My PhD journey 5 — indigenous epistemologies and ‘Two Eyed Seeing’.
I have been thinking about indigenous knowledge for many years. Whilst teaching I developed a number of KS3 lessons that focussed on indigenous peoples. Limited by state school curriculum, I could only teach one lesson as part of the geography tropical rainforest forest scheme of work (SoW) which was part of the wider ecosystems SoW. We learnt about the Baka in Cameroon and the Penan in Malaysia. The Baka have a very musical culture and a distinct singing style (I first became aware of the Baka after stumbling into a small tent at a large well known festival in 1994 and witnessing an incredible set by the band Baka Beyond). We listened to their water drumming music and other videos of them singing and playing guitars. For the Penan we watched clips of Bruce Parry’s Tribe and the ‘complex signs used by the Penan to communicate’; the students would complete a simple worksheet from each. When I got to Sands School I had the opportunity to design multi-disciplinary lessons and so had the freedom to expand on this topic.
We still watched the videos and did the worksheets but we took our time over a few weeks spending the majority of the lessons in discussion. We asked why it might be important to learn about indigenous peoples and their connection to the non-humans in their world. There I introduced students to how indigenous peoples are on the front line of climate change and how they are fighting back. Then we made the connection to our own way of life through tree identification and the designing of their own Tree of Life. I was always cautious to avoid any romanticism and taught critical thinking around issues of anarcho-primitivism; which I believe are unhelpful when connecting indigenous knowledge with socio-environmental solutions. In my short 5 years teaching so far, these lessons were always popular with the kids at Sands and state schools.
I am drawn back into the world of indigenous epistemologies as I continue on my PhD path. It could be argued that indigenous economic systems are predicated on solidarity. Solidarity with the non-human agents they are in relationship with. How do I draw on indigenous knowledge ethically as a white Western social scientist? “Two-eyed seeing” might provide me with an answer. First introduced by Mi’kmaw First Nations elder Albert Marshall in 2004. It is the theory that seeks to weave together indigenous knowledge with western science to develop the best solutions to our ongoing crises.
I feel that this approach, implicit in Braiding Sweetgrass, will be of fundamental importance as I delve deeper into the human-plant relationship and the solidarity economies that emerge from those relationships.
