgroups
Muina and Muinika. They practice subsistence agriculture (in chagras,
or community gardens), fishing, and game hunting. They also harvest
seasonal forest palm fruits, some of which they trade in Leticia (11 km
away) for other goods—the remaining ones are used for internal
consumption. The Uitoto still keep a rather traditional lifestyle and
social organization but their youth are increasingly facing the pressures
of acculturation to Western lifestyle. There is a headman and an elders’
council at the top of their political structure, all of whom fluently speak
the Uitoto language. There is also a governor, who is the political
authority representing the community before the Colombian govern-
ment and other Western institutions.
A central cultural element within the community is the maloka
(community roundhouse). The maloka, formerly used as shelter, is

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now used only for meetings and ritual purposes. Adult males gather
in the maloka, generally at dusk, to talk about the things they did
during the day, their traditions and myths, and their future community
activities. It is during this mambeadero3 time that sacred environmental
knowledge transmission occurs. The maloka is also a sacred place
where traditional dances and feasts are performed to celebrate harvests
or other important cultural or social events.
This group of Uitotos had originally settled in La Chorrera but, as
victims of enslavement during the ‘rubber boom’ from 1900–1930,
they migrated to Peru (Gomez, Lesmes, & Rocha, 1995; Pineda, 2000).
They resettled in Colombia a few years later, close to the city of Leticia.
The village where they live is part of the indigenous reservation
regionally governed by the Zonal Association of Indigenous Councils
and Authorities of Tierra Alta (AZCAITA), which is shared with other
ethnic groups such as the Tikuna, Bora, Yukuna, Andoque, and Ocaina,
most of whom have also historically migrated from their ancestral
territories for similar reasons.
The Itza’ Maya (also a patrilineal and virilocal group) inhabits the
municipality of San José (pop. 3720) located in the midst of the Peten
forest of Guatemala, on the North side of Lake Peten Itza’. Only about
2000 recognize themselves as Itza’—nearly all live in the cabezal 4 rather
than in the aldeas,5 like La Nueva, Corozal or San Pedro. There are
currently fewer than 50 fluent Itza’ speakers. In the 1930s, Guatemala’s
dictator, General Jorge Ubico, instituted a virulent anti-Maya language
policy that led the Lakantun Maya to flee Petén and resulted in the loss
of Itza’ Maya as a first language. Many persons born during and
immediately after Ubico’s reign can understand Itza’, but most cannot
speak it. Few in today’s generation understand the language at all.
Nevertheless, Itza’ elders retain much of the ethnobiological knowl-
edge recorded from shortly before the conquest to the present day
(Atran, 2006, personal communication; a full account can be found in
Atran, Lois, & Ucan Ek’, 2004).
San José lies in the official buffer zone of the UN-sponsored Maya
Biosphere Reserve. The Itza’ Maya is known as the last Mayan group
to be subdued by Spaniards in the conquest of America (Jones, 1998)
and hence Mayans have been respected historically by other groups in
the region for their toughness and strong cultural traditions. Other
groups that inhabit the zone include immigrant Q’eqchi’ Maya, who
came from the highlands, and Ladinos (mestizos),6 who migrated from
different regions of Guatemala.
As part of an internationally sponsored community-based conser-
vation effort, Itza’ Mayas were granted by the Guatemalan government

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the control of the Bio-Itza, which consists of a protected forest area of

1000 hectares adjacent to San José. Moreover, San José is located very
close to the Tikal National Park, which is one of the major Mayan
heritage sites and natural parks in Central America. The Itza’ Maya
still practice agriculture, fishing, and game hunting but have increas-
ingly diversified their occupational profile by engaging in more
‘urban’ low-wage jobs in the municipality, including construction,
wood carving, food processing, and informal commerce, among
others. Among the few traditional events they still celebrate are the
Fiestas Patronales de San José and the Atol de Ixpazáa,7 in which they
please the Mayan deities by performing various dances and offering
them the corn harvest.

