Indigenous Epistemologies

"En muchos sentidos, la tecnología nos sirve y mejora nuestras vidas. Sin embargo, detrás y debajo de la tecnología, en teorías y doctrinas científicas, acechan una gran cantidad de percepciones erróneas, énfasis mal dirigidos y problemas filosóficos sin resolver.
A medida que la civilización occidental creció y dominó el mundo, no logró resolver algunos problemas básicos. Una visión del Mundo Natural como principalmente materia física con poco contenido espiritual se apoderó y se convirtió en la metafísica práctica para los asuntos humanos.
Durante la Edad Media europea se produjo una división básica en las perspectivas cuando la razón y la revelación, los caminos gemelos para encontrar la verdad en las mentes de los pensadores occidentales, se dividieron en sagrados y seculares y se convirtieron en cuerpos de conocimiento equivalentes pero independientes. Una vez que la razón se hizo independiente, su único punto de referencia fue la mente humana y, en particular, la mente europea, educada y de clase media. Toda sociedad necesita personas educadas, pero la responsabilidad principal de las personas educadas es devolver la sabiduría a la comunidad y ponerla a disposición de los demás para que las vidas que llevan tengan sentido.
Los pensadores occidentales no desempeñaron su función social adecuada. La ciencia y la filosofía simplemente copiaron los caminos institucionales ya tomados por la religión occidental y se mistificarón, de modo que una de las máximas de la civilización occidental reciente ha sido declarar que algo es "académico", lo que significa que las soluciones inteligentes a los problemas son de hecho ilusorias, porque fueron ideadas por personas protegidas de las realidades de la vida cotidiana.
Los occidentales prefieren soluciones políticas, rechazan los principios involucrados y eligen una solución práctica, a menudo comprometedora del problema. Esta tradición, tal como la experimentamos hoy, es la tendencia a autorizar o financiar una cantidad asombrosa de estudios cuyas conclusiones son finalmente rechazadas para que podamos idear una solución política que nos permita evitar entender o enfrentar el problema por completo y que generalmente no es satisfactorio para nadie.
La institucionalización de la ciencia tomó muchas formas: la tendencia creciente de las personas a buscar explicaciones confiables sobre el mundo en los científicos, el desarrollo de universidades y colegios, el patrocinio de investigaciones científicas por parte de mecenas adinerados y, finalmente, el Estado.
Sin embargo, sobre todo, significaba que los científicos llegarían a actuar como sacerdotes y diferirían a la doctrina y al dogma al determinar qué verdades serían admitidas, cómo serían formuladas y cómo los científicos mismos estarían protegidos de las preguntas de la masa de personas. personas cuyas vidas se estaban volviendo cada vez más dependientes de ellos. En nuestra sociedad, hemos sido entrenados para creer que los científicos buscan, examinan y articulan verdades sobre el mundo natural y sobre nosotros mismos. No lo hacen, pero sí buscan y toman cautivos, y protegen el estatus social y económico de los científicos. Se dicen tantas mentiras para proteger la doctrina científica como se dijo para proteger a "la iglesia..."

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that deals with the
exactitude of our knowledge. And while it is something that philosophers
normally deal with, it holds major importance for all aspects of human
life. When scientists, for example, make a discovery, they employ a particular epistemological method that helps them make discoveries.

When theologians formulate doctrinal statements, they do so by relying on a particular source of information. Likewise, when prosecutors argue the guilt of someone who committed a particular crime, they rely on certain kinds of evidence and make a certain kind of inference. All of these disciplines, and many more, make epistemological assumptions. But this is not all. Even apart from these disciplines, normal people do the same thing on a daily basis. When we develop a belief by listening to a person’s testimony, seeing something with our eyes or recognizing that two statements are contradictory, we are operating on certain important epistemological assumptions. In the end, we all take epistemological positions on things, even if we do not realize it. Therefore, this branch of philosophy requires proper attention.

Contents

Preface / 7
1 What Is Epistemology? / 9
2 What Is Knowledge? / 19
3 Where Does Knowledge Come From? / 31
4 What Is Truth, and How Do We Find It? / 49
5 What Are Inferences, and How Do They Work? / 63
6 What Do We Perceive? / 79
7 Do We Need Justification? / 95
8 What Is Virtue Epistemology? / 115
9 Do We Have Revelation? / 129
10 How Certain Can We Be? / 147
For Further Reading / 165
About the Authors /

After the outlawing of the Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in
Tucson, Arizona, K-12 Ethnic Studies programs have materialized across the
U.S. at an accelerated rate creating an urgent need for critical Ethnic Studies
professional development for K-12 educators. In direct response to both the
elimination of the MAS program and the pressing need for teacher training,
the Xicanx Institute for Teaching & Organizing (XITO) emerged as a strategy
to continue the legacy of the MAS program. XITO, a grassroots urban
education collective, has developed a decolonizing and re-humanizing
model of Ethnic Studies professional development to counter the deficit
model of current teacher education by infusing critical identity work—a
critical analysis of race, power, and systems of oppression—together with
an Indigenous epistemological framework formerly implemented in the
highly successful MAS program. A thorough description of the philosophy
and model of XITO’s praxis is presented along with testimonios from
participants of the professional development and how they have integrated
this critical Ethnic Studies training into their own educational spaces.
Recognizing the rate of expansion of K-12 Ethnic Studies programs in the
U.S., coalition-building with other grassroots urban education collectives is
necessary to scale up the movement to prepare critically and politically
conscious Ethnic Studies teachers and organizers.

Native Americans’ relationship with the discipline of archaeology has been shaped by centuries of historical circumstances, political engagement, and changing research agendas, in connection with Indigenous efforts to maintain or regain control over their affairs. At different times, archaeologists were seen (and often acted) as agents of colonialism or grave robbers, but also as allies or even employees of tribes. With the increasing number of Native American archaeologists, the terms “archaeologist” and “Indigenous” are no longer mutually exclusive.
    There is no one attitude toward archaeology among Indigenous people. While some do not find it a meaningful way of relating to the past, others have embraced it as a tool that can be reconstructed and used in culturally appropriate ways. Nonetheless, professional archaeology still presents an artificial boundary that has often served to separate peoples and communities from their heritage and history.
    This chapter focuses on Indigenous North Americans’ engagement with archaeology—its historical development, contemporary practice, and future prospects and challenges. A rich, sometimes contentious discourse has developed since the 1970s on Indigeneity, ethnicity, and ethnogenesis; alternative modes of stewardship and heritage management; the protection of sacred places and cultural landscapes; bioarchaeology and genetics; intellectual property and intangible heritage; the role of oral history and traditional knowledge; and social justice and human rights. These reflect new opportunities for archaeology in response to technological advancements, changing theoretical regimes and interpretive methods, or political issues and ethical concerns relating to issues of sovereignty, repatriation, tribal recognition, and decolonization.

Durante más de dos décadas, comunidades indígenas zapatistas han ejercido su derecho a la autonomía a partir de una lucha cotidiana por lekil kuxlejal, por una vida-existencia digna vinculada al territorio. Esta etnografía se enfoca en las principales esferas de la autonomía indígena zapatista, incluyendo las actividades del gobierno autónomo, la reforma agraria, los colectivos de producción de las mujeres y la impartición de justicia. Sitúa las propuestas, posibilidades y desafíos de estas políticas culturales en relación con la reestructuración racializada que ha caracterizado al Estado mexicano. Demuestra cómo, a pesar de las políticas multiculturales oficiales de los últimos 20 años, diseñadas para contrarrestar las exclusions históricas de pueblos indígenas, el Estado mexicano reactive mecanismos de subordinación racial a través de políticas que aparentan no afectar la producción de alteridades en el país. En ese contexto, el libro analiza de manera crítica cómo las comunidades zapatistas conceptualizan lo político y cuestionan el ordenamiento social de la sociedad mexicana en términos de género, raza, etnicidad y clase.

Diverse in nature, style, and approach, life histories enjoy a rich and established position within the broader narrative and qualitative research traditions. Nevertheless, such a position may be rendered considerably more complicated given new technologies and post-humanist developments. Rather than shy away from such new complexities, the life history field, it is argued, should embrace these developments and explore the fertile ground that might well lie at the intersections of the postqualitative, Indigenous, and place-based turns. What happens when “place” becomes the central character—
the complex, entangled protagonist—of a life history focus? Exploring just such a re-imagining, this article examines the potential for creating fecund new ground for a life history of place. As a concrete example—although perhaps an unlikely source for inspiration—Phil Jenkins’s An Acre of Time: The Enduring Value of Place will be offered as a potential prototype.

