Review of G. Cajete on
Indigenous Science, p.1
1. Essence of Indigenous Spirituality
Belief in the sanctity of personal and
community relationships to the
natural world
Spirituality is found in stories, art, and
ways of relating in community
Creativity
i.e., Indigenous spirituality sees
creativity as ubiquitous in nature
and human creativity as part of
that larger creativity in nature.
Nature is seen as a dynamic,
ever-flowing river of creativity. (p. 15)
2.
Premises of Chaos Theory
• Chaos is the condition from which
everything in nature evolves and to
which everything returns.
• Everything is in a state of flux.
• Systems are beyond the ability of
scientists to predict or control, except
at the most superficial levels, and all
of nature is a chaotic system.
• Self-organization (“creativity”) out of
chaos occurs everywhere in nature.
• Everything is related/interconnected
(interdependency of system parts in
feedback loops).
• “The Butterfly Effect” (p. 18): Even
small things have large-scale
cumulative effects over a period of
time (due to the interdependency of
system parts in feedback loops).
3.
Principles of The Creative
Participation Mystique
• Engagement and Receptivity
• Respectful and Caring
Relationship to “The Land”
• “Animism”
Everything in nature, even things like
rocks that western science regards
as inanimate, is active and has its
own energy and its own unique
intelligence and creative process.
• Harmonious Relationships
• Intersubjectivity
• Participation.
4. The Metaphoric Mind (vs the
linear thinking ‘rational’ mind)
• Native science is expressed in metaphors
contained in stories, art, dance, song,
ritual, music, astronomical knowledge and
in healing, hunting, fishing.
Understanding Indigenous science
begins with developing the creative
ability to decode layers of meaning
embedded in symbols (e.g., art)
• Lateral (metaphoric) thinking is, in some
respects, hindered when the child acquires
language, because language categorizes
and “chops up” the world.
• Alienation (e.g., of humans from each other
and from nature) is a symptom of the
imprisonment of the metaphoric mind by
the rational mind.
5.
Indigenous Creation Myths
• Tend to emphasize human participation
with the creative forces of the universe
• Involve a natural “democracy” (equality)
whereby humans are not privileged as
dominant over other beings.
• Often involve humans moving through
stages (evolution / journey
• Humans are often seen as co-creators,
but no more important than other cocreators
• Often involve the trickster (e.g., raven or
coyote) or the cultural hero, who are
intelligent, possesses supernatural
powers, and are often 2-sided
• Often involve rather fluid lines between
humans and other animals,
as each could
transform into the
other.
6. Vehicles for Transmitting /
Accessing Indigenous
Scientific Knowledge
a) Ceremonies
b) Vision quests
c) Myths and Stories
7. Indigenous Art:
General Introduction
• The Indig artist selects the features that
are the essence and vitality of the
phenomenon being portrayed, and
expresses those features in the chosen
medium.
Thus, the “aliveness” of the artefact, rather
than its beauty, is the primary aesthetic
criterion.
• has a ceremonial dimension that is
sacred and transforms the artist “at the
very core of his being” (p. 46.)
Thus, the process of making the art is much
more important than the product.
• Apprenticeship is the primary means for
learning a particular art form.
8.
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The Pattern Followed
in Creating Ceremonial
Indigenous Art
Preparation
Sources of Raw Materials
Adherence to Symbolic Patterns
The Time Must Be Right
Right Place
Letting Go and Becoming
Intrinsic Well-Practiced Belief
Packing of a Symbol
The Vigil
The Completion
Give-away
Use and Appreciation
9. The “Essential
Cosmological Clash”
• What is Cosmology?
- deep-rooted understandings of “human-ness”
and our place in the universe.
• What is “The Essential Cosmological
Clash” ?
between:
and
egalitarian Indigenous
worldviews that regard
all things as having
rights,
the hierarchical western
notion that humans
have a special place in
the universe that gives
us rights (dominion)
over and above other
parts of Creation.
• Dysfunctionality & Crisis of W.
Cosmology