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Native North American Ethics

by Sonja Dobroski and Quentin Pharr

Introduction

Native North American Philosophy has so much to offer us, both as philosophers and human beings. And yet, within both academic philosophy and society at large, it has often been caricatured, forced into ways of thinking which do not do it justice, dismissed, or simply ignored. But, if there is one thing that even a minimal acquaintance with Native North American philosophy has to offer, it is a picture of resilience, wisdom, and hope, despite some of the gravest challenges that any set of cultures has ever faced. In general, Native North American communities are diverse and so are their intellectual and philosophical traditions. But, if this introductory set of readings does anything right, it will be in showing that there is a great deal to learn from Native North American ethical thought when it comes to such things as: how to care for one’s self, how to care for one’s community, how to care for future generations, how to care for one’s sovereignty, how to care for one’s land, how to care for non-human life, and more.

Content wise, due to the multitude of philosophically rich texts by Indigenous authors, we have only focused on authors from communities in Native North America. But, we acknowledge that Native Meso and Latin-American thinkers and their philosophies should also have their own reading lists in this series. We have also tried our best to find readings from authors from communities across North America and not just from any one particular locale – you will find this noted by each author’s name. Even still, we have left a number of gaps – but, hopefully, future work will fill them in.

How to use this Blueprint?

In this blueprint, your weekly schedule should follow the topics rather than the readings. There are only seven weekly topics, but each of them is rich in content. So, readers should feel free to either select several readings to focus on collectively for each week or to take on different readings individually so that they can share with each other in weekly discussion. And, of course, they should also feel free to read everything collectively each week if they have the time and the energy.


Contents

    Week 1. Introducing Native North American Philosophy

    Each of the texts in this selection offer conceptions of Native American philosophy and how it compares with that of Western academic philosophy: how they receive each other, what historical circumstances underlie the relations between them, how they are distinct from one another, how they are similar to each other, and so on. They also introduce some of the overarching themes that the other sections of this blueprint will cover in more depth, including: historical background, issues of colonialism, the difficulty and importance of finding and including new or different ways of thinking, the importance of respect and responsibility to others (as well as oneself), and so on. Acquaintaince with these readings will constitute sufficient background for subsequent readings.

    Full text
    Cordova, Viola (Jicarilla Apache/Hispanic). How It Is: The Native American Philosophy of V. F. Cordova
    2007, Kathleen Dean Moore, Kurt Peters, Ted Jojola & Amber Lacy (eds.), University of Arizona Press..
    Author's Introduction, "Why Native American Philosophy?", pp.1-4.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Viola Cordova was the first Native American woman to receive a PhD in philosophy. Even as she became an expert on canonical works of traditional Western philosophy, she devoted herself to defining a Native American philosophy. Although she passed away before she could complete her life’s work, some of her colleagues have organized her pioneering contributions into this provocative book. In three parts, Cordova sets out a complete Native American philosophy. First she explains her own understanding of the nature of reality itself—the origins of the world, the relation of matter and spirit, the nature of time, and the roles of culture and language in understanding all of these. She then turns to our role as residents of the Earth, arguing that we become human as we deepen our relation to our people and to our places, and as we understand the responsibilities that grow from those relationships. In the final section, she calls for a new reverence in a world where there is no distinction between the sacred and the mundane. Cordova clearly contrasts Native American beliefs with the traditions of the Enlightenment and Christianized Europeans. By doing so, she leads her readers into a deeper understanding of both traditions and encourages us to question any view that claims a singular truth. From these essays—which are lucid, insightful, frequently funny, and occasionally angry—we receive a powerful new vision of how we can live with respect, reciprocity, and joy.
    On DRL Full text
    Deloria Jr., Vine (Standing Rock Sioux). Why We Respect Our Elders Burial Grounds
    2004, In: American Indian Thought: Philosophical Essays. Anne Waters (ed.), Blackwell (Oxford)..
    Chapter 1, pp. 3-11. 'Philosophy and Tribal Peoples'
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This book brings together a diverse group of American Indian thinkers to discuss traditional and contemporary philosophies and philosophical issues. The essays presented here address philosophical questions pertaining to knowledge, time, place, history, science, law, religion, nationhood, ethics, and art, as understood from a variety of Native American standpoints. Unique in its approach, this volume represents several different tribes and nations and amplifies the voice of contemporary American Indian culture struggling for respect and autonomy. Taken together, the essays collected here exemplify the way in which American Indian perspectives enrich contemporary philosophy.
    On DRL Full text
    Arola, Adam (Ojibwe Anishinaabe). Native American Philosophy
    2011, in The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy, William Edelglass and Jay L. Garfield (eds.), OUP..
    Chapter 40, pp. 563-73.
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This article introduces the central thinkers of contemporary American Indian philosophy by discussing concerns including the nature of experience, meaning, truth, the status of the individual and community, and finally issues concerning sovereignty. The impossibility of carving up the intellectual traditions of contemporary Native scholars in North America into neat and tidy disciplines must be kept in mind. The first hallmark of American Indian philosophy is the commitment to the belief that all things are related—and this belief is not simply an ontological claim, but rather an intellectual and ethical maxim.

