Week 1

Question 1

Native Philosophy is…

Answer 1

• holistic
• cyclical: things occur in cycles
  
  • sources regenerate
  • we can anticipate and predict future
• linked to place: idea of land
  
  • land is central idea- should stay in one place
• repetitive: core of education
  
  • understanding what is there
• generalist: people generalist
  
  • different to what white people want
  • knowledge about a lot of different things
• process-oriented:
  
  • not outcome
  • travels along way
  • not document but life experience

Question 2

Constant Flux

Answer 2

• only certainty in life is change
• results in network of relationships
• everything interrelated
• hence all creation is related
• suggests spirit/immanence exists
• constant shifting/change:cycles

Question 3

Relationships

Answer 3

• network of relationships
• everything in earth: animate
• everything around us is related

Question 4

Creation Imbued with Spirit

Answer 4

• creation is made up of the same energy waves
• everything is in one way or another related at the core (spiritual) level
• manifests itself in unique forms:
  
  • includes animals, trees, rocks, people, water, etc.

Question 5

Creation- Aboriginal View

Answer 5

-earth still goes on even if people are gone but if ants are gone-world disappears

Question 6

Creation-European View

Answer 6

• man at top

- earth given to man

Question 7

Everything is Animate

Answer 7

• human beings are animate creatures
• if humans are animate, and all others animate, then must be related
• what we know as now is simply a temporary marking as a point in flux
• infinity of relationships: name passed on but not if bloodline dies
• thus leads to the need to renew

Question 8

All My Relations

Answer 8

• “spiderweb” relational network operates in human experience
• all relations have an interest in land
• relating and maintaining relationship is what maintains creation
• this balance achieved through retelling stories, singing songs, and ceremonies
• process of ongoing balance

Question 9

Renewal

Answer 9

• overtime regular patterns occur (animal migrations, seasons)
• notion that creation is a continual process emerges
• certain regularities must be maintained if we are to prosper
• if these patterns are not maintained and renewed, we will disappear
• have to play active role

Question 10

Space

Answer 10

• land is where all that is required was available and obtainable
• it is where the events, patterns, cycles, and happenings occur at certain places
• each tribal territory has its sacred sites
• it also has its particular combinations (environmental and ecological) which result in particular relational networks
• the people of these environments are unique as a result of its relationship to the land
• this influences the development of philosophies, cultural ways of life, customs, languages
• hence the sacredness of the Earth