Participants
Given the objectives of our study and the cultural barriers to prob-
ability sampling in the groups studied, we used a purposive sample
stratified by gender and generation (Patton, 2002). This sampling
procedure has been successfully used in the past in similar research
studies in the Peten region (Atran et al., 1999, 2002; Medin & Atran,
2004). Stratifying the sampling by generation was important in order
to address better our research question regarding intergenerational
differences, and stratification by gender was deemed appropriate in
order to avoid male predominance in our sample, which could have
easily resulted in these patriarchal societies.
The headman of the Uitoto community and a political leader in the
Itza’ community assisted researchers in identifying people who met the
inclusion criteria (adult residents of the studied communities). A
generational split at age 35 was based on the consensus we obtained
among the two groups at the beginning of the study that this age was
a good approximate marker of the more traditional cultural splits
between young and old adults.

Instruments
An interview protocol was developed that included five sections with
open-ended questions about the process of TEK transmission, social
networks of TEK transmission, basic demographic information, knowl-
edge about plant–animal interactions, and acculturation (the latter two
were not analyzed in this article).

Procedure
Data were collected through fieldwork in the two research sites during
summer 2003. Four weeks of fieldwork were devoted to each site.

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In-depth, face-to-face interviews of an average duration of 96 minutes

were conducted in Spanish by the first author or a trained field research
assistant. Interview questions were pilot-tested prior to their final
application with a sub-sample of four people in each group to ensure
that the wording was clear, thus mitigating cross-cultural meaning
variations. Because no major changes to the instrument were needed,
pilot responses were combined with the final sample.
In the Uitoto community we obtained the community’s consent to
participate through a meeting with the headman. Once the headman
authorized the researchers’ presence, approval was also sought from
the community elders council. We used a similar process in the Itza’
Maya community. Potential participants were suggested by our
community contacts. These individuals were contacted, and if they met
our inclusion criteria they were asked to participate. Each participant
was given the same specific information, including the approximate
duration and the general goals of the interview. We explained that
interviews were intended to assess generational changes in the trans-
mission of knowledge related to the forest in their community. Verbal
consent was sought on an individual basis prior to any interviewing
and tape-recording. No contacts declined participation in our study.
Subsequently, we interviewed participants either in their homes or in
a place of their preference within each community. At the end of the
interview, they were provided with a small monetary reward.

Data Analyses
Interview recordings were first transcribed and then content-analyzed
by two bilingual (Spanish and English) investigators who had
graduate-level training and extensive experience working with
indigenous groups in Latin America. Differences in initial analyses
were resolved and content-categories were agreed upon. The final set
of content-categories was then used to code each participant’s tran-
script. The paragraph was used as the unit of analysis. Transcriptions
and codings were then translated into English to obtain coding quality
assurance by a third independent coder who was familiar with the
research project. This third coder was an English-only speaking
environmental psychologist who had no prior exposure to the groups
studied, hence bringing a more neutral perspective into the analysis.
We obtained 87% agreement in the assignment of coding categories to
randomly selected text units.

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Results
Sample Demographics
Our sampling strategy allowed us to obtain a good representation of
both adult generations and genders in the two groups studied. A total
of 56 adults participated in this portion of the study. Generational,
gender, and other demographic distributions are presented in Table 1.
Uitotos had fewer years of education (Uitoto = 5.13, SD = 2.98; Itza’
Maya = 7.79, SD = 4.40) and were more likely to have agriculture
as their ‘main occupation’ (50.0%) than their Itza’ Maya counter-
parts (19.2%). The Itza’ Mayans reported more years of education
(t(52) = –2.63; p = .01) and a more varied range of occupational roles
(χ2(1) = 5.74; p = .01).

Are There Generational Differences in TEK Transmission?

An overwhelming majority of Uitoto (92.6%) and Itza’ Maya respon-
dents (95.8%) agreed that there were generational differences in how
TEK is transmitted nowadays as compared to how it was transmitted
in the past. Now let us examine their perceptions of TEK transmission
intergenerational differences.

