Non-Indigenous Instructors Teaching about Indigenous Content
This article brings up the concrete challenges of two non-Indigenous instructors who have tried to include Indigenous content in their classes. They bring up many interesting thoughts and reflections that non-Indigenous instructors should consider when including Indigenous content.
Land is a central component to many Indigenous epistemologies (Simpson, 2014; Twance, 2019; Wildcat et al., 2014). Land education is about engaging in “conversations with the land and on the land in a physical, social, and spiritual sense” (Wildcat et al., 2014, p. 2). This approach sees the land as the “mode of education” that can teach us (humans) how to be in relationship with each other (p. 2). Engaging in land-based practices can build reciprocity with the land and promote spiritual healing and grounding. These practices ultimately must be grounded in the local contexts and land where they are taking place (Wildcat et al., 2014). Whereas some place-based pedagogical approaches emphasize the innocence of non-Indigenous students in settler colonialism (Twance, 2019), land education confronts settler colonialism and other forms of power such as heteropatriarchy. Land education is based in Indigenous epistemologies and sovereignty to highlight how the land has been and is used to dominate communities, commit violence particularly against Indigenous women and other women of color, and enforce both patriarchy and heteronormative relationships (Sepulveda, 2018; Twance, 2019; Wildcat et al., 2014). This recognition also calls attention to the internalization of Western and Eurocentric religious values replacing/erasing Indigenous values and practices. Additionally, this recognition highlights how those with the most access to funds thereby have greater access to the land and its resources (Wildcat et al., 2014).