I am struck by the very practise of Pikwakanagan First Nation surveys asking questions about the place of Algonquin Indigenous knowledge (AIK), how to prioritize AIK, and when and how to apply AIK? This is so great! What strikes me about this process is that Pikwakanagan First Nation has yet to establish a clear understanding and model or models of where AIK is located and how we create more of it as we move into the future. It is crucial that various models of AIK be established as it will set the foundation of the discussion. Pikwakanagan can ask its intellectuals to develop various definitions and models of AIK using our beliefs and assumptions to shape them. With these models in hand community people will more easily think about AIK, have collective discussions about AIK, and move forward with AIK in a good way. The strength of models, shaped by our Algonquin beliefs, is that they serve to guide our thinking and movement forward. This is the strength of beliefs and models. To be clear, models are not Truth, rather they are models that shape truth, and they are crucial in terms of keeping us on track. What is more, there can be more than one model for this same topic because they are frameworks of thought versus being intended to be an absolute Truth. Some people reading this may gripe, arguing that models are colonial. This is not so. Women always held a cognitive model and/or patterns when they were making moccasins, and men also rely on cognitive models of their trapline and hunting territories using natural land features to help them. Further, the Sun and Moon rising in the East and setting in the West is a belief and model of reality that establishes a solid foundation of who we are. Algonquin also relied on maps that they could draw in the sand or the mind’s eyes of other people. That said, of course Algonquin had models, to deny this is to say we were so primitive and not intelligent enough to have had governance and thinking structures in our worlds. We did, and we still do. Our Algonquin ancestors were intelligent and we are intelligent. Another model of the Algonquin Anishinaabe worldview is the belief and ideology of the Four Sacred Elements and the Four Layers of Creation. As most know, there are Four Sacred Elements: Rock, Water, Wind, and Fire. And there are Four Orders of Creation: the Four Sacred Elements, the Tree Nations, the Animal Nations, and the Human Nations. As an Algonquin Indigenous scholar with my doctorate in Indigenous Studies, versus for example a doctorate in history or cultural studies, I am trained in Indigenous knowledge philosophy whereas such the understandings, models and theories relied on are always Algonquin. Given this, I am always thinking through AIK and doing my best to let it frame what I know, how I think, and what I do. While I of course value that AIK is shaped by ancient knowledge, language, and the land, and I do rely on them to guide me, one crucial model I rely on is the combination of the Four Sacred Elements and the Four Orders of Creation. For example, several years ago when I was learning and thinking about the dangers of nuclear energy I of course relied on my training in the sciences and my experiences measuring toxic organic pollution to guide my learning about the dangerous effects of radioactive particles. Through this I learned that radioactive particles are carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic. In these ways, radiation is dangerous to humans and our babies. But my thinking was also relied on the cognitive model of the Four Sacred Elements and the Four Orders of Creation. Thinking through the need to respect the Four Sacred Elements I was able to understand that in cracking atoms, the nuclear industry destroys Rock; I was able to understand that the process of cooling nuclear reactors depends on the cold Water found in the deep rivers, such as the Ottawa River, thus warming them; I was able to understand that the Wind and air we all breathe is contaminated through the process of vented emissions; and I also realized that Fire is generated unnecessarily for destructive and dangerous means. What is more, my thinking also relied on the cognitive model of the need to respect the Four Orders of Creation. Through this I was able to understand that not only is nuclear energy destroying the Four Sacred Elements and Human Nations, it is also harming the Tree Nations and the Animal Nations. When human beings rely on the economic model to guide us, versus walking the knowing process back to, and through, the Four Sacred Element and the Four Orders of Creation, we fail to be the human beings Creator wants us to be. And we fail to operate within the Algonquin Indigenous Knowledge worldview. Read my biographical note: www.lynngehl.com/biographical-note.html
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7/5/2020 2 Comments De-Colonize Intellectualism“Who is doing social justice work?”, she asked? “I am”, I responded. According to the Great Law of the Anishinaabeg, philosophers and intellectuals were an important part of the larger community. Their work was valued to be equally as important as the clan members who were hunters, clan members who chopped and gathered wood, clan members who took care of the children, clan members who sewed clothing, and clan members who cooked. The short story is all clan members were equally important and all clan members worked together to live the good life. Hunters provided for all, where in turn wood choppers provided for all, where in turn cooks provided for all, and where in turn the intellectuals provided for all. It is said that the sacred circle provided equally for everyone. Today we live in a top down power structure where oppressive power is inherent in all of our structures such as our medical and housing structures. This power structure is also laden in our education institutions where as such many people who work within them have limitations in what they can say and do. They have to be careful because they must not upset their employer and risk the economics and benefits that they are stitched into. Of course these employees are doing important work; no one would deny this. Regardless, we must not confuse an employee as the ideal intellectual and human rights advocate because, again, they are edited, monitored, and controlled in what they say and do by their institution and employer. While this is the case today, there remain many intellectuals and human rights advocates who consciously opt not to work within the crushing limitations of