Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Aboriginal spirituality'

This research is a story about the author’s Murri family. It is about rebirthing the author’s identity, history and culture, and concerns the history and consequences that colonisation has rendered on her family. The story divulges the secrets and problems from the past that continue to affect the author and her family today. Aboriginal history concerns each and every person in Australia. Non-indigenous people need to understand that Aborigines’ spirits belong to this land, that they are a part of it. They need to understand what colonisation has done to Aboriginal families. It is only through understanding and accepting the history of what has happened to thousands of Murri families that their identities and place within their environment can become reality in the minds of non-Aboriginal people. Because a written discourse is alien to the Aboriginal culture and to the author’s psyche, she has rebirthed her family’s stories in both visual and oral language, and combined this with the written. The author’s art is a healing vehicle through which she and her family reconnect with their culture. It is connected with the author’s identity, her heritage. She has created images/objects that reflect what she has discovered of herself and her family. Her creations are imbued with all that is natural, her palette is the land and its produce, thus reconnecting herself with her heritage, the land – mother earth.
Master of Science (Hons) Social Ecology

This research is a story about the author’s Murri family. It is about rebirthing the author’s identity, history and culture, and concerns the history and consequences that colonisation has rendered on her family. The story divulges the secrets and problems from the past that continue to affect the author and her family today. Aboriginal history concerns each and every person in Australia. Non-indigenous people need to understand that Aborigines’ spirits belong to this land, that they are a part of it. They need to understand what colonisation has done to Aboriginal families. It is only through understanding and accepting the history of what has happened to thousands of Murri families that their identities and place within their environment can become reality in the minds of non-Aboriginal people. Because a written discourse is alien to the Aboriginal culture and to the author’s psyche, she has rebirthed her family’s stories in both visual and oral language, and combined this with the written. The author’s art is a healing vehicle through which she and her family reconnect with their culture. It is connected with the author’s identity, her heritage. She has created images/objects that reflect what she has discovered of herself and her family. Her creations are imbued with all that is natural, her palette is the land and its produce, thus reconnecting herself with her heritage, the land – mother earth.

Negative perceptions of being Aboriginal persist and policies such as self-determination are generally perceived to have failed despite many texts to the contrary. This thesis examines assumptions and presuppositions within contemporary writings and practices, determining in the process, conditions seeming necessary for decolonising ways of living and research. Much closer attention is required not only to developing better understandings, but especially to articulating explanations via the reality of deep structures, their powers and causal mechanisms underpinning social life generally and in particular, the lived experience of oppressed communities. Neo-Nietzscheanism and post-structuralism tend to see reality as merely constructed. Maximising movements of solidarity with the oppressed must express the freedom of everyone in any particular place. The thesis begins by exploring the nature and significance of philosophical underlabouring (clearing the ground) for decolonisation as self-emancipation. It then engages with issues of value, truth and power by means of establishing a critical realist dialogue between two sets of writings. Key works by Australian (Japanangka West, Yolnju) Maori (Tuhiwai Smith) and American (Moonhawk Alford, Taiaiake Alfred) First Nations thinkers in modernity's colonial context are retroductively analysed in order to suggest what must be the case (in terms of being and becoming) for decolonisation to be possible. Works by philosophers currently establishing and applying Bhaskarian transcendental dialectical critical realist and/or meta-Realist principles of self-emancipation are critiqued in relation to their compatibility with decolonisation. Terms of reference within this dialogue are then supplemented from within writings by a range of others (Fanon, Said, Otto and Levinas), selected for their perceived significance in developing a dialectical praxis of personal and social transformation through spirit within the domain of strengthening community and protecting children.

