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Abstract This article engages with the concept of sustainable science as articulated by those eager to address and correct environmentally destructive tendencies in western scientific theory and practice. We first reflect on the widespread resistance among western scientists to accord the designation of ‘science’ to other cultural enterprises of inquiry. Focusing on the example of Native American approaches to nature and knowledge, we caution that this pervasive sense of superiority has blocked recognition of reasonable paths to a new science even amongst those eager to incorporate elements of Indigenous thinking into their worldviews. Finally, we argue that the explorations of the natural world as found in Indigenous science can be seen to represent an alternative mode of rigorous, systematic inquiry – a ‘full‐spectrum’ approach – demonstrating the practical potential for truly sustainable science. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Broadhead et al. (Mon,) studied this question.