An Indigenous critique: Expanding sociology and recognizing unique Indigenous knowledge

Abstract

IntroductionThis essay suggests that sociologists should integrate into their critical research work on the Americas an Indigenous critique/method based on Indigenous knowledge. As a mixed Indigenous scholar, I have been frustrated by the lack of frameworks based explicitly on Indigenous knowledge rather than merely referencing that knowledge.MethodsStrong foundations of ancient Indigenous thought and philosophical tradition—which often differs dramatically from Western traditions—are identified and explored through three concepts: Ch'ixi, the Indigenous pragmatic, and Mexica concepts of Truth. These are identified and discussed using authoritative historical and contemporary sources. I provide potential pathways for usage of these concepts in the results and discussion. Arguments and controversy for accepting the validity of Indigenous sources are also addressed.Results and discussionDiscussions of specific empirical questions and puzzles related to already familiar concepts and analyses such as systemic racism theory, multi-raciality, religion, and postcolonial theory are explored. The paper concludes that Indigenous theory is underexplored but is critical to liberation of Indigenous people and has legitimate academic value that scholars need to recognize.

Houston, we have a problem…or do we? The trajectory of astrobioethics and Indigenous thought

“…However, they and V. F. Cordovathe first Indigenous American woman to earn a PhD in philosophy remind us that philosophy describes the intellectual act of communities considering their place in the world, relations to others and what that all means (Cordova, 2007). Cordova argued beautifully for employing an Indigenous philosophy that can be common to all Indigenous peoples based on shared thought structures across Indigenous culturessomething that other scholars have identified as well (Cordova, 2007;Graeber and Wengrow, 2021;Mackay, 2022b).…”

“…These philosophies were developed and in full use when the first Europeans arrived (Pratt, 2002) and evolved as they encountered Europeans. Despite centuries of physical and intellectual attack these ideas have managed to survive and critique the ideas and strategies of their European opposites (Cordova, 2007;Graeber and Wengrow, 2021;Mackay, 2022b).…”

“…Thousands of years before European arrival Indigenous peoples independently established, understood and used the scientific method. The prominence of this method in such important stories shows that Indigenous communities saw science and empirical enquiry as a fundamental aspect of being and not antithetical to life, spirituality, knowledge and more (Mackay, 2022b).…”

“…Indigenous peoples, philosophies and pragmatic see community as made up of many autonomous beings that must be respected and cared for which benefits the wellbeing and balance of the overall community. The extreme individualism and resource extraction of Western philosophies and societies is not ethical under Indigenous structures (Lahontan, 1703;Graeber and Wengrow, 2021;Mackay, 2022aMackay, , 2022b)individual responsibilities exist in an overall responsibility to a larger community and system (Barkin, 2022;Sánchez-Antonio, 2022). This demands respect not only for yourself and others, but respect for the animal and non-animal environment in which all things exist.…”

Community Development for Bote in Chitwan National Park, Nepal: A Political Ecology of Development Logic of Erasure

“…He notes that 'that the Sonahas' moral ecology encompasses complex meanings and fosters the subsistence use of resources from the natural environment in ways that have been marginalised by the conservation discourse' [30]. We argue that a political ecology and articulation of indigenous moral ecology fit the agenda of a new indigenous postcolonial sociology for conservation [28,73].…”