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Indigenizing the Drake Equation: how Indigenous methods can help us understand life in the Milky Way Galaxy

This paper critiques the traditional biases of the Drake Equation and proposes that applying Indigenous methods and sciences offers a fundamentally different framework for understanding the existence and nature of life and civilizations in the Milky Way.

Original authors: Hilding R. Neilson

Published 2026-06-26

📖 5 min read🧠 Deep dive

CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Hilding R. Neilson

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

Imagine the Drake Equation as a giant recipe card that scientists use to guess how many other "kitchens" (civilizations) exist in our galactic neighborhood. For decades, this recipe has been written using only one specific set of ingredients: the Western scientific view. It asks questions like, "How many stars have planets?" and "How many of those planets build radio towers?"

The author of this paper, Hilding R. Neilson, argues that this recipe is missing a whole other cookbook. He suggests we should try cooking with Indigenous methods (ways of knowing and understanding the world used by Indigenous peoples) to see if we get a different, perhaps more abundant, result.

Here is a simple breakdown of the paper's main points using everyday analogies:

1. The Problem with the Old Recipe (Western Science)

Think of Western Science like a laser pointer. It is very precise and objective. It tries to isolate one thing at a time to understand it.

How it defines life: It looks for specific chemical reactions (like a self-sustaining chemical system).
How it defines intelligence: It looks for the ability to build advanced technology (like radio waves or lasers).
How it sees nature: It sees a hierarchy where humans are at the top, like the CEO of a company, and everything else (animals, water, stars) is just a resource or a lower-level employee.

Because of this "laser pointer" view, when scientists look for aliens, they only look for things that look like us: civilizations that are loud, technological, and leave big footprints (like radio signals or giant energy-harvesting spheres).

2. The New Perspective (Indigenous Methods)

Now, imagine Indigenous methods as a wide-angle lens or a kaleidoscope. Instead of isolating one variable, it sees everything as connected.

Relational Knowledge: Instead of saying "knowledge is just facts," it says "knowledge is about relationships." You can't understand a river without understanding the fish, the people, and the land it flows through.
Holistic View: It doesn't separate "astronomy" from "biology" or "spirituality." The stars, the animals, and the people are all part of one big family.
Nature as Family: In this view, nature isn't a hierarchy with humans on top. It's a family tree where humans, animals, water, and stars are all equal relatives with their own rights and intelligence.

3. Re-reading the Recipe with the New Lens

When Neilson applies this "wide-angle lens" to the Drake Equation, the numbers change dramatically:

What counts as "Life"?
- Western View: Only things that breathe and eat like us.
- Indigenous View: The Sun, the Moon, the water, and the stars might all be "alive" because they are part of our relationship with the world. This expands the definition of life immediately.
What counts as "Intelligence"?
- Western View: Only humans who build technology.
- Indigenous View: If humans are intelligent, then our animal relatives and even the land itself must have their own kind of intelligence. We just speak different languages. This means "intelligent life" is everywhere, not just in humans.
What counts as a "Civilization"?
- Western View: A society that builds radio towers and spaceships.
- Indigenous View: Indigenous nations (like the Mi'kmaw, Inuit, or Aboriginal Australians) have been thriving civilizations for tens of thousands of years without needing to build radio towers. They are civilizations that have existed since "time immemorial."
How long do they last? (The "L" factor)
- Western View: Our high-tech civilization is only about 60 years old. We might destroy ourselves with nuclear war or climate change, so our "detectable time" is short.
- Indigenous View: Indigenous civilizations have lasted for 15,000 to 60,000+ years because they live with nature, not by dominating it. They are sustainable.

4. The "Pollution" vs. "Harmony" Analogy

The paper makes a fascinating point about technosignatures (the signs we look for to find aliens).

The Western Search: We are looking for "noise." We listen for radio leaks or look for stars that dim because a giant structure is blocking them. Neilson calls this looking for "techno-pollution." It's like looking for a party by listening for the music and the trash left behind.
The Indigenous Reality: Imagine a civilization that is incredibly advanced but lives in perfect harmony with nature. Their technology is like a silent, invisible garden. It supports life rather than polluting it.
- Because they don't "leak" radio waves or build giant, star-blocking structures, we cannot detect them.
- However, they might be able to detect us. They might look at Earth and see a "colonial" civilization that is loud, messy, and harmful to nature. They might be avoiding us because we are the "polluters."

5. The Conclusion: Two-Eyed Seeing

The paper doesn't say we should throw away Western science. Instead, it suggests "Two-Eyed Seeing" (a concept called Etuaptmumk).

Eye 1: Use Western science to look for the loud, technological signals we are used to.
Eye 2: Use Indigenous methods to realize that there are likely many more civilizations out there that are advanced but quiet, sustainable, and invisible to our current tools.

The Bottom Line:
If we only use the Western recipe, we might conclude that intelligent life is rare and hard to find. But if we add the Indigenous perspective, we realize that life and civilizations are likely abundant, but they are just living in a way we haven't learned how to "see" yet. We are looking for the noise, but the galaxy might be full of a beautiful, silent harmony we are missing.

