Traditional Land Use Studies
Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Land Use Studies (TK/TU), also referred to as Traditional Use Studies (TUS), work to combine community knowledge with ethnographic, archival, and archaeological information to highlight places and values of cultural, heritage, economic, or community importance.
Traditional Use Studies are typically accomplished through interviews with the community, including Elders, knowledgeable land users, and local community members, but they may also combine these forms of knowledge with scientific data that corroborate one another.
Information gathered interviews is analysed using social sciences software such as Nvivo, to discern common themes of importance. Multivariate quantitative analyses may be applied where quantifiable data are collected. Information that is mapped during a Traditional Use Study also provides a spatial commentary of collective knowledge of the land.
These studies often provide the foundation for negotiation and litigation with government and industry in relation to Treaty and Aboriginal rights.