    Study Questions

    1. How much do you (the readers) know about Native American philosophy?
    2. How has Native American philosophy been shaped by the histories and traditions of the communities who have practiced it?
    3. Why has Native American philosophy often been called “primitive,” by the standards of Western academic philosophy?
    4. Why is Native American philosophy still largely excluded from Western academic philosophy?
    5. Can and should Native American philosophy be practiced or studied by anyone and everyone?
    6. How have Native American and non-native concepts interacted with each other, historically (or presently)?
    Week 2. Becoming Human: Community, Family, and Individuality

    How individuals become a part of their communities, as well as become self-sufficient and autonomous humans, is a frequent and indispensable topic in Native North American philosophy. Two components typically comprise it: a metaphysical one (that is, an interpretation of how reality is or works), and an ethical one. But, although we can think of these components separately, they are usually treated as indistinct or, at the very least, as intimately linked with one another within Native American philosophy. And so, this section’s readings will not only introduce readers to how metaphysics and ethics are often one in Native North American thinking, but will also be essential for readers in acquainting them with how different Indigenous communities think about the metaphysics of the human and non-human world, the metaphysical relationship that individuals bear to their communities, kin, and environment, how those relationships embed various responsibilities for all parties involved, and how personhood can be cultivated ethically in light of those things.

    On DRL Full text
    Cordova, Viola (Jicarilla Apache/Hispanic). How It Is: The Native American Philosophy of V. F. Cordova
    2007, Kathleen Dean Moore, Kurt Peters, Ted Jojola & Amber Lacy (eds.), University of Arizona Press..
    Chapter 4, "What is it to be Human?", pp. 133-70.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Viola Cordova was the first Native American woman to receive a PhD in philosophy. Even as she became an expert on canonical works of traditional Western philosophy, she devoted herself to defining a Native American philosophy. Although she passed away before she could complete her life’s work, some of her colleagues have organized her pioneering contributions into this provocative book. In three parts, Cordova sets out a complete Native American philosophy. First she explains her own understanding of the nature of reality itself—the origins of the world, the relation of matter and spirit, the nature of time, and the roles of culture and language in understanding all of these. She then turns to our role as residents of the Earth, arguing that we become human as we deepen our relation to our people and to our places, and as we understand the responsibilities that grow from those relationships. In the final section, she calls for a new reverence in a world where there is no distinction between the sacred and the mundane. Cordova clearly contrasts Native American beliefs with the traditions of the Enlightenment and Christianized Europeans. By doing so, she leads her readers into a deeper understanding of both traditions and encourages us to question any view that claims a singular truth. From these essays—which are lucid, insightful, frequently funny, and occasionally angry—we receive a powerful new vision of how we can live with respect, reciprocity, and joy
    On DRL Full text
    Cordova, Viola (Jicarilla Apache/Hispanic). Ethics: The We and the I
    2004, In: American Indian Thought: Philosophical Essays. Anne Waters (ed.), Blackwell (Oxford)..
    Chapter 14, pp. 173-81.
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This book brings together a diverse group of American Indian thinkers to discuss traditional and contemporary philosophies and philosophical issues. The essays presented here address philosophical questions pertaining to knowledge, time, place, history, science, law, religion, nationhood, ethics, and art, as understood from a variety of Native American standpoints. Unique in its approach, this volume represents several different tribes and nations and amplifies the voice of contemporary American Indian culture struggling for respect and autonomy. Taken together, the essays collected here exemplify the way in which American Indian perspectives enrich contemporary philosophy.
    On DRL Full text
    Akkitiq, Atuat, Akpaliapak Karetak, Rhoda (Nunavut Inuit). Inunnguiniq (Making a Human Being)
    2017, In: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: What Inuit Have Always Known to be True. Joe Karetak, Frank Tester, Shirley Tagalik (eds.), Fernwood Publishing..
    Chapter 8, pp. 112-46.
    Expand entry
    Abstract: The Inuit have experienced colonization and the resulting disregard for the societal systems, beliefs and support structures foundational to Inuit culture for generations. While much research has articulated the impacts of colonization and recognized that Indigenous cultures and worldviews are central to the well-being of Indigenous peoples and communities, little work has been done to preserve Inuit culture. Unfortunately, most people have a very limited understanding of Inuit culture, and often apply only a few trappings of culture -- past practices, artifacts and catchwords --to projects to justify cultural relevance. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit -- meaning all the extensive knowledge and experience passed from generation to generation -- is a collection of contributions by well- known and respected Inuit Elders. The book functions as a way of preserving important knowledge and tradition, contextualizing that knowledge within Canada's colonial legacy and providing an Inuit perspective on how we relate to each other, to other living beings and the environment.