Table 1. Final sample – frequencies by group, generation, and gender

Group
—————————————— Total
Uitoto Itza’ Maya N = 56
N = 30 N = 26
Young
Male 5 6 11
33.3% 42.9% 37.9%
Female 10 8 18
66.7% 57.1% 62.1%
Total 15 14 29
100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Old
Male 9 6 15
60.0% 50.0% 55.6%
Female 6 6 12
40.0% 50.0% 44.4%
Total 15 12 27
100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Note: ‘Young’ adults were defined as those between 18 and 35 years old, whereas ‘old’
adults were those between 36 and 65 years old. Criteria for this generational split were
culturally based and shared by the two groups.

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Perceived Generational Differences in the Process of

TEK Transmission
In this section we will use quotes from interview participants in each
group to illustrate specific aspects of TEK transmission that were
perceived to have undergone intergenerational change. In the
discussion we will offer relevant information about each group’s
cultural, historical, and economic context within which these percep-
tions may be understood.

Uitoto
The Uitoto started by emphasizing their perceptions of an inter-
generational change in the settings where TEK transmission takes
place. Arguing that in the past, TEK transmission occurred mostly in
the forest, in the chagra (community garden) and in the maloka
(community roundhouse), they observed that it now mostly occurs at
school settings. They also mentioned young people’s lack of interest in
acquiring this knowledge:
Young people are taught more at schools than in their communities. Schools
are nowadays more interested in teaching traditional knowledge . . . (Male, 64)

In the past, the chagra was like a school . . . because everything was taught
in the chagra. A girl was taught in the chagra, a boy was taught in the chagra.
Then, they would come to the maloka. They would gather there and the
teachings would start again. Nowadays, my children do not believe what
we teach them: they just want to learn things only superficially. (Female, 32)

I had to stay up all night at the maloka listening, getting all that knowledge
. . . So, the headman gave me advice every afternoon . . . and . . . I was one
of the few young people who didn’t forget that knowledge . . . Nowadays,
young people are not interested anymore, unless they get some information
at home . . . So, we are concerned about this change . . . (Male, 28)

In addition to perceiving changes in the settings where TEK was

originally transmitted and in young people’s level of interest in the
subject, Uitotos expressed their perceptions of generational differences
in the TEK transmission strategies. It seems that in the past TEK trans-
mission occurred for the most part through verbal exchange and more
experientially, while generational change and the gradual disappear-
ance of the knowledgeable elder generation seem to have led to more
abstract ecological learning, as some of the quotes below illustrate:

People who taught us that knowledge in the past have passed away. Now
it is different . . . Now old people don’t want to teach it to us, nor do they
want to go to the forest with us fishing . . . (Male, 21)

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Before, in the time of my grandparents, knowledge transmission related to

nature occurred verbally, yes? There was always a word of wisdom every
time I was at home, a word of wisdom every time I went to the jungle or to
the chagra . . . (Female, 67)
Now, teaching from adults to children is different. Today, there is more
theory. They teach children the names of animals and so on, but just the
names . . . Children cannot see them . . . That’s how it happens . . . And it is
a concern, because if I say the name of the tapir, they recognize the name,
but they don’t know the real animal . . . Today, some animals that I knew
are disappearing and my children never saw them . . . (Male, 43)
Associated with this intergenerational shift from experiential to
conceptual learning of TEK, there may be a process of cultural trans-
formation in which rituals through which TEK is transmitted from
generation to generation have significantly changed:
For example, when there is a traditional dance everybody has a chance to
learn. Whoever comes here to dance, whoever comes here to drink caguana,8
has a chance to learn. If you want to learn, there should be a payment and
that is something that young men don’t have in mind anymore. They don’t
give tobacco and coca to the old men; they don’t even do that. Today, if you
don’t put together a [formal] program, you don’t teach, right? If there is not
a health program, people don’t teach others any of these issues. If there is
not a forest management program, they don’t teach others about these
issues . . . (Male, 42)
Perhaps more important than the apparent change in the rituals, and
yet related to this, people’s disregard for the traditional norms mediat-
ing TEK transmission seems to be increasing. For example, in the past
a person who received TEK was supposed to pay elders for the knowl-
edge received with coca and tobacco as a way to help them please the
masters of nature with this spiritual food. Also, the institutionalization
of community programs is a practice that the Western culture has
brought along, and it was seen by the above respondent as another
barrier to implementing the traditional strategies of TEK transmission.

