Indigenous knowledge, indigenous scholars, and narrating scientific selves: “to produce a human being”

Abstract

I have been invited to write some brief comments on this paper by Robert Bechtel and I want to reflect on some of the important possibilitiesand realitiesof collaboration and collision between science and Indigenous knowledge systems. I think this is a work that is hopeful for a cross-cultural dialogue between scientists and traditional knowledge holders. As an Indigenous scholar, there are many times that I am hopeful also. Gregory Cajete is one of the main minds in Indigenous science. Greg is hopeful in the same ways that I am. In this piece I will tell a short story about his work and how I saw both impasses and openings from his ways of speaking to scientists and educators. Moreover, I was privileged to have A. Oscar Kawagley as my colleague as well. I believe Oscar, if not now, a few decades from now, will be recognized as one of the greatest Indigenous intellectuals of our era. Oscar and I were Ph.D. students together and after graduation, we would meet over the years at conferences. We were also part of an international group of Indigenous scholars and allies that met more than once to develop a National Science Foundation grant proposal mobilizing research related to Indigenous knowledge and learning systems. Many of the things I learned from Oscar have guided my thoughts on both science and education as I have used these ideas to advise graduate students and engage with my non-Indigenous colleagues at universities around the world. I conclude this short essay with one thing I learned from Oscar. I think that bringing the role of Indigenous scholars and Indigenous scholarship into sharp relief is the best way for me to relate to this paper. Particularly, the work of Greg and Oscar—referenced in the paper—gives us a way to see the challenges and possibilities of the emerging and evolving discourses on Indigenous science; and science education.