Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous Knowledge

Introduction

Indigenous peoples and indigenous peoples are after an internationally accepted definition of marginalized population groups, the descendants of a population that before the conquest , colonization or the establishment lived a state by other nations in the region, which is still regarded as an independent nation and understand their own have retained social, economic and cultural institutions (Thurston, & Thurston, H.D. and J.M. Parker (1995) Parker, 1995).

Indigenous knowledge is an integrated set of Knowledge and Experiences of cultures founded on our experiences, and their ancient practice of inter-action process man-permanent nature and divinity;

That ancestral wisdom and collective knowledge are essential link with the lands and territories, and existence as Indigenous Peoples;

Those intellectual property systems are not an institution that should include provisions on ancestral knowledge and collective knowledge of indigenous peoples;

Those Indigenous Peoples are subjects of our own autonomy and self-determination;

That Indigenous knowledge must be revitalized, strengthened and implemented;

That indigenous knowledge is collective and community therefore must be respected by governments and other external actors;

That Indigenous knowledge is focused on Mother Nature, Pachamama (is holistic) and,

That indigenous knowledge is inviolable and inalienable and is intergenerational.

Discussion

For a long time, indigenous knowledge was considered and presented significantly by government and academic sectors as ineffective and less than scientific. It was argued that may hinder the development of peoples and nations. However, it is now widely used, inter alia, for the development of a variety of drugs. For a couple of decades is under claim by activists and academics, its recognition has gained strength in multiple disciplines and organizations have tried to introduce the policies and principles to influence socio-economic practices in the world (Tabor, & Hutchinson, 1994).

A key point is that indigenous knowledge of nature is collectively shared by different groups and even communities, ethnic, and that much of it is accessible to the public. This contrasts with the fact that research and technology development by firms, usually entails registration of multiple patents that give them exclusive rights to products and processes (Stearman, 1994). Another important aspect is that the relationships between companies-in many cases-majors and individuals or historically marginalized communities, are clearly not among equals in terms of power, and can hardly be balanced.

Thus, it is not uncommon in activities identified as bio-piracy and indigenous knowledge are extracted biological samples as raw material for drug development, under the assumption that this is obvious information, freely available natural resources and taking value from industrial process (Chapin, 1988). For its part, the specialized language associated with genetics, molecular biology and modern technologies that permeates the debate on bio-prospecting, further complicates the dialogue and access to information for those who have the knowledge on which no interest to develop bio-technologies. Added to this, the high costs associated with research and development of products, the magnitude of the gains that can arise and the difficulties to trace the connection of products with certain indigenous knowledge also make an equitable distribution of benefits a topic thorny, now that the whole world recognizes that indigenous peoples ...