Page 357 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

332 J.D. Adams

In particular, in one exhibit there is a display case that demonstrates the many
uses of the coconut plant within Pacific communities. On display are a wide variety
of artifacts derived from coconuts – jewelry, bowls, twine, armor, money, and so
forth. In science teacher education workshops, I ask participants to observe this
case and ponder the question, “what science do people have to know and under-
stand in order to make and use these objects?” A few moments of observation pass
and the teacher participants begin to discuss the complexity of scientific under-
standing that people of these cultures need in order to survive over the long term.
As a group, we converse about the biological, chemical, and physical understand-
ings needed to fashion the resources of coconut plants into the variety of forms on
display. Have people lost these unique connections with the natural world?
Interestingly, usually some of my teacher participants are originally from tropical
environments (e.g., Africa, Caribbean, Latin America). These teachers immedi-
ately identify with the coconut plant artifacts and provide the kinds of perspectives
that allow us to think about the ways in which the coconut plant is utilized within
their own cultural communities. Is this science education? It surely cultivates
discussions about other ways that people around the world share knowledge about
the environment in clever ways. For workshop attendees, this experience is a first
step in recognizing the value of scientific knowledge embedded (even taken for
granted) within their own cultural histories and practices. Reflecting back, these
activities serve as a form of decolonization, where the goal becomes one of recog-
nizing the ingenuity of how science and technology is indeed inseparable from the
creation and use of coconut artifacts uniquely situated in different cultural and
ecogeographical contexts.

Heterogeneity in Indigeneity

The coconut plant’s origin is disputed. There is a question of whether it originated
in South Asia or Latin America. Through a natural history of “accidental” and
unnatural historically deliberate migration, the coconut plant ends up around the
globe and manages to send out roots and become an integral part of the natural
landscape. In the case of volcanic islands, the presence of the coconut plant makes
it possible for other plants to emigrate, survive, and be able to mate, adapt, and
evolve in a new place, that is, become endemic to a new place. Correspondingly,
people maintain their indigenous connections with native lands while others, who
were once indigenous to an area, are either forced or voluntary migrate to different
locales. These people establish roots in a new place. Maori scholar Elizabeth
McKinley (2007) recognizes that indigeneity is not a singular construct, rather it
is as complex and heterogeneous as the people the term attempts to define and
ranges from people subjugated in their ancestral lands to those who are still
removed from their lands today (often only to be subjugated elsewhere). Glenn
Aikenhead and Masakata Ogawa (2007) suggest the term “neo-indigenous” to