INDG 201 Podcast

Ethan Zettler records a podcast for Indigenous Studies 201, answering questions about his learnings and reflections. He discusses different definitions of Indigenous peoples, highlighting their deep connection to land and history. He compares Indigenous knowledge, focused on oral traditions and holistic views, with Western-based science, which prioritizes tangible proofs. He reflects on the challenges of representing indigeneity and the importance of community events. Through the course, he gains a deeper understanding of Indigenous perspectives and spirituality, recognizing the complexity and richness of Indigenous ways of knowing. Hello, this is Ethan Zettler, recording my podcast for Indigenous Studies 201. I will be answering six questions. One, what was the most interesting thing I learned in Indigenous 201? Two, what issues or concepts resonated with you the most? Three, were there any questions or challenges that arose about indigeneity? Four, how the course developed your understanding of Indigenous perspectives for my life or profession? Five, how has the course developed your understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing and being and Indigenous-centered relationships? And lastly, what advice would you give to a future Indigenous Studies 201 student? To answer these questions, I'm going to use some of the course lecture slides, some of my notes I took from the classes, and even some of the things I took from the presentation source during the semester, as well as information from the readings throughout the course. So for question one, what was the most interesting thing I learned in Indigenous 201 and why? I'm going to say the most interesting thing I learned during this class was the different definitions of Indigenous people by the different groups and the reason why, like the reason behind their choice to define them a certain way. I found that the Indigenous definition, it focuses on the land, the area, the history, the culture, history, all that good. And I found that very interesting because it shows how connected a person is to the environment and the world and how they take great pride in their history. They take great pride in their ancestors' ways of doing things. And I found that really interesting because it shows that they want to preserve that way of knowing, that they care about it, and that they're going to keep caring about it until they can. And comparing that to the government of Canada's definition where they focus on blood, quantum, and do you have to fit through a definition to the Indigenous, I found that really interesting because from their point of view, they're doing that so there's less people for them that they need to take care of. They're going to try to keep Indigenous people marginalized as much as they can, make sure that they're there, but not making as much noise and not being a big pain. That's why the Indian Act is such a horrible thing because it took away Indigenous status from actual Indigenous people, which harms the whole culture, harms the whole group of people as they're not, their history's forgotten, but you know, they tried to erase it with the Indian Act. And it's all for, they don't have to pay whatever they owe because they didn't want to. So they made the specifications really difficult to vote through. Also in class, we talked about the people in Africa or Asia who don't have a term for Indigenous. I also found that very interesting because to them, that's all they are. They're just people, not Indigenous people. And they're doing that to keep their culture strong, which is something I actually found pretty interesting. I had no clue prior to taking this class. So I'm very grateful I took this class so I could see how different Indigenous people from around the world identify themselves. Like even during my presentation, when I talked about the Maori people, it was pretty cool to research other Indigenous people from around the world because that's something I don't really get to do these days. Now for question two. What issues or concepts are actually interviewed the most in Indigenous 201? So for me, I want to say how the Western-based science approach of knowledge compared to Indigenous knowledge. I found that really interesting just to see the difference in the two knowledge systems and how each system views the other. So as we learned, Indigenous knowledge is personal, it's oral, it's experiential, holistic, and it's full of narrative. And that's like, it's all about stories I find. Like it's telling stories about this, telling stories about what happened here, who did this, who did that. And it's always teaching a lesson. It's focused on like the history that's not written down usually. It's mainly orally transmitted, which is something I found pretty cool. Comparing that to the Western-based approach, it's only focused on physical and tangible proofs. It has to be in writing. It has to be able to be seen. There's no peer-reviewed stories or peer-reviewed articles. It's that sort of thing. And it's very isolated from like the world that Indigenous people focus on, like the sacred world. The Western-based approach does not really care if it's in the sacred world or not. They care if it can be proved or not, like through numbers or through history. I feel like the Western-based approach carries it out. It's like, it's very separate. It separates human beings from the world around them. Compared to Indigenous knowledge, humans are connected to all living beings, and like the earth is living. That was pretty interesting to me. And like just how the Western world viewed Indigenous knowledge, that was also