I was thinking about this. Having gone through the western academic system to get a Ph.D. studying caribou, I had to prove that I had the credentials to be in that type of government position as a wildlife biologist. From an indigenous perspective, I think when I first got that proof....
You mentioned publishing. Well, my proof was when I was 10 years old and shot my first moose. With my father, I had to go through and be able to process that whole moose by myself. Now, it was a cow moose; I didn't have any antlers or anything to show, but my great-aunt made me a shell bag out of the ears, and that was my proof. That was my cultural proof.
I keep on learning. Now I pass it on to my generations. I have my daughter here, and her brothers are now going through that process. That's how we teach in our culture, but we don't need to publish it; it's a part of who we are.