IKSI

Indigenous Knowledge Systems Initiative

The Indigenous Knowledge Systems Initiative (IKSI) was initiated as part of the Envision Resilience Challenge curriculum to respectfully acknowledge Indigenous historical and contemporary ties to the Envision Resilience Challenge sites. IKSI includes the Envision Resilience Tribal Land Acknowledgement and the IKSI Working Syllabus. IKSI supports Indigenous knowledge and Native science, alongside western resources, as a vital body of knowledge by partnering with Indigenous designers in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture.

Indigenous Knowledge Systems Initiative

The IKSI Working Syllabus provides a selection of resources covering critical Indigenous Knowledge and precedents in design, tools to bolster climate justice as well as projects by some of today’s leading Indigenous practitioners. The IKSI Tribal Land Acknowledgement Syllabus is a bibliographic framework and living document that houses primary sources and contemporary resources for each of the Challenge sites and locations. You can download the IKSI Working Syllabus and the IKSI Tribal Land Acknowledgement Syllabus below.

The IKSI graphic was designed by Anjelica S. Gallegos (Jicarilla Apache Nation/Santa Ana Pueblo), who is an alumna of the 2021 Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge and Advisor to Envision Resilience. The faint purple patterns are reminiscent of wampum “beads,” often used for the arts and as currency for North Eastern tribes. The form is based on a whale bone scapula and Nantucket’s periphery shape and the floating shapes from the “island” are outlines of different types of vegetation found on Nantucket.