The first thing to say is that I don't think it would just be white men if you had a merit-based competition. I just think that's a bit of a straw man.
On indigenous knowledge, I think there's plenty to learn, but I think that if it is of value to science, then it will form part of science. If it is folklore, then it will be studied by folklorists. I do not think there should be any special dispensation for indigenous knowledge.
I actually think that those people who would try to elevate indigenous knowledge to the same level as science—falsifiable, measurable, testable, Popperian science—are actually a threat to the pursuit of truth. I have to say that I find this idea—that we can put indigenous knowledge, just because it's indigenous, on the same level as scientific knowledge that has been accrued through the scientific method—to be deeply counter-enlightenment and against what should be the mission of the councils, and against what the public would support.
I don't think this is something that should be in the university, unless it is in accord with science. It may be that there are certain medicines and scientific knowledge about medicines that are informed by indigenous knowledge. In that sense, that's great, but should we have any special dispensation or affirmative action to get those perspectives in? No, I don't think so.