Itza’ Maya
Similar to the Uitoto, the Itza’ perceived intergenerational changes in
the settings and strategies used for TEK transmission, as is shown in
the following two quotes:
So, my grandfather taught my dad, and then, as we were growing, my dad
took us to work like that . . . We started to work there when I was 8 years
old. At that age, I started to go out with my dad to the forest. I started to
work in agriculture. He taught me the knowledge that he got from my
grandfather . . . So, that knowledge taught by my grandfather was trans-
mitted to us . . . Now, almost 100% of young people are only dedicated to

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study in schools, no more . . . Today there are two options, just as I told you
. . . ‘OK son, here you have your notebook, your pencil, and your eraser’ . . .
Or, ‘Look son, here you have your machete, your axe’ . . . Which one do you
want? So, you should choose which one you’ll give him . . . (Male, 27)
It has changed a lot, I think . . . They [children in the past] used to go, they
used to go more frequently with their parents to the milpa [community
garden] . . . Now, they don’t . . . Now they go to school, they go to school and
play soccer, or do other things, but they don’t spend time getting knowledge
about nature and the environment . . . In the past, when I was going to school
they taught me how to do some things at home. We used to talk and they
would take me to places . . . Now it is different, I go to school, I sit in a chair,
and if I want to learn something, I need to ask . . . (Female, 23)

This last quote relates generational shifts in the settings of TEK trans-
mission to generational shifts in TEK acquisition strategies. Similar to
the Uitoto, the Itza’ perceived that TEK is no longer transmitted in the
forest or in the garden (milpa), but in the school setting. This, of course,
implies their perception of a lack of direct contact with nature, which
discourages experiential while promoting conceptual learning of TEK.
In addition to this, Itza’ people perceive a change from passive (in the
past they took me to places) to active (now I need to ask) learning.
Other Itza’ perceived that there has been a change in the social norms
regulating TEK transmission activities:
The way we teach has changed . . . In the past, there were lots of pro-
hibitions . . . Now, there is more freedom . . . (Male, 48)

From a stricter scheme of social norms regulating TEK transmission in

the past, there now seems to be a shift towards looser teaching norms,
which they refer to as having more ‘freedom’. Also, the Itza’ perceived
a communication barrier between the old and the young generation
that according to them might lead to TEK erosion:
It has changed a lot, because now our grandparents don’t talk to young
people . . . They don’t transmit their knowledge. Slowly, they are forgetting
it and new generations don’t know anything. They don’t know anything
about what is bad and what is good. (Female, 21)

The apparent lack of communication between old and young people

seems to be the result of a decrease in the levels of interest from both
sides (apprentices and teachers) in learning and teaching TEK, respect-
ively. In addition to this there seems to be some concern about older
generations losing (forgetting) TEK content due to a communication
breach between the two generations.
Contrasting both groups studied, it is evident that there are some
interesting similarities and differences. Table 2 summarizes our content

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Table 2. Summary of perceived intergenerational changes in TEK transmission

(grounded), categorized into the Developmental Niche components
Developmental Niche components and related themes Uitoto Itza’
Environmental
Changes in the settings for TEK transmission
Increasingly at school Y
Less frequently at community gardens Y Y
Less frequently at the maloka Y
Biodiversity loss in the forest Y
Socio-cultural
Changes in the strategies used for TEK transmission
Less frequently through oral transmission Y
Less frequently through experiential learning Y Y
Increasingly through abstract learning Y
Increasingly through formal programs Y
Change from passive to active learning Y
Disappearance of the elderly Y
Influence of Western schooling Y
Looser educational norms Y
Individual
Transmitters
Insufficient effort to teach Y Y
Knowledge loss Y
Apprentices
Lack of interest in learning Y
Disregard for traditional norms
No traditional compensation for the elderly Y