Negative perceptions of being Aboriginal persist and policies such as self-determination are generally perceived to have failed despite many texts to the contrary. This thesis examines assumptions and presuppositions within contemporary writings and practices, determining in the process, conditions seeming necessary for decolonising ways of living and research. Much closer attention is required not only to developing better understandings, but especially to articulating explanations via the reality of deep structures, their powers and causal mechanisms underpinning social life generally and in particular, the lived experience of oppressed communities. Neo-Nietzscheanism and post-structuralism tend to see reality as merely constructed. Maximising movements of solidarity with the oppressed must express the freedom of everyone in any particular place. The thesis begins by exploring the nature and significance of philosophical underlabouring (clearing the ground) for decolonisation as self-emancipation. It then engages with issues of value, truth and power by means of establishing a critical realist dialogue between two sets of writings. Key works by Australian (Japanangka West, Yolnju) Maori (Tuhiwai Smith) and American (Moonhawk Alford, Taiaiake Alfred) First Nations thinkers in modernity's colonial context are retroductively analysed in order to suggest what must be the case (in terms of being and becoming) for decolonisation to be possible. Works by philosophers currently establishing and applying Bhaskarian transcendental dialectical critical realist and/or meta-Realist principles of self-emancipation are critiqued in relation to their compatibility with decolonisation. Terms of reference within this dialogue are then supplemented from within writings by a range of others (Fanon, Said, Otto and Levinas), selected for their perceived significance in developing a dialectical praxis of personal and social transformation through spirit within the domain of strengthening community and protecting children.

This thesis will explore how the Supreme Court of Canada understands and frames the religious ways of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en First Nations peoples, in the case Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997). The case started as a land claims case but at the Supreme Court level it became about whether Aboriginal oral knowledge could be used as historical evidence in a Canadian court of law, in particular for this dispute, as an aid for First Nations peoples to establish title to their traditional territories. The Court decided that Aboriginal oral knowledge could be used as evidence. This thesis does five things: 1. It examines some of the tools that can be used to examine and evaluate how the religious ways of Aboriginal peoples are discussed in law in Canada. Here it focuses on using a broad understanding of religion as “lived” to understand religion. It also establishes a social-scientific method of discourse analysis, drawn from a number of sources, to evaluate legal documents. 2. This thesis explores the socio-legal context in Canada in which Aboriginal peoples and their claims need to be understood. Here the presence of European and Christian views that are still present in society and social institutions in Canada and the way they affect how Aboriginal religious ways are understood is determined. The characteristics of law that make it difficult for Aboriginal claims to be understood and handled adequately in court in Canada are also investigated. 3. The third aspect that this thesis focuses on the markers of the religious ways of Aboriginal peoples in the Delgamuukw case and how are they understood in the Canadian socio-legal context. Here there is discussion of oral knowledge, land, crests, feasting and totem poles and what each might mean for the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en peoples and how the legal system might have trouble handling them. 4. Analysis of the Delgamuukw case is the fourth part of this thesis. How the law understands and frames the religious ways of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en peoples in the Delgamuukw case are investigated. It is determined that the Court downplayed the religious ways of Aboriginal peoples (by “writing out”, by using vague language to refer to it or by not mentioning it at all); it did not do justice to Aboriginal beliefs by labeling oral knowledge as “sacred”; the Delgamuukw decision fell short of really treating oral knowledge as equal to other forms of historical evidence by excluding oral knowledge with religious content; legal adjudicators made pronouncements on the religious uses of land for the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en and finally; land was quantified, regulated and title was diminished by the ability for the court to infringe on it. What these actions by the Court suggested about how it understands religion and the religious ways of Aboriginal peoples where also contemplated. It was noted that the law characterized issues and used language in particular ways to avoid discussing religion, to discount it as evidence, and used a Christian understanding of religion to comprehend Aboriginal religious ways, which did not do justice to their beliefs. 5. The last part of this thesis questions whether there other ways in which the law, and the majority of non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada, could come to better understand and handle the religious ways of Aboriginal peoples than they did in the Delgamuukw case. It determines that there are a number of indications that suggest that this is possible including, the unique historical situation of Canada, the teaching and communication skills present in many Aboriginal communities, the space opened surrounding the inclusion of oral knowledge as evidence in law, increasing dialogue with Aboriginal communities, and the current revaluation of history. Nevertheless, there is also an ambivalence on behalf of the law regarding whether or not it will go in the direction that could view Aboriginal religious ways in alternative ways which could result in a better understanding these ways on their own terms. The thesis concludes that according to analysis of the Delgamuukw case, law has difficulty understanding and handling the religious ways of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

