POLI 3056: Review Essay

Submitted to: Professor Stephanie Martens

Submitted by: Jennifer Meunier (0229253)
February 22nd, 2015.
Towards a Critical Indigenous Epistemology

POLI 3056: Review Essay

Summary:
This essay will explore three angles of critical indigenous epistemology in order to explore the
contrasting nuances present within Indigenous political and philosophical scholarship today. I will
explore and compare three respected Indigenous scholars who have written extensively on the topic of
Indigenous epistemology and ontology: Waziyatawin's What Does Justice Look Like? The
Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn's article Why I Can't
Read Wallace Stegner, and excerpts from two works by Gerald Vizenor.
List of References
Cook-Lynn, E. (1996). Why I Can't Read Wallace Stegner and Other Essays. Madison, WC: University
of Wisconsin Press.
Noodin, M. (2014). Bawaajimo: A Dialect of Dreams in Anishinaabe Language and Literature. East
Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
Vizenor, G. (1990) Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota
Press.
Vizenor, G. (2008). Survivance: Narratives of Native Resistance. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska
Press.
Waziyatawin. (2008). What Does Justice Look Like? The Struggle for Liberation in
Dakota
Homeland. St. Paul, MN: Living Justice Press.
Chosen Topic:
What epistemological challenges does the topic raise?
This topic raises many epistemological questions such as: what is meant by Indigenous
epistemology and can it be defined singularly? What are the differences and similarities between
epistemological arguments put forward by a number of Indigenous scholars? What methods of
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POLI 3056: Review Essay

expression are more preferable than others (i.e., is 'storytelling' the central tenet of all Indigenous
epistemologies?) How and why does gender enter the picture in reference to how and what knowledge
is and can be shared?
What methods may be used to learn about this topic and understand it?
Methods themselves will be explored in this paper, so the subjective nature of methodology will
be critically investigated as part of this essay. Having thus de-objectivised the nature of this exposition,
this essay will use contrasting explorations of several scholars and texts in order to explore the
questions posed above.
Recent Academic Literature on the Topic (3-5 sources)
I could not find any recent academic literature which specifically contrasted Indigenous
epistemologies in such a fashion, hence why I chose to explore this topic.

POLI 3056: Review Essay