The Naturalized Knowledge System: A methodology for community development

The extensive experience of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in adapting to their natural environment, and the distillation of this knowledge and the traditions of their peoples, offers us a comprehensive model for community development with the potential to overcome “crisis management” and begin planning for the future. Based on respect, equity, and empowerment, the Naturalized Knowledge System methodology enables us to evaluate, plan and promote community development at all levels—the individual, group, nation and confederacy. An adaptive tool, it learns from past mistakes and successes, integrating community development, cultural preservation, and environmental restoration into one process. The fundaments elements of the Naturalized Knowledge System methodology are developed in this paper, demonstrated in application to the community development of the Maleku First Nation of Costa Rica, and compared to other community development practices such as safety audits for women in urban environments, and creating place-based cultural representation in American cities. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)