This thesis examines the transmission of Protestantism to Australia by the early British colonists and its consequences for their engagement with the land between 1788 and 1850. It explores the ways in which colonists gave religious meaning to their surrounds, particularly their use of exile and exodus narratives to describe journeying to the colony and their sense of their destination as a site of banishment, a wilderness or a Promised Land. The potency of these scriptural images for colonising Europeans has been recognised in North America and elsewhere: this study establishes and details their significance in early colonial Australia. This thesis also considers the ways in which colonists’ Protestant values mediated their engagement with their surrounds and informed their behaviour towards the land and its indigenous inhabitants. It demonstrates that leading Protestants asserted and acted upon their particular values for industry, order, mission and biblicism in ways that contributed to the transformation of Aboriginal land. From the physical changes wrought by industrious agricultural labour through to the spiritual transformations achieved by rites of consecration, their specifically Protestant values enabled Britons to inhabit the land on familiar material and cultural terms. The structural basis for this study is provided by thematic biographies of five prominent colonial Protestants: Richard Johnson, Samuel Marsden, William Grant Broughton, John Wollaston and John Dunmore Lang. The private and public writings of these men are examined in light of the wider literature on religion and colonialism and environmental history. By delineating the significance of Protestantism to individual colonists’ responses to the land, this thesis confirms the trend of much recent British and Australian historiography towards a more religious understanding of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Its overarching argument is that Protestantism helped lay the foundation for colonial society by encouraging the transformation of the environment according to the colonists’ values and needs, and by providing ideological support for the British use and occupation of the territory. Prominent Protestants applied their religious ideas to Australia in ways that tended to assist, legitimate or even necessitate the colonisation of the land.

Doctor of Philosophy
This thesis examines the transmission of Protestantism to Australia by the early British colonists and its consequences for their engagement with the land between 1788 and 1850. It explores the ways in which colonists gave religious meaning to their surrounds, particularly their use of exile and exodus narratives to describe journeying to the colony and their sense of their destination as a site of banishment, a wilderness or a Promised Land. The potency of these scriptural images for colonising Europeans has been recognised in North America and elsewhere: this study establishes and details their significance in early colonial Australia. This thesis also considers the ways in which colonists’ Protestant values mediated their engagement with their surrounds and informed their behaviour towards the land and its indigenous inhabitants. It demonstrates that leading Protestants asserted and acted upon their particular values for industry, order, mission and biblicism in ways that contributed to the transformation of Aboriginal land. From the physical changes wrought by industrious agricultural labour through to the spiritual transformations achieved by rites of consecration, their specifically Protestant values enabled Britons to inhabit the land on familiar material and cultural terms. The structural basis for this study is provided by thematic biographies of five prominent colonial Protestants: Richard Johnson, Samuel Marsden, William Grant Broughton, John Wollaston and John Dunmore Lang. The private and public writings of these men are examined in light of the wider literature on religion and colonialism and environmental history. By delineating the significance of Protestantism to individual colonists’ responses to the land, this thesis confirms the trend of much recent British and Australian historiography towards a more religious understanding of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Its overarching argument is that Protestantism helped lay the foundation for colonial society by encouraging the transformation of the environment according to the colonists’ values and needs, and by providing ideological support for the British use and occupation of the territory. Prominent Protestants applied their religious ideas to Australia in ways that tended to assist, legitimate or even necessitate the colonisation of the land.

