2.3 Asynchronous

Dwayne Donald’s Curriculum as Forts

Forts as colonial artifacts that value what it is inside while abhorring what is outside, fearing it and rejecting it; politics of residential schools; neo-colonial erasure of Indigenous ways of knowing

The Tipi

Features of the Tipi:

• circular structure, with a fire (represents the essence of being, the life force) in the center and an opening at the top allows for the emission of smoke during fire use as well as encouraging healthy air circulation

• no solid flooring, furniture, or ceilings and there is only one entrance

• poles serve as the supports to the covering made of animal hides—buffalo and deer in the case of the Blackfoot

• can be disassembled and moved quite easily, leaving but a trace behind

• they continue to be used today for special ceremonial purposes

• the entrance faces East in honour of the natural environment

What shape is central to Blackfoot ideology?

The circle (bird’s eye view)

• the circle structure helped maintain respect to information (understanding and learning is a lot deeper than if it was taken just as a task)

How was the Tipi organized?

• There was a female side and a male side

• The center had a fire

• People sat around the outside and in the middle closer to the fire

• Opposite the door to the west is a place of honor where sacred bundles are put (represent sources of authority); smudge altar is in front of this and north of that altar was where the tobacco cutter sat

• North of the fire is where a sacred pipe might be looked after

Question Period in the House of Commons

• Feels like a bunch of kids fighting; some insults are thrown

• Westminster system (originated in England)

• a lot of interrupting and background noise

• honestly feels like an immature rap battle

What are the 4 parts of the traditional Piikani Blackfoot process?

• Venue

• Action

• Language

• Song

• Ex. I need to be able to sit in their venues, to demonstrate my ability and qualifications through certain actions. I need to speak their language and sing those Thunder Pipe songs that give that authority.

Elders in Piikani society (Leadership and Authority)

An elder is somebody who has looked after a bundle that helped the community, and who has passed on that bundle and became a ceremonial grandparent.

• conduct or oversaw ceremonies

• guidance

Concepts in the white man’s education, government and religion

“God gives dominion to man”

• dominion gives man the right to be superior over all Creation

• leadership is defined by the products owned and acquired through dominion, authorized by the written word, and controlled by a hierarchy that places man at the top of all creation

Identity as Indian thinkers

“Humans are created equal to all creation”

• forms the basis of all Indigenous practices

• the circle structure was their way of communicating and working in a group

Ceremonialist (West)

The circle structure and all the oral systems are based on ceremony and rituals, or rites.

Two basic rites are:

• gifted rites: authority that was gifted to you (vision quest_

• transferred rites

These rites are responsibilities they carry that makes them part of the community

Transferred rites

came from the time of Creation

• people caring for knowledge that is from a sacred source

• this rite must be practiced everyday

• it is a rebirth

• people work hard to earn the privilege of that knowledge

Venue

Place of discussion

• the ability to be with a community

Action

Refers to dancing and mimicking of animals to convey their spirit and teachings

• demonstrates qualifications through certain actions

Language

Refers to knowing how to speak Blackfoot

• to sing the songs

Song

Refers to knowing how to sing the traditional songs

• to protect or give authority to information or to a concept