ETHNO-ORNITHOLOGY
STUDY
GROUP
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MORE ON NICOLE SAULT'S RESEARCH ![]() ![]() |
Ethno-ornithology Ethno-ornithology is the process of
understanding what birds mean to human beings—by attending
to how people talk about birds, represent them in their
art, use them in ritual, and interact with them in
everyday life. Ethno-ornithology has developed out of ethnobiology, which is the study of how human cultures conceptualize plants and animals. This is an interdisciplinary conjunction of paths, drawing upon linguistics, anthropology, and ecology, as well as biology and other academic fields, while recognizing the centrality of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the people themselves. Although ethnobiology has long emphasized ethnobotany (how people conceptualize and relate to plants), the field of ethno-ornithology is growing in importance, as people from various disciplines and holders of traditional knowledge come together to share, learn, and develop ways of addressing the problems that birds and people face when their habitats and homelands are threatened by destruction. Our research has focused on the indigenous cultures of Latin America: how people in these societies understand birds in a multiplicity of ways—as game to be hunted, as pets to be nurtured, as sources of medicine, as vehicles of the gods, and as bothersome or even dangerous creatures.
Traditional knowledge of birds can also
help deal with issues of bird ecology and conservation.
For example, our work on the symbolic role of condors in
traditional cultures provides another dimension for
understanding how to better protect these species in both
South and North America.
By learning how the cultures of Latin
America relate to birds, we can better understand the role
of birds in human thought in general as well as develop a
more nuanced understanding of these fascinating and
remarkable creatures.
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