碩士
中國文化大學
藝術研究所美術組
97
In the past several thousand years, “Nan Dao” or “South Island” People in Taiwan have insisted on living in their own way of life to control their own destiny and create their own aboriginal art culture. The motivation of their early original work of art originates from the necessity of tribal ritual of power. Despite the fact that tribal leaders no longer enjoy the elite status of their social and economic advantages, totemic forms still remain as the common symbolic languages. Oral literature and music often get lost caused by generations of passing away of tribal elders and lack of official record. As a result, visual works become the means of carrying on the tradition. The continued declining of the traditional culture is not a special phenomenon unique to aborigines of Taiwan. In fact, the Chinese “Han” people like any other ethnic people in the world are also facing the same challenge of cultural transformation under today’s rapid social and economic changes in spite of their rich and beautiful cultural heritage. The choice of preserving their own art and culture and in what aspect it should be preserved rests with people’s self-consciousness and self-independence rather than just going along with the flow. Totemic art dates back to the primeval times and results from the economic output of the hunting people. Ancient people used it to strengthen their organizational and social structure as well as religious beliefs. From the social points of view, it represents the relationships between and within tribal groups. By the same token, it distinguishes the connections between different tribal peoples. From the religious points of view, totems are supernatural power or relationships that are both respectful and protective to aborigines. During the process of modernization, traditional totems that were originally meant to convey clan or tribal group’s symbolic conceptions have evolved into symbols of modernization. Self-image is especially important for expressing individual styles. Modern totems convey symbol, style, image, sign and mark via various and multiple ways of thinking process. Hence, materials used to create totems are splendid, multi-faceted, and all-inclusive while forms are fresh and original. Skills applied are free-form and varied, touching multiple faces of real life. The totemic sketches produced by inventors creatively use both animal or plant materials to convert their inner conceptions to the intended spirituality and ideas.

This study investigated the role of culture, healing and spirituality in treatment programs for Aboriginal offenders. Aboriginal people have been profoundly affected by their contact with Europeans and one negative consequence is their over-representation in the Canadian Criminal Justice System (CJS) (Chisholm, 1994). In British Columbia, Aboriginal adults constitute approximately 5% of the population, but they represent 20% of those incarcerated; Aboriginals comprise 8% of the adult population in Saskatchewan, yet they constitute 76% of incarcerated individuals (Boe, 2000). By virtue of their overrepresentation, Aboriginals present as a special interest group in the CJS. As the Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) implements a number of treatment programs that Aboriginal inmates have an opportunity to attend (CSC webpage, www.csc-scc.gc.ca), knowledge of the effectiveness of these programs is important. A total of 50 offenders participated in the study: 40 Aboriginal men and 10 non-Aboriginal men. Participants were required to fill out a research package consisting of the following components: a consent form, a background information questionnaire, a treatment/program involvement questionnaire, the Native American Acculturation Scale, and the Balanced Inventory for Desired Responding. The results of the study support prior findings (Hodgson & Heckbert, 1994; Johnston, 1997; Waldram, 1993) indicating that spirituality, culture and practicing traditions are fundamental components of treatment programs for Aboriginal offenders. More specifically, many Aboriginal participants (52%) in this sample indicated that they considered Aboriginal programs effective because of their cultural and spiritual components. Additionally, Aboriginal participants reported that healing contributed to treatment effectiveness for both Aboriginal programs (44%) and, to a lesser extent, non Aboriginal programs (18.5%). Furthermore, an encouraging discovery was that these participants reported that Aboriginal programs are, in their view, moderately (28%) to highly (40%) likely to decrease their recidivism. Additionally, Aboriginal participants also reported that they most often solicit assistance and support from Aboriginal people when experiencing personal problems (92.5%), institutional problems (85%) and consider Aboriginal people to be the most supportive people (90%). Although results indicated that it is necessary for CSC to be culturally sensitive in accommodating Aboriginal offenders, further research is required to investigate the actual, as opposed to perceived, effectiveness of current Aboriginal programs operating at CSC, as well as assisting in designing and implementing future programs and activities that are culturally appropriate.

