“The practice of observing the living world and taking inspirations for human ways of living from its model is an essential element of indigenous science. It embraces the reality that there are intelligences other than our own, from whom we might learn.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Welcome to this page on “what is new” about our Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWOK) Initiative, which we are leading in the SEMIS Coalition. Since 2023, we have intentionally created a space to learn and expand our knowledge of indigenous wisdom, history, stories, science, ways of life, and practices by connecting with indigenous community members and partners. It has been rewarding, deepening our understanding of the importance of diversity in everything we do. We want to center this update on the concepts and practices of diversity and how they inform our work with the IWOK Initiative in the SEMIS Coalition.
In the past, we have shared an update on collaborative work between our third-grade teacher from Wylie Elementary School, Dexter Public Schools, Mr. James (Jim) Barnes, and indigenous educator and researcher, Dr. Jared Ten Brink, on using Jared’s curriculum on indigenous staple food sources of the Great Lakes in Jim’s classroom. This collaborative work began three years ago and has since expanded, with Jim connecting with other educators and community partners and further deepening his students’ learning about indigenous communities today.
As an environmental and social justice-focused coalition of teachers, students, community partners, concerned citizens, and the planning team, we use a place-based approach to teaching informed by the EcoJustice framework. While we will not delve into each of these theoretical and practical frameworks (you can find plenty of this work on our page and reference list provided), we will use the ecojustice concept of diversity as a practice in informing our work with the IWOK initiative in the SEMIS Coalition. The EcoJustice approach highlights the diversity of knowledge rooted in the landscape, climate, and its human and more-than-human members as crucial to our sustainable existence. Thus, through our IWOK initiative, we find it essential to connect with and learn from our indigenous community partners, and to collaboratively work towards alternatives to the current social and ecological crises we are facing as a community. Indigenous wisdom and practices are not only essential to understand but also to incorporate into our practices, which is one of the focuses of the IWOK initiative.
Since the first launch of the IWOK initiative in 2023, we have grown in our efforts to expand this focus with SEMIS teachers and indigenous community partners. This collaboration has not only been transformational for our teachers but also for the SEMIS planning team, as it expanded our understanding, practices, and partnership we have developed since the IWOK launch. We are fortunate to hold these spaces to collaboratively create an educational movement rooted in the multiplicities of experiences and ways of life. Moreover, we are committed to ensuring that these stories are told by the holder of this knowledge themselves. Thus, we are excited to share a couple of these projects we are working on to center indigenous stories, history, science, wisdom, and learning with our members today.
One of these endeavors in the SEMIS Coalition is we are offering the IWOK Book circle, “Indigenous Stories, Wisdom, Science, and History” where we come together and read books by indigenous scholars, researchers, and educators to explore indigenous stories, history, wisdom, practices, and science and have conversation on how this knowledge can inform and intransform our understanding of the world. We further discuss ways to incorporate this perspective into our teachings. During these reading circles, we focus on understanding our relationship with the more-than-human world, elaborate on the market economy versus the gift economy, and explore ways we can build on stories and practices to heal our relationships with each other and the natural world. We have been having these conversations and have gone through the book lists provided below. We are currently reading The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson. We are done with ⅔ of the book and have just finished our first in-person meeting with resident historian Matthew Siegfreid, who shared the multifaceted, complex history of tribal Michigan before colonization and the resistance that occurred during colonization. Matt’s work can be found on the Ypsilanti District Library webpage for anyone interested in learning more about his research.
List of books we have read at IWOK book circle meetings is as follows:
- Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings Of plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- The serviceberry: An economy of abundance by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez
Photo description: IWOK Book Club meeting in December with historian, Matt Siegfried.
Another resource we put together is the IWOK teaching and learning materials as an initial step for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of indigenous stories, histories, curriculum materials, and wisdom. The collection of resources are created by indigenous groups, educators, individuals, and community partners that center indigenous perspectives in teaching about indigenous struggles, resistance, history, and stories. We carefully organized these resources around a common theme, in the hope that they will serve as a jumping-off point for educators. In the process of choosing these resources, we made sure our indigenous partners vetted the list and that we were uplifting various indigenous-focused organizations that have been dedicating their resources and time to teaching indigenous histories.
Photo description: Home page for the IWOK collection of resources
Additionally, we feel incredibly fortunate to collaborate with dedicated indigenous educators, researchers, and tribal members who are deeply invested in changing the focus and content of today’s education by centering the history of indigenous people here in Michigan and across the United States in their work. We have been working with a couple of indigenous knowledge holders, elders, and educators who have been generous with their time and knowledge sharing, working with our teachers in their classrooms. We are committed to continuing this collaboration with our indigenous partners to contribute to educational transformation that is embedded in nurturance, interdependence, social and ecological sustainability, and justice for humans and a more-than-human world. These are some of our works in the field of centering indigenous stories, science, and wisdom in the SEMIS Coalition, and we hope to broaden this learning with our teachers and community partners.
Photo description: Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor students
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