another interesting thing. I believe in class, you said, Professor Beatty said, it's hard to bring an elder into class because they so need to be paid, their time, their parking, their gas. And like it's really difficult to do that because there's only so much in the budget compared to like the physics department. If they want to bring a guest lecturer, I'm sure the head would be very happy to approve that. Because the elders could have a Ph.D. from a university compared to the Indigenous elders who doesn't have a Ph.D., probably doesn't have any post-secondary education, but knows a lot. The elder knows a lot about the land and the history and the people. And like what the elder knows is probably just as valuable as what the doctor with the Ph.D. in physics knows. But from what, since they have a piece of paper, they're viewed as a lot more, I don't want to say important, but I'm going to say like that's how they're viewed from the university side. It's a lot more important because they have proofs that they are smart enough, if you understand. Now for question three. What questions arose about indigeneity in this course? So at the start of this course, we had an indigeneity project where we had to pick four photos and explain how that relates to being Indigenous. I actually found picking those four photos extremely difficult as I have so many on my own that showed to just pick four that I think best described what my experience was like being Indigenous. I felt like I should, looking back at it now, I should have included a photo from like a community event. Because like a big part about living in a remote northern community is the community around you. Like there's always events happening wherever you look. Like there's always something you can do on a Saturday night with people from around the community. And I felt like that's a very important thing about being Indigenous is like having a community around you that experienced the same things that you've experienced in your life. Like picking those photos, if I had to do it now, it'd be pretty simple. I'd just pick a photo from a community event. I'd do one of my family on the land, you know, hunting or fishing. I'd obviously keep the photo of my mom to showcase the Indigenous, the Inuit history. And then still with the teacher, the teacher picture. I feel like that's important because I still feel like I'm teaching people what it's like to be Indigenous. Like there's still questions I get asked wherever it is. Like, oh, you're an Inuit. Oh, you live in an Igloo? And they actually ask me that, seriously. I went to a barber's a couple weeks ago. And my barber, he said, oh, so your grandparents live in an Igloo? I said, no, no. Maybe my grandparents' grandparents did. But definitely not my grandparents because they live in a house. They have huge floors. It's pretty nice. Just teaching people what it's like and telling them the history, the stories. I feel like elementary and high school education systems really need to do better than teaching the Indigenous ways of living. Because it's important. Because it's tiring all the time to explain what being Indigenous is like to people who are not Indigenous. So, yeah. So, that was, during that project was pretty cool. It was pretty cool to see the other people in the class, like, their viewpoint on it. I also, like, during the class, I did a lot of, like, self reflection. Because I'm Indigenous. I didn't grow up Indigenous. I grew up all around Canada. I didn't grow up in my mom. I grew up in my mom's community during the summers. But I didn't, like, grow up there every day. So, I did some, like, reflection. I wondered what would be different if I did grow up there. Like, would I be in school? I'm not too sure, actually. There's a lot of questions that I know when talking about that. So, this class, like, really helped me understand, like, Indigenous knowledge and all that. So, it was interesting to see. And I did question myself, like, huh, would I be in this classroom right now if I grew up in Nunavut? And I honestly have no clue. Which, like, makes me really grateful to be in this class. Because it's a challenge to even get to school if you're from, like, a regular community. I can't imagine what it would be like if you're from an Indigenous community. The next question is, how has the course developed my understanding of Indigenous perspectives for life and profession? And for this, I will be using the summary from Leroy Little Bear. And I found some of his information to be quite fascinating. So, this reading came from the subject, What is Indigenous Knowledge and Spirituality? And prior to this, I thought I had a decent understanding of Indigenous perspectives. But after reading his article, it made me realize that there's so much more to it. And it's not just about history or culture. But it's about a completely, it's a completely different way of seeing and interacting with the world. Little Bear, he talks about how Indigenous worldviews focus, the reality was always a constant flux. Like, everything was connected. It's alive. And, like, nothing's separate. It's, like, spiritual. It's the same thing I've been talking about in this podcast. Like, relationships are at the center of everything. And respect, and it guides how people live and learn. And, like, that's really different from the Western way of thinking. Like, the dominant way of thinking in today's world, whether it be education or work, which I'm used to. And it's always linear. It's focused on dividing things up to control the outcomes. But after reading what Little Bear said, it made me realize, like, how I've been shaped by the Western