Honouring knowledge, facing the future?

by David Newhouse

Ainee. Seko. Bozhoo. Welcome. Words of Greeting extended to all of creation. The words of Elders were heard again at Trent at the 34th Annual Elders' and Traditional Peoples' Gathering. Seven respected elders and two Trent faculty members shared their teachings in two dozen workshops over the February 15-17 weekend. The theme of this year's gathering was "relationships." Workshops discussed the relationship between men and women, husband and wife, the physical and the spiritual, modernism and tradtionalism, aboriginal and non-aboriginal. All are discussed through the lens of aboriginal traditional worldview, thought and philosophies. One of the constant themes is how to interpret traditional teachings in a modern secular world.

The annual gathering honours traditional teachers who bring what has come to be known as "traditional indigenous knowledge" into the academy. Trent's Native Studies program, the oldest on the continent, has been a leader for 34 years in addressing issues of indigenous knowledge and working to create a place for it within the university. The Native studies program has expanded from the academic study of Aboriginal peoples, rooted in anthropology. It is now about contributing to the overall development of the aboriginal governance movement which focuses on the restoration of aboriginal stewardship over Aboriginal society. A central theme of that movement is a desire to use traditional knowledge as the basis of the structures and processes of everyday life ie. education, governance, economy, spirituality, social welfare, etc.

What this means is that traditional teachings need to be made accessible within the university. This requires bringing those who hold this knowledge into the academy as professors, teachers and researchers.

The Native Studies Department for thirty years now has included traditional elders and teachers among its faculty. Trent is the only university in North America to provide tenure to an Aboriginal elder on the basis of traditional knowledge. So far, 4 elders have achieved this status and the rank of professor within the university. Faculty have also developed ways of brinigng traditional teachings into the classroom without violating their sacredness. The 3 year old Native Studies PhD program (again the first in Canada and the second in North America) is based upon an exploration of indigenous knowledge. It has a traditional elder, Douglas Williams, from Curve Lake (who is among the first set of graduates from Trent in the 1960's) as the Director of Studies.

The Elders' and Traditional persons' gathering is our way of honouring on an annual basis those who hold traditional knowledge. It is also one of the ways in which we assist students to learn this knowledge. We expect that they will combine what they learn from traditional teaching with what they learn from other disciplines in creative, innovative ways. Douglas Cardinal, the Metis-Cree architect, said during a recent talk at Trent that we have to face the future with the pipe and the computer. The elders' gathering helps students to find the pipe in the midst of the computers.

David Newhouse is Chair of the Department of Native Studies. He is Onondaga from the Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford, Ontario. His reserach interest is in the development of modern Aboriginal society.

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Last updated February 26, 2002