    Study Questions

    1. What are some of the ways in which you (the readers) have conceived of your identities and have been shaped by your communities?
    2. What are some of the ways in which identity has been conceived by Native North American communities?
    3. What are some the ways in which communities help to shape the identities of their members?
    4. Is individuality completely ignored or shunned within Native North American communities?
    5. What sorts of things bind the members of these communities together?
    6. What sorts of relationships might individuals occupy within their communities?
    7. And, what is the extent of the relationships that individuals can bear towards anything around them?
    Week 3. Sovereignty and Self-Determination

    Sovereignty and self-determination are the heart of Native North American ethical concern, seeing as both have been and are stil under constant siege from industry, neighboring governments, and social mentalities which have both colonial ethnocentrism and imperialism still embedded within them. As such, this section’s readings are dedicated to informing readers of how various Native North American communities conceive of their rights to exist in peace, live freely and autonomously on their lands, and share in the mutual respect that all peoples should be afforded, as well as what battles have been and are still being fought, both practically and intellectually, given the significant colonial violence and abuse that Native North American communities continue to navigate and challenge.

    On DRL Full text
    Mankiller, Wilma, et al. (Cherokee). Everyday is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women
    2004, Fulcrum Publishing..
    Chapter 4, "Governance: The People and the Land", pp. 75-94 .
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Nineteen prominent Native artists, educators, and activisits share their candid and often profound thoughts on what it means to be a Native American woman in the early 21st century. Their stories are rare and often intimate glimpses of women who have made a conscious decision to live every day to its fullest and stand for something larger than themselves.
    On DRL Full text Read free
    Cobb-Greetham, Amanda (Chickasaw). Understanding Tribal Sovereignty: Definitions, Conceptualizations, and Interpretations
    2005, American Studies, 46(3), 115–132..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: Forty years have passed since the Midcontinent American Studies Journal published its landmark special issue, "The Indian Today."  Since that publication, the landscape of Indian country has changed dramatically. This change has come primarily from an amazing cultural resurgence among Native Peoples in the United States — a resurgence that has manifested itself in everything from the Red Power movement to the birth of American Indian studies in the academy; to the renaissance of contemporary Native art, literature, and film; to the creation of tribal colleges, museums, and cultural centers; to the unprecedented rise in economic development; to notable gains in power in political and legal arenas.
    On DRL Full text
    Alfred, Gerald Taiaiake (Mohawk/Kanien’kehá:ka). Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom
    2005, University of Toronto Press..
    Chapter 1, "Rebellion of Truth".
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: The word Wasáse is the Kanienkeha (Mohawk) word for the ancient war dance ceremony of unity, strength, and commitment to action. The author notes, "This book traces the journey of those Indigenous people who have found a way to transcend the colonial identities which are the legacy of our history and live as Onkwehonwe, original people. It is dialogue and reflection on the process of transcending colonialism in a personal and collective sense: making meaningful change in our lives and transforming society by recreating our personalities, regenerating our cultures, and surging against forces that keep us bound to our colonial past."
    On DRL Full text
    Coulthard, Glen (Yellowknives Dene/T'atsaot'ine). Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition
    2014, University of Minnesota Press..
    Introduction, pp. 22-80; Chapter 5, “The Plunge into the Chasm of the Past: Fanon, Self-Recognition, and Decolonization", pp. 336-81.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Over the past forty years, recognition has become the dominant mode of negotiation and decolonization between the nation-state and Indigenous nations in North America. The term “recognition” shapes debates over Indigenous cultural distinctiveness, Indigenous rights to land and self-government, and Indigenous peoples’ right to benefit from the development of their lands and resources. In a work of critically engaged political theory, Glen Sean Coulthard challenges recognition as a method of organizing difference and identity in liberal politics, questioning the assumption that contemporary difference and past histories of destructive colonialism between the state and Indigenous peoples can be reconciled through a process of acknowledgment. Beyond this, Coulthard examines an alternative politics—one that seeks to revalue, reconstruct, and redeploy Indigenous cultural practices based on self-recognition rather than on seeking appreciation from the very agents of colonialism. Coulthard demonstrates how a “place-based” modification of Karl Marx’s theory of “primitive accumulation” throws light on Indigenous–state relations in settler-colonial contexts and how Frantz Fanon’s critique of colonial recognition shows that this relationship reproduces itself over time. This framework strengthens his exploration of the ways that the politics of recognition has come to serve the interests of settler-colonial power. In addressing the core tenets of Indigenous resistance movements, like Red Power and Idle No More, Coulthard offers fresh insights into the politics of active decolonization.

    Study Questions

    1. In general, what are some of the ways in which sovereignty and self-determination have been conceived?
    2. In general, what are some of the ways in which those sorts of sovereignty and self-determination can be undermined?
    3. What are some of the ways in which Native North Americans have conceived of their sovereignty and self-determination?
    4. What sorts of conceptions of identity or community have underpinned their thinking about sovereignty and self-determination?
    5. How has the sovereignty and self-determination of Native North Americans been undermined?
    Week 4. Love, Sexuality, Sex, and Gender

    Native North American people and communities are immensely diverse in their conceptions of love, sexuality, sex, and gender. The readings in this section, several conceptions are presented to readers from both the past and the present, and discussions are prompted as to how they have played out for individuals and communities over time.

