Indian And Indigenous Knowledge As Well As Giving An Insight

In Aboriginal culture, the land is life and culture cannot be separated from the land.

Within the Aboriginal ways of knowing it is suggested that “land is the heart of Creation, a realm where humans are among a vast array of creatures” (Belanger, 2014, p. 7). In essence, the Aboriginal people have looked upon the earth as a source of resources that may be utilized but must be honored. This is further substantiated by Belanger when he states that “human beings began to measure their existence in terms of how well they ensured the land’s health and safety, as opposed to how well they acquired wealth and personal gain” (Belanger, 2014, p. 8). As a result of this deeply ingrained relationship between the Aboriginal person and Creation, it comes as no surprise to learn that the Aboriginal people of Canada have decided to revolt

The Australian Indigenous community hold extremely significant corrections to the land of Australia, of which they refer to as ‘Country.’ Indigenous people acquire deep meaning from the land, sea and the countless resources derived from them. This special relationship has formed for many centuries. To them ‘Country’ is paramount for overall wellbeing; the strong, significant, spiritual bonds embody their entire existence. Knowledge is continually passed down to create an unbroken connection of past,

What Coyote and Thales Can Teach Us: An Outline of American Indian Epistemology by Brian Yazzie’s Burkhart uses the coyote from Native American tales and Thales from Greek philosophy as a form of metaphor towards the interpretation and use of knowledge. Brian Yazzie Burkhart book provides a philosophical argument into why the fundamental principle of how westerners perceive and understand knowledge is incorrect, in comparison to Native American philosophy. Within Native American philosophy, the understanding of knowledge is participatory and focused on four main principles: principles of relatedness, limits of questioning, meaning-shaping principle, the moral universe principle. The Limit of question principle and the moral universal principle

Every person on this planet has a set of beliefs and values that they implement into their daily lives, helping them understand the world, humanity, and themselves. This set of beliefs and values can be called a worldview. The worldviews and ways of knowing of Indigenous Peoples (in this paper, specifically Indigenous Peoples of North America) have existed for centuries, yet often they remain in juxtaposition with Western (in this paper, specifically Eurocentric) ways of knowing and Western worldviews. One way of knowing is reliant on science, order, and the

Indigenous traditions represent the oldest cultures which associate the quest archetype with a search for real knowledge of the external world, which was otherwise unavailable to people with little technology to search the external environment empirically. Indigenous quest characteristics come through an active need to learn about a harsh world in order to survive adulthood. With such cultures having limited methods of acquiring knowledge of the external world, the quest then serves as a function to show the development of knowledge needed in order to survive in indigenous society

There is recurrent tension between the maintenance of Indigenous culture and essentially assimilating to the rules and regulations of the predominantly white society in Australia (Dockrey, 2010). Australia’s Aboriginal culture represented the oldest surviving culture in the world (Aboriginal culture, 2017). The traditions include having at least 270 different language groups and 500 dialects in the indigenous community (Shareourpride.org.au, n.d). The vast amount of languages and dialects were present to represent the intellect of Indigenous Australians. Language is a strong aspect of Indigenous culture as it connects and influences many Indigenous tribes as it is their form of communication. The environment also connects aboriginal people spiritually to their land and provides them with a sense of identity (Jackson 1999). Although there were many different groups and clans in the past, the tribes fighting over the land was a rare occurrence (Treatyrepublic.net 1996). This showcases the connection and respect they exhibited for the land and maintaining structure was their main priority. Additionally common law was a way that Indigenous Australians could preserve the ecosystem and cultural integrity, through their spiritual and emotional connection with the land (Langton 1996, p.10). However due to the colonization, there was less formal acknowledgement for Indigenous

Indigenous people are dependant on their knowledge and understanding for the survival of their land. They needed to know the seasons and when and where the various types of food are available. The land needs to be protected to ensure the survival of the land. They do this by passing on knowledge of the land and its creation through stories, songs, ceremonies, dances and art. The closest English word for this knowledge of the land and its creation is the Dreaming. The Dreaming is a unifying characteristic of all Indigenous culture, but each group within Australia had its own particular Dreaming. The Dreaming of a group explained how features of their world came to be; the dreaming explained the sacred sites and their importance. It also set out the rules of how people should behave, particularly towards the land. The Dreaming gave meaning and direction to the lives of each Indigenous group, and continues to do so.

