Walking Toward Indigenous Pedagogies: Kənim a Teaching Tool to Enrich All

• In Event: Book Talk: Walking Away: Refusing and Resisting Reactionary Curriculum Movements

Abstract

Summary:
Knowledge production happens in various locations and through many methods. Indigenous scholars around the globe are prioritizing the teachings of our ancestors, calling for the decentering of Western frameworks that have attempted to destroy and suppress our diverse and unique ways of knowing and engaging with the world around us. I argue that educational frameworks should be grounded in place and be decolonial. As an Indigenous person to the Pacific Northwest and practitioner of canoe culture, I offer kәnim or canoes as a teaching tool. Because canoe culture and its protocols exist in many contexts across different parts of the world, this pedagogical approach is applicable across geopolitical terrains and waterways; however, this does not imply that practitioners of canoe culture are homogenous. There is a diverse array of Indigenous identities and experiences within canoe culture, however, care, holism, relationality, reciprocity, respect, balance, and consensus politics are frequently embedded within epistemological frameworks that individual Indigenous nations practice to sustain their communities (Archibald, 2008; Chilisa, 2020; Kovach, 2021; Wilson, 2008). While colonial schools have been integral to the ongoing subjugation and oppression of Indigenous peoples and our associated knowledge systems, canoe as pedagogy refashions what was intended to harm us into tools of empowerment. Canoe as pedagogy is a decolonial and Indigenous approach to teaching that decenters normative paradigms that exclude or marginalize Indigenous/non-colonial ways of being and knowing. It is applicable in primary, secondary, and post-secondary educational settings, as well as in our everyday lives. This pedagogical approach supports educators in incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing into their teaching structure, including in course evaluative instruments. The entire classroom learning environment is built upon teachings informed by canoes, canoe culture, and protocols. This paper will contextualize how and why kənim (canoe) as a teaching tool came to be, illustrate how I conceptualize it, and describe how it can be implemented within classroom environments.

Author

• Rachel L Cushman, University of Oregon