ANTH 436 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Anishinaabe, On Being, Aboriginal Title
23 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
2/8/2018
ANTH 436
essay assignment
● life project → refer to the readings
○ an agenda that is forged by a community
○ can flower into a social movement
○ territorialized
● responding to a collective vision
○ but there may be more than one collective vision
● not reducing it to a universal/tokenizing vision
SIMPSON READING NOTES:
Simpson, Leanne. “Our Elder Brothers: The Lifeblood of Resurgence.” Chapter 4, in Simpson (2008).
● to continue on the Nishnaabeg path, one must fully commit to building resurgence (p 74)
○ one is not born Nishnaabeg one must live it (regardless of whether you are “full blood” or
anything less)
● ensuring knowledge of ancestors is taught to coming generations
○ how → processes for transferring knowledge are critical
● need to recover Indigenous ways of knowing
○ ways of protecting, sharing, transmitting Indigenous intellectual traditions
○ centering revitalization within knowledge systems
● importance of
○ language
○ land
○ listening
● universities have historically been sites of colonization
● need a disconnection from the agenda of settler governments (p 75)
○ the answers to combat colonialism, to decolonize, to re-Indigenize are all in the knowledge
systems
○ by changing oneself you can change your reality
● need to blatantly reject the colonizer’s view
○ need to recapture the revolutionary nature of ancient teachings (p 76)
● 4 part strategy
○ 1) confront the “funding mentality”
○ 2) confront linguistic genocide
○ 3) need to vision resurgence
○ 4) awaken ancient treaty and diplomatic mechanisms; building solidarity with neighboring
nations
● confronting the “funding mentality”
○ “It is time to admit that colonizing governments and private corporate foundations are not going
to fund our decolonization, because the colonial relationship serves their interests and they
remain the beneficiaries of colonialism.” (p 77)
○ some knowledge systems do not cost capital to maintain
○ oral tradition (unlike written) is “environmentally friendly”
■ it can be done without the support of capitalism
● confronting linguistic genocide
○ the colonization of indigenous knowledge
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Anth 436 essay assignment life project refer to the readings. An agenda that is forged by a community. Can flower into a social movement territorialized responding to a collective vision. But there may be more than one collective vision. Not reducing it to a universal/tokenizing vision. Our elder brothers: the lifeblood of resurgence. chapter 4, in simpson (2008). to continue on the nishnaabeg path, one must fully commit to building resurgence (p 74) One is not born nishnaabeg one must live it (regardless of whether you are full blood or anything less) Ensuring knowledge of ancestors is taught to coming generations. How processes for transferring knowledge are critical. Need to recover indigenous ways of knowing. Ways of protecting, sharing, transmitting indigenous intellectual traditions. Centering revitalization within knowledge systems importance of language land listening. Universities have historically been sites of colonization.
