Women as Pioneers in Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Bridging Generations and Amplifying Voices
Pewu is a podcast about the women who keep Indigenous Knowledge alive, and the conversations that carry it from one generation to the next.
What is Pewu?
Pewu is a podcast that explores the experiences, knowledge and contributions of women within Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
Indigenous Knowledge lives in the practices, cultural values and lived experience of communities. Women have long preserved and passed it on, from seed saving and food production to sustainable farming, herbal practice, healing and everyday community life.
Pewu makes room for these stories to be told, and heard, in an accessible way. Our guests include women knowledge holders, elders, young people, IKS practitioners, researchers, development practitioners and community leaders, all asking how this knowledge is preserved, passed on and adapted today.
To preserve, promote and share Indigenous Knowledge through meaningful conversations and storytelling that recognise, centre and amplify the voices of women and the communities that sustain this knowledge.
We bridge generations by connecting knowledge holders with younger audiences and digital platforms, and we encourage respectful, ethical and contextual engagement with Indigenous Knowledge.
Why these conversations matter
Women's contributions to Indigenous Knowledge have not always received the visibility and recognition they deserve in public, research, policy, development and digital spaces.
Pewu is a platform where those voices are heard, and where the questions that follow can be explored openly: who holds this knowledge, who speaks for it, and who benefits from it.
Bridging generations
Indigenous Knowledge does not belong only to the past. Pewu explores how it moves from elders and community knowledge holders to young people with new technologies and ways of communicating. The goal is not to replace traditional knowledge with technology, but to help the two meet.
What we explore
Women as custodians
Their roles as keepers and transmitters of Indigenous Knowledge.
Intergenerational transfer
How knowledge is shared between elders and younger people.
Healing and plants
Indigenous healing and plant-based knowledge.
Seeds and food
Seed preservation, food production and sustainable farming.
Youth participation
How young people take part in Indigenous Knowledge.
Digital media
Technology and the preservation of knowledge.
Research and community
Where academic research meets community knowledge.
Cultural representation
Who tells the story, and how it is told.
Ownership and consent
Attribution, permission and who decides.
Ethical use
Responsible use and benefit-sharing.
Ethical storytelling
Pewu aims to communicate Indigenous Knowledge responsibly. These are the principles we hold ourselves to.
- Informed consent
- Recognition of knowledge holders
- Respect for community protocols
- Cultural context
- Appropriate attribution
- Respect for confidential or restricted knowledge
- Responsible representation
- Ethical research and knowledge sharing
- Fair benefit-sharing where applicable
Come and join the conversation
Listen to the latest conversations, or explore the full Pewu playlist.