    On DRL
    Beauchemin, Michel, Levy, Lori, Vogel, Gretchen. Two Spirit People
    1991, Frameline. 20 min. USA..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: An overview of historical and contemporary Native American concepts of gender, sexuality and sexual orientation. This documentary explores the berdache tradition in Native American culture, in which individuals who embody feminine and masculine qualities act as a conduit between the physical and spiritual world, and because of this are placed in positions of power within the community.
    Full text
    Mankiller, Wilma, et al. (Cherokee). Everyday is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women
    2004, Fulcrum Publishing..
    Chapter 6, "Love And Acceptance", pp. 125-42.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Nineteen prominent Native artists, educators, and activisits share their candid and often profound thoughts on what it means to be a Native American woman in the early 21st century. Their stories are rare and often intimate glimpses of women who have made a conscious decision to live every day to its fullest and stand for something larger than themselves.
    On DRL Full text
    Maracle, Lee (Stö:lo). I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism
    2002, Press Gang Publishers, Canada..
    Preface, pp. VI-XII; Chapter 2, "I am Woman", pp. 14-19.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: I Am Woman represents my personal struggle with womanhood, culture, traditional spiritual beliefs and political sovereignty, written during a time when that struggle was not over. My original intention was to empower Native women to take to heart their own personal struggle for Native feminist being. The changes made in this second edition of the text do not alter my original intention. It remains my attempt to present a Native woman's sociological perspective on the impacts of colonialism on us, as women, and on my self personally.
    On DRL Full text
    Byrd, Jodi (Chickasaw). What’s Normative Got to Do with It?: Toward Indigenous Queer Relationality
    2020, Social Text, 38 (4 (145)): 105–123..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This article considers the queer problem of Indigenous studies that exists in the disjunctures and disconnections that emerge when queer studies, Indigenous studies, and Indigenous feminisms are brought into conversation. Reflecting on what the material and grounded body of indigeneity could mean in the context of settler colonialism, where Indigenous women and queers are disappeared into nowhere, and in light of Indigenous insistence on land as normative, where Indigenous bodies reemerge as first and foremost political orders, this article offers queer Indigenous relationality as an additive to Indigenous feminisms. What if, this article asks, queer indigeneity were centered as an analytic method that refuses normativity even as it imagines, through relationality, a possibility for the materiality of decolonization?
    On DRL
    TallBear, Kim (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate). Making Love and Relations Beyond Settler Sexuality
    2016, Lecture. The Ecologies of Social Difference Research Network. University of British Columbia..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: Lecture as part of the Social Justice Institute Noted Scholars Lecture Series, co-presented by the Ecologies of Social Difference Research Network at the University of British Columbia.

    Study Questions

    1. What sorts of conceptions of love, sexuality, sex, and gender do you (the readers) have?
    2. What sorts of conceptions of the same do Native North Americans have?
    3. How do these conceptions compare and contrast?
    4. In what sorts of ways has colonialism affected Native North Americans’ relationships with other members of their communities and themselves?
    5. What sorts of worries have Native North Americans raised about the differences in various conceptions of love, sexuality, sex, and gender?
    Week 5. Justice

    Justice, as with everything else in this blueprint, comes in many shapes and sizes among Native North American communities. Victims, perpetrators, and communities are all considered – but, how they are treated is often different from one community to the next, depending on their historical experiences. And, even further, they are also often treated differently from how Anglo-European conceptions of justice have tended to treated them. The readings in this section provide insights into how justice and law have been conceived and enacted within different communities, as well as how communities have sought justice from those outside of their communities.

