Indigenous knowledge for community benefit: examples from Lavongai (New Hanover) Island in the Pacific Region
Patrick Karabuspalau Kaiku & Tukul Walla Kaiku
Abstract
From the South Pacific region comes the indigenous knowledge of the people of Lavongai Island (also known as New Hanover) in the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. This paper explores some varieties of indigenous knowledge, how they are transmitted and their wider implications for sustainable development. Indigenous knowledge is defined as the authentic body of knowledge that humans possess about the utility of their surrounding and how human creativity and judgments in the use of nature benefits both the people and their world. The paper illustrates how the Lavongai custodians of indigenous knowledge have been an inseparable part of their natural environment through the ages for the sustenance and sustainability of their society.
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