The degree of reclamation of culturally-based spiritual practices varies by and within communities and families, but appears to be gathering momentum. From the anecdotes provided by clients it appears that healing takes its firmest roots when the spiritual aspects of the individual’s life are attended to. More clients and helpers are recognizing the need to look inward, to recognize the strength of their spirit and the role spirituality plays in fostering resiliency. Working as a helper, particularly within western systems, however, the challenges can be daunting and frustrating with respect to incorporating spirituality into the helping process. Although many helpers have begun the dialogue, spirituality – and more particularly Aboriginal spirituality – remains on the margins, raising questions and concerns that have no simple solutions. This paper is a beginning in my personal and professional consideration of how to more fully explore and integrate spirituality with individuals, families and communities.

This thesis looks at the reality of the situation of the Tasmanian Aborigines using the theme of the 19th Century genocide of the Tasmanian Aborigines and the Sacred wound in the context of the law and spirituality. The methodology of the lived experience of the author is drawn upon for a legal and spiritual analysis of cases lived by the author, which provide a backdrop to the handing back of certain Aboriginal lands in Tasmania as well as reflecting on the intersection of Aboriginal lore and the legal system. The meaning of these cases goes beyond a rational legal analysis as the idea that genocide is still continuing is a difficult one for Australians to understand due to compartmentalisation between spirituality and the law in the context of modern Australia. The High Court case of Mabo poses a dilemma for Aborigines as it contains an opportunity to move beyond terra nullius thinking, but at the same time it limits claims in a way that continues dispossession and may in certain circumstances disallow aspects of Aboriginal self determination. Within this apparent standoff lies the possibility for a development of the law that can embrace or incorporate the Aboriginal spiritual attachment to the land, ancestors and artefacts. There is no word in the English language that can describe the multifaceted, inside and outside, perspectives required to carry out the required discussion that could bring the law more into tune with the people, the land and the original inhabitants. The spiritual direction of Australia, however, could be affected by the turning away from a material, logical rational perspective to the embracing of connection as a value in itself: to spiritual values and a personal sense of calling. The Sacred wound is the meditation around which the discussion of all these themes of lived experience, the law and spirituality moves and ultimately rests.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis looks at the reality of the situation of the Tasmanian Aborigines using the theme of the 19th Century genocide of the Tasmanian Aborigines and the Sacred wound in the context of the law and spirituality. The methodology of the lived experience of the author is drawn upon for a legal and spiritual analysis of cases lived by the author, which provide a backdrop to the handing back of certain Aboriginal lands in Tasmania as well as reflecting on the intersection of Aboriginal lore and the legal system. The meaning of these cases goes beyond a rational legal analysis as the idea that genocide is still continuing is a difficult one for Australians to understand due to compartmentalisation between spirituality and the law in the context of modern Australia. The High Court case of Mabo poses a dilemma for Aborigines as it contains an opportunity to move beyond terra nullius thinking, but at the same time it limits claims in a way that continues dispossession and may in certain circumstances disallow aspects of Aboriginal self determination. Within this apparent standoff lies the possibility for a development of the law that can embrace or incorporate the Aboriginal spiritual attachment to the land, ancestors and artefacts. There is no word in the English language that can describe the multifaceted, inside and outside, perspectives required to carry out the required discussion that could bring the law more into tune with the people, the land and the original inhabitants. The spiritual direction of Australia, however, could be affected by the turning away from a material, logical rational perspective to the embracing of connection as a value in itself: to spiritual values and a personal sense of calling. The Sacred wound is the meditation around which the discussion of all these themes of lived experience, the law and spirituality moves and ultimately rests.

