BioKulture Design: A Biodesign Praxis for Indigenous Biotechnology Renaissance

The emergence of BioKulture Design as a biodesign praxis represents a pivotal shift in how we engage with and innovate within the biospheres of Indigenous and non-Indigenous worlds. This praxis, deeply rooted in Indigenous nonprint sciences, provides a binocular view that enables future biodesigners to navigate the nuanced, interstitial spaces where these perspectives intersect. It lays the groundwork for a ‘trust-based embassy,’ pluriverse approach to design, where the dimensionality of both biospheres stewards practitioners’ kinship rhythm. BioKulture Design challenges the anthropocentric methodologies that have long dominated Western scientific and design paradigms. It critiques the monocular problem-solving schematics and often exploitative tendencies inherent in conventional biotechnological practices, creating hyper-objectivization of ‘what’ IKS items. Instead, it advocates for ‘how’ BioKulture Design processes IKS pattern space, grounding a ‘trust-based embassy’ for kinship engagement with the natural world and calls for a fundamental reorientation towards praxis that prioritizes systems of living well-being. We draw on historical analogies, such as the initially overlooked contributions of Gregor Mendel to genetics, to highlight how Indigenous biocultural knowledge has been similarly marginalized within Western science in the development of biotechnology, biomimicry, and similar faith might fall on biodesign. Just as Mendel’s discoveries ultimately reshaped our understanding of genetics, the insights embedded in Indigenous biotechnology can potentially revolutionize contemporary biodesign praxes. By positioning IKS as a foundational framework, BioKulture Design transcends the simplistic human-nature dichotomy that pervades conventional design thinking, offering instead an embassy for kinship and a descalable systems orchestration profoundly interconnected and interdependent approach.