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Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge (IJTK) >
IJTK Vol.10 [2011] >
IJTK Vol.10(1) [January 2011] >
| Title: | Smelling the monsoon: Senses and traditional weather forecasting knowledge among the Kenyah Badeng farmers of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| Authors: | Garay-Barayazarra, Gotzone
Puri, Rajindra K |
| Keywords: | Indigenous knowledge
Traditional forecasting
Climate forecasting
Sensory anthropology
Ethnoclimatology
Sarawak
East Malaysia
Borneo |
| Issue Date: | Jan-2011 |
| Publisher: | NISCAIR-CSIR, India |
| IPC Code: | Int. Cl.8: G01W; G03C; AG2; G11 |
| Abstract: | The paper describes the rich variety of sensory knowledge associated
with weather and climate prediction practices of Kenyah Badeng rice farmers in Sarawak, East
Malaysia. Ethnobiological and ethnographic methods were used to
document knowledge underpinning traditional forecasting techniques. This body
of ethno-climatological knowledge includes the skilled use of bodily senses
such as sight, sound, touch and smell to gather information on clouds, wind,
temperature, humidity and rain needed to assess present and coming weather.
This perceptual information is interpreted with a cultural storehouse of
weather/climate-related categories and experiences, and plays an influential
role in the scheduling of daily agricultural activities and responding to the
threats of extreme climatic variability, such as that brought on by ENSO events every few years. The research
demonstrates the importance of thinking of traditional knowledge in broad
terms, as much more than the declarative knowledge of wordlists, stories and
instructions. The means of engagement with the environment are beyond words, in
the realm of embodied skills such as smelling the monsoon. |
| Page(s): | 21-30 |
| CC License: |  CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India |
| ISSN: | 0975-1068 (Online); 0972-5938 (Print) |
| Source: | IJTK Vol.10(1) [January 2011]
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