Abstract
The writer in a nutshell but from a healthy dose of research
will outline and consider the authentic forms of indigenous knowledge that have
existed from time immemorial and continue to exist today.
What is traditional knowledge?
Traditional knowledge is the
know-how, skills and practices that are developed, sustained and passed on from
generation to generation within a community, it more than often forms part of
the cultural and spiritual identity of this particular community[1]. There is no universally
agreed legal definition of what it constitutes but it embraces verbal
expressions such as stories, epics, legends, folk tales, poetry, riddles,
musical expressions such as folk songs and instrumental music, expressions by
action such as dances, plays, ceremonies, rituals and other performances and tangible
expressions that are fixed on a permanent material these lastly include;
drawings, designs, paintings including body-paintings, carvings, sculptures,
pottery, mosaics, jewelry and basket work[2].
Some forms of authentic
indigenous knowledge discussed in entirety include;
1. Medicine
Different communities in Africa
had medicine experts who practiced medicine, they were highly skilled and
performed complicated surgeries. This
evidence is found written in papyrus reeds that have been discovered in nations
that border the Nile[3]. They had the ability to
diagnose, treat and prevent diseases. This knowledge has been passed down from
generation to generation. Examples of this include;
1. The
Gusii in Kenya practiced trepanation, which is brain surgery. It is the unusual
medical practice of drilling or boring holes into the skull of a patient to
relieve pain or cure disease. This goes on until today. Trepanation is almost
certainly the most ancient form of brain surgery known to man: evidence of it
has been found in 40,000 year-old Cro-Magnon sites, as well as in various
Mesolithic Stone Age sites, in Ancient Egypt[4]
2. Agriculture.
There were ancient agriculture practices that are practiced still today amongst
the indigenous communities. What is interesting is that the ancient modes of
agriculture of which nutrition was based on was more healthy and nutritious
than the chips and fried chicken that is cliché today. As a result there were
few cases of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes ad high blood pressure. A
perfect example of this ancient agriculture practices include; communities
along the Nile people fished in the lakes and rivers of the
region, using intricately made bone harpoons and fishing hooks, some using nets
with weights and other tools for harvesting aquatic creatures[5]
3. Iron
Smelting (metals). Iron smelting and subsequently metal work boosted the
African economy holistically. This was through political, economically and even
religiously (Asantehene Golden Stool). It was discovered that Africans were
smelting steel 2000 years ago in Tanzania, they were using a machine that used
a semi-conductor technology that was only discovered in the 20th
century. This made them the 1st major iron smelters documented
evidence proved this[6].
4. Music.
In ancient traditional African systems music was perhaps the glue to culture
and religion, we had a song on everything and anything. The purposes it served
were for motivation, unity, a form of identity and more often than not mediums
to pass information on the traditional knowledge. In line with this is that we
invented many musical instruments such as the Nyatiti that still baffle the
world till today[7].Music
was more than just a song and still continues to be today in African culture
5. Drawings/
Designs/ Paintings. In ancient traditional indigenous communities there were
drawings and paintings that carried meaning. They told a story. The story of
our origin. This can be found on the walls of the pyramid where we see the immaculate
conception of the black Madonna and child, contemporarily known as Mary and
Jesus in Christianity (plagiarized)[8]. This drawings especially
in the tombs and pyramids as well as in Castles have shown that the industry
had grown in line with architecture. They are therefore an authentic firm and
source of indigenous knowledge.
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