CHAPTER 1 Flashcards
What is philosophy
Philosophy: The study that people engage in as they
attempt to understand the fundamental truths
about themselves
what are the fundamental truths about philosophy
Includes the world in which they live, and their
relationships with the world and one another
what is Indigenous philosophy
An inclusive concept that
embraces the worlds of science and spirituality
what are the three points in indigenous philosophy
1: Embodies complex socio-political and socio-economic ideas
2: Pays homage to the origins and nature of the knowledge that emerged from within specific environments
3: Seeks to understand how these diverse forces informed and continue to inform the evolution of ethics and codes of conduct in Indigenous communities.
what does indigenous studies challenge
Challenges the belief that there is a universal way of
interpreting one’s surroundings
Indigenous Studies, in particular, embraces two key objectives:
- To develop a better understanding of how Indigenous leaders responded to pre- and post-contact social,
political, and economic forces - To counter prevailing scholarly ideologies devaluing Indigenous ways of knowing
is the difference between each community good?
yes or no
yes
is it good or bad that each community is unique
good
why were they different
- location
- resources
- ways of living
What influences led to those differences?
Two main schools have emerged in recent years
○ Indigenous science
○ Indigenous ethics and codes of conduct
There are five tenets of Indigenous science
○ Space/land
○ Constant motion/flux
○All things are animate and imbued with spirit
○ Relationship
○ Renewal
what is Space/Land
Land is Creation—it is the earth, sky, rivers, lakes,
and wind, and all of the people, animals, and other
physical and spiritual manifestations
what helped create land/space
○ Thousands of years of close interaction led to a close connection with these territories
○ Stories and songs, moral teachings that help shape
identity and explain the world
hwo do interactions with land and these stories and songs help creation of land/space
■They help people map out their physical and cultural landscape
■This reinforces personal and affiliated identities
what is Constant Motion/Flux
● Watching patterns over time led to a collective
knowledge base—which led to seasonal moves
and how we as humans are at natures will
reasons why communities are in constant flux
○ Because the environment was apt to change, communities needed to be adaptable and move around because you couldn’t live in the same spot for to long
what is Trickster
● Trickster tales are entertaining and moralistic
what makes up Trickster
○ They are useful tools to educate the young
○ They also remind older ones of a universe that is in constant transformation
what are all my relations
Creation amounts to an environment in which
animals, plants, and rocks are all sentient beings—
everything is alive
what makes up these relations
○ Close interactions led to the belief that everything in an ecosystem is animate and imbued with spirit
○All of Creation and its various manifestations, then, are imbued with spirit
what does constant change reflect
■Constant change reflects a state of regional and, by
association, social imbalance
what is a Relationship
Relationship is a product of everything mixing
together in a constantly changing universe
People/land relationships?
People/land relationships are similar to that of mother to child, of teacher to student
