Defining TEK

I like the EPA's website's definition:

Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Tribes and First Nations possess a unique understanding of the ways in which the lives of humans, animals and ecosystems are interconnected. Centuries of observation and living sustainably in their environments has befitted them with knowledge about their surroundings that brings great depth and breadth to traditional scientific and policy decisions.

The website also presents some studies that relate it to the PNW:
http://www.epa.gov/region10/psgb/us_canada_partnerships/traditional_eco_knowledge/

The pride of the community.

In my country Nigeria in West Africa, in a rural village, before cultivating for the season, there will be a ritual where the whole community will gather together and perform rituals to mark the beginning of the cultivating season. Few women appointed by the elders will cook and serve the community from the remaining of the last year’s crops. The drum beat will welcome in the TEK group to the crowd to educate the people about the cultivating season and what their roles will be. They have traditional environmental knowledge of the land, the crops, yam tubers, species, habitats and forest. The land use and management must be beneficial to the whole community, yielding for economic stability of the community. The oldest forest manager will assure people for equal participation and benefit for every community. During the ritual ceremony, the oldest farmer alive will tell stories and origins of the land, crops, forest habitats etc, and others will listen with pride. EJ is not the issue, no land displacement because the land is attached to the people and their generation and has histories behind them. Everything is originated and natural. Tradition rules everything. What do you guys think of the difference?

What is TEK?

TEK stands for Traditional Environmental Knowledge (or alternatively, Traditional Ecological Knowledge). It represents knowledge and beliefs about the relationships between living things and the environment that inform practice. TEK is firmly grounded in place, drawing from past experiences to advise current action. It is engrained in local cultures, passed down from generation to generation and continually updated as individuals gain deeper understanding of their surroundings (Berkes, 1999).

Similarly, LEK (Local Environmental Knowledge) consists of an integration of knowledge, beliefs, and practices relating to the environment which have been developed through intimate familiarity with ecosystems via habitation, cultivation, and observation (Chamley et al, 2008, pg 2). The main distinction between TEK and LEK is the timeframe in which each is compiled; TEK extending back many generations while LEK may develop over a period of years. LEK can become TEK over time.

To separate TEK from mainstream western scientific knowledge would be impossible, as both are interrelated and complement each other. That being said, there are distinctions between the two worth noting. Western scientific knowledge is based on theoretical models, hypothesis testing, and the scientific method. Often research is conducted in search of knowledge for its own sake, with no pre-determined practical application in mind. Information is usually widely generalizable, attained by research institutions, and transmitted to the public through mass media outlets. TEK tends to originate from a utilitarian pursuit for the means of survival, specifically rooted in local environments and resources. It is generated through daily experiences in nature and passed on locally through cultural traditions and oral exchanges (Ellen and Harris, 2000).