IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i4p2032-d746610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Taboos as a Social Mechanism Keeping the Human-Nature Balance: Core Values and Practices of Rukai Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Water

Author

Listed:
  • Paichi Pat Shein

    (Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung City 804, Taiwan)

  • Peresang Sukinarhimi

    (Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung City 804, Taiwan
    Rukai Cultural Museum of the Indigenous Peoples Culture Development Center, Pingtung County 903, Taiwan)

Abstract

Sustainable water use and management has become an important issue globally and in Taiwan during this era of climate change. In search of a paradigm shift, this grounded theory paper investigates the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of a Rukai Indigenous community in Taiwan to unearth its core values and core practices related to sustainability, as its people have been living near the headwaters in the mountain area for generations. Six Elders from the community were interviewed, and the findings show that the Rukai TEK of water is guided by taboos, a social mechanism keeping the human-nature balance, which are ingrained in four core values (prevention of water contamination, group sharing, conservation of the sources of life, and adherence to the laws of nature). These core values are reflected in the five core practices of water use, including calakebe (spring), drakerale (streams), drapulu (ivy fishing), wakaruru (water diversion), and wadrele (water monitoring). These core values and practices contribute to the sustainable environment and livelihood of the Rukai community. This study proposes that positioning Indigenous TEK as the subjectivity of sustainability provides important implications for the sustainable management of natural resources, as well as Indigenous education for sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Paichi Pat Shein & Peresang Sukinarhimi, 2022. "Taboos as a Social Mechanism Keeping the Human-Nature Balance: Core Values and Practices of Rukai Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Water," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:2032-:d:746610
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/4/2032/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/4/2032/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qing-Xiong Ba & Dau-Jye Lu & Warren Hwa-Jen Kuo & Po-Hsin Lai, 2018. "Traditional Farming and Sustainable Development of an Indigenous Community in the Mountain Area—A Case Study of Wutai Village in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Arun Agrawal, 1995. "Dismantling the Divide Between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 413-439, July.
    3. Zheng Yuan & Fei Lun & Lu He & Zhi Cao & Qingwen Min & Yanying Bai & Moucheng Liu & Shengkui Cheng & Wenhua Li & Anthony M. Fuller, 2014. "Exploring the State of Retention of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in a Hani Rice Terrace Village, Southwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-17, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Piers Blaikie, 2000. "Development, Post-, Anti-, and Populist: A Critical Review," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(6), pages 1033-1050, June.
    2. Hardy, Derrylea J. & Patterson, Murray G., 2012. "Cross-cultural environmental research in New Zealand: Insights for ecological economics research practice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 75-85.
    3. Arts, Bas & de Koning, Jessica, 2017. "Community Forest Management: An Assessment and Explanation of its Performance Through QCA," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 315-325.
    4. Cuestas-Caza, Javier & Toledo, Lucía & Rodríguez, Fabricio, 2024. "Transcultural bioeconomy governance in a plurinational state: Sumak Kawsay and bio-based production in two Kichwa territories of Ecuador," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    5. Priya Gupta, 2021. "Conservation is Development in the Forests of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 16(1), pages 54-74, April.
    6. Xudan Lin & Hong Zhu & Duo Yin, 2022. "Enhancing Rural Resilience in a Tea Town of China: Exploring Tea Farmers’ Knowledge Production for Tea Planting, Tea Processing and Tea Tasting," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.
    7. Huizhao Yang & Sailesh Ranjitkar & Deli Zhai & Micai Zhong & Stefanie Daniela Goldberg & Muhammad Asad Salim & Zhenghong Wang & Yi Jiang & Jianchu Xu, 2019. "Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Seasonal Calendars in the Context of Climate Change: A Case Study from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-22, June.
    8. Dalitso Mvula & Chrispin Hamooya, 2022. "An investigation of the acquisition, transfer and preservation of Indigenous Knowledge by traditional healers in Chibombo District of Zambia," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(7), pages 502-509, July.
    9. Christian Kuhlicke, 2010. "The dynamics of vulnerability: some preliminary thoughts about the occurrence of ‘radical surprises’ and a case study on the 2002 flood (Germany)," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 55(3), pages 671-688, December.
    10. Jarvis, Diane & Stoeckl, Natalie & Larson, Silva & Grainger, Daniel & Addison, Jane & Larson, Anna, 2021. "The Learning Generated Through Indigenous Natural Resources Management Programs Increases Quality of Life for Indigenous People – Improving Numerous Contributors to Wellbeing," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    11. Richard A. Niesenbaum, 2019. "The Integration of Conservation, Biodiversity, and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-11, August.
    12. Saurabh Arora & Barbara Dyck, 2021. "Refusal as Radical Care? Moving Beyond Modern Industrial Agriculture," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 64(3), pages 252-258, December.
    13. Jude L. Fernando, 2003. "NGOs and Production of Indigenous Knowledge Under the Condition of Postmodernity," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 590(1), pages 54-72, November.
    14. Ivan S. Adolwa & Stefan Schwarze & Imogen Bellwood-Howard & Nikolaus Schareika & Andreas Buerkert, 2017. "A comparative analysis of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems in Kenya and Ghana: sustainable agricultural intensification in the rural–urban interface," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 453-472, June.
    15. Julian Ramirez-Villegas & Colin Khoury, 2013. "Reconciling approaches to climate change adaptation for Colombian agriculture," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 119(3), pages 575-583, August.
    16. Elizabeth Carabine & Emily Wilkinson, 2016. "How Can Local Governance Systems Strengthen Community Resilience? A Social-Ecological Systems Approach," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 62-73.
    17. Henrietta N. Onwuegbuzie & Oluwasoye P. Mafimisebi & Adun Okupe & Eseroghene Orighoyegha, 2022. "Indigenous Knowledge and Africapitalism: An Unexploited Source for Sustainable Development," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 8(2), pages 244-257, July.
    18. Qindong Fan & Fengtian Du & Hu Li, 2020. "A Study of the Spatial Form of Maling Village, Henan, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    19. Brush, Stephen B., 2007. "Farmers' Rights and Protection of Traditional Agricultural Knowledge," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1499-1514, September.
    20. Spyridon K. Golfinopoulos & Dimitra Koumparou, 2024. "Rural Environmental Governance: A Communal Irrigation System in Greece through the Social–Ecological System Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-32, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:2032-:d:746610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.