on WORLDVIEWS
Indigenous Peoples worldwide are not a monolith.
what that means is they are not all the same-
they have different customs, traditions, and beliefs.
However, there are some commonalities-
one of which is
believing they are the people of the land with the responsibility to maintain balance.
the people who help maintain balance on the land.
Their languages and customs come from the land and help create harmony.
(later in a unit on INDIGENOUS FUTURISMS we do a great short story on Language!)
SOME POINTS OF AN “INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEW”
In some traditions, someone comes and teaches people who have lost their way.
It’s a hard job; everyone should be a lot nicer when this happens as it seems to always be a mistake that we aren’t.
One such story is WHITE CALF BUFFALO WOMAN, read all about it.
tbh if every man with ill intent turned into snakes things would be a lot cooler.
for the boundaries of this course, we’ll refer to 7 “key points” of an Indigenous Worldview:
• 4Rs – RESPECT,
RECIPROCITY,
RESPONSIBILITY,
RELATIONSHIPS
• SPIRITUALITY
• INTERCONNECTEDNESS
• NATURE
• TIME
• COMMUNITY
• KNOWLEDGE
We will be building on these points throughout the whole course,
starting with a graphic organizer to gather the ideas you already know.
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER ACTIVITY:
This activity is designed to help you recall what you already know about the two worldviews we’re discussing in this section- Indigenous and Settler Colonial.
Working on your graphic organizers is a good time to listen to Indigenous music, podcasts, or find some videos explaining any of the main ideas.
Here is a breakdown with more detail to give shape to the keywords I’m putting forward:
• 4Rs – RESPECT,
RECIPROCITY,
RESPONSIBILITY,
RELATIONSHIPS
• SPIRITUALITY - as a main lens for looking at the world
• INTERCONNECTEDNESS - all my relations, everything is connected
• NATURE - land is sacred, as equal living beings
• TIME - cyclical, seasonal, nature-based.
• COMMUNITY - safety in others. Individual and society are not separate; community > self.
Elder respect. Responsibility to the future via 7 generations.
• KNOWLEDGE - has value, inc. experiential learning. storytelling as knowledge. many truths.
*** Another that I want to add but don’t want to redo all the worksheets about rn is HUMOR.
feel free to make yourself a page for HUMOR.
END OF LESSON 2.
Share your drawings with others!
think about connecting with your community, having conversations about these ideas!