Lecture 1- Indigenous Pedagogies/ Ways of Knowing

Question 1

What are Indigenous Pedagogies?

Answer 1

The common elements of Indigenous knowing
They represent the diverse teaching and learning approaches within Indigenous cultures worldwide. They emphasize holistic learning, relationality, cultural relevance, and experiential knowledge acquisition

Question 2

Storytelling

Answer 2

-One of the major elements of ways of knowing
-They are stories that encourage people to reflect
-A transfer of knowledge, usually from elders
-They emphasize Indigenous voices
-Acts as a primary means of transmitting knowledge, values, and cultural understanding across generations
-They provide guidance on proper behaviour, social norms, and the consequences of actions

Question 3

What are the 7 grandfather teachings?

Answer 3

-Respect: Underscores honouring all of creation, treating all beings with dignity na dliving in harmony with nature
-Love: Represents unconditional love and respect for all of creation
-Bravery: Encourages facing challenges with courage and integrity
-Wisdom: Emphasizes acquiring knowledge and understanding
-Honesty: Promotes living truthfully and with integrity, aligning ones actions with their words
-humility: Emphasizes recognizing ones place within greater community and practicing humility in all interactions
-Truth: Represents living in accordance with the teachings and being true to oneself

Question 4

What is relationally?

Answer 4

The concept that everything is related and interconnected, we are meant to learn from each other equally
-Learner is both learner and teacher. Teacher is both teacher and learner
-Teachers “fight the urge to be the sage on the stage and more the guide on the side.”
-Core concept in Indigenous worldviews that emphasize the interconnectedness and interdependance of all things, including humans, non humans, the land, and the cosmos

Question 5

How is this learning sacred and secular?

Answer 5

Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies are rooted in worldviews that are inclusive to others.
spirituality is a necessary component to learning.

Question 6

What is holism?

Answer 6

Refers to the understanding that all aspects of life and learning are interconnected
Holism is the self
There are four interconnected dimensions: Emotional, spiritual, physical, mental

Question 7

What is experiential doing?

Answer 7

learning is done best by doing on the land, because Indigenous culture draws strength from the land. Preference of learning from observation, action, reflection, and further action

Question 8

How is learning cyclical and reciprocal?

Answer 8

All who teach, learn, all who learn, teach. Use of collaboration.
Information passed trhough generations

Question 9

How is learning a healing process?

Answer 9

There are hard conversations, but we can learn from them and commit to our own personal growth and balance

Question 10

What is place based learning?

Answer 10

Connection learning to a specific place, so knowledge is situated to a certain place.
Location and land carry stories, history, and wisdom

Question 11

How is learning authentic and reflective?

Answer 11

There us space and time to reflect

Question 12

what is a pretendian?

Answer 12

Someone who pretends to have Indigenous decent.

Question 13

What is eurocentrism?

Answer 13

a worldview that centers on European values, experiences, and perspectives asd the dominant and superior from of reference. It foten leads to marginilization, misrepresentation, or even erasure of non-European cultures, histories, and knowledge systems.

Question 14

What is Eurocentric mythology?

Answer 14

The false narratives and.beliefs tghay center European perspectives and present European culture, history, and values as superior to those of other cultureteaching only good things about what our nation has done
● glossing over harm
● impacts who we believe we are as Canadians today
● social, economic, and political

Question 15

what does oral history include?

Answer 15

Narratives: Spoken accounts of historical events, cultural beliefs, ancentural widom passed down
Wampum belts: These belys, made of beads woven into ointricate patterns, serve as mnemonic devices to record and recall important treaties
Pictographic Writing: various forms of visual representation, such as symbols and drawings on rocks, hides, or other materials, are used to document stories, genealogies, or important knowledge

Question 16

What is ethnohistory?

Answer 16

“The branch of anthropology concerned with the history of peoples and
cultures, especially non-Western ones” (from Oxford languages)
● Supposedly more inclusive methodology
● Includes Indigenous knowledge and Ways of Knowing
● Use Indigenous voices, artwork, archeological evidence,
ethnography, and etymology
● Reframe history to include marginalized voices previously ignored
● Inclusive of Indigenous scholars, revisionist, language restoration,
oral history, and culture to correct misinterpretations

Question 17

What are storytellers/faithkeepers

Answer 17

individuals within Indigenous communities who are entrusted with the responsibility of preserving, protecting, and transmitting cultural knowledge, traditions, and spiritual teachings.
they are repected members of their community
they are responsible for safegaurding sacred knowledge and ensuring it is shared appropriately
play a crucial role in passing on knowledge to younger generations

Question 18

what are didactic narratives

Answer 18

stores that are specifically designed to teach listeners about the world and their place within it. they convey cultural values, ethical principles, historical knowledge, and practical skills.
For example, creation narratives

Question 19

What are the four creation narratives from the four winds

Answer 19

The east-Mi’kmaq & Wabanaki
The south- The Komaawiigoo Odaa
the west- Haida
the north-Inuit of Sikusiilaq

Question 20

what is the story of the Mi’kmaq and Wabanaki (The east)

Answer 20

Glooscap is a creator being
There are twins, Glooscap (good) and Malsm (bad)
They are sent to earth in a stone canoe, and where it landed became land (In Cape Breton)
They created animals
Malsm created a badger which represented evil
Glooscap then killed Malsm
He then created humans. He after left them, but told them that they could find him if they search hard enough.

Question 21

What is the story of the Inuit of Sikusilaq (The north)

Answer 21

This is Sednas story
She felt pressured to marry a man, and when she marries this man it is revealed he was a raven disguised as a man. Her father then kills the raven and puts her in his kayak to bring back home. The ravens friends get angry and cause a huge storm to happen, and Sednas father throws her into the sea to save himself. She then rules as an underwater goddess.

Question 22

What is the story of the Komaawiigoo Odaawaak (The south)

Answer 22

A white sucker was sent to swim out of the water and onto the shore of a river. She laid her eggs and tghey were dried by the sun into the form of a woman. teh suckers play a part in the renewal and purification of the great lakes.

Question 23

What is the story of the Haida (The west)

Answer 23

A Raven Song
- The whole work was darknesds, except for a raven who would just continuously fly over the ocean, until he found a totem pole that he climbed all the way down until he reached the bottom of the sea where there was a longhouse.
-there was a seagull that calimed to be he grandfather.
-He was given two stones to spit out to create land, but mixed them up. making north america the bigger
-he was tired or darkness, and heard of a skycheif who had light, so he turned into a needdle and the sky chiefs daughter swllowed him. a child was borbn from her\
-He found a ball of light and turned back to his raven form and flew away with it.
-now he wanted everything he could see
-the raven created life and death

Question 24

What are trickster characters?

Answer 24

Figures dfound in many Indigenous narratives that often embody contradictory traits