BIINDGOOSHNAME SHKODE TEMGOOG (We Are Coming to Where the Fire is) Orienting a Secular School to Humanity's Original Instructions
This dissertation is an account of my journey as an Indigenous educator, woven with teachers into a web of Gikendassowin (Indigenous Knowledge). Together we move through the veils cast over such Knowledge arising from a pervasive civilizational mentality, finding hope for transcending these veils in the children we work with, who inspire a potential pedagogy in which non-indigenous educators might work ethically with Indigenous people and Knowledge in a Covenant with all Creation. My story emerges from a traumatic subjection of Gikendaassowin to modern learning systems, which generally only ‘include’ it superficially. Introducing Gikendassowin in schools holds great potential, but also risks re-colonizing Indigenous cultures. I see this risk arising from a reduction of Gikendassowin -which has a spiritual origin- to humanist terms. My research looks at how a non-indigenous school is affected by Indigenous spiritual influences. The conceptual framework rests on Gikendaasowin, alongside what has been called “perennial philosophy”, which explains shared principles of diverse spiritual traditions, and might support the introduction of Gikendaassowin on its own terms into non-indigenous, multicultural schools. My method involves three ‘dimensions’: my story (inner world), spun with teachers and all beings in our place (external world), both woven into a third, spiritual ‘dimension’, which includes principles in my conceptual framework along with manifestations of Anishinaabe spirituality -a Bundle of objects used in ceremony and other influences that have appeared in the school through Indigenous guests. The spiritual ‘dimension’ is the hub of this research. We follow my story with teachers into the Gikendaasowin flowing around us, aiming at the central, spiritual ‘dimension.’ We explore how we might orient learning to spiritual principles and meet Gikendaasowin in a secular school while supporting Indigenous resurgence (rather than only benefitting from superficial access to Indigenous cultures). The emergent web of Knowledge indicates how educators might ethically help lead diverse children to the original, spiritual instructions for all humans, represented in universal sacred symbols of Fire and the Heart, while deepening reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities and Gikendaasowin. Recommendations for teacher education, practice and further research are made on this basis.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations