I was very impressed by the storytelling talent of Robin Wall Kimmerer. She spoke with such specific reference to emotions and connections that I had also experienced to some degree, be that with nature or with rediscovering ancestral culture. In listening and discussing the seminar, found myself reflecting on my own history with Indigeneity in Canada. The majority of my education in that history comes from my time at a summer camp, which has a complex relationship with First Nations. I say complex because it walks fretfully between appropriation and appreciation, having spent many decades squarely on the former. One thing it did accomplish, though, was to engender in me a deep respect for all my relations. I think that this was also strengthened and supported by my parents' abiding love for living things, both of them being veterinarians and my father also teaching biology.
The place where I struggle is in accepting the spiritual elements of animacy, the part which is I think most diverged from Western science. Academically, I am very able to respect and appreciate the kinship which many people hold with the natural world, but I do sometimes find it challenging to embody that spirit myself. I think I would benefit from more time spent out in nature, although that is sometimes difficult to find space for.
Really, though, I believe that there is no better way to teach the principles of respect and show students the wholeness of nature than by being in it. I'm looking forward to hearing more about indigenizing curriculum in this class, as it's something I don't have a strong background in, but my very surface-level idea is that we should connect all of our learning to the world around us. As we discussed in class with verbs rather than nouns, all mathematics comes from our world somewhere (even if that somewhere is theoretical). Examining mathematics through an inquiry-based lens and focusing that lens on patterns and beauty in all our relations seems like a good place to start.
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