INDG2015 week 4 slides public

INDG 2015
Week 4
Indigenous ecological ways of knowing, North
America (Part 2)
Copyright Professor Zoe Todd 2020

Week 3 Recap
| Watershed activity
| Kimmerer: relationality and reciprocity,
continued
| Nicholas Reo, Vanessa Watts:
ecological ways of knowing, relationality
• Ontology vs epistemology vs Indigenous Place-Thought
Copyright Professor Zoe Todd
2020

§ Leroy Little Bear: relationships,
Indigenous vs Western worldviews
§ George Manuel, “Mutual Dependence” and
the ‘Fourth World’
§ Kimmerer: “A Mother’s Work” and
“Consolation of Waterlilies”
§ Paulla Ebron: “Enchanted memories of
regional difference in African American
culture”
Objectives for Today’s Class
2020

Western (Euro-American) notions of
‘environment’
Image 2: Source
The ‘sublime’ environment,
void of humans – an
environment that is separate
from culture and/or the social
(ie: humans should be kept
out of nature, nature is
‘pristine’)
The basis of white/settler
North American
environmentalism (Thoreau,
Muir etc)
For further reading: William Cronon, The Trouble With Nature
https://williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness_Main.html

The western ‘nature/culture’ split
§ ‘wild’ vs
‘domesticated’
(Cronon 1996)
§ ‘nature’ vs ‘culture’
(Descola 2009)
§ Western
perspectives tend
to place humans
outside of nature as
opposed to co-
constituents of their
environment
Photo credit: Zoe ToddCopyright Professor Zoe Todd 2020

Indigenous worldviews and
cosmologies
We will not be able to discuss all Indigenous
worldviews in this course. However, we can discuss
some major discourses in Indigenous environmental
studies in Canada.
However, a general perspective for many Indigenous
nations/societies in North America is that humans are
deeply enmeshed in the environment
(lands/waters/atmospheres) through relationships of
reciprocity. Humans are dependent on nonhuman
beings for survival. There is no separation between
‘nature’ and ‘culture’ or society. They are all integral,
connected. Interdependent.
2020

Indigenous land/water/environmental
perspectives
Vanessa Watts (2013:23):
“habitats and ecosystems are
better understood as societies
from an Indigenous point of
view; meaning that they have
ethical structures, inter-species
treaties and agreements, and
further their ability to interpret,
understand and implement. Non-
human beings are active
members of society.”
Photo credit: Zoe Todd

Leroy Little Bear
§ From Kainai First
Nation
§ Founding member of
Native American
Studies Department at
Harvard
§ Professor Emeritus,
University of
Lethbridge, legal
scholar
§ Indigenous
philosopher
Source: Wikipedia
Image: https://www.alberta.ca/aoe-leroy-little-bear.aspx

Little Bear “Jagged Worldviews
Colliding” (2000)
§ “One of the problems with colonialism is
that it tries to maintain a singular social
order by means of force and law,
suppressing the diversity of human
worldviews. The underlying differences
between Aboriginal and Eurocentric
worldviews make this a tenuous
proposition at best. Typically, this
proposition creates oppression and
discrimination.” – Little Bear, 2000, p. 1
2020

Writing from his perspective as a Kainai,
Blackfoot scholar, Little Bear argues:
“In Aboriginal philosophy, existence consists of energy. All
things are animate, imbued with spirit, and inconstant motion. In
this realm of energy and spirit, interrelationships between all
entities are of paramount importance space is a more important
referent than time. Although I am referring to the philosophy of
the Plains Indians, there is enough similarity among North
American Indian philosophies to apply the concepts generally,
even though there may be individual differences or differing
emphases.” (Little Bear 2000, p. 1)
2020

Leroy Little Bear
§ Indigenous worldviews vs Science
§ Watch this short talk by Dr. Little Bear
§ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJS
J28eEUjI

Activity
§ Reflecting on the Leroy Little Bear
video, list three examples of Indigenous
and European worldviews differing
§ Reflecting on the video, list three
examples of Indigenous and European
worldviews resonating/being similar
2020

George Manuel (1921-1989)
§ Born 1921, Member of the
Neskonlith Indian Nation
(Secwepemc)
§ President of the North American
Indian Brotherhood of BC (1959)
§ President of National Indian
Brotherhood (1970)
§ Concept of The Fourth World
(1974)
§ World Council of Indigenous
Peoples (1975)
Source:
https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/george_manuel/
Source:
https://www.thecanadianencycloped
ia.ca/en/article/george-manuel

§ “The term originated in Georgia with a remark
by Mbuto Milando, first secretary of
the Tanzanian High Commission, in
conversation with George Manuel, Chief of the
National Indian Brotherhood (now
the Assembly of First Nations). Milando stated
that "When Native peoples come into their
own, on the basis of their own cultures and
traditions, that will be the Fourth World."[2][3]”
§ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_World
4th world and Indigeneity
2020