The Haida language, Xaad Kil is dangerously close to extinction and in need of heroic action. The purpose of this study is to find out what ancient traditions and beliefs we could incorporate into our language revitalization efforts. Drawing on archival literature and community knowledge, I found almost 100 traditional ways to support Xaad Kil revitalization. There are four main chapters: Haida foods, Haida medicines, Haida rituals and ceremonies and Haida supernatural beings that could contribute to Xaad Kil revitalization. The food chapter features two-dozen traditional foods from salmon to berries that support a healthy lifestyle for Haida language speakers and that could strengthen our connections to the supernatural world. The Haida medicine chapter features two dozen traditional medicines from single-delight to salt water that could heal, strengthen and purify the Haida language learner. The ritual and ceremony chapter features over two-dozen rituals from devil’s club rituals to labret piercing ceremonies that could strengthen Haidas and our language learning. The supernatural being chapter features twenty-three supernatural beings including Greatest Crab and Lady Luck that could bring a language learner wealth, knowledge, luck and strength. This study suggests that a Xaad kil learner and the Xaad kil language need to be pure, protected, connected, lucky, strong, healthy, respected, loved and wise. The path to these qualities is within the traditions and beliefs featured in this research. This study is significant because it shows that the language revitalization answers are within and all around us.
Graduate
0290
0326
lucybell@uvic.ca

Ally literature suggests processes and guidelines that non-Indigenous researchers can follow in order to establish respectful relationships (Battiste, 1998; Wilson, 2008; Edward, 2006; Margaret, 2010). It also states the importance of preparedness for engaging and sustaining long term alliances (Lang, 2010; Brophey, 2011); however specific training methods; modalities that support long-term relationships; practices to develop desired qualities; or self-care approaches for Allies have not been addressed in the literature. Through autoethnographic work I sought to explore this gap in literature. This study is situated within decolonizing methodologies looking to contribute to legitimizing traditional ways of knowing; and within Anzaldúas (1987) philosophical view of “Doing Mestizaje” (1987). My work is a personal account of the complicated and conflicted situation of working as an Ally, being both Mestiza and Buddhist in a culture of colonization/decolonization. Unique to this exploration are modalities I chose to help with a deeper understanding, and as possible approaches to address emotional stress and prevent burnout in Ally work: art, meditation, mindfulness practice, prayer, dream work, and narrative/poetry. My findings show that a Mestizo view of Allyhood presents differences with those of White Allies; that implementation of the Buddhist concepts of interdependence and selflessness can support Allies during a painful or stressful process of self-reflection, as well as through out the relationship; and that doing research as ceremony, and ceremony as research contributes to the revitalization of Indigenous traditional ways of knowing and its importance in Decolonizing work.
Graduate

The intent of this thesis is to understand how we as educators and learners in our Western system of education can bridge and heal the fundamental principles of a constructed divide embedded in our consciousness that continues to be reproduced in our Western academy. The primary goal is to make visible this divide that is based on the intellectualization of Western education in the absence of spiritual aspirations, thus revealing the potential of spiritual transformation within the academy and our everyday lives. In my literature-based thesis research I explored, analyzed and discussed two bodies of literature: the historical intellectualization of Western education on the one hand, and, on the other, Eastern Philosophy with the emphasis on Higher Self Yoga, African Philosophy and North American Aboriginal Spirituality. I investigated these bodies of literature employing a research paradigm that has its foundation in a spiritual ontology and epistemology. I analyzed my findings using such methodologies as appreciative inquiry, content analysis and textual analysis, including anti-colonial and indigenous knowledges theoretical frameworks. I found that the synthesis and integration of the inner life wisdom revealed in the three philosophies is an integral component fundamental toward a whole life vision of education, an educative vision that has the potential to serve as a catalyst to open the gates for life-enhancing change in the academy and our everyday lives. Change implies becoming aware of our true origin, who we truly are, and what our intrinsic purpose is. Change implies becoming aware of humanity’s accelerated transition toward a higher level of spiritual planetary consciousness, a spiritual evolution as an inner quest of unity with nature, the larger human community, the universe, and the divine Source itself. Change implies whole life educational processes, inclusive of the unfoldment of inner life wisdom, the authority of the human spirit, and the sense of divinity, as useful bridging work in healing the divide in our aware consciousness and our educational institutions. Whole life change needs to be the responsibility of academic education, as well our self-responsibility of realizing ourselves as citizen of the world living within one-world consciousness. All is one.

