“The heavy burden”: Indigenous knowledge systems, biocultural diversity, and transknowledging in sciences education

Indigenous communities at ground zero for extractive industry, industrial pollution, and climate change battle extant development agendas under coloniality that drive cycles of consumption. In this scheme bolstered by neoliberal policies, stewarding biocultural diversity is a clarion call and heavy responsibility for Indigenous community members and students as well as for educational and scientific collaborators. This article examines knowledge construction within coloniality and its link to science and science education as a tool of hegemonic rationality and modernity that is at odds with the planetary balance sought within Indigenous intelligence and Indigenous knowledge systems. Drawing from translanguaging theories and biocultural diversity education, we consider how multiple epistemologies shape and are shaped by transknowledging as restorative and healing practices of sciences education towards Indigenous self-determination.