Dossiers

Workshop on indigenous mathematical knowledge and its inclusion in teaching and educational concepts: the example of the peoples of Kamchatka.

Organizer: Erich Kasten.

The final workshop of the research project "Math in Cultural Context" of the University of Alaska Fairbanks was held at the Foundation of Siberian Cultures, October 10-18, 2015. The project was supported by the National Science Foundation in 2012-2015. The first results concerning Kamchatka were summarized by Erich Kasten in an article. The participants of the workshop were: Jerry Lipka and David Koester from Fairbanks, Alaska (USA), as well as Kattie Egede Motzfeldt (Nuuk, Greenland), Pauline Kristiansen (Qaanaaq, Greenland), Dora Andrew-Ihrke (Dillingham, Alaska) and Lidiia Chechulina (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, Russian Federation).

During the workshop, existing documentations on mathematical knowledge compiled by the different research groups were discussed with indigenous experts in relation to craftsmanship among the Yup’ik, Greenlandic Inuit and Koryak. In showing how pieces of clothing and ornaments were produced, the mathematical concepts at the base of such work were explained and then discussed from an intercultural perspective.

The cultural exchange between the craftswomen was not just limited to comparing sewing techniques and mathematical concepts. It also concerned other areas of indigenous knowledge as it is expressed in songs and dances.