Colette Felton

AIS 203

June 6, 2018

Implementing Indigenous Education

Modern western education was created during the colonial era as a means of controlling

colonialized people and training them for industrial era jobs. The rigidity and narrow focus of the

resulting system in use today harms more students than it helps. It requires children to be taught

using a process of memorization and testing. Each subject is separated from the next and all

learning is done indoors, away from the natural world. In Being Together in Place, Soren Larsen

and Jay Johnson state that “awareness of self and other in relation to place can either be nurtured

or blocked through education” (106). Today’s system blocks that awareness. This lack of

understanding of self in the greater context of the natural world leads to a lack of respect for the

earth, which contributes to people feeling disconnected and not accountable for issues such as

climate change and the destruction of natural resources. For example, on the topic of climate

change, Gregory A. Cajete argues that “The underlying cause of the crisis arises from the narrow

view of who we are, what the earth is, and what it is to educate children, so that they may live

and think as human beings.” (20). To broaden that perspective and shift towards a healthier,

more holistic way of educating children, we must integrate indigenous curricula.

We need to educate children on the settler colonialism this country was founded upon to

assist in understanding native perspectives and respect for native culture. This will go a long way

in communicating the validity of using indigenous teachings to understand and feel connected to

ecosystems. To support this learning, we can use indigenous principles of community-building

and lifelong learning, which will encourage students to spread and apply their knowledge. We

must encourage students to leverage the understanding gained of the natural world and

indigenous issues and act on it by practicing activism in support of ecological and indigenous

causes. This shift in education could lead to healthier communities that have let go of settler guilt

and are able to move forward on indigenous rights and ecological issues.

It is an historical truth that the United States enacted a campaign of genocide against

indigenous peoples. Not only did the United States government decimate native populations,

they controlled and subjugated tribes for generations. The use of westernized education

methodologies forced native people to lose their sense of self, dignity, and interconnectedness

within their communities (Alfred 32). These facts are well documented; however, most people

are unaware of them because our educational system de-emphasizes our history of wrongdoings.

Even if people are informed of these brutalities, they remain unaware of current injustices such

as the disparate incidents of rape and murder against indigenous women and the absence of

prosecution. These are painful realities, but Taiaiake Alfred argues in Peace, Power, and

Righteousness that these issues need to be better understood so that more non-native people can

embrace decolonization (87).

It is important to not only teach the history of indigenous people but also, as Soren and

Johnson argue in Being Together in Place, “change from thinking about the Indigenous as a

colonized ‘object’ toward learning from Indigenous people as agents of their own history and

resurgence, and from that position work in solidarity” (40). Teaching both the history and

sovereignty of indigenous peoples is a good basis, but from there, Eve Tuck argues that we must

let go of settler guilt and understand what is irreconcilable in settler colonial relations with

indigenous peoples (3-4). This is not an easy step to take, but that understanding makes it much
easier for students to embrace decolonization and be able to see native people as equals. Most

important to emphasize is the sovereignty of native peoples and the many ways assimilation into

Western society is harmful to tribes. As Grossman states in Unlikely Alliances, “affirming the

sovereignty of Native nations is not only a way to correct past injustices towards them but is to

the benefit of both Native and non-Native communities and their future together on the land”

(134). If the leaders of tomorrow understand native sovereignty, relations between Native and

non-Native peoples will be much more amiable and productive. They will also be able and

willing to learn from Native wisdom.

However, especially in the sciences, many people struggle to learn from Native

teachings. The Western education system teaches us that indigenous ways are primitive, with no

basis in science. This is patently untrue. Many indigenous teachings come from generations of

experience and are gained from an intimate relationship with the land. Many modern medicines

are derived from plants used by indigenous peoples in their communities. In the future, we must

teach students that native ways of knowing and learning are just as valid as western ways.

Western science is meaningful, but occasionally based on erroneous assumptions or hindered by

underlying biases. By grounding research in indigenous knowledge, we can avoid the

assumptions and biases that stem from western teaching and thereby make new discoveries

(Kimmerer 162). Discoveries based on indigenous knowledge but supported by western science

represent a compromise that could effect real change in the world. Imagine if the next generation

of scientists were no longer hampered by western assumptions and freer to investigate areas that

break the barriers imposed by the scientific tradition.

One of the western teachings that can limit the ability of students to move forward with

research and policy-making is the notion that we have irreversibly messed up the natural world.
As Robin Kimmerer asks in Braiding Sweetgrass, “How can we begin to move toward

ecological and cultural stability if we cannot even imagine what the path feels like?” (6). Moving

away from the western worldview can be as simple as moving outside, towards place-based

education. Place-based education can help students holistically understand the importance of

protecting ecosystems and ecologies. Also, as Soren and Johnson discuss in Being Together in

Place, teaching in nature not only helps students connect to and respect their local ecology, it

removes students from “the institutional spaces of Western education that can inhibit meaningful

discussions of the sacred” (116). Teaching students in nature, not just about it, can change their

relationship to the natural world. It can help them learn to “respond to nature as a part of

[themselves], not a stranger or alien available for exploitation” (Kimmerer 30). This creates a

foundation for a reciprocal relationship with the earth, where students try to give as much as they

take. Another factor that has harmed indigenous communities in recent generations is the loss of

an ingrained connection to their land and people. The lack of belonging over time has scarred

indigenous communities and could also have negative impacts for non-native people. By using

place-based education and grounding teaching in regional knowledge, we can strengthen

students’ sense of connection to their home and give them a better sense of belonging to their

communities (Cajete 7).

