Reflections on Historical and Contemporary Indigenist Approaches to Environmental Ethics in a Comparative Context

Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge

“…Some of the more recent ones explain distinctive place names that map and mark human geographies. [p. 3818] This information is typically passed on through acts of story-telling that are both literal and metaphorical, as they verbally reconstruct connections with the past (Bruchac 2005;Johnson 2007;Vizenor 2008). As Gerald Vizenor (Anishinaabe) articulates it, oral traditions in the hands of a skilled teller---a storier---can evoke elemental realizations:…”

“…Oral traditions may speak of a particular family, lineage, language, or region, or serve as markers of distinct Indigenous identities. From the colonial era to the present, oral traditions have also been employed as a means of identification and a form of resistance to colonial domination (Bruchac 2005;Johnson 2007;Vizenor 2008).…”

Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge

“…This information is typically passed on through acts of story-telling that are both literal and metaphorical, as they verbally reconstruct connections with the past (Bruchac 2005;Johnson 2007;Vizenor 2008). As Gerald Vizenor (Anishinaabe) articulates it, oral traditions in the hands of a skilled teller---a storier---can evoke elemental realizations: Native storiers of survivance are prompted by natural reason, by a consciousness and sense of incontestible presence that arises from experiences in the natural world, by the turn of the seasons, by sudden storms, by migration of cranes...by the favor of spirits in the water, rimy sumac, wild rice, thunder in the ice, bear, beaver, and faces in the stone (Vizenor 2008:11).…”

“…Yet, they recognize that animals, birds, and other beings have agency and traditions of their own. They expect to interact with these beings not only in the flesh, but also through dreaming and ritual encounters (Apffel-Marglin 2011;Augustine 1997;Johnson 2007). Ritual activities provide a means of communicating with elemental spirits and worldly beings that have intelligences of their own (Apffel-Marglin 2011).…”