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Humainologie dialogue on Indigenous Ways of Knowing with website of Chantal and Zoom link, March 24

  • Arthur Clark
  • Mar 23, 2021
  • 6 min read

“The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.

All things are connected like the blood that unites one family.

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

The earth is sacred, and men and animals are but one part of it.

Treat the earth with respect so that it lasts for centuries to come and is a place of wonder and beauty for our children.”

- Chief Seattle

Hello again Dialogue Artists!

Indigenous Ways of Knowing is our topic for the creative dialogue tomorrow Wednesday March 24. It will be facilitated by Chantal Chagnon whose biographical sketch is at her website https://cree8.nationbuilder.com/chantal_chagnon

Chantal prefers a very open structure for the dialogue. Please come up with at least one good question to ask her. For developing your questions, you could use the book synopsis I sent a few days ago, Don Smith’s Seen but Not Seen; or you could use the synopsis circulated a few weeks ago (appended herewith again) of Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality by Bob and Cynthia Joseph.

Also here is my own question for all of us to keep in mind as we dialogue tomorrow: What is a specific highlight from this dialogue – an insight you gained from Indigenous ways of knowing - that might help us make Calgary a better city and also help us contribute toward a healthy global community for the future?

Here is the Zoom link provided by Shinobu for tomorrow night Wednesday March 24 starting at 6:30 PM in Calgary:

Topic: Humainologie creative dialogue Time: Mar 24, 2021 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Every week on Wed, until Apr 28, 2021, 9 occurrence(s) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83720756307?pwd=WVU2OGo3ZjMzWVMwdlVZUzY1RVMwdz09 Meeting ID: 837 2075 6307 Passcode: 12345

“We do not inherit the future from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Arthur

Book: (Bob Joseph with Cynthia F. Joseph) Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality (2019)

Reading my synopsis of a book falls far short of reading the book itself, though my synopsis might be sufficient for your purposes. Reading a book falls far short of putting into practice what the book suggests or doing further research of your own. That said, here’s my synopsis.

The historical orientation provided In the Introduction is a good place to start: “The path to reconciliation began in 1982 when the rights of Aboriginal Peoples were recognized in Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act. The next milestone on the journey was in 1998 when the federal government made the Statement of Reconciliation, thereby acknowledging government inflicted damage on Indigenous Peoples. …In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its Final Report: the first volume is titled Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.” Based on tens of thousands of testimonies from survivors, the deeply disturbing report raised the obvious question of where to go from here. And that led to 94 Calls to Action contained in the Final Report, “guidelines for moving forward together in a spirit of reconciliation.”

The expulsion of North America’s Indigenous Peoples from ancestral lands by Europeans is one of history’s major atrocities. I think that, somehow, I share in the responsibility for righting that wrong. This book is a concise and incisive guide to help with that process. The author Bob Joseph also has a presence on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO9v7CcDWiw

I was surprised at how little I knew about Canadian Indigenous Peoples, including very basic things. For example, I did not know that in British Columbia alone, there are “over 200 First Nations communities…each with its unique culture, traditions, and history.” Such communities will often have their own websites. A quick search of the internet led me to the website of the Aboriginal Friendship Center of Calgary https://www.afccalgary.org/

There are eleven distinct Indigenous language families in Canada. Within a language family, one may find languages as similar as French is to Spanish (and also as different). The linguistic and cultural diversity among Indigenous Peoples in Canada is comparable to the linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe. However, English is becoming the common language of Indigenous Peoples in Canada (except in Quebec). Also: “Aboriginal Peoples are the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian population.”

Indigenous communities differ in such things as governance structures and perceptions of authority. In some, with matriarchal traditions, women are considered the decision-making authorities. Governance structures have historical roots not only in the indigenous communities themselves, but – especially if the governance structure involves elections – in processes imposed from outside the communities, by acts of the Canadian government. Both a traditional governance structure and an externally imposed (electoral) governance structure may coexist in a community. The recent trend is to move away from elected toward the more traditional structures.

