Bodo Cultural Beliefs: Knowledge Effective for Managing Historical and Contemporary Challenges Imposed on Indigenous People

Indigenous cultures prescribed a means of maximizing the benefits they produced and enjoyed in their relationship with each other and the environment—based on their understanding of the nature of existence and how to live in harmony with the forces shaping the nature of existence. The emergence of civilization introduced the claim that rational abilities superseded indigenous knowledge. This was followed by positivism and the claim that knowledge passed through three stages: mythological, philosophical, and scientific. This impacted indigenous cultures in ways that reached a height when postcolonial development experts convinced national leaders that progress required adopting advances in science. A failure to modernize was regarded as holding back progress. With the development paradigm now regarded as inadequate for achieving its goals and with the rise of the sustainability discourse, there is appreciation for indigenous knowledge. This article describes an indigenous cultural knowledge system that reflects the insight and wisdom of the world’s most respected scientific and philosophical traditions. The beliefs of the Bodo people of Northeast India are used as an example of an indigenous worldview that portrays insight proven to have value that is comparable to the natural sciences, plus theories of natural law and political philosophy.