    Full text
    Various Contributors (Nunavut Inuit). Uqalurait: An Oral History of Nunavut
    2008, John R. Bennett and Susan Rowley (eds.). McGill-Queen's University Press..
    Chapter 8 "Justice", pp. 99-105.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Uqalurait presents a comprehensive account of Inuit life on land and sea ice in the area now called Nunavut, before extensive contact with southerners. Drawing on a broad range of oral history sources - from nineteenth-century exploration accounts to contemporary community-based projects - the book uses quotes from over three hundred Inuit elders to provide an 'inside' view of family life, social relations, hunting, the land, shamanism, health, and material culture. For the first time, the reader encounters Inuit culture and traditional knowledge through the voices of people who lived the life being described. Based on a larger research project developed under the guidance of six Inuit from across Nunavut, Uqalurait consists of thousands of quotations organised thematically into cohesive chapters. The book describes the seasonal rounds of four different groups, capturing the fact that while Inuit across Nunavut had much in common, there was also much to distinguish them from each other, living as they did in many small groups of people, each with its own territory and identity. Given the recent creation of Nunavut and the current focus of attention on the Arctic due to climate change, Uqalurait is a timely source of insight from a people whose values of sharing and respect for the environment have helped them to live contentedly for centuries at the northern limit of the inhabitable world.
    On DRL Full text
    Waziyatawin (Wahpetunwan Dakota). What Does Justice Look Like?: The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland
    2008, Living Justice Press..
    Introduction, pp. 3-15; Chapter 3 “Taking Down the Fort,” pp. 17-70; Chapter 5 “Developing Peaceful Co-existence,” pp. 97-118.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: During the past 150 years, the majority of Minnesotans have not acknowledged the immense and ongoing harms suffered by the Dakota People ever since their homelands were invaded over 200 years ago. Many Dakota people say that the wounds incurred have never healed, and it is clear that the injustices: genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass executions, death marches, broken treaties, and land theft; have not been made right. The Dakota People paid and continue to pay the ultimate price for Minnesota's statehood.This book explores how we can embark on a path of transformation on the way to respectful coexistence with those whose ancestral homeland this is. Doing justice is central to this process. Without justice, many Dakota say, healing and transformation on both sides cannot occur, and good, authentic relations cannot develop between our Peoples. Written by Wahpetunwan Dakota scholar and activist Waziyatawin of Pezihutazizi Otunwe, What Does Justice Look Like? offers an opportunity now and for future generations to learn the long-untold history and what it has meant for the Dakota People. On that basis, the book offers the further opportunity to explore what we can do between us as Peoples to reverse the patterns of genocide and oppression, and instead to do justice with a depth of good faith, commitment, and action that would be genuinely new for Native and non-Native relations.
    On DRL
    Dickie, Bonnie. Hollow Water
    2000, NFB. 48 min. Canada..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This documentary profiles the tiny Ojibway community of Hollow Water on the shores of Lake Winnipeg as they deal with an epidemic of sexual abuse in their midst. The offenders have left a legacy of denial and pain, addiction and suicide. The Manitoba justice system was unsuccessful in ending the cycle of abuse, so the community of Hollow Water took matters into their own hands. The offenders were brought home to face justice in a community healing and sentencing circle. Based on traditional practices, this unique model of justice reunites families and heals both victims and offenders. The film is a powerful tribute to one community's ability to heal and create change.
    On DRL Full text Read free
    Yazzie, Robert (Navajo). “Life Comes from it”: Navajo Justice Concepts
    1994, New Mexico Law Review, (24)2, 175-90..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This paper offers a comparison between Navajo conceptions of law and justice based on the community's experiences to those of Anglo-european law and justice.