oppressive structures such as universities or government institutions. These intellectuals and human rights advocates opt to work outside of these institutions because they do not want to be complicit in top down power, do not want to be censored, do not want these institutions to monopolize their time, effort, and voice, or because they need the freedom to do the hard work that has to be done. They must and want to remain at the community level. Like the muskrat, they do have a strategy. Unfortunately today community intellectuals and human rights advocates who work outside of institutions are not valued at the community level by community people, the very people who need and want change. Despite all the discussions of the need to de-colonize, for some reason too many people continue to think community based intellectuals do not need to be provided for. Some people who wish to see and experience change contradictorily think these community intellectuals and human rights advocates should go get a job when in fact they have a job. Let’s face it, if they did get a job in an institution they would be unable to do the intellectual and human rights work they are doing. We need to move back to a place that values these community intellectuals and human rights advocates because they deserve to be provided for. If community people and organizations are unable to see this rationale, it should be even clearer that community intellectuals and human rights advocates need to be provided for. They need fire too; they need water too, they need clothing too, they need eggs too, they need bread too … . “Who is doing social justice work?”, she asked? “I am”, I responded. © Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She is a published author of Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit and The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process. You can reach her and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com. 1/14/2018 0 Comments Why Settlers Rely on Nasty NamesMany Layers of Structural Oppression The knowledge of living as a structurally oppressed person is foremost held within the everyday lived experiences of the oppressed. The location of the knowledge of oppression resides within the bodies and hearts of the very people. As such, the wisdom needed to remedy structural oppression is located within the critical thinking minds of the oppressed themselves. Not all structurally oppressed people are able to move the knowledge from their bodies and hearts to the location of their minds. Remember that critical thinking is a gift and a skill. Most people know we live in a society that oppresses women. Few people will deny this. But we need to keep in mind that heterosexual, able-bodied, white women only experience one layer of structural oppression, and therefore only know one layer of the knowledge. Further, they lack the intersectional knowledge located within the spaces of having more than one layer of structural oppression. It can be said that the level of knowledge within the “Well of Wisdom”, needed to challenge oppressive structures that white women have, is not deep and murky. This sounds unkind but this is true. This is one reason why older white feminism was critiqued by women of colour. While white women were happy with the shifts made, women of colour were not ‘celebrating the continuation of the oppression’ as the shifts were mostly the assimilation of white women into patriarchal systems. Intersectional Feminism While white women do have some of the knowledge of structural oppression and the wisdom of how to address it, it stands to reason that women of colour will have more. What is more, women of colour will also have the intersectional effects of being both a woman and a woman of colour; where the experience of intersectional effects mean they also know the inter-acting results of experiencing two levels of structural oppression. What this means is the level of knowledge in the “Well of Wisdom” that women of colour hold to challenge oppressive societal structures is deeper and more murky than the level white women have. While women of colour know more than double the knowledge of structural oppression over white women, it stands to reason that women of colour with a disability embody even more of the knowledge and wisdom: more than three times the knowledge in that again they also hold the intersectional effects contained. We can keep adding to this. For example, a woman of colour with a disability and who is gender non-specific will even have more of the knowledge and wisdom needed to address structural oppression. In sum, the knowledge of structural oppression is located within the lived experiences of the oppressed where the multiply oppressed have more of the knowledge and wisdom needed to challenge it. My goal here is not to set up a knowledge competition but rather to illustrate why it is that people under more levels of oppression are able to identify the limitations of the less oppressed, that being white women. It is because they hold more of the knowledge. Cognitive Dissonance is Unpleasant All too often when white women take on a social justice issue, where they lack a deeper understanding of the knowledge of structural oppression, they are then faced with situations of cognitive dissonance when a person who is more oppressed speaks up letting them know they are not addressing issues in a way that the more oppressed need them to be addressed. Experiencing cognitive dissonance is emotional and the feelings that emerge are negative: embarrassment, shame, anger, hate, toxicity, lateral violence, arrogance, and ignorance. The good thing is the best learning is emotional; not nice though. What happens all too often when white women are informed or told about their ignorance they become reactionary so much so that they can and will rely on and hurl nasty adjectives to describe the person who was brave enough to speak up. Interestingly, I have come to know that the nasty adjectives actually best describe the less oppressed person’s emotional state brought on by their cognitive dissonance rather than the more oppressed brave person. The emotions are a result of them being challenged in ways they are ignorant about; or result from them being called out about their unspoken political agenda that further oppresses such as them supporting the current Minister of Status of Women Maryam Monsef who is not addressing sex discrimination in the Indian Act, the land claims process, and the destruction of sacred Indigenous land and