Abstract
This paper analyses the rational justification for the claim to indigenous knowledge. (I identify this rational ground as epistemological functionalism.) Epistemological functionalism emphasizes the role of “function” and “survival” in knowledge justification. It challenges the Western criterion of knowledge claims, which emphasizes the relation between subject and object. Epistemological functionalism encourages a more inclusive and pluralistic view of knowledge. Adopting the hermeneutics methodology of interpretation and analytic argument, the paper engages in a rigorous analysis of the foundations of indigenous knowledge systems. The study then places indigenous knowledge alongside other contemporary variants, such as Natural Epistemology and Feminist Epistemology. It reaches a conclusion that germane to indigenous epistemic claims are conditions characterized by consideration of the person, the people and the culture at the heart of the knowing experience.