Science and Indigenous Knowledge: The Hybrid Heuristics of Glacier Grafting and Climate Adaptation in Baltistan, Pakistan

Indigenous knowledge systems and practices may offer important pathways to negotiating the modern challenges posed by human-induced climate change. The article reports upon an initial field inquiry into the Indigenous techniques of glacier grafting, for increasing glacier mass and hence water supply, prevalent in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. We deem the practice of ‘Glacier Marriages’, as it is locally called, to be illustrative of how Indigenous knowledge is mobilized in unexpected ways to adjust to climatic and hydrologic variability. We take stock of the state of scientific understanding of the technique, based upon field work on two reportedly successful glacier grafted sites in Baltistan. We argue that one important challenge is developing a scientifically rigorous understanding of the physical processes that may contribute to the success of the technique. Such knowledge could enable replication of the technique in other high mountain environments vulnerable to climate change. Beyond the scientific mystery, we reflect upon the paradigmatic challenges that the technique poses to how modern scientific and Indigenous knowledge may interface to enable climate change adaptation. Glacier marriages’ offer a provocation to modern knowledge systems to redefine foundational ontological and epistemological assumptions. We offer the multiple evidence-based approach (MEBA) as a way forward for modern and Indigenous knowledge to interface, and conclude with some key questions that may inform future research on this Indigenous technique.