Manuel and Milando 4th world con’t
Valerie Alia, The New Media Nation, 2012, p. 13-14
§ “Manuel used the term “Fourth World” to clarify the position of
Indigenous Peoples in relation to the layers of dominance and
subordination, and centrality and marginalization of peoples
within political power structures in their relatively privileged
“First” and “Second” worlds and the “Developing” or “Third”
world (Manuel and Posluns 1974; Bodley 1999: 77-85, Dyck 1985).
Peoples of the “Fourth World” cannot be confined within national
or state borders. For Manuel, language and communication help
to engineer and maintain the oppression of Indigenous peoples. In
the context of the Fourth World theory, “Nation” refers to a
community or group united by common descent and/or language
(Murphy 2000). Manuel framed the Fourth World not as a place,
but as a global highway. “The Fourth World is not...a destination.
It is the right to travel freely, not only on our road but in our own
vehicles” (Manuel and Posluns 1974: 217).”
2020

George Manuel - mutual dependence
§ “The Indian nations
have given more to the
world’s technology
than they have
received from it.”
Manuel 1974 (2019)
Chapter 1 (Mutual
Dependence)
Photo credit: Zoe Todd
2020

George Manuel - mutual dependence
§ Manuel, writing in 1974,
outlines a concept of ‘mutual
dependence’, whereby he
argues that the first five
generations of European-
Indigenous contact in
north/eastern North America
(eastern Canada/US) was a
relationship of relative
reciprocity (*this is not to
erase the genocidal realities of
other post-contact
geographies/periods in the
Americas)
Photo credit: Zoe ToddCopyright Professor Zoe Todd
2020

Question:
§ Manuel argues this more reciprocal
engagement ended abruptly by the War of
1812 – what is the cause of this shift in
relations, according to him?
2020

Answer:
§ Manuel argues: “Concepts of honour, tradition,
law, and order could not prevail against the
more purely economic motives of an
acquisitive society religiously committed to
possessive individualism.”* (emphasis added)
§ In other words: when northeastern nations
were no longer useful to the State, the nation-
states enforced their own worldviews
(‘possessive individualism’)
§ *Manuel, George. 1974. The Fourth World, Chapter 1, University of Minnesota
Press. Kindle Edition. “
2020

Activity
§ What does this “possessive individualism”
that Manuel identifies as a major driver of the
US/Canada nation states mean for the
environment?
§ Write out a few examples of how ‘possessive
individualism’ impacts the environment,
based on the last few weeks of reading
and/or your own
research/studies/experiences
2020

§ Manuel argues that what followed ‘mutual
dependence’ in the US/Canada north-east
was genocidal: starvation, land theft,
weaponization of disease
§ In the US this fell under the ideology of
‘Manifest Destiny’
§ In Canada: a ‘Dominion’ as applied in lieu
of Manifest Destiny (Dominion is a
biblical concept entrenching human
mastery over lands/waters/airs and
animals) (Manuel 1974, Chapter 1)
2020

Indigenous-settler histories in
British Columbia
§ Manuel demonstrates that between 1835-
1885, Indigenous nations in what is currently
known as British Columbia lost 60% of their
population (for some nations, this was as
high as 90%) (Manuel, 1974, Chapter 1)
§ Important to consider the impact this has on
the environment – colonial genocide disrupts
multi-millennia deep relationships between
humans and the nonhuman world
2020

George Manuel
§ Regarding Indigenous peoples in
Canada:
| “We were not banished from our land. It is
as though the land was moved from under
us. The struggle that was to come was for
the mind and soul of the Indian people.
We had lost our land. Now they would try
to convince us it was for our own good.”
§ Source: Manuel, George. 1974. Chapter 1, The
Fourth World . University of Minnesota Press. Kindle
Edition. Copyright Professor Zoe Todd
2020

Looking at Little Bear and Manuel’s
ideas in practice today:
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/can-
indigenous-land-stewardship-protect-biodiversity-/

National Geographic, 2019:
§ “But as our collective understanding of the imperiled
state of our planet grows—the 6th extinction,
escalating climate change, and exceeding planetary
boundaries—the global discourse and actions are
shifting toward a greater acknowledgement of the
role of indigenous peoples and local communities
and their traditional territories in biodiversity
conservation and climate change resilience. Recent
research demonstrates that while the world’s 370
million indigenous peoples make up less than five
percent of the total human population, they manage
or hold tenure over 25 percent of the world’s land
surface and support about 80 percent of the global
biodiversity.” (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/can-
indigenous-land-stewardship-protect-biodiversity-/#close) Copyright Professor Zoe Todd
2020

Indigenous worldviews in
practice:
Source: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/indigenous-
managed-lands-found-to-harbor-more-biodiversity-than-
protected-areas/ Copyright Professor Zoe Todd 2020

Schuster et al. 2019
2020

Schuster et al. 2019
§ ...”we argue that recognizing the role of
Indigenous lands and leadership in biodiversity
conservation, and facilitating voluntary
partnerships to ensure the conservation of
habitats on Indigenous lands, may provide crucial
opportunities for many countries to meet their
international commitments to conservation.
Ideally, such partnerships will be led or co-led by
Indigenous communities to avoid historic
mistakes and support Indigenous land
management practices that allow us to meet or
exceed global conservation goals.” – Schuster et
al. 2019, p. 5
§ source: https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-
content/uploads/sites/3/2019/07/Schuster-et-al-Indigenous-lands.pdf

Kimmerer: water-plant-animal-
human relations
§ Watch this
short video
§ https://www.yo
utube.com/wat
ch?v=hunXHT
Ww3tQ

Activity
From the video:
§ Robin Wall Kimmerer: “How would salmon
define watershed health? How would
cedars define watershed health?”
§ Think about these questions for a few
moments and write them out, or perhaps
even or talk out your answers with
whoever is in your physical bubble or
virtual bubble online
2020

Activity, continued
§ In answering these questions, did you
draw upon western worldviews?
Indigenous worldviews? In what ways?
§ How does an Indigenous worldview help
us answer what the salmon and cedar
might want/need/desire?
§ How does western science help us answer
questions about what the salmon and
cedar might want/need/desire?
2020

Kimmerer: water worlds and
porous boundaries
§ The consolation of
water lilies:
§ “we spill over into
the world and the
world spills over
into us”(Kimmerer,
p. 102)
Photo credit: Zoe ToddCopyright Professor Zoe Todd 2020

§ What does it mean for the world to spill
over into us, as Kimmerer writes?
§ Think back to the watershed activity
from Week 3. How do you spill over into
the waters you labeled and put up on
the wall? How do they spill over into
you?
2020

Paulla Ebron
§ Ebron (1998) explores the layering of memories and
relationships in lands/waters by African-diasporic
peoples in the Georgia Sea Islands (using Julie
Dash’s film Daughters of the Dust to explore these
relationships)
§ The land is integral to the story that Daughters of the
Dust portrays:
| “A long shot of the river reveals that it too is marshy:
half-land, half-water. Swamps are a necessary part of
this natural/mental landscape of uncertainty. Palmetto
trees and Spanish moss are a reminder of the tropics,
of jungles: those wild and beautiful spaces that both
threaten and enhance human awareness.” (Ebron,
1998, p. 100)

§ Important to consider the
land/water/environmental histories,
knowledges, and experiences of Indigenous
peoples from Africa enslaved in the US – who
had knowledge of their homelands and
developed deep knowledge of the lands they
inhabited in the US. Diverse African-diasporic
communities in the US and Canada continue to
work with their environmental knowledge.
Ebron and Dash both present us with one
example of embodied environmental
knowledge in Sea Islands communities in
south-eastern USA. Copyright Professor Zoe Todd 2020

§ Tiffany King also explores the history of
the Sea Islands region and Julie Dash’s
work in her book The Black Shoals
§ Maia Butler explores the concept of
‘floating homelands’, from the work of
Edwidge Danticat, in her work here: “The
Exigency of the Floating Homeland and
Engaging Postnationalisms in the Classroom”
(https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/97804
29293023/chapters/10.4324/9780429293023-
14)

Floating Homelands (Maia
Butler, drawing from Edgwidge
Danticat)
§ Butler (2017): “My conception of the floating
homeland is an intervention into contemporary
critical discourse about home in diaspora
studies; it enters critical conversations about
the constructed and imaginary nature of
origins, and the disruption of the binary
between the home and host nations, and
seeks to conceptualize a postnational
construction of home in which migratory
subjects of the African diaspora can belong.”
(Butler 2017, p. 5)
source: https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1943007053.html?FMT=ABS

“The Gullah/Geechee Nation exist from
Jacksonville, NC to Jacksonville, FL. It
encompasses all of the Sea Islands and
thirty to thirty-five miles inland to the St.
John’s River. On these islands, people
from numerous African ethnic groups
linked with indigenous Americans and
created the unique Gullah language and
traditions from which later came
“Geechee.” The Gullah/Geechee people
have been considered “a nation within a
nation” from the time of chattel
enslavement in the United States until
they officially became an internationally
recognized nation on July 2, 2000.”
source:
https://gullahgeecheenation.com/

§ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqDTJ
ogdWmA&ab_channel=VICENews
Documentary on the Gullah
Geechee Nation

§ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0D
GijYiGQU&ab_channel=NationalGeograp
hic
2020

Summary
§ Summarizing all the readings this week:
§ Indigenous environmental relations and
cosmologies (worldviews), broadly, are built
around interdependence, inter-relationality
§ Dominant western (colonial/imperial) views
prioritize ownership, possession, capital
§ A shift towards treating
lands/waters/atmospheres/plants/animals/ro
cks and other beings as relations opens up
space to build differently in the face of
catastrophic climate change, biodiversity
loss Copyright Professor Zoe Todd 2020

Week 4
§ In-Class reflection
| Explain one way that western science and Indigenous
worldviews (broadly) differ and one way they are similar

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