Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge generally refer to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the UN, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (TCE) are both types of indigenous knowledge.

Traditional knowledge includes types of knowledge about traditional technologies of subsistence (e.g. tools and techniques for hunting or agriculture), midwifery, ethnobotany and ecological knowledge, traditional medicine, celestial navigation, craft skills, ethnoastronomy, climate, and others. These kinds of knowledge, crucial for subsistence and survival, are generally based on accumulations of empirical observation and on interaction with the environment.

In many cases, traditional knowledge has been passed for generations from person to person, as an oral tradition. Some forms of traditional knowledge find expression in culture, stories, legends, folklore, rituals, songs, and laws, languages, songlines, dance, games, mythology, designs, visual art and architecture, falling under the category of traditional cultural expressions.

 

Note:   The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article Traditional knowledge, which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.