INDIGENOUS FOOD PLANT KNOWLEDGE IN MALAYSIA: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
- Date : 1 August 2013 Venue : TR4/ Unimas
- Time : 10 A.M.
- Speaker : Dr. Ulrich Teucher, Program for Culture and Human Development Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
All are welcome
Abstract:
Indigenous Food Plant knowledge
in Malaysia: Change and Continuity in Human Development
Presentation
Dr. Ulrich Teucher, Program for Culture and
Human Development, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Indigenous peoples in Malaysia and
elsewhere have seen dramatic changes in very short time, often upending the
continuities of their cultural traditions. Arguably, food knowledge is one of
our central cultural identifications (Balick 1996). However, as Malaysia has
been becoming a newly industrializing country, its indigenous peoples have been
losing, often along with their ancestral lands, their knowledge of food plants
and the associated cultural knowledge, social and gendered practices, and
sacred rituals. Yet, responses are mixed: while many argue for the preservation
of traditional knowledge in cultural centres and educational programs, others
view the changes as a regrettable but perhaps inevitable part of joining
mainstream society. Now, however, the preservation of local, indigenous food
knowledge has become crucial as the world is facing a global food crisis, due
to the exponential growth of the world population, the loss of bio- and food
diversity, and traditional food knowledge. Understanding the challenges and
facilitators in maintaining traditional food knowledge can help to better negotiate
change and continuity in the course of human development and achieve food
security. This research is art of a collaborative pilot project, currently in
progress in Bau District, Sarawak.
References
Andaya, B. W., & Andaya, L. Y.
(2001). A History of Malaysia.
Houndmills, UK: Palgrave.
Balick, M. (1996). Plants, People, and Culture: The science of ethnobotany.
Gordonsville, VA: W. H. Freeman & Co.
Christensen, H. 2002.
Ethnobotany of the Iban and Kelabit. A joint publication of Department
of Sarawak, Malaysia, NEPCon Denmark, and University of Aarhaus, Denmark. 381pp.
Desmarais, A. (2007). La Via Campesina: Globalization and the power of peasants. Black
Point, NS: Fernwood Publishing.
Gombay, N. (2010). Making a living: Place, food, and economy in an Inuit community.
Saskatoon, SK: Purich Publishing Limited.
Guardian, The (11 March 2008). Letters: Too many people, not enough food. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/11/food/print
(accessed 20 July 2011).
Dr. Ulrich
Teucher is an associate professor in the Program for Culture and Human
Development, Department of Psychology, at the University of Saskatchewan,
Canada. His research interests, funded by CFI, SHRF, and SSHRC, ground in the
representations and meanings of human crises, whether as part of serious
illness, or transitions in cultural identity, among Canadian indigenous peoples
and in Malaysia’s indigenous food plant knowledge. Dr. Teucher is currently
collaborating with Dr. Alexander ak Sayok, IBEC, UNIMAS on a pilot project to
document transitions in local indigenous food plant knowledges.