analysis of Uitoto and Itza’ Mayans’ perceptions of intergenerational

changes using the DN framework. This table shows that Uitotos ident-
ified 12 themes, while Itza’ Mayans only identified 7 themes. Both
groups shared the perception that TEK transmission occurs less
frequently at community gardens (environmental) and through
experiential learning (socio-cultural) and that there is less interest
among the older generations to teach this knowledge to the younger
ones (individual), suggesting that these may be more generalized
issues.
Likewise, Table 3 summarizes some of the contextual factors that we
think might play a role in the intergenerational transformation of the
TEK transmission process in the two groups studied. There seem to be
more economic factors related to the TEK transmission transformation
affecting the Itza’ Maya and more historical factors related to this trans-
formation affecting the Uitoto. However, both groups share a changing
pattern in their subsistence practices (economic) and the loss of their
native language (historical), which is associated with the loss of knowl-
edge about the names and properties of traditional species.

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 Cristancho & Vining Intergenerational TEK Transmission

Table 3. Contextual factors that might be affecting the transmission of TEK in the two
groups
Contextual factors Uitoto Itza’
Economic
Change in subsistence practices (from subsistence agriculture
to commerce) Y Y
Diversification of Western jobs Y
Municipalization of territories leading to less contact with nature Y
Growth of the tourism industry in the region Y
Presence of private commercial logging industry in the region Y
Economic development (e.g., road constructions linking village
with larger towns) Y
Historical
Disappearance of the people with more knowledge during
historical events (e.g., the rubber boom) Y
Loss of native language and traditional species’ names Y Y
Loss of traditional songs and stories with key environmental
knowledge content Y
Migration to new areas with species different than those found
in the place of origin Y
Pressure of acculturating forces (e.g., Catholic missions,
Western schooling, etc.) Y

Discussion
Our data suggest that there are perceived generational changes in the
process of TEK transmission in the two groups studied. Developmental
Niche factors and contextual factors, summarized in Tables 2 and 3,
portray the complexity and multidimensionality of this change. In
order to understand better the role these factors play in each of the two
groups studied, here we make an attempt to provide a more detailed
interpretation of our findings.

Uitoto
The Uitoto’s perception of generational changes in TEK transmission
strategies and settings might have been influenced by internal cultural
transformations (including their native language loss), a problem that
may be rooted in historical events affecting the community. As stated
above, the group of Uitoto people inhabiting this community was
originally from La Chorrera, the most traditional settlement of Uitoto
people in the upper portion of the Colombian Amazon. However, in
the times of the ‘rubber boom’, they escaped the enslavement by
migrating south to the vicinity of Iquitos (Peru). A few years after the
Colombian war with Peru in 1932, this group of Uitoto returned to the
Colombian Amazon, settling down in the vicinity of Leticia—the same

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area where they live at present. After arriving in this location, Catholic
missions discouraged them from speaking their language and main-
taining their traditional cultural practices. We argue that this history of
forced migration from their ancestral land and subsequent relocation
could have caused a change in their traditional TEK transmission
strategies, owing to several factors including the disappearance of the
elders and their increased exposure to Western education and
economic systems.
It was our observation during fieldwork that most Uitotos have
gardens in the forest that allow them to partially derive their sub-
sistence and learn TEK using a more experiential approach. However,
they supplement this strategy by exchanging products with occasional
visitors from Leticia or selling part of their produce (vegetables,
handicrafts, traditional medicines, etc.) in the farmers’ market that
takes place in Leticia every Saturday. This economic exchange with
Leticia, plus the development of a Western-based local school system,
has probably expedited their process of cultural transformation. As a
result, in spite of having access to cropland, proximity to the forest, and
a traditional economy that would favor experiential TEK acquisition
in younger generations, this strategy is perceived to have eroded
significantly.
Uitotos’ perception of a dramatic change in their traditional TEK
transmission strategies probably recently motivated them to start a
local program aimed at the recovery of their traditional cultural prac-
tices in general. As part of this program, a group of elders designated
by the headman of the community started to teach younger people
how to speak the Uitoto language as well as the lyrics and dances of
traditional songs. This program would encourage TEK acquisition
through shaping and scaffolding. Moreover, a small group of
youngsters has participated in independently funded film projects
about Uitoto’s main cultural practices, with the ultimate purpose of
producing documentaries. Profits from these documentaries are
intended to be re-invested in small projects of economic development
and recovery of tradition.
On the other hand, it is also possible that Uitotos’ engagement in
these processes and projects for the last couple of years could have
been reflected in their responses to our questions. For example, they
might now be more aware of the transformation of TEK transmission
strategies than they were before launching these community programs.
In sum, Uitoto people perceived intergenerational changes in the
settings of TEK transmission (from natural to school settings) and in
the interest of transmitters and learners (less interest in the subject).

