“Suahunu,” the Trialectic Space

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of “suahunu” as the “trialectic space” and highlights its key principles and ideas as part of the project of pioneering new analytical systems for understanding Indigenous communities. The concept is borrowed from the lexicon of the Akan people of Ghana, with the embedded meaning that if one is seriously about learning, one will come to know and acquire knowledge and act responsibly. The article also raises lessons for the ways we produce and validate knowledge for social action and practice. In the discussion, the ideas embodying the “trialectic space” (e.g., body-mind-soul interconnections, culture-society-nature interface, sacredness of activity, spiritually centered space, ancestralism, embodied connection, decolonization, and multicentricity) are fleshed out, pointing to the implications for revisioning schooling and education globally for contemporary learners.