Introduction to Indigenous Knowledge : Ep 8 of Crash Course Native American History
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زیرنویسها (200 segments)
DownloadLong ago, if you knew how to listen, you
could hear the trees speaking. The
Podawatami tells stories about this with
trees gathering together, making plans.
Stories where the trees decide how to
grow, how many seeds to produce, how to
survive. And in recent years, non-native
botnists have picked up on the same
thing. Trees really are communicating.
They share resources and information
through chemicals in the air and
networks underground.
So, how did native peoples thousands of
years ago figure out something that
western scientists are only just
discovering? Hi, I'm Jim and this is
Crash Course Native American History.
[Music]
Science is a useful tool for
understanding the world. It's helped us
figure out really complex ideas like
particle physics and evolution and
microwave popcorn. And native people
have made plenty of scientific
discoveries, yet we're often perceived
as anti-science.
So, what gives? Turns out what we
typically consider science today isn't
the only way to arrive at accurate
information. There are a variety of ways
of knowing or means through which people
discover knowledge. And many Native
American ways of knowing are rooted in
observing the earth and living in close
relationship to it since time
immemorial. To paraphrase Pawatami
writer and botnist Dr. Robin Wall
Kimmeer. We tend to think of science as
being neutral and objective where the
conclusions drawn are influenced by the
people doing the concluding. But years
ago, Western scientists assumed plants
didn't communicate because they don't do
so in the ways that look like animal
communication. And later, when
scientists revisited that question with
the understanding that communication
could look really different from what
they'd expect, bingo, they started to
find compelling evidence, which just
goes to show that all knowledge is
influenced by the perspectives we humans
bring to it. And Native American
cultures, even with all of our
diversity, tend to have some
commonalities in our ways of knowing and
viewing the world, like how we tend to
ground relationships and respect and
reciprocity.
There's much more about indigenous world
views, by the way, in episode 6.
Indigenous ways of knowing often begin,
much like the scientific method, with
observation. But in Native American
cultures, this observation can go beyond
the five senses and involve things like
storytelling and oral history. Take
these rare boulder structures built by
native people in the plains region of
the US and Canada, known today as
medicine wheels. Most follow similar
structural patterns like a series of
concentric circles or spokes radiating
from a mound of stones in the center.
Many date back centuries or even
millennia, but there's little
archaeological evidence as to the
purpose of medicine wheels. Were they
built to use as astronomical tools,
locations for rituals? For those
answers, many western practices of
archaeology have proven insufficient. We
need indigenous knowledge. So
archaeologists in Alberta, Canada worked
with elders of the Blackfoot Confederacy
to learn more about these formations.
John Wolfchild of the Kai Nation offered
stories about his late great uncle, the
warrior and tribal chief McCoy Puck, who
was honored with a medicine wheel
memorial. Wolfchug could paint a picture
of McCoy Puck, including his famous top
knot decorated with feathers from his
travels. He sounds like a baller. Sadly,
the McCoy Puck medicine wheel itself has
been lost to cultivation with only a
ravine and depressions in the ground to
show where it once was. But Wolfchild's
stories can inform how we interpret
other medicine wheels, which adds an
important context to our understanding
of human history. Now, Native Americans
did and continue to do a lot more with
their ways of knowing than observe and
remember. They also invent and create.
In fact, Native Americans spearheaded a
bunch of technological innovations
millennia ago that are still used today.
Like the first kayaks were invented by
the Inuit, built from seal skin around
4,000 years ago. Lacrosse was invented
by the Honosi before European settlers
arrived. And the Chumash people ventured
out to sea far before the ancient
cultures of Egypt, Asia, or Europe did.
