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BACKGROUND: Traditional bamboo weaving has been practiced for centuries in Sansui, a county dominated by the Miao people, in Guizhou province of Southwest China. Sansui bamboo weaving represents an intangible cultural heritage as defined by UNESCO, but, like many other traditional handicrafts in China, it has suffered a downfall in this period of rapid development. Sansui bamboo weaving is now experiencing a renaissance due to the joint efforts of the local government, bamboo weaving companies, and individual bamboo weavers. However, what bamboo species have supported the traditional bamboo weaving in Sansui keeps unknown up to now. The traditional knowledge and technology associated with bamboo weaving have not been reported. In addition, the resumption of the local bamboo industry may provide some valuable experiences for other downfallen traditional handicrafts or local communities. Thus, an ethnobotanical study on Sansui bamboo weaving has been carried out. METHODS: This study mainly used ethnobotanical methods, including key informant interviews and participatory observations. Different stakeholders were selected by applying the snowball method as our key informants including 6 officials, 37 bamboo weavers, and 17 bamboo and bamboo weaving product merchants. We also went into the local weavers' houses to visit the whole weaving process. The bamboo and dye plant species for bamboo weaving were identified by taxonomists and referring to online databases available. RESULTS: Based on field investigations, 17 bamboo species used for weaving were recorded. Different bamboo species were woven for different purposes based on their own characters. Phyllostachys heteroclada is the most popular species locally. Bamboo strips are usually dyed by using Platycarya strobilacea and Rubia cordifolia to be made for different images. In recent years, the size, functions, and materials of local bamboo weaving crafts as well as their market mode have been changed to adapt to new development trends and to cater to the market. In ...

Background Traditional bamboo weaving has been practiced for centuries in Sansui, a county dominated by the Miao people, in Guizhou province of Southwest China. Sansui bamboo weaving represents an intangible cultural heritage as defined by UNESCO, but, like many other traditional handicrafts in China, it has suffered a downfall in this period of rapid development. Sansui bamboo weaving is now experiencing a renaissance due to the joint efforts of the local government, bamboo weaving companies, and individual bamboo weavers. However, what bamboo species have supported the traditional bamboo weaving in Sansui keeps unknown up to now. The traditional knowledge and technology associated with bamboo weaving have not been reported. In addition, the resumption of the local bamboo industry may provide some valuable experiences for other downfallen traditional handicrafts or local communities. Thus, an ethnobotanical study on Sansui bamboo weaving has been carried out. Methods This study mainly used ethnobotanical methods, including key informant interviews and participatory observations. Different stakeholders were selected by applying the snowball method as our key informants including 6 officials, 37 bamboo weavers, and 17 bamboo and bamboo weaving product merchants. We also went into the local weavers' houses to visit the whole weaving process. The bamboo and dye plant species for bamboo weaving were identified by taxonomists and referring to online databases available. Results Based on field investigations, 17 bamboo species used for weaving were recorded. Different bamboo species were woven for different purposes based on their own characters. Phyllostachys heteroclada is the most popular species locally. Bamboo strips are usually dyed by using Platycarya strobilacea and Rubia cordifolia to be made for different images. In recent years, the size, functions, and materials of local bamboo weaving crafts as well as their market mode have been changed to adapt to new development trends and to cater to the market. In ...