waterscapes. On White Privilege; We Need White Women, But … While it is indeed a wonderful thing that white people are now learning about, reading about, thinking about, and talking about white privilege, white people do not have the everyday lived experience of being at the back end of white privilege where as such they do not hold the monopoly of knowledge on white privilege. It is crucial to keep in mind they do not and cannot ever hold the depth of knowledge and wisdom that people of colour hold on this topic. In short, because it is not their everyday lived misery they do not know it wholistically, deeply, or completely. Some people may be inclined to think, if white women do not hold enough of the knowledge of structural oppression, and if people who are more oppressed are not happy with the actions of white women, then they need to take a lead role in the process of challenging structural oppression and forget about white women. This line of thought is reactionary and not the thinking of a genuine social justice seeker, not at all. Asking white women to reflect on who has more of the knowledge is valid; it does not mean the more oppressed don’t need them in the struggle. Of course we do. What we need is for them to take a back seat or follow and serve the more oppressed. What is more, the less oppressed people who argue there is the need for the more oppressed to be nicer when they encounter settler ignorance really need to think critically about intersectional feminism, and stop burdening more oppressed people with settler emotions. I have produced a large volume of short reading materials that enhance the knowledge shared in this blog: Intersectional Oppression: https://journeymagazineptbo.com/2016/09/14/2830/ Follow the Turtle: https://www.lynngehl.com/follow-the-turtle.html Critical thinking and the Charity Model: www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/critical-thinking-and-the-charity-model-of-social-justice Kawartha Truth and Reconciliation Support Group on Maryam Monsef: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lynn-gehl/canada-is-carrying-out-cultural-genocide-with-a-smile_a_23204482/ http://www.windspeaker.com/news/opinion/opinion-minister-monsef-disappoints-on-bill-s-3-and-continues-the-discrimination/ White Woman’s Gaze: https://www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/that-white-womans-gaze On Nice People: https://www.lynngehl.com/black-face-blogging/nice-people-scare-me On Reconciliation: http://muskratmagazine.com/celebrating-canadas-150th-featuring-the-desecration-of-an-indigenous-sacred-place/ Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. In 2017 she won an Ontario Court of Appeal case on sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Algonquin land claims process. Recently she published Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit. You can reach her through, and see more of her work, at www.lynngehl.com Why Does Joe Garden? A useful definition of hegemony is “knowledge” that is manufactured through oppressive power, or knowledge that is common to the people, rather than knowledge that is well thought-out ideology. A powerful example of the relationship between hegemony and material culture becomes apparent when we ask the question, “How is it that peasant societies are able to revolt?” Peasant societies are able to revolt because they do not rely totally on wage labour as they have alternate means of subsisting and surviving in the world. As a result, this means they are not materially dominated by the owners of their production as they have a dual relationship to the economy. Because of, and through, this dual relationship to the economy they are able to exercise their human agency and initiate revolution worldwide. They cannot be controlled by money losses. Another example of the relationship between hegemony and material culture becomes apparent when one asks, “Why are the working classes unable to successfully revolt?” Due to material domination and the relationship to ideological domination they cannot revolt because they have no alternate lifestyle to place their human agency into action. They are totally dependent on their income. Hence they are trapped, unlike members of peasant societies. The Land is Intelligent and Makes Joe Think There is another interesting dynamic of hegemony within class domination of capitalism that becomes apparent when we ask, “How is the domination and subordination of the working class reproduced and sustained? It seems that most people are not puzzled by their lack of control over their lives, but rather mostly we actively and contradictorily express “resistance” to the very thinkers that could lead to our freedom in various ways. One way is through anti-intellectualism where as a result we prevent ourselves from developing a full critique and understanding of the structures of domination. Through anti-intellectualism we actually celebrate and perpetuate our domination, thus successfully preserving the status quo for our oppressors. In this way, as a force of hegemony, we further embed ourselves in the very world that we wish to escape from. Other Ways the Oppressed “Celebrate” Their Oppression We celebrate hegemony and our oppression in many ways: through nationalism, shopping, silicone implants, inappropriate shoes, fashion slavery, Tim Hortons, purchasing on credit, diamond rings, endless materialism, big homes with big mortgages, and gluttony. Can you think of others ways? We need to learn from the turtle who teaches us there are two ways to get rich: one way is to work hard until you die hoarding a lot on the way, and the other way, which leads to ultimate freedom, is for us to desire little. The turtle is so smart. Note: This blog is influenced by the anthropological theory I was exposed to as an undergraduate student, in particular the work of Jean and John L. Comaroff and Tom Dunk. In the work regarding Indigenous rights I find my mind always moves in the direction of hegemony and anti-intellectualism where as such I decided to write this short blog. Please like and share this blog, and subscribe and donate. Miigwetch! Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the land claims process. Her book The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin of the Algonquin Land Claims Process offers an insider-Indigenous analysis of the Algonquin land claims process in Ontario. You can reach her through, and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com. |
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