Entrevista en el programa Perspectivas, Rompeviento sobre el contenido del libro, Política kuxlejal, autonomía indígena, el Estado Racial e investigación descolonizante en comunidades zapatistas (2018). Con Xuno López y Ernesto Ledesma. Rompeviento TV.

For any people living in the tropical or subtropical regions of our planet, the coconut tree is an invaluable source of vitality. The ​ niyok, or coconut in Chamorro, is sustenance for most Pacific islanders. It is the tree of life. The very first peoples to come to the Marianas some three thousand years ago brought the ​ Niyok with them on their outrigger canoes. Since then, the plant has housed and nourished our people through drought, famine and war. On Guahan today, the local community has neglected the ​ niyok​ '​ s uses and a nasty invasive species has threatened its survival. Using the multidisciplinary lens of cultural ecology and indigenous story telling, this article will first examine the role of ​ niyok ​ in the Chamorro peoples​ ' ​ initial settlement of the remote western pacific archipelago. There is a wide breadth of indigenous knowledge surrounding the innumerable uses of ​ niyok ​ that has enabled the survival and progress of Chamorro people. Celebrating this knowledge is the second goal of this research endeavor, which will also show how efforts to perpetuate our culture and sustain our resources are acts of self-determination. Much like what is needed to realize decolonization, protecting our vital resources requires an immense educational campaign and achievable action plans at the community level. The final goal of this article is to critique the current response to Guahan​ '​ s rhino beetle 1 infestation and to provide solutions that will protect the ​ niyok ​ for the island​ '​ s future generations.

This thesis shows how the Mixteco epistemology of Mother Nature (Ñuu Savi Sini Ñu’un Tiatyi) is continued and renewed in the Mixteco (Ñuu Savi) community of San Diego, particularly through the teachings of Don Erasto Camacena, a Mixteco elder. Due to the way Indigenous knowledge has been undermined by the colonial relations established in the American continents, it has been a challenge to Indigenous scholars to legitimate Indigenous philosophies in the academy, which is based on the Western tradition of thought of the colonizers. As a result, my work seeks to decolonize my academic approach to the studies of Indigenous migrant communities through the adaptation of an Indigenous Paradigm in my
writing.Two important questions will be addressed in this thesis. First of all, how does the Ñuu Savi Sini Ñu’un Tiatyi create knowledge about the self and the world? And secondly, how do I respond to a fragmented system of Western knowledge in a United States research setting through the Ñuu Savi Sini Ñu’un Tiatyi? Subsequent questions that emerge are: How can the use of an Indigenous paradigm serve collaborators who work with Indigenous communities to account for the orally transmitted knowledge of their elders in a research project? How can I use interpretive methodologies to create a space for the practice and results of my collaboration with Don Erasto? I will use an auto-ethnographic approach coupled with Indigenous storywork in order to reveal how the Ñuu Savi Sini Ñu’un Tiatyi operates within myself and how it has in this way encountered Western knowledge.

This article is concerned with the effectiveness of gender and development practice in diverse knowledge systems. Conventional theoretical and analytical frameworks and methodologies of gender and development reflect primarily secular epistemologies and it has yet to be addressed systematically how non-secular knowledge systems may be incorporated effectively in the design and implementation of gender programmes. This article presents a project from a Muslim rural community of Senegal that analysed gender realities through the prism of the local religio-cultural cosmology and explored community members’ responses to increasingly internationalised western ideals of gender equality. As an innovative methodology, participatory research techniques were integrated into short-term ethnographic investigations in an attempt to explore gender realities through the conceptual repertoire of the research participants. The study showed that understandings of subjectivity and gender norms were intertwined intricately with religio-cultural beliefs which influenced how participants conceived themselves and local gender relations and how they responded to western ideals of gender equality. Gender itself seemed to be conceptualised at a more profound ontological level emanating from religio-cultural beliefs. The implication is that gender-sensitive development in this community will need to account for this epistemological framework and to attune to religio-cultural sensibilities. The study also suggests that the participatory ethnographic methodology that was employed can facilitate a transition to an epistemology-sensitive gender and development practice; however it must be combined with reflexivity and be followed by more rigorous research.