    Study Questions

    1. What is the difference between restorative and retributive justice?
    2. What are some of the conceptions of justice that Native North American communities have offered, and how are they infromed by the communties’ past?
    3. What are some of the ways in which one or another Native North American community displays one or the other sort of justice in question (1)?
    4. What are some of the ways in which Native North American communities differ from Anglo-European communities when it comes to enacting justice?
    5. What sorts of injustices have different Native North American communities suffered?
    6. What are some of the ways that Native North Americans have suggested that those injustices be rectified?
    Week 6. Environmental Stewardship and Animal Ties

    Native North American ethical concern often surrounds inter-relations to both the land and the lives of the non-human animals. Personal health, community health, community sustainability and survival, cultural wellbeing, religious experience – all our intertwined with the wellbeing of the environment. In this section’s readings, various perspectives are offered on just how deep the inter-relationships between people and the environment go, as well as how these relationships have been negatively affected by one or another form of oppression and what attempts are being made to counteract those effects.

    On DRL Full text
    Various Contributors (Nunavut Inuit). Uqalurait: An Oral History of Nunavut
    2008, John R. Bennett and Susan Rowley (eds.). McGill-Queen's University Press..
    Chapter 3 "Animals", pp. 43-9.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Uqalurait presents a comprehensive account of Inuit life on land and sea ice in the area now called Nunavut, before extensive contact with southerners. Drawing on a broad range of oral history sources - from nineteenth-century exploration accounts to contemporary community-based projects - the book uses quotes from over three hundred Inuit elders to provide an 'inside' view of family life, social relations, hunting, the land, shamanism, health, and material culture. For the first time, the reader encounters Inuit culture and traditional knowledge through the voices of people who lived the life being described. Based on a larger research project developed under the guidance of six Inuit from across Nunavut, Uqalurait consists of thousands of quotations organised thematically into cohesive chapters. The book describes the seasonal rounds of four different groups, capturing the fact that while Inuit across Nunavut had much in common, there was also much to distinguish them from each other, living as they did in many small groups of people, each with its own territory and identity. Given the recent creation of Nunavut and the current focus of attention on the Arctic due to climate change, Uqalurait is a timely source of insight from a people whose values of sharing and respect for the environment have helped them to live contentedly for centuries at the northern limit of the inhabitable world.
    On DRL Full text Read free
    Todd, Zoe (Métis/otipemisiw). Fish pluralities: Human-animal Relations and Sites of Engagement in Paulatuuq
    2014, Arctic Canada. Études/Inuit/Studies, 38(1-2), 217–238..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This article explores human-fish relations as an under-theorized “active site of engagement” in northern Canada. It examines two case studies that demonstrate how the Inuvialuit of Paulatuuq employ “fish pluralities” (multiple ways of knowing and defining fish) to negotiate the complex and dynamic pressures faced by humans, animals, and the environment in contemporary Arctic Canada. I argue that it is instructive for all Canadians to understand the central role of humans and animals, together, as active agents in political and colonial processes in northern Canada. By examining human-fish relationships, as they have unfolded in Paulatuuq over the last 50 years, we may develop a more nuanced understanding of the dynamic strategies that northern Indigenous people, including the Paulatuuqmiut (people from Paulatuuq), use to navigate shifting environmental, political, legal, social, cultural, and economic realities in Canada’s North. This article thus places fish and people, together, as central actors in the political landscape of northern Canada. I also hypothesize a relational framework for Indigenous-State reconciliation discourses in Canada today. This framework expands southern political and philosophical horizons beyond the human and toward a broader societal acknowledgement of complex and dynamic relationships between people, fish, and the land in Paulatuuq.
