Introduction
Science is not an unchanging, infallible truth. It is sometimes treated as that. That once something is said, with a scientific authority, it is a truth never to be disturbed and anything which does not agree with this is a falsehood, or at best perhaps a folkloric anachronism which is viewed as simplistic and uninformed.
But science is ever-changing and that which science accepts, says and knows, subject to changes in knowledge, methods, theories. Science is based on a positivistic testing and changing of theory. It was never meant to be static and should not be rejected out of hand when it is not.
Because of these changes,the relationship between science and culture is worth exploring. What happens when there are two different stories told by each? What happens when the stories change and become more aligned? What happens when science begins to align with the narratives of deep memory?
This is part of the EarthWise exploration– which in this blog considers knowledge from science, spirituality and mythology. Sometimes these align, sometimes these contradict. And sometimes there are shifts which bring formerly accepted scientific knowledge closer to the content of deep mystery and memory.
This blog post specifically explores this fascinating ontological juxtaposition. Come along for this EarthWise exploration.
The boundary between myth and fact?
Is it in fact possible to draw a strict boundary between myth and fact? How much of what is contained in the shards of ancient stories that have survived into the modern era contain elements of fact rather than fantasy? It is an intriguing question and one without any easy one-size-fits-all answers. Nor is it question limited to the consideration of indigenous American cultures and horses. It is a question that can be applied to any ancient story from anywhere in the world.
Scholars generally posit that horses in the Americas were reintroduced from European colonizer sources in the late 1400s and onwards. This is based on an argument that horses became extinct in the Americas, and were absent until brought by Europeans.
But this is contested in some indigenous cultures. They tell a different story about the presence of horses. The cultural traditions and ancient memories say that horses were present in the Americas and part of indigenous life before the arrival of Europeans.
Pre-Columbian horses in the Americas?
Doctoral research by Yvette Collin sets out to examine the contradictions between commonly held scientific positions and American indigenous cultural traditions and stories. The scientific view is that while horses evolved in the Americas, they became extinct there having migrated westwards over the landbridge then existing into EurAsia. It was not a one time crossing and horse populations went back and forth over the landbridge, before eventually becoming extinct in the Americas.
The research by Yvette Collin challenges this scientific view by studying the American indigenous cultural stories alongside the views of science. The indigenous cultural stories tell a different tale than that of the scientific view on the presence of horses in indigenous society before the arrival of Europeans. These stories say that the horses were there before Europeans arrived and were part of indigenous society and culture. Could some horses have survived in the Americas, as Collin’s research argues?
The value of ancient stories and memories?
There is not, at this juncture, a reconciliation of these two views. This raises a question then of whose knowledge is privileged and why. And of what value should be given to ancient stories. Do ancient stories held kernels of historical events and facts? Should they be considered as more than fantasy and fiction?
It seems that the line between science and ancient memory is not a simple binary of fact and fiction. Recent studies on climate change have involved scientists listening to indigenous elders and their stories about changing weather patterns over time.
The oral history of Australian indigenous peoples tell of the ancient climate change, that of the rise of sea levels over 7,000 years ago. This is an occurence which is also scientifically validated.
These studies of indigenous oral histories and climate change science point out the potency of combining these sources of knowledge. It suggests that there is much to be gained by seeing ancient stories and memories as more than mere fiction, more than mere fantasty. These instead may be the repository of rich knowledge that has survived over time.
For that mere survival over time, is no mere feat. It speaks instead to the strength of the value of the knowledge contained in the stories and memories. It seems that the passing down of stories across generations may in some cases by the very mechanism by which the veracity of these stories is maintained.
Conclusion
There is no final definitive answer to provide on the relationship between scientific knowledge and ancient memory. In many instances, there is a conflict in the ontological views. But this ontological difference does not necessarily mean that there is no common ground to find, or that one source cannot learn from the other. Scientific knowledge and theory is ever changing and developing. It is beginning to consider the information contained in indigeous ancient memory on climate changes both in ancient times and the present day. Being open to the messages from a variety of sources only deepens and benefits an EarthWise seeker. This juxtaposition of ontological knowledge and sources can only expand understanding and knowledge about the workings of the Earth. Together science and ancient wisdom held in the label of myths have much to tell us, if we will only listen.