Mother Earth is calling on us to act―the collective wisdom of thousands of years of Indigenous knowledge can guide us.
Indigenuity, or Indigenous ingenuity, stems from an ancient idea and practice that Native peoples have engaged in for millennia. It was born of a careful mindfulness and attentiveness to our planet and all of its creatures, and a recognition that human experience is intertwined with all that surrounds us. As a society, we rarely pay attention to our land, air, and water, exacting a high price for all life on this planet. On Indigenuity is a call for us to learn a key lesson: it’s time to apply ancient Indigenous wisdom to solve modern problems.
The author, leading Indigenous thinker Daniel Wildcat, discusses some of the most important Native knowledge that is the foundation of science, the environment, biology, and our culture, arguing that restoration through the practice of Indigenuity is essential if we are to make progress toward saving our home.
By surrounding ourselves with human creations, Wildcat contends that we have created an “insulated ignorance” for ourselves, and what we need to solve the problems of the twenty-first century is a different perspective. Drawing upon history, personal experiences, and extensive research, Wildcat invites readers on a profound journey of discovery, bridging the gap between how we’ve already tried to help our planet and the traditional Indigenous knowledge that could be the key to making a real difference.
Daniel R. Wildcat is a Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma. Dr. Wildcat received an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and his service as teacher and administrator at Haskell Indian Nations University spans thirty-seven years. He was the Gordon Russell visiting professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College in 2013. In 1994, he partnered with the Hazardous Substance Research Center at Kansas State University to create the Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Center and subsequently start the HERS summer undergraduate internship program with KU professor Dr. Joane Nagel. He is a noted speaker on Traditional Ecological Knowledges and has offered programs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, the American Geophysical Union, the Ecological Society of America, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and many scientific organizations and universities.
Dr. Wildcat is currently the principal investigator of a 20-million-dollar, five-year, NSF-funded project to develop the Rising Voices, Changing Coasts Research Hub at Haskell: a research hub where Indigenous knowledges will be intrinsic to climate science developed to understand climate change impacts on Indigenous coastal Peoples of the US and its territories.
