Question #2 (part five)

The conversation discusses the tension between Indigenous and Western ways of knowing. It highlights how Western science often adopts Indigenous ideas but labels them as new or original. Western views have sometimes dismissed Indigenous worldviews as anecdotal or witchcraft. This lack of respect undermines reconciliation efforts. It's noted that support offered without respect can harm Indigenous communities. The importance of consulting and being led by Indigenous peoples in research is emphasized. The difference in how knowledge is viewed between Western and Indigenous paradigms is discussed, with Indigenous knowledge seen as relational and shared with all creation. I think that is a really, really cool analogy that you made there, Ella, and I really love the way that you underscored the tension between Indigenous and Westernized ways of knowing, and I'd love for us to talk a little bit more about those. Yeah, absolutely. I honestly think the tensions and kind of the lack of respect from the Western paradigm towards the Indigenous paradigm was one of the things that really stuck out to me in this entire course, because I think it's so interesting to see some of the things that an Indigenous paradigm has kind of been suggesting or believing for years and years that Western science is kind of adopting, but almost branding it as new or an original idea. I see this stuck out in the article by Pazurka, where a quote says, science is only now exploring concepts such as epigenetics and plasticity, but Indigenous teachings have been suggesting these scientific facts for centuries. I think that this really shows that there are a lot of ideas that an Indigenous paradigm has been suggesting or has been using as knowledge that Western science is kind of agreeing, okay, this might have some value towards in their idea or in their knowledge base, but they're almost branding it as if it's a Western science idea that came up with it. I think it's also really interesting about how Western science has often labeled Indigenous worldviews as, quote unquote, anecdotal at best and witchcraft at worst. And that's a quote from the article by McCabe. I think that that is a really hard hitting line, because it's so true when you talk to a lot of people that really believe in that Western ideology. They're saying almost some of those Indigenous beliefs are witchcraft, again, to use that word, which is just, it's, I guess, crazy to see someone's whole ideology, their culture being called witchcraft, just because it's not what you believe. I think it kind of undermines the goal of reconciliation, because we're making efforts to say, I'm sorry for these actions that we did, but we're not respecting you still. And I think that that's really important to realize and take action towards changing the actual understanding and respect, because until this attitude changes, and we gain respect, we can't truly make amends. I think Eastern assumptions have kind of blinded Western views of helping. So a lot of the support that's offered without respect can actually cause harm, which was explored in the article by Harp. And I just think that that's so important to realize, and really, I guess there's one thing from this course that really stood out to me was just how extreme people's views towards Indigenous beliefs have gotten, and that we can't just accept them to be both correct or both even allowed at this point. People are trying to put Western science on top of Indigenous worldviews or Indigenous science events. Can I ask, what do you mean by Eastern assumptions? Oh, that's just a word that they use. I think that means, like, Europe. Okay, yeah, that was just a word that they used exactly. Yeah, so I was curious about that too, but I think it means like Europe and Western is America. That makes sense, yeah. Sorry, not to question you, it's just like an odd, I guess it's not like a term I hear. Yeah. Eastern assumptions have often blinded Western views of helping, meaning that support offered without respect can actually cause harm, which was a topic explored by Harp in... You said Eastern, yeah. Eurocentric assumptions have blinded Western views of helping, meaning that sometimes the support offered without respect can actually be causing harm, which is a topic explored by Harp in her article, his. I'm going to actually shoot myself. Okay, now a fan response. I agree with you, that's a great point, Ella. I think that this really ties in, sort of, the idea between the differences between Western and Indigenous paradigms is that trust has really been broken between, sort of, Western science and Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous keepers. I think that Indigenous peoples really go about gathering knowledge to different ways through, and I think that they've also previously suffered great abuses from the science community. I think that it's sort of, it shows why, for any research that's done with Indigenous peoples, they should be consulted appropriately, and they should also be led by Indigenous peoples and their communities. I think a major quote which ties into the article you're discussing, Harp, is that an Indigenous paradigm comes from the fundamental belief that knowledge is relational, knowledge is shared with all creation. I think that is really, it counteracts sort of a Western idea that knowledge is not relational, knowledge is, I guess, pure and all-knowing, and rather than Indigenous ways of knowing it considers knowledge as it comes from you and it comes from, and it can be shaped by people with different perspectives and how they see that knowledge as important.