Indigenous Community Based Education

Indigenous education is a local decision-making framework in food security, human and animal health, education, natural resource management, and other important economic and social activities. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions, as well as their scientific, technological, and cultural expressions, including the characteristics of human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, animals and plants, oral tradition, literature, design, traditional sports and games, and visual and performing arts. The book presents and develops the notion of community-based education as a means of combating this tendency. Some examples of indigenous community-based education are examined, and there is a discussion both of its distinctive features and underlying principles, and its potential impact on the education of indigenous students.