Technical Summary: Indigenizing the Drake Equation

Problem Statement
The paper addresses the inherent limitations and biases within the traditional application of the Drake Equation, a thought experiment used to estimate the number of detectable advanced civilizations in the Milky Way. The author argues that the equation's terms and the subsequent Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are constructed through a strictly Western, Eurocentric scientific lens. This perspective relies on specific definitions of "life," "intelligence," and "civilization" that prioritize technological advancement and anthropocentric hierarchies. Consequently, current searches for technosignatures (e.g., radio signals, Dyson spheres) are biased toward detecting only those civilizations that mirror human technological trajectories, potentially overlooking a vast array of other forms of life and civilization that do not produce detectable "pollution" or technological impacts.

Methodology
The paper employs a comparative theoretical framework, juxtaposing Western Science with Indigenous Methods and Ways of Knowing. Rather than conducting new astronomical observations, the author re-evaluates the variables of the Drake Equation ( $N = R_* f_P n_e f_L f_I f_C L$ ) through the axioms of Indigenous methodologies. Key comparative concepts drawn from Indigenous epistemologies (specifically referencing Mi'kmaw, Salish, and other traditions) include:

Relationality vs. Objectivity: Shifting from knowledge as independent and objective to knowledge as relational and dependent on experience and responsibility.
Holism vs. Reductionism: Moving from isolating variables to considering multiple variables concurrently and interdependently.
Sacred/Familial Nature vs. Hierarchy: Rejecting the view of nature as a hierarchy with humans at the apex in favor of a view where nature is sacred, familial, and equal to humanity.
Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptmumk): The proposed synthesis of Indigenous and Western perspectives to achieve a more complete understanding.

Key Contributions and Results
The paper systematically reinterprets the Drake Equation's variables through Indigenous lenses, yielding the following specific conclusions:

Re-evaluation of $f_I$ (Intelligent Life): The traditional definition of intelligence is critiqued for being tied exclusively to the development of advanced technology. By adopting a relational view where intelligence is inherent in all kin (animals, planets, water), the paper suggests that $f_I$ should not be restricted to human-like technological species. The author proposes that if humans are intelligent, then non-human kin are as well, effectively rendering the distinction between "intelligent" and "non-intelligent" life less restrictive.
Re-evaluation of $f_C$ (Civilization): The paper challenges the Western definition of civilization as a global, technology-centric entity. It posits that Indigenous Nations (e.g., Mi'kmaw, Inuit, Salish) constitute civilizations that have existed since time immemorial. By recognizing these as valid civilizations, the fraction of systems hosting civilizations ( $f_C$ ) is argued to be significantly higher than Western estimates.
Re-evaluation of $L$ (Detectable Lifetime): The traditional term $L$ measures the duration a civilization emits detectable signals (often linked to radio leakage). The paper argues that Indigenous civilizations have existed for tens of thousands of years (e.g., 60,000+ years in Australia, 15,000+ in North America) without the "collapse" or transient nature assumed in Western technocivilizations. This suggests that $L$ could be orders of magnitude larger for civilizations that do not rely on high-impact technologies.
Technosignatures vs. Technoimpacts: The paper introduces the concept that current searches are actually looking for "technoimpacts" (pollution, waste, leakage) rather than pure technology. Citing George Manuel, the author argues that Indigenous technologies are designed to support nature with minimal impact. Therefore, advanced civilizations may exist that are undetectable by current Western methods because their technological footprint is minimal.

Significance and Claims
The paper claims that applying Indigenous methods to the Drake Equation does not merely adjust the numbers but fundamentally alters the scope of the search for life.

Abundance vs. Rarity: While the Western lens suggests advanced civilizations are rare, the Indigenous lens suggests they are abundant.
The Fermi Paradox: The paper offers a potential resolution to the Fermi Paradox: advanced extraterrestrial civilizations may exist but remain undetectable because they utilize technologies that do not harm nature or produce significant emissions. Furthermore, these civilizations might perceive human "technosignatures" (pollution) as colonial and choose not to engage.
Two-Eyed Seeing: The ultimate significance lies in the call to adopt "Two-Eyed Seeing" (Etuaptmumk). By combining Western scientific rigor with Indigenous relational and holistic methodologies, the astronomical community can broaden its search parameters to include civilizations that do not fit the Western technocivilization model. This approach suggests that current searches are missing a vast majority of potential civilizations simply because they are looking for the wrong signatures.

The paper concludes that integrating these perspectives is necessary to develop a deeper, more inclusive understanding of life in the Galaxy and to design future searches that account for non-Western forms of technological and cultural existence.

1. The Problem with the Old Recipe (Western Science)

2. The New Perspective (Indigenous Methods)

3. Re-reading the Recipe with the New Lens

4. The "Pollution" vs. "Harmony" Analogy

5. The Conclusion: Two-Eyed Seeing

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