Abstract
What might indigenous
knowledge mean to others and what are the implications for its effective
integration into development? After discussing criticism of the
adjective indigenous, the author focuses on the noun knowledge.
The concept of knowing in the New Guinea Highlands points up the
subjective nature of understanding and potential for disagreement. The
structures of languages, particularly verb constructions featuring
evidentials, reflect this subjectivity, indicating the source and
reliability of intelligence imparted in any dialogue. The evidential
interest relates to oral traditions, embodied knowing, and individual
knowledge variability. It also indicates the trust to put in any
intelligence, particularly salient in acephalous contexts, where expert
authorities are not recognized. The developmental implications are
considerable, for a stateless political environment precludes the
imposition of capitalist state ideas of economic development, though the
outlines of an alternative acephalous development are currently unclear
but likely to feature a struggle to accommodate egalitarian values to
the hierarchical wider world.