This article presents the traditional knowledge of an ethnic group of sea nomads generally known in Thailand as Chao Lay. The Moken once led a nomadic marine life. They have developed their traditional knowledge and belief system over several centuries. This practical knowledge has been obtained through interaction with local ecosystems and from observation and experimentation in everyday life. The Moken have intimate knowledge relating to the sea and the forest, and they have elaborated boat-building skills and other technologies that allow them to make their living from the sea, coastal areas, and islands. This traditional knowledge and attendant practices represent a form of natural resources management and conservation. It comprises: 1) knowledge and skills that depend upon simple technologies that have minimal impact on the natural environment and its resources; 2) a nomadic life with frequent displacements that allow the Moken to rotate their foraging grounds and prevent overuse and degradation of specific areas; 3) knowledge about numerous forest and marine species their characteristics, behaviour, habitats and eco-niches which enables the Moken to make use of a diversity of local ecosystems; 4) a hunter-gatherer livelihood focusing primarily upon subsistence, with little accumulation of material goods, and finally 5) a philosophy and belief system that holds that natural resources are not individually owned, but rather are to be shared by everyone without restrictions on access. The sharing ethic is very strong in the Moken community and resources are shared not only with fellow humans but with supernatural beings as well. This system of traditional knowledge, know-how and representations has never been recognised nor respected. Rather than a form of natural resources management and conservation, it has been misinterpreted as part and parcel of a "primitive," underdeveloped, and materially poor livelihood. For mainstream society, development for the Moken necessarily requires the termination of their "primitive" life and the embracing of modernity. Through this pathway to development, however, the Moken are likely to lose their traditional knowledge and the sustainable livelihood that has ensured their physical and cultural well-being for centuries. Adapted from the source document.

This paper explores a particular experience of cultural bridging between the Heritage Department of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in (TH) First Nation and academics and government funders taking part in the 2007–09 International Polar Year. The TH Heritage Department acted as lead researcher on the project entitled Documenting Traditional Knowledge in Relation to Climate Change. TH Heritage staff spearheaded and largely carried out the project work. Academic researchers, acting as contractors, collaborated in some project activities and produced academic papers summarizing the work. This collaboration provided a rare opportunity for the TH Heritage Department to share the research it has conducted for more than a decade in the broader, institutional context of university and government research. Its success highlights the fact that relationships between these partners are evolving and becoming more equitable: First Nations research is receiving more support, and the corpus of mainstream knowledge is changing, allowing different bodies of work to "count" as knowledge. This paper analyzes some of the differences between TH Heritage approaches to its mandate for gathering and sharing Traditional Knowledge (TK) and the understandings and uses of TK by other governments and by university-based academics. On the basis of project results and recent policy developments in northern governance and research, it makes practical recommendations for reconciling knowledge approaches and building mutually supportive research relationships between First Nations, academics, and government. ; Le présent article porte sur une expérience particulière relativement à l'établissement de liens entre le département du patrimoine de la Première Nation des Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in (TH) et certains universitaires et bailleurs de fonds gouvernementaux qui ont participé à l'Année polaire internationale de 2007-2009. Le département du patrimoine de la Première Nation des TH a servi de chercheur principal dans le cadre du projet intitulé Documenting Traditional Knowledge in Relation to Climate Change. Le personnel du département du patrimoine a dirigé et effectué une grande partie du projet. Pour leur part, les chercheurs universitaires ont collaboré au projet à titre d'entrepreneurs à contrat, après quoi ils ont produit des articles pour résumer leur travail. Cette collaboration a procuré une rare occasion au département du patrimoine de la Première Nation des TH de faire part du fruit des recherches réalisées pendant plus d'une dizaine d'années dans le contexte institu­tionnel plus vaste de la recherche universitaire et gouvernementale. Le succès remporté par les recherches fait ressortir le fait que les relations entre ces partenaires évoluent et deviennent plus équitables. Ainsi, les recherches effectuées par les Premières nations reçoivent une plus grande reconnaissance, tandis que le corpus de connaissances grand public est en train de changer en ce sens qu'il permet à différents ensembles de connaissances de « compter » au nombre des connaissances. Cet article analyse certaines des différences qui existent entre la méthode adoptée par le département du patrimoine de la Première nation des TH en ce qui a trait à son mandat visant à recueillir et à partager les connaissances traditionnelles (CT) et les entendements et utilisations des connaissances traditionnelles par d'autres gouvernements et par les universitaires. À la lumière des résultats du projet et des récents développements sur le plan des politiques en matière de gouvernance et de recherche dans le Nord, l'article présente des recommandations pratiques en vue de la réconciliation des méthodes de recueil des connaissances et de l'établissement de relations de soutien mutuel entre les Premières Nations, les universitaires et les gouvernements.