The author lists seven issues that are of particular concern for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: 1) Poorer health (higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, tuberculosis and many other diseases); 2) Lower levels of education; 3) Inadequate housing and crowded living conditions; 4) Lower income levels; 5) Higher levels of incarceration; 6) Higher rates of suicide; and 7) Higher rates of unemployment. “Indigenous leaders and negotiators will tend to place premium value on measures that increase levels of health, education, housing, and income in their communities, as well as on measures that decrease levels of unemployment, incarceration, substance abuse, and suicide.”

In Chapter 8, “Respect: A Path toward Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples,” we learn about the three R’s that prominent national Indigenous leaders have emphasized to guide an Indigenous relations process: Recognition, Respect, and Reconciliation. “Recognition means to recognize constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights. Respect means to address the uniqueness of individual Indigenous Peoples, their cultures, and their constitutionally protected rights. Reconciliation means to restore harmony between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”

Based on the three Rs’s, the author helped develop a training model for building effective relationships with Indigenous Peoples. The seven steps in this model can be remembered using the acronym RESPECT, as follows: Research, Examine, Strategize, Present, Evaluate, Customize, Transform.

Research. To work effectively with an Indigenous Community, research is essential, and it starts with examining yourself. There’s a checklist with such questions as “Are you comfortable working with Indigenous Peoples?” and “Do you have personal contacts for Indigenous advice?” Another checklist guides you in your research about the specific Indigenous community with which you would be interacting: such things as any existing cultural centres; books by community authors; and a website the community may have. Specific information to look for includes community profiles and statistics; fishing, hunting, and gathering activities; decision-making structures; and more. A list of half a dozen sources to use in your research is also provided.

Examine. Based on your research, examine how it might be relevant to your interactions with the community. Timing is important. The community may not have time to interact with you during the season when they are fishing, for example, or a recent death in the community may make this the wrong time to try to schedule a meeting with them. Details of several cases illustrate ways you can blunder despite your good intentions.

Strategize. This section is worth an entire book. It’s how to “put together a strategy for approaching the community that you hope to engage with.” We learn of the importance of cultural survival in the consciousness of Indigenous communities everywhere; and of their emphasis on the “Seventh Generation Principle” – All decisions must include consideration of impacts on community members seven generations into the future. Then there’s the principle of connectivity: “In this view, everything is connected. The spirit world is connected to the mortal world, the sea is connected to the land, the sky is connected to the ground….” This section made me understand why someone like me might want to be adopted into an Indigenous community https://bestselfmedia.com/adopted-by-native-american/ Women as the decision-making authorities; casual dress code as an important form of communication; and the clumsiness of simple acts like looking at your watch – to illustrate just a few glimpses of the transformative wisdom here.

Present. After careful preparation, you may be ready to make your presentation to the Indigenous community. Don’t arrive too early and don’t get into idle chit-chat with someone before your presentation. Acknowledge the land. “An informed acknowledgement is authentic, accurate, respectful, and spoken with heartfelt sincerity. …The exercise of doing the research to find out on whose land a meeting or event is taking place is an opportunity to open hearts and minds to the past and make a commitment to contributing to a better future, which is the essence of reconciliation.” The authors comment on such things as eye contact, colloquialisms, a sense of humor, and much more: and what they advise may surprise you.

Evaluate. Evaluate how the meeting went. A list of questions is provided.

Customize. After all that, “Now is the time to customize your work, incorporating the feedback received and requests made….” Depending on the needs and priorities of the community you are working with, you may want to customize the next leg of your journey. The author emphasizes communications, notably 1) ensuring that the whole community knows what is happening; and 2) that you are receiving widespread feedback from the community.

Transform. Transform your relationship with the Indigenous community. The book is written in large part for someone working for a business organization. Almost every part of the book, however, is equally helpful for someone like me. I am very much aware that if I can transform my relationship with an Indigenous community near Calgary, it will also have a positive transformative effect on my own life.






 
 
 

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