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 Cristancho & Vining Intergenerational TEK Transmission

They also perceived changes in TEK acquisition strategies (from

experiential to conceptual learning). Of interest to cultural psychology
is the change in this cognitive pattering as a result of cultural trans-
formation and generational change. Participants’ responses thus shed
light on some of the particular environmental, socio-cultural, and
individual factors that might explain this process.

Itza’ Maya
In the case of the Itza’, what might be causing a decrease in their motiv-
ation to exchange TEK is perhaps a combination of changes in their
occupational profile, their level of contact with nature, their immersion
into an urban lifestyle, and their cultural hybridization with Western
groups. For example, most young Itza’ Mayans have now taken
Western jobs. These jobs are using up most of the time they would have
devoted to TEK transmission in the past, when their primary occu-
pation was agriculture. This phenomenon might have lessened their
motivation to teach TEK to younger generations. However, there are
also a few people who are still working in agriculture, but unlike the
Uitoto they have to pay yearly rent (US$9.00—$21.00) to the munici-
pality of San José to cultivate family milpas in the municipal commons
(ejido). Given the low average income of most Itza’ families, this is
perceived by some as a barrier to motivating the youth to keep
working in agriculture.
Some Itza’ still rely on game hunting in the forest to supplement
their protein needs; however, game is becoming scarcer nowadays due
to increased environmental pressures on local wildlife, including
uncontrolled burning, tourism, and commercial logging. This problem
might also be preventing young generations from spending more time
in the forest. They might find it more efficient to work in construction
and buy groceries in a local store at the end of the day with the
payment they received.
Furthermore, Western education might be encouraging the concep-
tual learning of TEK within the school system. A growing local tourism
industry related to neighboring archaeological sites such as Motul or
to Lake Peten Itza’ has brought an increasing number of temporary
visitors from central Guatemala, as well as from the US, Europe, and
other Central and South American countries whose influence might
have helped to transform traditional TEK transmission practices.
Another factor that may play a significant role in Itza’s cultural
transformation is the road that links San José with Flores (the capital
of Peten), which has facilitated economic and cultural exchange
between the two places. Together, these factors might be affecting Itza’

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people’s traditional ecological practices, while at the same time

leading to less experiential learning of TEK as was perceived by our
respondents.
Perhaps aware of this situation, the Itza’ people have started to
implement programs to recover their tradition. These include offering
Itza’ Maya language classes in schools and other community activities
that encourage experiential learning of TEK. For example, under
the leadership of one elder woman leader they recently started a
medicinal garden project. As part of school or informal community
activities they take children of different ages to a medicinal community
garden, where they have put together a collection of medicinal plants
from the region. There, expert elders directly teach children the names
and uses of each plant, and how to grow and collect them. This is a
good example of TEK acquisition through scaffolding. The Bio Itza’
territory has also been used by elders to encourage experiential
learning of TEK. Because these programs have started to take place
only recently, it is difficult to determine whether or not their results are
already reflected in their responses to our questions.
In sum, the Itza’ perceived a negative generational transformation of
TEK transmission settings and strategies that they attribute to looser
social norms regulating the process of TEK transmission and to
communication barriers between the old and young adult generations.
These changes might be the result of increased commercial exchange
with Flores, tourism industry growth in the region, changes in the
labor market, and environmental degradation, among others.

Implications, Limitations and Future Studies

The DN framework proved useful in portraying the various dimensions
of the TEK transmission process that have suffered generational trans-
formations. In our content analysis of participants’ interview responses,
we were able to identify environmental (i.e., changes in the teaching
settings, biodiversity loss); socio-cultural (i.e., changes in TEK trans-
mission strategies, disappearance of the elderly, influence of Western
schooling, and looser educational norms); and individual factors (trans-
mitters’ insufficient efforts to teach, knowledge loss, and apprentices’
lack of interest in learning, and disregard for traditional norms) that are
possibly related to this phenomenon. Although it was not the main
objective of this study, we found through our various analyses that
the experiential-conceptual framework of knowledge transmission/
acquisition fitted the data much better than the shaping-scaffolding and
trial-and-error ones frequently used in developmental studies.

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 Cristancho & Vining Intergenerational TEK Transmission

Because of the exploratory nature of this study, these findings

require further investigation. However, our data suggest that solutions
to TEK transmission problems require action plans that would address
at the same time the environmental, socio-cultural, and individual
components that seem to affect this process. Examples of activities that
would strengthen TEK transmission include providing young gener-
ations with incentives to spend more time in the rainforest, and provid-
ing old generations with incentives to teach TEK to their younger
counterparts.
We want to caution that our results might not be generalizable to
populations beyond our sample because of the purposive sampling
strategy. However, because our main objective was to identify major
themes and not necessarily to generalize findings to larger groups, our
sampling allowed us to obtain a good representation of the most
meaningful subpopulations in the two groups studied. Also, we
acknowledge that our findings of generational differences are in-
sufficient to prove the existence of generational shifts. Despite these
limitations, we obtained good evidence indicating a perceived gener-
ational change in the patterns of TEK transmission that might replicate
well in other indigenous groups with similar characteristics. Future
studies may benefit greatly from the use of longitudinal or diachronic
observations of changes in TEK transmission strategies (see Greenfield,
Maynard, & Childs, 2000 for an example of a diachronic observation of
intergenerational shifts in the transmission of weaving knowledge).
The combination of longitudinal with cross-sectional studies on gener-
ational differences in indigenous groups might help to differentiate
those changes that are merely generational from those that are due to
normal maturational differences or other factors.
Another challenge for future studies would be to identify aspects of
TEK that are traditional from those that are non-traditional in order to
determine to what extent the transmission of each has or has not
undergone generational transformation. Findings of such studies
might help us revise the current definition of TEK or perhaps propose
a more adequate concept to portray the dynamic natures of both the
cultural and environmental factors that define this type of knowledge.
Finally, by showing how some TEK transmission aspects differed
between old and young adult generations, we hope that the results of
this study are useful for the indigenous communities involved, and for
the governmental and non-governmental institutions interested in
protecting their traditional cultural and environmental practices. It is
our recommendation that institutional investments are directed
towards promoting autonomy and sustainable development in

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indigenous people’s lands through external support of community-

based programs of environmental education. Ideally, these types of
programs will motivate elders to transfer their knowledge to younger
people using traditional teaching methods instead of forcing the
communities to adopt Western-based environmental education
programs as the sole practice. In other words, Western participation
should be supportive of indigenous dynamics and not prescriptive in
nature.
Capitalizing on the already-existing cultural and environmental
resources of each community seems to be the first step to preserve TEK
transmission aspects that are critical for each community. For example,
Uitotos’ community-based program to recover their language and
traditional songs might serve as a model to strengthen the transmission
of ecological knowledge in that community. Exposure to external
audiences (e.g., researchers, students in fieldtrips from Leticia, tourists,
etc.) showing interest in learning their ecological knowledge should, in
theory, motivate Uitotos to retrieve and maintain their TEK. Finally,
Itza’ Mayans’ medicinal garden project and the Bio Itza’ preserve are
good examples of how to use surrounding natural resources as an
educational tool, something that has been well accepted by the
community and has started to shift the intergenerational transmission
of TEK back to more experiential and ‘hands-on’ types of learning
environments. Whenever implemented, these community-based
programs should be systematically evaluated in order to determine
their overall impact on each group and on indigenous individuals’
approaches to TEK transmission and acquisition.

