Ahksinakii, They Made Their Mark: Presencing a Kinship Worldview for All Beings
Date
2024-01-23
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Abstract
This inquiry is an ecological, pedagogical act of creation-research that shares two interconnected journeys: 1) the arts-based, land-based journey of children learning with na’a, Blackfoot for Mother Earth, alongside a Blackfoot Elder and 2) the journey of my own becoming as I walked a transformative pathway of learning to be a good ancestor as I learned with na’a, an Elder, and children. These journeys evolved over four years through local sites of inquiry and seek to respond to the question: What possibilities does a kinship worldview between humans, land, and more-than-humans offer for (re)imagining educational experiences for children, teachers, and others? This research inquires into a kinship worldview, Indigenously understood, and centres art and artmaking in various forms that includes artistic representations of children as well as my own making as a research process. Emerging from this creation-research are understandings about learning, an ancient kincentric wayfinding methodology, and a pedagogy of kinship. The presence of anthropology deepened my perspective on kinship, colonialism, nationalism, and cultures in Western schools. Eight years past the Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC (2015a) calls to action, during the ongoing effects of colonialism in Canada, and with an urgency to respond to the climate crisis, this research contributes to (re)storying a transformative learning ethic that centres Indigeneity and kinship between all beings. This dissertation offers a pedagogical space where I began to understand how to notice and cultivate the presence of kinship and determine how a kinship worldview could evoke care for each other and Earth. The purpose of presencing kinship is also to extend and come to appreciate the notion of kin, human and more-than-human, in new ways so that we can extend our kin networks and work collectively to care for Earth and future generations. This research journey tracks the happenings and the practices within this kincentric space that offers possibilities to (re)imagine what kind of ancestors we want to be. The teachings of children, an Elder, more-than-human kin, and my own personal learning journey circle around throughout this piece, offering perspectives as an invitation to embody kincentric wayfinding.
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Keywords
kinship, wayfinding, land, pedagogy, Indigeneity, COVID-19
Citation
Bartlett, S. J. (2024). Ahksinakii, they made their mark: presencing a kinship worldview for all beings (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.