Reflective journal # 1

PMAL 103: Turtle Island, Canada, and the world

Name – Roniel Madan

Section – 1AB

Professor: Richard E. Jaques (Nanawin)

Date: January 21, 2024

Introduction

There are a vast number of ways which shows the way of the Indigenous.

It’s not just one that would suffice the knowledge we can gather or a

perspective. The way Skraeling (Qitsualik, 2010) exemplifies the

Indigenous ways of knowing by informing of their relationship with the land,

animals, and culture. And, how they were different and interrelated to the

now Western culture.

Relationship with the land

Kannujaq walked the same land and hills where once the Inuit walked in.

Basis of the tales of his grandfather he saw the huge structures of rock with

images of men what were known as Inuksuit. Terry Cross (2010) talked of

relational worldview and it includes Context, Mental, Physical and Spiritual.

Then there were the Tunit, the one who walked these rocks and hills before

Kannujaq’s people arrived. There are talks about the way the hunting was

carried out whether it was on land, forest or water. A good weather and

climate like rich Autumn would be more suited for fishing and seal hunting.

Sometimes taking shelter under the interlocking whale ribs, that were part

of the rocky shores of the area.

Interconnectedness with animals

Kannujaq noticed that the excitement among dogs for they found food.

Animals were not just used for their meat but to cover vast pastures of land,

carriage, sense of weather. Many a times they would show the ways to

improve on the formation as a family and protect the women and children,

when going through forest lands, from the other Indigenous groups.

Moreover, there was time to hunt and time to meditate. This is how the

Indigenous groups learnt that the animals would not just hunt but practice

patience and were spiritual.

Intergenerational transmission of culture

Skraeling demonstrates how the elderly would pass on the culture and

tradition by way of stories, poems and their actions would showcase what

they had learnt and helped them survive and evolve from their ancestors. It

was not limited to theoretical teachings but it was very prominent in the way

they behaved by going from one place to another shelter themselves from

various harsh climates and taking care of their young and loved ones.
Differences between Indigenous and Western Ways of Knowing

There are more than just a handful of profound differences between the

knowing of Indigenous and Western ways. For instance, the use of

scientific tools and formulas which were accepted and prevalent in the most

modern teachings in the Western style of knowledge was not a usual

practice in the Indigenous ways as they relied heavily on the knowledge

gathered from plants, trees, animals, birds and their fellow humans. A more

wait and practice, notes keeping side of ways is what governed the

decisions of Western knowing. On the other hand, the Indigenous ways

relied more on taking actions necessary to protect and fee the family as

opposed to research based on numbers and science involved.

Conclusion

There were both advantages and downsides of the way the Indigenous

people lived and the way Western people took over the masses of land

which were cared for by the Indigenous knowledge.

 References

Stinson, J. (2018). What are Indigenous and Western ways of knowing? Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada. https://www.criaw-icref.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2021/04/Fact-Sheet-2-EN-FINAL_Accessible.pdf