I'm talking 11,000 years ago. The
Chumash sailed back and forth from the
Channel Islands to the mainland of
what's now Southern California, fishing
with complex hooks and nets, as well as
hunting for seals and waterfell. Over
time, they used their knowledge of the
ocean and the Pacific coastline to build
some of the most technologically
advanced ships in North America, like
the Tommo. These canoes could be up to
30 feet long and consisted of planks
tied together. They were made watertight
with pine tar, which was boiled and
hardened. The preferred material was
redwoods that had drifted down the coast
from the north because the Chumash knew,
you know, they had their ways of knowing
that this wood rotted much more slowly
than the other types.
All of this reflects how native ways of
knowing have been making things happen
for thousands and thousands of years.
And in many cases, these innovations are
still a part of both native and
non-native life today. Like the Chumar
people still build tombl that could be
seen gliding along the ocean near the
channel islands. While western
scientists have long misunderstood and
at times downright disregarded native
ways of knowing, that's slowly starting
to change. Today, there's a new movement
aimed at braiding the two world views
together. The Migma people have a word
for this braiding edu. It means two-eyed
scene, a concept developed by Migmog
Elder Albert Marshall. The idea is that
one eye should look through the lens of
native knowledge, the other through the
lens of western science, but both should
work together to form the full picture.
For example, in 2023, Nicole man
embodied Iduptuk when she made history
as the first indigenous woman in space.
She's a NASA astronaut and a member of
the Waki of the Round Valley Indian
tribes and she spent 157 days in a
floating laboratory on the International
Space Station. While she was on board,
man performed spacew walks, spoke to
students back on Earth, and studied
plant growth. She later told reporters
that there's a psychological aspect to
growing plants in space that helps you
feel connected to your home planet, one
that could benefit humans on long space
voyages in the future and a sentiment
that reflects the deep connection to
place found in native ways of knowing.
While in orbit, she also had the
opportunity to speak to students at the
Flathead Indian Reservation, something
she saw as a really important
responsibility. Her hope was that it
might inspire native children to pursue
their own careers in science. The next
end of native space explorers is going
to be epic. Back on Earth, two-eyed
seeing is being used to tackle some of
the world's most pressing issues. Like
today, around 2 million of Earth's
species face extinction thanks to human
activity. But this decline is happening
at a significantly slower rate on
indigenous lands where globally there's
less deforestation and lower pollution
levels. Yeah, we're cool like that.
Thanks to their deeply rooted connection
to their lands, native people have
developed some of the most effective
means of environmental care. In fact,
today many conservationists see
indigenous land management as one of the
best ways to protect against
Key Vocabulary (50)
toward
"Go to school."
belonging
"Cup of tea."
also
"You and me."
inside
"In the house."
specific
"That book."
A third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an object, animal, or situation that has already been mentioned or is clear from context. It is also frequently used as a dummy subject to talk about time, weather, or distance.
Used to show who is intended to have or use something, or to explain the purpose or reason for an action. It is also frequently used to indicate a specific duration of time.
A preposition used to indicate that something is in a position above and supported by a surface. It is also used to indicate a specific day or date, or to show that a device is functioning.
A preposition used to indicate that people or things are together, in the same place, or performing an action together. It can also describe the instrument used to perform an action or a characteristic that someone or something has.
A conjunction used to compare two things that are equal in some way. It is most commonly used in the pattern 'as + adjective/adverb + as' to show similarity.
Used to refer to the person or people that the speaker is addressing. It is the second-person pronoun used for both singular and plural subjects and objects.
A preposition used to indicate a specific point, location, or position in space. It is also used to specify a particular point in time or a certain state or activity.
Used to identify a specific person, thing, or idea that is physically close to the speaker or has just been mentioned. It can also refer to the present time or a situation that is currently happening.
A coordinating conjunction used to connect two statements that contrast with each other. It is used to introduce an added statement that is different from what has already been mentioned.
A preposition used to show the method or means of doing something, or to identify the person or thing that performs an action. It frequently appears in passive sentences to indicate the agent or before modes of transport.
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Description
The scientific method isn’t the only way to gain knowledge—Native people have been learning and innovating in their own ways for millennia. In this episode of Crash Course Native American...
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