PHILOSOPHY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Where Earth and Culture Touch

How do non-European peoples express their fundamental beliefs of the land and their relationships to the land and each other within those beliefs?  Through contact, diffusion and syncretization, how are those beliefs in conflict with the world of today?  In the first section of this course we will attempt to come to an understanding of who indigenous peoples are and discover some of the patterns within belief systems from various cultures and times. How is it that we come to think about the environment?  What is the role of culture in framing those thoughts?   Our exploration will be based on the premise that we can often understand the beliefs of others by closely engaging their art, architecture, dance, music, poetry, oral tradition and other medium of communication.

Sample Schedule:

Day 1

·       Peoples of the Frontier (reading)

·       John Locke and Chief Seattle:  Speaking to an Understanding of the Land (readings)

·       Who are indigenous peoples?

·       Dimensions of Myth (reading)

·        “The Creation , “The Flood”, and the Spiritual World :   How do these tellings inform us about the belief of the relationship between people and their earth? (readings and activity)

Day 2

·      Ways of knowing the world (lecture)

·       Mother Earth:  Nature as a Living System (readings and activity)

·       “Baka:  People of the Forest” (video)

Beginning on February 21, you will have the opportunity to examine to greater depth one of the following areas.  Your final project will be based in these examinations.  More details will be provided later:

Animal Powers:  The Kinship of Humans and Beasts

Plant Powers:  The Relationship between Humans and Vegetation

Humans, Spirit Power, Land and the Living Whole

Time as a Circle:  The Rhythms of Nature

World Renewal:  Maintaining Balance in the Natural World

Day 3

·      Matengo Folktales

·       (9:00-10:30) A visit with Dr. Joseph Mbele,  a professor of English and St. Olaf College and a West African folklorist and social commentator.  Dr. Mbele will speak to the role of art and story telling in communicating East African beliefs about the relationship of people and the land.  (additional readings as assigned)

·       (12:30-2:00)A visit with Jeff Mountain, SES alumni, who has prepared an examination of body art forms as they communicate  beliefs about ourselves in the world

·       Ways of Seeing Nature:  Native Natural Histories (readings and activity)

Day 4

·       “Nomads of the Rainforest” (video)

·       Trip to Heaven-Hi Originals

Day 5

·       Trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts African Gallery.  Our purpose in this visit is to examine naturalism in functional art. 

·       Songlines:  An introduction to Aboriginal Culture in Australia

·       “Australia’s Aboriginal Past” (video)

Day 6

·      Continue consideration of Australian Aboriginal Experience

·       “Walkabout” (video)

·       Area of interest jig-saw activity

Day 7

·       The Fate of the Earth:  Voices of the Elders

·       “Fire in the Forest”  A simulation of conflict  over indigenous values and rights

                  FINAL  EXAMINATION AND COURSE EVALUATION

(Please note that your journals will be collected at the completion of this session)

Course evaluation will be based on journal entries, participation in discussions, short reaction papers, a presentation based on the area of interest you selected and a final examination.