mindset. I'm used to, like, breaking problems into parts to look for the answer. And after finding the answer, moving on right away. Not, like, looking back at my work to see what I did, to see, like, the journey. I find that Indigenous ways, like, they're always connected to what they've done. They're never really closed something, which is something I found pretty interesting. And I want, like, I want to take that into account in the future. Like, it's really, like, taking more time to listen to what people are saying and respecting that their knowledge is just as important as mine. And it comes from their own lived experience, which is completely different than mine. Also, like, this is not part of Little Bear's work at all, but, like, my relationship with the lands hasn't been great since I moved to Calgary. Like, it's a big urban center. Live downtown. Signs everywhere. Just everything's constantly, like, going on and go. And I realize I don't go out, like, hiking enough. I don't go out. I don't go out in nature enough. So, like, just doing that, it makes me feel like it'll be something, like, I won't see as a resource, but, like, I'll have more pride and responsibility to care for it. And, like, professionally, I'd say, like, these ideas are just as important. Because, like, whatever field I end up in, I want to approach problems with the holistic mindset that Little Bear was talking about. Like, when everything's connected and you need to take time to, like, fully understand the situation and then never close on it. Like, always pick up a few things from everything that I would do. I feel like that's just very important, too. And, like, I really found Little Bear's, like, work interesting. Because it's not just, like, choosing one worldview over another, but it's, like, understanding both of them, if that makes sense. Like, you gotta take, like, the good from one and the good from the other to live your life. And that's something I'll carry with me after this course is done. Huh, looks like someone's at my door. I wonder who it is. Morgan Freeman, what are you doing here? Oh, you have a question to ask? How has the course developed your understanding of indigenous ways of knowing and being? Oh, thank you, Morgan. That's a great question. I was just going to answer that. Oh, I thought we discussed more, like, another question for Morgan to ask me. Oh, wait. He's back. Hey, Morgan. You forgot to ask the other question that we talked about earlier. Has this course also helped understand indigenous-friendly relationships? Great question, Morgan, you know. You can go back home now, you know. I had a good time hanging out with you. Gotta do my schoolwork here. Those are two pretty interesting questions you just asked. Like, how has the course developed my understanding of indigenous ways of knowing and being? And also, has it helped develop my understanding of indigenous-settler relationships? And I'm going to say yes to both those questions. Prior to this, I knew a little bit about indigenous ways of knowing and being. Obviously, like, the connectedness to the land and the focus on the community aspect of it. But I didn't know, like, how deep it went. And, like, how everything has to be respected in order for people to understand it to the fullest. And, practically, I had no clue. So, it's pretty interesting to learn that. But I'm going to focus on the indigenous-settler relationships portion of this question. Because I feel like I've talked about indigenous ways of knowing and being quite a bit in this podcast. So, prior to this, I knew a little bit. I knew some about indigenous-settler relationships. Obviously, you know, like, it started off really rocky. Like, not good. Indigenous people were being exploited. Their land was stolen from them. Being treated like second-class citizens. So, knowing that, I had, like, an idea. But, like, in this class, I really learned, like, how badly indigenous people have been treated throughout their history. Like, the Indian Act is just a terrible thing. And, like, the blood quantum. I had no clue that it had to be beyond a specific extent of your blood to be considered indigenous by the government. And that's, like, that's just a little messed up in my understanding. So, it's cool to see, like, these indigenous communities, like, lower the blood quantum to make it accessible for more and more indigenous people to officially be recognized as indigenous. Although, there might be a different reason for them to lower it to 25% as they're afraid to go extinct, quote-unquote. But, seeing it, seeing them take action is really cool to see. I would have had no clue that was happening had it not been for this class. Obviously, in recent years, like, the indigenous settler relationship has improved. But, it's nowhere near perfect. Like, we're seeing more and more days, like, being recognized. National Truth and Reconciliation Day is a huge step forward to help those affected by residential school. And, for the people, like, non-indigenous people see, like, the effects that residential schools had on indigenous people. I think that's really important because people need to see what happened to us. They need to see, like, what we're mandated to do compared to what they had. And, I think it's really interesting to see, like, the new dynamic evolving in the world where we're being more and more cognizant of how we treat other cultures and other communities. Now, for the last question of this podcast. What advice would you give for a future student in Indigenous 201? My advice for any student planning on taking Indigenous 201 is to, like, be prepared to have difficult conversations. