Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

prejudice, and assumptions
misconceptions,
Indigenous Peoples.” (Antoine et al 2018)
about
Indigenization is:
process of naturalizing Indigenous knowledge
“the
and making them evident to transform
systems
places, and hearts … [T]his involves
spaces,
Indigenous knowledge and approaches
bringing
with Western knowledge systems. It is a
together
coming together of these two ways of
deliberate
its nature, TOK is well placed to address
By
of these calls to action. What might a
both
indigenized TOK course and
decolonized,
look like? How can decolonizing and
curriculum
work in TOK reflect on the rest of
indigenizing
IB Diploma curriculum?
the
two processes are often said to go hand in
These
The work is to simultaneously deconstruct
hand.
knowledge and knowledge systems,
colonial
upholding the persistence and value of
while
ways of knowing. There are dangers
Indigenous
doing one without the other: it can lead to
to
or to criticism that does not offer an
tokenism,
and thus reverts back to a default state.
alternative
Indigenous ways of being and knowing
That
is a testament to the strength of Indigenous
persist
and the value of Indigenous knowledge.
Peoples
Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning Through Ceremony,
In
Florence Davidson (Haida/Settler) and
Sara
Davidson (Haida Nation) write about
Robert
social function of the potlatch as a locus of
the
sharing, identity formation, resource
knowledge
and ceremonial transmission of
distribution
There is variety among the potlaches of
protocols.
First Nations of the Pacific Northwest,
different
the event may involve a ceremony, a rite of
and
the sharing of food, dances and stories
passage,
the exchange of resources. In “We Were Once
or
Davidson and Davidson write about the
Silenced”
federal government’s deliberate attempt
Canadian
undermine the acculturation and knowledge
to
of Indigenous Peoples through anti-
transfer
legislation. The 1884 Potlatch Ban was
potlatch
lifted in 1951, and potlatches that had been
only
and performed in secret are now openly
adapted
again. People born during the 67 years
convened
the ban were bearing witness to their cultural
of
being performed freely for the first time
practices
this ban and other assimilationist
Alongside
Indigenous children were removed from
tactics,
communities and placed in residential
their
The last such institution, Gordon
schools.
Residential School in Saskatchewan,
Indian
operated by the Canadian government
was
1996. Throughout all of this, elders and
until
keepers honoured ancestral ties and
knowledge
the cultural survival of Indigenous ways
ensured
knowing, learning andbeing.
of
does it mean to indigenize and decolonize
What
against the backdrop of legislation
education
education used to eradicate cultural
and
knowledge practices? How do we, as
and
teachers and communities, protect
individuals,
taking part in the very same abuse again,
against
As you come up with your own
unintentionally?
consider these tworesources.
answer,
1: the calls to action (62–65) for education
Source
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of
by
terms: TRC Canada
Search
to Action
Calls
2: the principle of “two-eyed seeing” by
Source
Elder Albert Marshall, as an approach
Mi’kmaq
weaving together Indigenous and non-
to
knowledges.
Indigenous
terms: Two-eyed
Search
AMarshall thinkers
seeing
education is said to be an important
Land-based
of the “Indigenous resurgence”
component
which calls for regeneration of
paradigm,
cultural, spiritual and political
Indigenous
and marks a shift in political
practices
away from reconciliation and
consciousness
know my history, I had to put away my books and
To
to the land.
return
II. Perspectives
II. Perspectives
in their lives.
being.” (Antoine et al 2018)
Canada.
II.1.2 Land-based education
towards decolonization.
(Trask 1999)
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