Indigenous Ways Of Knowing
Dr Leroy Little Bear’s dedication to education, leadership, community- building and advocacy has led to a United Nations declaration, changed the Constitution of Canada, and influenced the lives of thousands of students. Learn More here.
This week we are exploring ideas from his recent talk on Indigenous Ways of Knowing Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Mental Health, Wellness, and Healing by SAND.
Here are a few key principles from his fascinating talk. Each is a teaching and an opening for deep contemplation and understanding.
Two Ways of Knowing: Each culture carries an interpretive template. It shapes how we see ourselves, the land, time, and even what we call health or illness. What are some elements of your cultural template? Does the way you see the world tend more to facts and measuring, or toward relationship and ongoing change?
Identity as Relationship: Who would you be if your identity came from relationship rather than individuality? In what ways do you already identify yourself in and by relationships with other people and more than human family? In what ways to do you define yourself by personality, as who you are, and what you do.
Energy, Motion, and the Living World: Nothing is final. Everything is transforming, reforming, and responding. Our nervous system often responds to uncertainty with anxiety or fear. Is there a part of you that feels free as a response to this fluidity and change? Is your mother tongue more noun or action based?
Time, Stress, and Modern Illness: In what ways are you restoring your connection with nature? How do you celebrate the seasons and the moon cycles? Do you look at the sky? Are you walking on soil and rock or on Mother Earth? And how are changing your relationship with time urgency?
Ceremony, Sustainability, and Learning from the Land: Wisdom comes from listening long enough to know belonging. As a white settler, I hold in awareness to not extract Indigenous knowledge. I am inspired through what I am learning to deepen authentically into life and connection.
Let’s close with inviting gratitude for the living systems that support life. How might we bring this awareness more deeply into our daily life and awareness?
Join us each Sunday for our free community class. Share your insights in community. Details are here.