LEO Network was developed by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium based on a simple idea: by fostering participation from different knowledge systems, the ability to understand our changing world will be enhanced. Knowledge systems in LEO are divided into three categories: Indigenous, Local and Scientific. LEO Network acknowledges the United Nations' definitions for local and indigenous knowledge.

Indigenous Knowledge - The understandings, skills and philosophies developed by indigenous societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. Source: United Nations.

Local Knowledge - The understandings, skills and philosophies developed by non-indigenous societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. Source: United Nations.

Scientific Knowledge - Knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation. Source: Merriam Webster Dictionary.

Note: "Traditional Knowledge" is a term often used inter-changeably with indigenous knowledge. LEO Network recognizes the definition of traditional knowledge described in the Ottawa Traditional Knowledge Principles as ratified by the Arctic Council:

Traditional Knowledge is a systematic way of thinking and knowing that is elaborated and applied to phenomena across biological, physical, cultural and linguistic systems. Traditional Knowledge is owned by the holders of that knowledge, often collectively, and is uniquely expressed and transmitted through indigenous languages. It is a body of knowledge generated through cultural practices, lived experiences including extensive and multigenerational observations, lessons and skills. It has been developed and verified over millennia and is still developing in a living process, including knowledge acquired today and in the future, and it is passed on from generation to generation.