An Introduction to Indigenous Ways of Knowing: A Blackfeet Perspective

Abstract

This chapter introduces the epistemology and ontology of Indigenous ways of knowing. In order to understand the complex concepts, principles and philosophy of Indigenous worldview, much of the discussion is in the context of the Blackfeet (or Pikuni) knowledge. I share my individual experiences in learning Blackfeet (Pikuni) ceremony as a way of conceptualizing the challenges of understanding Indigenous ways of knowing. The holistic view introduces the belief of all existence being interrelated and having a life force. The chapter reviews the nature and relations of being through animate expression of power, dreams, and personification of the inanimate. The Indigenous origin narratives and oral tradition demonstrates the nature, origin, and scope of Indigenous knowledge through eons of observation and experience. The paper underscores how Indigenous philosophy emanates from the connectedness of cultural values, kinship, social norms and belief systems. The way Indigenous people preserve and protect intellectual property and sacred matters is keenly, integrated into rituals and rites of passage. Spirituality and the quantum nature of energy permeating in constant movement and patterns reveal the ontological nature of Indigenous ways of knowing. Power in places of the landscape reveals the significance of nature in understanding sacredness of knowledge. Elder storytelling and knowledge of the language are essential to comprehending Indigenous ways of knowing. In the end, Vine Deloria, Jr. calls for synthesis of all knowledge.