    On DRL Full text
    Burkhart, Brian (Cherokee). Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land: A Trickster Methodology of Decolonising Environmental Ethics and Indigenous Futures
    2019, Michigan State University Press..
    Preface, pp. vii-x; Chapter 1, “Philosophical Colonizing of People and Land”, pp. 3-58; Chapter 3, “Refragmenting Philosophy through the Land: What Black Elk and Iktomi Can Teach Us about Locality”, pp. 93-164.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: Land is key to the operations of coloniality, but the power of the land is also the key anticolonial force that grounds Indigenous liberation. This work is an attempt to articulate the nature of land as a material, conceptual, and ontological foundation for Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and valuing. As a foundation of valuing, land forms the framework for a conceptualization of Indigenous environmental ethics as an anticolonial force for sovereign Indigenous futures. This text is an important contribution in the efforts to Indigenize Western philosophy, particularly in the context of settler colonialism in the United States. It breaks significant ground in articulating Indigenous ways of knowing and valuing to Western philosophy—not as artifact that Western philosophy can incorporate into its canon, but rather as a force of anticolonial Indigenous liberation. Ultimately, Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land shines light on a possible road for epistemically, ontologically, and morally sovereign Indigenous futures.
    On DRL Full text
    Kimmerer, Robin Wall (Potawatomi). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants
    2015, Milkweed Editions..
    Preface, pp. ix-x; Chapter 1, "Planting Sweetgrass", pp. 3-62.
    Expand entry
    Publisher’s Note: As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.
    On DRL Full text
    Powys Whyte, Kyle, Cuomo, Chris (Potawatomi). Ethics of Caring in Environmental Ethics: Indigenous and Feminist Philosophies
    2016, In The Oxford Handbok of Environmental Ethics, Stephen Gardiner and Allen Thompson (eds.), OUP.
    Chapter 20, pp. 234-47.
    Expand entry
    Abstract: Indigenous ethics and feminist care ethics offer a range of related ideas and tools for environmental ethics. These ethics delve into deep connections and moral commitments between nonhumans and humans to guide ethical forms of environmental decision making and environmental science. Indigenous and feminist movements such as the Mother Earth Water Walk and the Green Belt Movement are ongoing examples of the effectiveness of on-the-ground environmental care ethics. Indigenous ethics highlight attentive caring for the intertwined needs of humans and nonhumans within interdependent communities. Feminist environmental care ethics emphasize the importance of empowering communities to care for themselves and the social and ecological communities in which their lives and interests are interwoven. The gendered, feminist, historical, and anticolonial dimensions of care ethics, indigenous ethics, and other related approaches provide rich ground for rethinking and reclaiming the nature and depth of diverse relationships as the fabric of social and ecological being.
    On DRL
    Various Contributors (Indigenous Communities across California). Indigenous Land Stewardship: Tending Nature
    2021, KCET. 57min. USA..
    Expand entry
    Abstract: This "Tending Nature" special features multiple perspectives and voices from Indigenous communities across California who are striving to keep the practices of their heritage alive. From coming-of-age rituals, seasonal food harvests, basket weaving and jewelry making, the documentary shares how traditional practices can be protected and maintained as a way of life for future generations.

