I enjoyed the following virtual workshop from the Ontario Ministry of Education about the importance of Indigenous perspectives in STEM. The workshop is presented by Joseph Pitawanakwat, the director of Creators Garden, and Haley Higdon, program director of Natural Curiosity.
In my web searches, I discovered a book called Living on the Land that explores the knowledge of Indigenous women that has been largely overlooked by patriarchy-informed Western research. I have not yet had the time to read the book, but have added it to my reading list for the future. The podcast below discusses Living on the Land and the stories within.
The more I read about about Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Science in education, the more I have come to realize that the wisdom of Elders and Knowledge Keepers is an invaluable resource to educators. Speaking from personal experience, I know that it can be difficult to ask for advice or information from Traditional Knowledge Keepers if one doesn’t know the appropriate protocols for respectful engagement. I was very happy to find this resource that is the result of a meeting between 24 First Nations and Metis Knowledge Keepers from the Cree, Saulteaux, Dene,
and Métis nations across Saskatchewan. I believe that the information contained in this resource can help educators to initiate respectful conversation with members of the Indigenous nations in their local regions.
From the document:
“The goal of this document is to outline the consistencies in protocol that emerged from across the province of Saskatchewan. Therefore, this document is intended to only be a starting point for community agencies to begin working collaboratively with First Nations and Métis Traditional Knowledge Keepers.”
Find the document here.
https://www.macleans.ca/society/how-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-indigenous-knowledge/
This article from Macleans was an interesting read. George Nicholas from Simon Fraser University takes a look at the differences between Western and Indigenous science and Western science’s reluctance to accept traditional knowledge. He acknowledges that both sciences have value, which makes me think about how valuable it could be to incorporate multiple ways of knowing into science education.
This article from National Indigenous Television, News, and Programs (a division of Australia’s Special Broadcast Service), explores how Indigenous oral histories have preserved scientific knowledge for generations. Krystal de Napoli, a Gomeroi astrophysicist, explains how the Dreaming stories of Torres Strait Islanders contains ancient knowledge about stars and astronomy.
I really enjoyed this read and thought it did a wonderful job of explaining how stories can contain multitudes of knowledge from many different interconnected subject areas and allow for a deeper understanding of the environment.
You can find the article here.
The following article by Natalie Rademacher discusses post secondary educators who are combining their laboratory science courses with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Some of the educators who are named include Gregory Cajete, who we know from our course readings, and Samantha Chisholm Hatfield, who teaches at Oregon State University.
From the article:
“By meshing laboratory science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge, college professors aim to cultivate better environmental decision makers — and decisions.”
The document linked in this blog was a very interesting read. Dr. Darren Ranco, an anthropologist and member of the Penobscot Nation, worked with a team to develop the Wabanaki Youth in Science (WaYS) program. When it was first developed in 2013, WaYS was offered to teens so they could learn about STEM and environmental stewardship. The part of the document that really piqued my interest described the expansion of the program into Maine University. There are now four courses being offered that weave together western science and Indigenous science.
The Meewasin Valley Authority is a non-profit organization that cares for the South Saskatchewan River valley and natural areas in and around Saskatoon, SK. The group has recently introduced a new resource to help secondary (grades 9-12) teachers engage in place-based education with their students at one of the city’s conservation areas. I was particularly excited about this as I was involved with a bioblitz that brought elementary school children to the swale for tours, exploration, and pond-dipping activities. The swale is an interesting landscape that was once part of the river valley many years ago and is home to a number of wildlife species and even some rare prairie plants.
From the site:
‘These new digital resources create curriculum connections to a section of content in the Meewasin App called “Indigenous Connections to the Northeast Swale” as well as physical interpretive panels located at this site. They also include links to a variety of other content and have been designed to encourage teachers and students to take part in land-based activities throughout the Meewasin Valley with a focus on Treaty Outcomes, Arts Education, Social Studies, History, Indigenous Studies, Environmental Science & Health Science.’
The following paper is written from the perspective of an educator and a member of the Barren Lands Cree Nation, who grew up on the eastern shore of Reindeer Lake in Saskatchewan. It aims to provide a guide to including cultural content in science education. Throughout our readings and discussions, we have learned a lot about the value of place-based education and culturally relevant education. Although not aimed at post-secondary science classrooms, I still think the content is valuable as many of my Indigenous students come from northern Saskatchewan communities.
Michell, H. (2012). School science from the eyes of the Woodlands Cree: Using the migawap dwelling and traditional values as a guide to plot fundamental key concepts and ideas. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 32(2), 19-49.
I came across the video in this post while further researching my previous post. It is a talk by Dr. Myrle Ballard about the concept of Three-eyed Seeing, a framework that she developed for integration of Indigenous science, Western science, and our relations.