Place-based learning comprises both the physical place and the community within that

place. In today’s world, there are few meaningful communities that support their members and

encourage lifelong learning. Western education does nothing to encourage students to build

lasting communities. As Cajete posits, “Americans have to relearn what community means, why

it matters, how to create it, and how to keep it going” (109). To protect our future on this planet
we must create strong communities that can support future generations of healthy learners who

will be able to protect the environment.

As with learning from indigenous knowledge, this begins with teaching students the

indigenous concept of being-in-place. Teaching people to become aware of the environmental

and social dynamics aids understanding of the importance of strong communities. In Being

Together in Place Soren and Johnson state that “being-in-place is continually an act of

engaged/active learning” (104). To encourage this learning, educators must reach out to members

of the community to empower them and strengthen connections within the community. As Cajete

states, “re-forming our approach to education begins with empowering communities” (76). These

ideas are based in indigenous knowledge and communities. By educating children in a way that

sets them up for lifelong, community-based learning, we will be working towards a future where

people born into difficult situations will have a better chance of being lifted up and supported by

those around them. As Cajete states in the conclusion to his book, “Building knowledge

communally in creative and transformative ways is the essence of Indigenous education. A

community learns about itself, empowers itself, discovers itself, reclaims itself, and understands

itself” (220).

The risk with teaching indigenous peoples’ ways of knowing the earth, respecting the

earth, and forming communities, is that students will begin to feel as though they are authorized

to replace native people. This is where other programs have struggled. Trying to make the settler

indigenous instead of understanding and respecting the indigenous people, is a problematic mode

of erasure based in settler colonialism (Tuck 8). We must teach students the difference between

walking over and walking with indigenous people. We want students to support indigenous
causes, both social and environmental, and to speak in solidarity with instead of for indigenous

people (Soren 41).

This mode of thinking in solidarity with indigenous people is based on a shared sense of

place. If students simply learn indigenous causes from afar, the impulse becomes to step in and

use western ideas to solve indigenous problems. If students can be taught to experience place

more indigenously, they can then understand the issues of the place in a profound way. They

must step back and ask indigenous people how they can be of help (Soren 29). Grossman posits

that this is necessary not only for academics and activists, but for baseline co-existence between

peoples. He states that “The only way for settlers to reach ‘co-existence’ with native nations… is

through ‘co-resistance’ to colonization” (29). While a shared sense of place is a good starting

point for students to begin seeing themselves as co-resistors with native people, more lasting

alliances can be formed if they are able to build relationships with native communities. Soren

and Johnson assert that the effectiveness of any decolonizing process is “primarily contingent

upon the quality of the relationships formed” (108). Through a new method of education, we

must teach students to see themselves not as a savior of a dying race, but as a friend, a supporter,

a co-resistor with indigenous people.

These four strategies – educating about native history, using indigenous knowledge to

teach about the natural world, encouraging community-based learning, and teaching respect and

co-resistance with native people – were discussed in class this quarter with Professor Daniel

Hart. He didn’t lecture in the traditional western way, instead presenting films, books, stories and

concepts to talk about in our class community. This is a much more indigenous way of teaching

and learning. Being able to discuss these topics at length, with everyone’s voice being heard and

respected, allowed us to understand about indigenous ways of learning and simultaneously begin
to put them into practice. Another example of indigenous teaching methods came from watching

Teachings of the Tree People, in which Bruce Miller teaches about the natural world based off

native teachings. By watching and then immediately being able to put into practice this sort of

anecdotal teaching we were able to gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for this

learning style. Also, because we learned in a discussion-based way, it made it a lot easier to

initiate discussions about the material and share it with others. If we want students to use the

indigenous strategies we give them to practice lifelong learning and teaching in their

communities, we must teach them in an indigenous, community-based fashion.

If we can teach students about indigenous principles in an indigenous way, we can raise a

generation of children with a much broader and healthier view of who they are in relation to the

world. We can nurture their awareness of themselves and the place they live, which will lead

them to feel more connected to things that are happening in the spaces around them. This greater

sense of connection could lead to a greater feeling of accountability for issues both in their

community and on a global scale. Indigenous communities thrived for thousands of years based

on such principles, and hopefully by applying them in our education systems, we can work

towards a more sustainable and reciprocal mindset. As Cajete emphasizes, “we can create new

traditions of education… based on ancient principles and forms of practical, place-based Native

science. New traditions should also integrate the best that the Western world and other cultural

traditions have to offer” (82). We don’t need to fully replace our current system of education, as

elements of it are necessary to prepare children to thrive in the modern world, but by increasing

the focus on indigenous principles we can help them better understand their relationship to the

world around them.

 Works Cited

Cajete, Gregory A. Indigenous Community: Rekindling the Teachings of the Seventh Fire. Living

Justice Press, 2015.

Grossman, Zoltán. Unlikely Alliances: Native Nations and White Communities Join to Defend

Rural Lands. University of Washington Press, 2017

Kimmerer, Robin W. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the

Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2015

Larsen, Soren C. and Jay T. Johnson. Being Together in Place: Indigenous Coexistence in a

More Than Human World. Univ. Of Minnesota Press, 2017.

Taiaiake, Alfred. Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto (2nd Edition). Oxford

University Press, 2009.

Teachings of the Tree People. Perf. Bruce Miller. New Day Films, 2006. DVD.