Chapter 10: Inter-Generational Indigenous Knowledge Exchange and Mobile Phones: The Possibilities and the Potential

Since the 1960s, increasing attention has been given to the benefits that can be gained from indigenous knowledge (IK). However, defining IK precisely is an ongoing challenge because the criteria for establishing the concept of indigenousness vary. Indigenous knowledge is presupposed to come from people, because people are the holders of knowledge (Lang, 2001). People who hold IK are often referred to as indigenous, traditional, tribal, or aboriginal (Laurie, Andolina, & Radcliffe, 2005; Castellano, 2000). Describing people in this manner can be problematic because use of these descriptors involves highly complex, disputable considerations including the political, moral, national, historical, social, geographic, and socioeconomic contexts of the people being described (Ellen & Harris, 2000). Also, these descriptors may not include people who do not consider themselves to be indigenous but hold knowledge that is indigenous in nature.