The Dene Cultural Institute defines “traditional environmental knowledge” (TEK) as “a body of knowledge and beliefs transmitted through oral tradition and first-hand observation.  It includes a system of classification, a set of empirical observations about the local environment, and a system of self-management that governs resource use.  Ecological aspects are closely tied to social and spiritual aspects of the knowledge system.  The quantity and quality of TEK varies among community members, depending on gender, age, social status, intellectual capability, and profession (hunter, spiritual leader, healer, etc.).  With its roots firmly in the past, TEK is both cumulative and dynamic, building upon the experience of earlier generations and adapting to the new technological and socioeconomic changes of the present.”

Traditional ecological knowledge is also defined as “a cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs, handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment.  Further, TEK is an attribute of societies with historical continuity in resource use practices; by and large, these are non-industrial or less technologically advanced societies, many of them indigenous or tribal.”