Agents require a constant flow, and a high level of processing, of relevant semantic information, in order to interact successfully among themselves and with the environment in which they are embedded. Standard theories of information, however, are silent on the nature of epistemic relevance. In this paper, a subjectivist interpretation of epistemic relevance is developed and defended. It is based on a counterfactual and metatheoretical analysis of the degree of relevance of some semantic information i to an informee/agent a, as a function of the accuracy of i understood as an answer to a query q, given the probability that q might be asked by a. This interpretation of epistemic relevance vindicates a strongly semantic theory of information, according to which semantic information encapsulates truth. It accounts satisfactorily for several important applications and interpretations of the concept of relevant information in a variety of philosophical areas. And it interfaces successfully with current philosophical interpretations of causal and logical relevance.

This essay examines the grassroots feminist zine Flor y Canto, published by the East LA Chicana collective Mujeres de Maíz (MdM). This submission-based publication consists of poetry and visual art by women of color. Often associated with third wave feminism, feminist zines are credited for being the vehicle of expression for third wave feminist thought. Although Flor y Canto presents many of the characteristics common in feminist zines, MdM also draws on a Chicana feminist epistemology grounded in Indigenous worldviews to denounce the gender status quo. MdM adopts a politicized spirituality influenced by Mesoamerican conceptions of art and poetry that understands these art forms as healing, transformative, and connected to the divine. This essay argues that MdM employs this framework in their zine to make a larger critique of patriarchy and gender violence. They interrupt Western notions of art and use an Indigenous spiritual epistemology to redefine art and artists. Using the altar as a framework, this essay analyzes the poetry and art in Flor y Canto as an offering on an altar to illustrate how Chicanas deploy their artivism to speak against gender violence and ultimately heal from this trauma.

This paper is a rhetorical analysis and critique of the epistemological lens of the RSA's (Rhetoric Society of America's) cfp (call for papers) for their 2018 biennial conference. In this piece, I argue that in order to address the challenges of the present moment, building toward a better invention and celebrating the past, as the conference calls us to do, then we must resist the need to begin conversations firmly situated with western traditions of rhetoric. We must be epistemically disobedient (Mignolo) to this zero-point epistemology and turn to non-western rhetorics and cultural rhetorics to help us truly invent and reshape our discipline. I further highlight the role that settlers and westerners must play in these efforts.

This fieldwork focused on exploring local men's, women's and clergy's perceptions and understandings of spousal abuse in juxtaposition to: a) theology-informed analysis of Church teachings concerning the metaphysics of gender relations, marriage and spousal abuse, and b) an analysis of culture-specific gender ideals and norms. This research has been motivated by the aim to identify local mechanisms and resources for changing attitudes that sustain spousal abuse and, especially, the relevance and feasibility of theology-informed and clergy-centred solutions. Ms Istratii presents here an overview of the project and fieldwork, contextualising it in the relevant literatures and the rationale for its epistemological and methodological innovations. While early to reach any conclusions, some research findings are delineated in ways that suggest intricate, multifarious realities on the ground and the need for multidimensional approaches to normative change.

Les êtres humains font et refont le sexe, le genre et la sexualité, avec des implications à la fois sociales, politiques, culturelles, juridiques et économiques. En même temps, nul ne peut refaire le monde ni se refaire soi-même exactement comme on l’entend. Les relations, les discours et les institutions historiques, normatives, disciplinaires pèsent sur ce que Janik
Bastien Charlebois (2014) appelle « la matrice sexe/genre/sexualité ». Cette matrice normalisatrice structure les relations au quotidien, tout comme les savoirs, y compris ceux produits au sein de l’Université. Contestée, elle incarne néanmoins le sens commun. Ainsi, dans l’Europe contemporaine, il semble évident à la majorité qu’il y a deux sexes, que seules l’hétérosexualité ainsi que certaines formes d’homosexualité sont possibles, que le genre est distinct du sexe et qu’ils sont tous deux stables, depuis la naissance. Ces idées façonnent nos droits et nos institutions politiques, les médias et la culture populaire, nos vies quotidiennes et les mouvements sociaux.
Les dernières décennies ont vu de nouvelles voix venir contester ces idées reçues. Les sciences sociales pourraient s’inspirer des efforts riches et divers de ces chercheurs venant des marges, ainsi que des analyses qui sont en dialogue avec leurs contributions. En particulier, ces recherches fournissent de nouvelles généalogies du pouvoir institutionnalisé, genré et sexué, depuis les colonialismes du xixe siècle jusqu’à la période contemporaine. En outre, d’une manière inévitablement partielle, fragmentée, parfois contradictoire, elles nous aident à imaginer des relations sociales au-delà des pratiques et des normes, souvent étroites, du présent.