In the increasingly diverse context of North American schools, cross-cultural understanding is of fundamental importance. Most teachers are mono-cultural – typically white, middle class women. To inform teaching practice, these educators draw primarily from personal cultural backgrounds often to the exclusion or detriment of other cultural ways of knowing brought to the classroom by students. Teacher education programs are challenged to interrupt the norms of their conventional practices in order to help dominant culture teachers become more sensitive and insightful towards issues of cross-cultural pedagogy. In particular, the needs of Canadian Aboriginal students require close attention. Indigenous ways of learning and teaching are rarely included in school curricula. This dissertation argues that not only is an indigenous pedagogy useful for Aboriginal students, it also serves to support learning for all students in a multicultural classroom. This phenomenological narrative study looked at the experience of non-Aboriginal preservice teachers enrolled in a university course taught by instructors from several First Nations of Canada. The course took place on Lkwungen Coast Salish territory and provided direct access to indigenous knowledge as the participants worked with earth fibre textiles. The wisdom keepers created a place for the preservice teachers to participate extensively in a cultural approach to learning that was quite different from their previous educational experiences. While engaging in the indigenous handwork, the preservice teachers carefully observed both their own processes as learners and the ways in which the wisdom keepers in the course acted as teachers. The insight gained through this reflexive work troubled the participants’ deep-seated Eurocentric perspectives. Reflecting on personal shifts in attitudes, values and beliefs about the twinned processes of learning and teaching, the participants reported changes in their teaching practice with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Significant themes in the data revolve around issues of personal and social intent, reflective and reflexive practice, spirituality, the endogenous processes of the learner, learning in community, and teachers’ faith in the learner. The data suggest that implementing an eco/social/spiritual framework is useful in cross-cultural learning and teaching environments as well as in the context of educational research.

This dissertation seeks to illuminate key aspects of Coast Salish legal sensibility. It draws on collaborative fieldwork carried out between 2007 and 2010 with Stó:lō communities from the Fraser Valley in southern British Columbia, and on the rich ethnohistorical record produced on, with, and by members of the Stó:lō polity and of the wider Coast Salish social world to which they belong. The preoccupation underlying this inquiry is to better understand how to approach an Indigenous legal tradition on its own terms, in a way respectful of its distinctiveness – especially in an ongoing colonial context, and from my position as an outsider to this tradition. As such, a main question drives the inquiry: What makes a legal tradition what it is? Two series of legal insights emerge from this work. The first are theoretical and methodological. The character of a legal tradition, I suggest, owes more to implicit norms than to explicit ones. In order to gain the kind of understanding that allows for respectful interactions with the principles and processes that inform decision-making within a given legal order, one must learn to decipher the norms that are not so much talked about as tacitly modelled by its members. Paying attention to pragmatic forms of communication – the mode of conveying meaning interactively and contextually, typically by showing rather than telling – reveals the hidden normative canvas upon which explicit norms are grafted. This deeper layer of normativity inflects peoples’ subjectivity and sense of their own agency – the distinctive fabric of their socialization. This lens on law – emerging from a reflection on the stories that Stó:lō friends shared with me, on the discussions had with them, and on the relational experience of Stó:lō / Coast Salish pedagogy, and further informed by scholarship on Indigenous and Western law, political philosophy and sociolinguistics – yields a second series of insights. Those are ethnographical, about Coast Salish legal sensibility itself. They attach to three central institutions of the Stó:lō legal order: the Transformer storycycle, longhouse governance practice and the figure of the witness, and ancestral names – corresponding to three sets of key relationships within the tradition: to the land, to the spirit, and to kin. Among those insights, a central one concerns the importance of interconnectedness as an organizing principle within Stó:lō / Coast Salish legal orders. Coast Salish people are not simply aware of the factual interdependence of people and things in the world, pay special attention to this, and happen to offer a description of the world as interconnected. There is a normative commitment at work here. Interconnectedness informs dominant interpretations of how the world should work. It is a source of explicit responsibilities and obligations – but more amorphously and pervasively yet, it structures legitimate discourse and appropriate behavior within contemporary Coast Salish societies.
Graduate
2018-10-20