{"id":284,"date":"2023-11-19T16:57:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-19T21:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/childthink\/?post_type=chapter&p=284"},"modified":"2024-08-09T19:13:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T23:13:58","slug":"2-indigenous-perspectives-of-turtle-island","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/childthink\/chapter\/2-indigenous-perspectives-of-turtle-island\/","title":{"raw":"Indigenous Perspectives of Turtle Island","rendered":"Indigenous Perspectives of Turtle Island"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_607\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2048\"]\"A Photo<\/a> by Province of British Columbia<\/a> \/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIndigeneity in Canada and the United States refers to the many nations of Turtle Island. While Indigeneity broadly refers to the original peoples of any area of the world, this textbook focuses in particular on Turtle Island (the land upon which Toronto Metropolitan University is situated). It refers to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people.\r\n\r\nRecognizing Indigenous models of child development and learning is essential for understanding our history and the cultural values of the diverse perspectives of Turtle Island. Given this diversity, the book does not purport to represent all perspectives; rather, it focuses on the central teachings of some nations, which will be expanded upon in future iterations of the book. Just as this book cannot fully represent all cultures, the Indigenous views on children\u2019s thinking and learning here will never be comprehensive or generalizable to all nations of Turtle Island.\r\n\r\nIt is with great respect that I summarize some important ideas here, referring to research, traditional writings, and multimedia resources by members of Turtle Island. Meegwetch to those who have shared their wisdom in ways that make it possible for a settler like me to learn and share their teachings with students living and learning on Turtle Island today.\r\n

Fourth World Theory<\/h2>\r\nIt is important to understand what we mean when we use the term Indigenous in Canada. This term is broad and applied internationally to people living on their ancestral lands, which have typically been colonized by other nations (Ryser, Gilio-Whitaker & Bruce, 2017).\r\n\r\nFourth World theory, as explained by Ryser, Gilio-Whitaker and Bruce (2017), emerged as a new conceptual framework to root discussions of Indigeneity within Indigenous peoples through a \u201cnation-to-nation\u201d framework (p. 52). The theory emerged within Indigenous communities who were essentially living in \u201cnon-state\u201d nations as a result of colonial dispossessions of their lands all over the world. Therefore, this theoretical perspective speaks to Turtle Island and African peoples, both of whom have had their ancestral lands redivided into national borders by colonial powers. The authors point to the complex foundations of the theory:\r\n

Fourth World Theory essentially states that the concepts of comparison, relational reasoning, balance between contending forces, and equality of kind (that human beings are part of all living things and not the dominant living thing) will\u2014when applied in life and thought\u2014ensure comity between peoples, between peoples and living nature, and with the forces of the cosmos. (p. 54)<\/p>\r\nThe authors discuss the Four Directions teaching with reference to different Indigenous cultures. Here, I incorporate ideas on Turtle Island, but I will revisit this theory with reference to Indigenous Africans subsequently.\r\n\r\nBecause every culture has values embedded within it, it is important to understand some of the ways in which values differ from culture to culture to make these distinctions conscious. We all carry beliefs and values with us, but we may not analyze them or may see them as \u201cinvisible.\u201d Part of understanding how we are different and what we bring to a learning or care environment is making such values explicit. So, underlying philosophies and beliefs are at the heart of cultural practice.\r\n\r\nIn the case of the Anishnaabek peoples, there is an important concept called Lenawendiwin, which is the understanding that all of creation is connected, and through nindinawenaganidog, all a person\u2019s family, or relations, are connected (Ryser, Gilio-Whitaker and Bruce, 2017). This concept helps form the social structures in Anishnaabek society, and it unites people in a kinship model that involves formal teachings, specifically the Seven Grandfathers\u2019 Teachings. These teachings are as follows:\r\n

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  1. Nbwaakaawin: wisdom<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Zaagidwin: love<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Mnaadendimowin: respect<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Aakwade\u2019ewin: bravery<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Gwekwaadiziwin: honesty<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Dbaadendiziwin: humility<\/li>\r\n \t
  7. Debwewin: truth\r\n(Ryser, Gilio-Whitaker and Bruce, 2017, p. 59)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nIt is important to understand how central such values are to Anishnaabek culture and all of the other knowledges that emanate from such values. Storytelling plays a very important role, along with important processes such as comparing ideas, drawing analogies, and remembering (Ryser, Gilio-Whitaker and Bruce, 2017). A key idea within children\u2019s thinking and learning that is common between both Turtle Island cultures and many African Indigenous cultures is the role of community and sharing in the process, which is indeed consistent with a sociocultural approach.\r\n
    \r\n