Acknowledgements
The idea for this research originated in a conversation in 2000 between Sergio
Cristancho and Rafael Letuama (Imiyarí) at the community garden of Oiyacá,
a small indigenous village in the Northern Colombian Amazon. Three years
after his passing away, Imiyarí’s visionary words of wisdom and his legacy as
a ‘world healer’ still remain untouched in the memories of those of us who
were privileged to meet him. We would also like to acknowledge each of the
Uitoto and Itza’ Maya men and women who participated in this study for
their willingness to share their time, valuable knowledge, insights, and
experiences with us. Dov Cohen, William Stewart, Frances Kuo, and Sharon
Schumacher proofread and provided comments on earlier versions of this
manuscript. Scott Atran and Douglas Medin introduced us to the Itza’ Maya,
shared some of their instruments for data collection and provided useful
comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. Harry Triandis generously
offered his expert advice in the conceptualization of this study and the

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 Cristancho & Vining Intergenerational TEK Transmission

interpretation of research findings. Marcela Garces, Edilbero Ucan’Ek, Ana

Lucia Diaz, Lina Maria Hoyos, Marisol Garrido, and Javier Romero provided
outstanding assistance during fieldwork or with data transcription and
translation.

This research was supported by a Dissertation Completion Fellowship, a

Dissertation Travel Fellowship, a Human Dimensions of Environmental
Systems Scholarship to the first author, and a Research Board Grant (No.
03368) to Joanne Vining from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Additional support was provided by a National Science Foundation Grant
SBR-0424629 (‘Mental Models of a Mesoamerican Forest Environment and
Human Health’) to Scott Atran.

Notes
1. There is no international consensus as to the definition of ‘rural’, so we
opted to use the USDA Economic Research Service rural—urban
continuum (http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Rurality/ruralurbcon/) to
describe the levels of ‘rurality’ of the sites involved in this study. The
USDA rural—urban continuum consists of codes that range from 1 to 9,
where lower numbers represent more urban communities and larger
numbers represent more rural communities. According to this continuum,
San José would be assigned Code #7 (urban population of 2500 to 19,999,
not adjacent to a metro area), and the Uitoto village would be assigned
Code #9 (completely rural or less than 2500 urban population, not adjacent
to a metro area). Most cross-cultural studies compare groups with Codes
ranging from1–3, thus highlighting the potential contributions of this
study.
2. The southern portion of the Amazon State in Colombia.
3. The ritual and physical space in the maloka where indigenous people chew
coca and transfer their knowledge to younger generations.
4. The urban part of town.
5. Small, rural villages.
6. People of mixed Spanish and Indigenous backgrounds.
7. A beverage made out of fermented corn.
8. A thick indigenous beverage made out of boiled grounded manioc mixed
with seasonal fruits

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Biographies
SERGIO CRISTANCHO is Research Assistant Professor in the Department of
Family and Community Medicine and the National Center for Rural Health
Professions, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, since 2005.
He is now visiting faculty at the Universidad de Antioquia National School of
Public Health, Colombia. Dr Cristancho earned his Ph.D. at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Psychology degree at the Universidad
de Los Andes, Colombia. His main research interest is to investigate the
psychological and cultural determinants of health disparity in the context of
Latino immigrants in rural areas of the US and indigenous groups in Latin
America. He has conducted extensive research in Colombia and Guatemala
with indigenous communities from the Amazon and the Peten regions
focusing on environmental and health cognition. He also worked as a State
health official and professional psychologist in the Colombian Amazon.
ADDRESS: Sergio Cristancho, Facultad Nacional de Salud Publica,
Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 62 No. 52–59, Medellin, Antioquia,
Colombia. [email: scrista@uic.edu]

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Culture & Psychology 15(2)

JOANNE VINING earned her Ph.D. in environmental psychology from the

University of Arizona in 1983. She has been a Professor in the Department of
Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois
since 1985. She holds joint appointments in Psychology and Landscape
Architecture. She teaches Environmental Psychology, Public Involvement, a
field course on Aquatic Invasive Species and a seminar on Humans and
Other Animals. Her research interests include emotion and environmental
decisions, conservation behavior, and human—animal interactions. She is a
past president of the Society for Human Ecology Board and is a member of
the journal editorial boards for Environment and Behavior and the Human
Ecology Review.

254
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