Tag Archives: orality

Module 3 Post 4: Curriculum Change in Nunavut: Towards Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Heather McGregor.

McGregor, H. (2012). Curriculum change in Nunavut: Towards Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. McGill Journal of Education. (47)3. 285-302

Though part of the required reading for this course, I am including this article in my weblog as it pertains directly to my research paper envisioning respectful and responsible place-based education within the contemporary model. In the article, Heather McGregor briefly outlines the political climate in Nunavut, and history of curriculum change that has brought about the current iterations of educational policy and practise that privilege Inuit language(s) and culture.

Through extensive collaboration with parents, elders, education professionals and policy makers; and coming at an extensive cost in effort and financial resources, the curriculum development initiatives in Nunavut exemplify “the kind of place-based culturally-responsive and Indigenous-knowledge based educational change called for by Indigenous education advocates.” (p.289) Furthermore, the process and product may be seen as successful examples upon which other jurisdictions may look.

McGregor cautiously identifies the significant Inuit population majority as reducing the constraints (p.290) to swift progress that may not be possible in the context of my research for educational change in more multi-cultural settings. However this does not devalue the examples set forth in the article, it simply re-identifies an obvious obstacle to my purpose. Nonetheless, I cam hopeful for a culturally blended and balanced learning experience that is inclusive of traditional environmental knowledge, experiential learning opportunities, Elders as teachers and caring between teacher and learner–all key aspects identified by McGregor (p.209-291)–without the requirement of Indigenous students to “give up or leave behind their rights, language, identities, histories and world views in order to participate” (p.288) and do not let “the formal system or [non-Indigenous] structures change those ways so much that they lose their meaning, and still prepare children to attain a standard level of education.” (p.295)

Of significant note, McGregor identifies that specific values and beliefs must be made explicit when reconceptualizing education, particularly when the majority of teachers are not Indigenous themselves.

Module 3 Post 3: Orality of the Northern Cree Indigenous Worlds, C. Weber-Pillwax.

Leave a reply

Weber-Pillwax, C. (2001) Orality of northern Cree indigenous worlds. Canadian journal of native education (25)2. 149-165

I turned to this article to explore the concept of orality and orality consciousness that I struggled with in the Friedel (2011) referenced in post one for this module. E-mail discussion with Heather McGregor and Dr. Marker helped clarify, and post to was a recommendation by Dr. Marker, but I wanted to deepen my understanding further; this article was selected for that purpose.

Weber-Pillwax’s article connects well to the early modules of ETEC 540 where orality is explored, particularly through Ong’s (1982) work on orality as a (very) complex state of being, or consciousness, including thought patterns, ceremonies, story-telling, dancing and singing. Weber-Pillwax builds on this definition and concurrently critiques Havelock’s (1986) analysis of the transition from primary orality to literacy to build an understanding of the northern Cree world-view and sense of identity rooted in orality, especially the understanding of and participation in traditional society and spiritual events–even if the language is not understood!

A significant portion of this article is dedicated to the English translation of “wihkotowin” and “macisimowin,” which are different ceremonies but both typically translated as “tea dance.” The discussion of the translations is centred around “tea dance” for wihkotowin as an oral translation, because those requiring a translation could not fully understand the meaning held within the word and participation in the ceremony as outsiders, and “tea dance” for macisimowin as a literate translation, because it adequately describes what happens at the ceremony celebrating a special event such a as a birthday. A (better?) literate translation of wihkotowin would be “dance of the ancestors.” This ceremony includes the opening of a bundle to signify the bringing into consciousness and the community, the spirits of those who have gone before, grandmothers, grandfather and ancestral spirits.

Off topic of my immediate reason for reviewing this article, but more directly aligned with my research paper, is the notable absence of a place-based identity, as so eloquently described in Basso’s work (see Module 3 Post 2). Presumably, this is for two reasons. The first is that the intention of the article was to elucidate orality, though I am not satisfied with this as my understanding is that place-based identity is so central to most Indigenous world views that it could not casually be omitted from any sense of identity. The second reason, and one that I am more likely to believe, is hidden in the brief history of the northern Cree with which Weber-Pillwax prefaces the article. In this history, she describes the elders’ fascination with a small turtle that she brought back from the city. Though not native to the area, the turtle is an important part of the collective memory. How did it get there? The northern Cree people are part of a group of Cree that originated in Ontario and Quebec (turtles’ natural habitat) and moved west to Alberta, possibly with the fur trade, to displace the Blackfoot and Dene who inhabited the area first. Because the northern Cree have not inhabited their current region for the 5000+ years that other Indigenous groups have lived in their traditional territories, their oral histories do not reference the land around them in the ways that others do.

Havelock, E. (1986) The muse learns to write: Reflections on orality and literacy from antiquity to the present. New York: Yale University Press

Ong, W. (1982) Orality and literacy. London: Routledge

Module 3 Post 2: Looking for Learning in all the Wrong Places, Tracy Friedel

Leave a reply

Friedel, T. (2011). Looking for learning in all the wrong places: Urban native youth’s cultured response to Western-oriented place-based learning. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 24(5). 531-546.

In this article, Tracy Friedel analyses the response on native youth to an outbound place-based learning experience, which is ment to reconnect them with their ancestral territories. The analysis takes place within the greater context of the youth striving to be both “Aboriginal” and “modern” at the same time, stereotypes of the “Ecological Indian,” Western interpretations of place-based learning and the responsibilities of Indigenous youth to “protect and preserve their traditional lands, resources and sacred sites upon which indigenous cultural heritage and identity is based.”

Friedel finds the youths’ response to be neither apathetic nor rebellious toward hegemonic power, but a subtle and complex cultured response based in orality, kinship and community. Somewhat ironically, she describes the groups’ recognition of the most significant places to not be within nature, but in the van used to transport the youths between sites.

Additional concepts of note described in the article include: Indigenous youths’ sense of urgency in preserving their culture, particularly with respect to traditional languages; the false perception of Western ecological/environmental experiences as synonymous with place-based learning and identity; and the focus of educational research aimed at improving Aboriginal graduation rates juxtaposed with the youths motivations for significant learning

Module 3 Post 1: Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache, Keith Basso.

Leave a reply

Basso, K. (1996). Stalking with stories. In Wisdom sits in places: Landscape and language among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

In this chapter of Wisdom Sits in Places, Basso exemplifies the reciprocal relationship of the Western Apache to their land is as it informs their moral being and self-image which then defines their relationship to the physical world, including the land. To do this, Basso elucidates the meaning of a variety of phrases from Western Apache elders that, when interpreted from a Western perspective seem nonsensical. However; Basso demonstrates that when taken in context of the Western Apache world view, which he also asserts is not dissimilar from many other Indigenous world views, these sayings not only make sense, but are deeply rooted in social and cultural belief. In his approach, Basso recollects his teachings under Western Apache elder, Nick Thompson, over a number of summers. In these recollections he describes the significance and subtleties of Indigenous place names, then connects stories to them–noting how Western Apache stories are always rooted in places, and all places have stories. Finally he describes the four main genre of Western Apache stories (distinguished by their temporal locations) and explains how historical tales, short and direct, are used to guide members of their society on “what it is that being an Apache should normally and properly entail.” (p. 52)