    <\/a>Reflection Journal<\/h2>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
    \r\n\r\nReflection 2.3:<\/strong> Take a moment to write down three values you have in early childhood learning that you would like to emphasize in your own teaching.\r\n\r\nWe will be taking these up during seminar.<\/em>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

    Four Directions Teaching and Child Development<\/h2>\r\n

    The Medicine Wheel<\/h3>\r\nLong before the West had developed theories of children\u2019s development or thinking, Indigenous theories and beliefs of Turtle Island guided how children were engaged to learn. Ryser, Gilio-Whitaker, and Bruce (2017) discussed the Four Directions teaching used not only across many cultures and nations of Turtle Island but also beyond it to other parts of the world.\r\n\r\nWe begin our discussion of the Four Directions teaching through the Medicine Wheel from an Anishnaabek (or Ojibwe) perspective. Generally speaking, Indigenous communities use the medicine wheel for \u201chealing and teaching practices, and is an expression of the holistic nature of traditional medicine\u201d (Ontario Heritage Trust).\r\n\r\nWhile the use of the medicine wheel can vary from nation to nation, let\u2019s review it from an Anishnaabek perspective in this video by Mallory Rose Graham:\r\n\r\nVideo: What is the Medicine Wheel (duration: 4:54)\r\n<\/strong>PDF version available for download through Tribal Trade Co.<\/a>\r\n<\/strong><\/em>\r\n\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S7nb4rJ_N14[\/embed]\r\n\r\n(Rose, 2020)\r\n\r\nLet us turn now to Cree (or N\u00eahiyaw) culture and their Seven Turtle Lodge Teachings, as explained by Makokis and colleagues (2020). The authors provide a Turtle Lodge Relationship Mapping diagram<\/a> to illustrate how the child\u2019s development is embedded in family and community, with everyone sharing a responsibility in raising a child. Our Western concept of a developmental theory does not make these values explicit, but many other models do indeed make values explicit (as the Seven Grandfathers\u2019 Teachings above).\r\n\r\nAlso, while Western theories of child development separate the child from the adult world and the contexts of socialization, many other views do not. Therefore, the N\u00eahiyaw worldview of child development is indeed one of integrated development across domains, as well as within family and community. Relationships are at the core of the worldview, and so is the view of childhood, thinking, and learning. The N\u00eahiyaw (Cree) Medicine Wheel (as depicted in Wenger-Nabigon, 2010<\/a>, p. 145) is not just about human development due to\u00a0 its holistic approach rooted in spirituality and teachings.\r\n\r\nThis embeddedness of a child in the natural world, the family, and the community is often at odds with the individualistic model of Western psychology and child development. Wenger-Nabigon (2010) argues that such a model has, in fact, not been accepted into the academy when she wrote in the Native Social Work journal 13 years ago. Therefore it is important for our work in this course to include holistic conceptions of childhood from Indigenous thinking as core content in university curricula.\r\n\r\nAn important distinction between Western and N\u00eahiyaw conceptions of development is that the holistic view is not conducive to even using the same categories of development as the Western model. Therefore, in this text, research and teachings from this and other Indigenous perspectives from Turtle Island will always be interpreted with such paradigmatic differences in mind. It will not always make sense to project categories from the West onto Indigenous models, but links and connections will be made whenever possible.\r\n

    The Good Life<\/h3>\r\nOntario\u2019s Best Start Resource Centre (2010) published A Child Becomes Strong (PDF)<\/a>, a guide to understanding the life cycle from an Indigenous perspective. This document is very important for us in education and should, therefore, be consulted as a reference tool. It will be cited throughout this section.\r\n\r\nThe Seven Stages of Life are provided in this guide through the knowledge of Mark Philips (Turtle Clan):\r\n
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    1. The Good Life: birth to age 7\r\n