Indigenous Pedagogy

I'm writing about the importance of history and the cultural exchanges that occurred between indigenous people and Europeans. However, wanting to look at ways to make good outcomes from these exchanges and avoid the stereotypic depictions of pagans, savages etc or the equally dim witted idea of the noble savage, I am looking at past exchanges that yielded good outcomes. For example cabeza de vaca's 8 year roaming in the southern part of United States during the 16th Century led to one of the first depictions of Native Americans in terms that showed them as brutal, kind, loving, generous, or willing to enslave enemies. This more balanced portrait conveys a human quality. Also, the references to spiritual practices indicates that Cabeza de Vaca learned about a different worldview, one that has referents to phenomena that Cabeza de Vaca seemed to intuit from his exchanges with these people. In addition, the ability for Europeans and Native Americans from various tribes to develop communication signals points to the intelligence of these natives.

Black Elk and John G. Niehardt's cultural exchanges produced the book Black Elk Speaks which transmits information for those willing to learn and once again Niehardt does not judge or belittle the practices of the Oglala Sioux. He learns and so those of us who read his work can learn too.

Learning about other points of view in a way that allows us to step outside of our personal perspectives is difficult. However, if we truly want to engage with people and learn and collaborate and avoid wars we must do so at a higher dimension than that engaged in by warriors and politicians hungry for power.