Review of G. Cajete on Indigenous Science, p.1

1. Essence of Indigenous Spirituality1. 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

Creativityi.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 TheoryPremises 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 Principles of The Creative Participation MystiqueParticipation 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 The Metaphoric Mind (vs the linear thinking ‘rational’ mind)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. 5. Indigenous Creation Myths 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 co-creators

• 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. 6. Vehicles for Transmitting / Vehicles for Transmitting / Accessing Indigenous Accessing Indigenous Scientific KnowledgeScientific Knowledge

a) Ceremonies

b) Vision quests

c) Myths and Stories

7. Indigenous Art: 7. Indigenous Art: General IntroductionGeneral 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.

8.8. The Pattern FollowedThe Pattern Followedin Creating Ceremonial in Creating Ceremonial

Indigenous ArtIndigenous 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 The “Essential Cosmological Clash”Cosmological Clash”

• What is Cosmology? - deep-rooted understandings of “human-

ness” and our place in the universe.

• What is “The Essential Cosmological Clash” ?between: egalitarian Indigenous

worldviews that regard all things as

having rights,

and 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. Dysfunctionality & Crisis of W. CosmologyCosmology