Examples Of Indigenous Epistemology

Being an aborigine in a white dominated society is a complicated identity. Australia, one of the white governed nations, also owns many aboriginal tribes. They lived harmonious lives in the early period. But European colonization has made a profound effect on the lives of Aboriginals in Australia, which led to the total demolition of their native culture, identity and history. As a result the new generation Aboriginals have lost their Aboriginal heritage and have been accepted neither by Aboriginals nor by whites. This state of being part aboriginals has driven their identity in crisis. Indeed they have possessed a unique Aboriginal consciousness that have made them to reclaim their lost voice. Their literature has been used as a platform

Aboriginal spirituality is a way of life it is understood and perceived as an external link to the universe that consists of intellect and meaning in life discovering the personal universe and ethical codes. Aboriginal spirituality not just being a set of principles but instead it is a way of life which sets the standards of living and guidelines for all aboriginal people. All aboriginal people have a distinctive superior reverence for all natural surroundings having strong understanding of all aboriginal people in the aboriginal communities which is well thought-out to be one of the most paramount and ultimate gifts posed by all aboriginal people. Through this gift a strong bound is formed with all living beings which are linked generating the feeling of unity togetherness and belonging. The significance of

Although Wangero uses the oppression of her people as a reason to reject her roots. Later on Walker let us see that she really disliked her culture and did not want to feel attached to it.

However, there is still hope. While the injustices of the Stolen generation, massacres and centuries of mistreatment against Indigenous Australians can never be erased, we can create future in which these atrocities never occur again. These atrocities emerge from ignorance and fear, so working to understand Indigenous culture must surely be the only path to removing the racism that plagues Australia. We have so must to learn from the rich cultural history of Indigenous Australians, particularly in their spiritual relationship with the land they have lived on for thousands of years. If we embrace this incredible knowledge, not only will we eliminate the barriers preventing equality in our society, we will also be stronger as a nation in both environmental and social relations. Ultimately, we have the potential to become an example to the world of the way a nation’s people can overcome their past mistakes and pave a future of cultural sharing for the benefit of all

Week ones study was focused on the Aboriginal Acknowledgement of Country and the Indigenous terms of reference. These are two very important topics as they focus on the interaction between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, fostering a relationship a relationship of trust, respect and understanding.

From the calendars we still use today, to the way we grow crops with farming, ancient civilizations such as the Mayas, the Aztecs, and the Incas influenced and created the way we contribute our skills towards the public. These people’s expertise proves just how they improved the world. The civilizations were advanced for their time based on their early society, their accomplishments, and the remains that are still remembered, as well as viewed to this day.

The Ngunnawal People have been living within the borders and surrounding mountains of the Australian Capital Territory for over 25,000 years. The way the Indigenous people used the land to live off was extremely efficient and sustainable. They had a bounty of knowledge about the land surrounding them, and over generations, devised resourced management skills to ensure maintenance of the animals and plants, and most importantly, the land in which provided these things. Aboriginal culture existed long before Captain Cook arrived in Australia in 1770. He claimed the land to be "Terra-Nullius", meaning that the land did not belong to any person. This claim obviously seemed ludicrous and crazy to the Indigenous people whom already lived on the land.

I believe one of the most significant referendums in Australia that was carried, is the 1967 Referendum to include Aboriginal people within Section 51 and 127 of the Constitution. Prior to the 1st of January 1901, the Australian Constitution took effect and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Under the laws of the Australian Government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not included as citizens. Instead they were treated as foreigners in their own land.On the 27th of May 1967, a Federal referendum was held to determine whether two references in the Australian Constitution, which discriminated against Aboriginal people, should be altered or entirely removed. At the time of the referendum, Harold Holt was the Prime Minister

The Dreaming gives the Aboriginal people a way to explain on how the world came to be.

Ceremony and rituals have played a vital and essential role in Native American culture for a long time. Often referred to as “religion,” most Native Americans did not think their spirituality, ceremonies, and rituals as “religion,” the same way that Christians do. Instead, their beliefs and practices form an integral and seamless part of their being. Like other aboriginal people around the world, their beliefs were heavily influenced by their ways of getting food, – from hunting to agriculture. They also did ceremonies and rituals that gave power to conquer the difficulties of life, as wells as events and milestones, such as puberty, marriage, and death. Over the years, practices and ceremonies changed with tribes '

Aboriginal Australian peoples have been placed in unfair situations that have resulted in disconnections from society due to bias in culture, racism and because of previous historical events such as colonisation that led to colonialism and horrible events such as The Stolen Generation. These events act like a scar to the Aboriginal Australian peoples and their culture, those previously mentioned historical events symbolises the cut, the immense pain that was caused in that moment is still a factor and the pain from it is still prevalent and is symbolised by the scar. The scar also represents the factors that still manage to affect the Aboriginal Australians today, such as racism and lack of quality and access to education, money and health care.. The Indigenous peoples are also affected by various other factors such as limited access to health care that may be of poor quality, such resources may also bring fear to the Indigenous peoples because practitioners are not always sensitive or respectful to

Representation plays a pivotal role in comprehending and interpreting the complex world around us. According to Stuart Hall, “representation is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture (Hall The Work of Representation 1997). How adequately one represents one’s own self or the world around them is a matter of prime concern for everyone ranging from critics to common man. However, no representation is neutral and it involves issues of power and control. Much postcolonial scholarships revolve around this issues of power and politics of representation with the deployment of what Foucault has popularly termed as “discourse”. Employing the Foucaultian discursive approach, Edward Said’s

The canon of Australian Poetry, despite the so called migration of Australians to an international mindset, as postulated by John Kinsella a novelist, poet and editor, is even more relevant today in our contemporary society. Especially so is the importance of Aboriginal poetry, as it articulates the impact that the “men of a different hue”, who first appeared 228 years ago, has had on their and culture.

The purpose of this essay is to acknowledge the conditions that impact upon Indigenous students’ education. This will be reached through analysis of the concepts of race, racism and whiteness in Australia. These key understandings of Indigenous students’ will be incorporated into my own critical pedagogy in order to demonstrate how I would teach for reconciliation in my classroom.

Three readings from this week, combined with the readings from last week of overarching themes, got me thinking about how I have been considering Indigenous student experiences. In fact, I have not given too much thought on the issue until I encountered it as one of the topics in a course last term. I found myself relating to Indigenous student experiences, in terms of learning needs, to a certain extent as a recent immigrant student from South Korea. That led me to enrol in this course, and I find this opportunity to be a good learning experience as each reading material presents me new insights about Indigenous student experiences.