Pathways for Remembering and Recognizing Indigenous Thought in Education: Philosophies of Iethi'nihsténha Ohwentsia'kékha (Land) by Sandra D. Styres

Abstract

Reviewed by: Pathways for Remembering and Recognizing Indigenous Thought in Education: Philosophies of Iethi'nihsténha Ohwentsia'kékha (Land) by Sandra D. Styres Eliza Yellow Bird and Nolan L. Cabrera Sandra D. Styres. Pathways for Remembering and Recognizing Indigenous Thought in Education: Philosophies of Iethi'nihsténha Ohwentsia'kékha (Land). Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press, 2017. 234 pp. Paperback: $27.95. ISBN 978-1-4875-2163-9 In her text, Pathways for Remembering and Recognizing Indigenous Thought in Education, Sandra Styres broaches a challenging premise, "[to] articulate the inarticulable" (p. 15). She wanted to translate the oral traditions of Indigenous knowledge into a text that could help guide the implementation of Indigenous culture, language, and epistemic orientation into educational spheres. However, this required a delicate balancing act. First, Styres wanted to be clear that despite the oppressed status of Indigenous peoples, this text would not be a form of "poverty porn." She offered, "I am not going to bleed on these pages for you; this is not a story of abuse and dark places. This is a journey of discovery" (p. 14). Additionally, she was sensitive to the ways that texts on Indigenous education can be reductive--a listing of "best practices" that erase the complexity of Indigenous ways of knowing. Instead, she offered, "[I]t is an exploration into some of the shared themes that inform Indigenous thought and the ways they can be used to frame an Indigenous-informed philosophy of education that can be adapted across diverse contexts and places" (p. 15). Within this framework, Styres offers five interconnected sections that detail the different components of the Haudenosaunee people's cultural traditions, building to this Indigenous knowledge base and its application to educational theory and practice. We found the first four sections particularly compelling, however, we struggled with the educational implementation in the final one. In Section 1, "Vision – (Re)centering," Styres orients the reader by presenting her positionality, historical context, and explores the tension created by the concept of ethical space. Styres defines ethical space as "the space between two disparate world views" (p. 27). She sees the book as a way to create these spaces by having critical discussions between Indigenous and Western epistemologies in education. By engaging within these ethical spaces, Styres sees it as a way of consciously entering unfamiliar spaces and disrupting the "colonial relations that continue to inform-cross-and intercultural interactions" (p. 29). Styres is fiercely critical of Western epistemologies, their dominance in educational spheres, and her project is rooted in the lofty goal of decolonizing the academy. Styres continues by offering Indigenous circularity frameworks based on Land. Circularity is a decolonizing framework that, according to Styres, is a non-linear, relational way of people understanding their relationships to the land and to others. It is a place-specific epistemology, and a core component of it is storying. The Indigenous importance of stories is more than simply narrating an experience. As Tachine, Yellow Bird, and Cabrera (2016) offer, "Since time immemorial, the fluidity of storytelling and stories within Native societies has been a vital and legitimate source of understanding and navigating through the multifaceted dimensions of life" (p. 282). Within this understanding of storytelling, Styres is clear that Indigenous scholars have multiple connections to storying, be it through the process of the story, their role within the story, or the [End Page E-16] to the story. Academia is also comprised of ethical spaces where Indigenous scholars are working to challenge and dismantle colonialism through their Indigenous epistemologies and storying. This tension prepares the reader for the next section on relationships. In Section 2, "Relationships –(Re)membering," Styres further develops the concept of Land where it is seen as "spiritual, emotional, and relational; Land is experiential; Land is conscious; Land is a fundamental living being" (p. 47). Land, in Styres understanding, is therefore central in exploring one's identity and social responsibilities as she insightfully detailed especially in the chapter "Self-in-Relationship." Self-in-Relationship embodies a philosophy of interconnectedness where Land is a core component of one's identity, and it is also "the place where we (re)member our collective and individual relationships with...