Vanessa Estrope GED 0104

BS PSYCH 2111-A Sir John Moses Chua

“Relevance of indigenous communities to developing the state of science and

technology in nation building”

The importance of traditional communities in maintaining a high level of scientific

and technological development during the process of nation-building. Indigenous
Communities or Indigenous Peoples are practitioners and inheritors with distinctive
traditions and methods of relating with other people and the environment. When
compared to non-indigenous scientific knowledge, which is typically referred to as
Western science, it possesses indigenous scientific knowledge as well as a traditional
scientific perspective. In the meantime, they make significant contributions to the
development of modern science. In the Philippines, the term "Indigenous People" refers
to approximately one-fourth of the total population of the country. The vast majority of
them are unable to read or write, cannot find work, and live in abject poverty in
comparison to the rest of the population in our country. Indigenous people or indigenous
cultures have made a number of contributions to the advancement of science and
technology despite the fact that they are illiterate. These contributions may be seen in
areas such as food, medicine, weather forecasting, and technology.

The majority of indigenous communities get their sustenance from the natural
ecological system. As a result, individuals within these communities have developed a
variety of strategies for coping with the stresses of making a living, which helps them
build their knowledge. They make a lot of discoveries that end up being beneficial to the
advancement of science and technology. For instance, the indigenous inhabitants of
various parts of the world were responsible for the discovery or roots of foods that have
since made significant contributions to the cuisine of the world. In addition, indigenous
people were the ones who first learned how to preserve food by employing processes
such as "soaking, drying, fermenting, boiling, and fermenting". Additionally, the
indigenous people play an important role in the development of medical practices.
Native American wisdom has been helpful in the advancement of pharmacological
research in the field of science. According to Popp (2018), indigenous people assisted
newcomers in their recovery by administering tonics made from pine needles that were
high in vitamin C. Indigenous people discovered it by using the bark of the willow tree,
which contains aspirin and acetylsalicylic acid. Aspirin is a pain reliever, and
acetylsalicylic acid is a component of aspirin. The therapeutic herb was utilized right up
until the present day in the field of medical research. In addition, the indigenous
societies were the ones who stumbled across technological breakthroughs such as "the
canoe, kayak, toboggan, or snowshoe," all of which facilitated travel and transportation
and were swiftly adopted by European settlers (Popp, 2018). The indigenous people's
knowledge helps to subsidize modern science as a result of the harvested information
about the environment as well as the personal experiences that the indigenous people
have had with their ancestors' vast chances. In addition, one of the practices of
indigenous people is weather forecasting, and they do this by observing the animals
and plants that surround them because they live in and are a part of the environment.
This helps to maintain consistent crop yields and is one of the indigenous people's
practices. The presence of bush crickets, for instance, can help foretell the direction that
the wind will blow (Okonya & Kroschel, 2013). As a result, individuals will be able to
maintain and improve their agricultural activities with the assistance of weather
forecasting because it predicts the weather.

In conclusion, this can be attributed to the following specifics, such as a

contribution to the discovery of food and its methods of preservation, the development
of medication, the discovery of technologies, and the ability to forecast weather.
This provides further evidence that indigenous societies play an important role in the
progression of science and technology, which is beneficial to the development of
contemporary science. Science is knowledge, and one way of acquiring knowledge is
through the discovery of new concepts. The indigenous people have gained information
that contributes to the development of our nations as a result of the discoveries made
by their ancestors. In addition, this demonstrates that native people are not illiterate, as
was hypothesized. Additionally, the significance of their knowledge to the growth of
countries cannot be overstated.

References

Indigenous knowledge of seasonal weather forecasting: A case study in six regions of Uganda.

(n.d.). Scientific Research Publishing. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from

https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=40647

Popp, J. (2018, January 2). How Indigenous knowledge advances modern science and

technology. The Conversation. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from

https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-knowledge-advances-modern-science-and-t

echnology-89351