    Study Questions

    1. What are some of the ways in which Native North Americans have conceived of their (inter)relations to the environment and non-human animal life?
    2. In what ways are those conceptions informing (or are informed by) broader aspects of one or another community?
    3. How do these conceptions differ from various Anglo-European conceptions of the environment and non-human animal life?
    4. What are some of the environmental problems that Native North American communities face?
    5. To what extent are those problems similar or different to other non-Native North American communities?
    6. How have Native North American communities sought to redress those problems – and to what extent are they similar or different to non-Native communities?
    Week 7. Cultural Hope, Revitalization, and Preservation

    As we expressed in our introduction, Native North American communities have faced grave challenges resulting from settler colonial violence. Despite these challenges, Native North American communities have persisted and found ways to strengthen their communities. In this section’s readings, the focus is on how such cultural hope has manifested – how Native North American thinkers present ways that they can and should preserve, defend, or revitalize their cultures, as well as how communities have attempted to do so. 

    Full text
    Mankiller, Wilma, et al. (Cherokee). Everyday is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women
    2004, Fulcrum Publishing..
    Chapter 7, "The Way Home", pp. 143-69.
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    Publisher’s Note: Nineteen prominent Native artists, educators, and activisits share their candid and often profound thoughts on what it means to be a Native American woman in the early 21st century. Their stories are rare and often intimate glimpses of women who have made a conscious decision to live every day to its fullest and stand for something larger than themselves.
    On DRL
    Vaughan-Lee, Emmanuel. Marie’s Dictionary
    2014, Self-Produced. 10min. USA..
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    Abstract: This short documentary tells the story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language, and the dictionary she created to keep her language alive. For Ms. Wilcox, the Wukchumni language has become her life. She has spent more than twenty years working on the dictionary and continues to refine and update the text. Through her hard work and dedication, she has created a document that will support the revitalization of the Wukchumni language for decades to come. Along with her daughter, Jennifer Malone, she travels to conferences throughout California and meets other tribes who struggle with language loss. Ms. Wilcox’s tribe, the Wukchumni, is not recognized by the federal government. It is part of the broader Yokuts tribal group native to Central California. Before European contact, as many as 50,000 Yokuts lived in the region, but those numbers have steadily diminished. Today, it is estimated that fewer than 200 Wukchumni remain.
    On DRL Full text
    Mihesuah, Devon (Choctaw). Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains?
    2000, Devon Mihesuah (ed.), University of Nebraska Press..
    Chapter 5, "American Indians, Anthropologists, Pothunters, and Repatriation Ethical, Religious, and Political Differences," pp. 95-105.
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    Publisher’s Note: In the past decade the repatriation of Native American skeletal remains and funerary objects has become a lightning rod for radically opposing views about cultural patrimony and the relationship between Native communities and archaeologists. In this unprecedented volume, Native Americans and non-Native Americans within and beyond the academic community offer their views on repatriation and the ethical, political, legal, cultural, scholarly, and economic dimensions of this hotly debated issue. While historians and archaeologists debate continuing non-Native interests and obligations, Native American scholars speak to the key cultural issues embedded in their ancestral pasts. A variety of sometimes explosive case studies are considered, ranging from Kennewick Man to the repatriation of Zuni Ahayu:da. Also featured is a detailed discussion of the background, meaning, and applicability of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as well as the text of the act itself.

    Study Questions

    1. In what ways have Native North Americans tried to defend or revitalize their cultures?
    2. Why is it so important to them that they do so?
    3. What sorts of challenges have Native North Americans faced in trying to defend or revitalize their cultures?
    4. To what extent do the actions of non-native individuals or communities indicate a lack of respect for Native North American cultures?
    5. How do you (the reader) think we can change to foster greater respect for Native North American communities?