experience and knowledge of indigenous peoples and their various ways of life. He explains the

Education is fundamental to growth, the growth of the individual, and the growth of a nation. Anthropologically this can be seen from the earliest of developments of human societies where practices emerge to ensure the passing of accumulated knowledge from one generation to the next. In the centuries since the invasion and colonisation of Australia in 1788, colonist authorities and governments have dominated the making of policies regarding most major aspects of Australian life, including the lives of Indigenous Australians. The enactment of these policies and legislation, whether targeted at society as a whole or directly at education, has had significant and most often negative causal impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, resulting in not only poor educational outcomes, but the loss of cultural identity, the development of serious issues in health and wellbeing, and the restriction of growth of Aboriginal communities. Moreover, there has been an ongoing pattern of the adoption of ill-informed policies in Australia, resulting in these poor outcomes and cultural decimation. Aboriginal people have developed a wariness, a mistrust, and even an attitude of avoidance to engage with non-Indigenous officials and those who they associate as their representatives, i.e. personnel working within

Aboriginal spirituality is a celebration of connectedness. The relationships which the Indigenous people form with their environment reflects that their spirituality is far more complex than a religion, rather, it is an identity. For theses ancient people there is no separation between the people, flora and fauna, and the land (Korff, What is Aboriginal Spirituality?, 2017). All of these elements are profoundly connected through song, dance, sacred stories and art, which are the pillars of Aboriginal spirituality. These traditions also allow the Indigenous people to connect with and understand the earth, therefor understanding ancestor spirits who are ever present within the land. Ancestors may have come to rest within specific land forms (Australian Museum, 2015). These connections create an inextricable relationship with the land; not only in a spiritual sense, but also as a way of understanding one’s history. “The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and identity” (Korff, What is Aboriginal Spirituality?, 2017). This report will explore the connection between Indigenous spirituality, land rights, European settlement and the impact colonisation had on the Australian Aboriginal peoples.

Another characteristic of an indigenous religion deals with the emphasis placed on the spiritual specialists. The general consensus is that anyone can have personal or direct access to spirits or that which is unseen, yet felt (democratized shamanism). There is no special requirement in most indigenous systems that stipulate ‘who’ can commune or interact with spirits, however, as a general rule, many feel that it is best to leave interactions with spirits to those that have been taught or trained through ritual or purification of some sort. Most indigenous religions are not written down, but based on oral

Australian Aborigines believe that to destroy or damage a sacred site threatens not only the present inhabitants but also the spiritual inhabitants of the land. Broome described that "Each tribe believed that its boundaries were fixed and validated by the stories about the movements of their ancestors, and therefore there was no reason to desire or try to possess the country of another group: it would have seemed meaningless to them since their creation stories only related to their own piece of territory" (14). Australian Aborigines traveled around a land that was a symbolic and religious world. There were not simply rocks, trees, and watering holes but they were objects and places that the great ancestors had created and places where they still lived. The Aboriginal culture stressed continuity over change.

In this class, I was presented with an opportunity to reflect upon my personal knowledge of Indigenous

Historically there has been prolific scientific interest in the lifestyles, knowledge, cultures, histories and worldviews of indigenous peoples. Rural communities depend on TK for food, health and agriculture. This TK forms the basic cultural identity for them, contributing to social cohesiveness and thereby reducing vulnerability and poverty. Globally 80 per cent of the world’s populations, mostly the ‘undeveloped’ regions, still rely on the indigenous medicinal knowledge of local plants for their medical needs (Shankar 1997). In India, around 70 per cent of the population directly depends on land based occupations, forests, wetlands and marine habitats for ecological livelihoods and cultural sustenance (Kothari and Patel 2006).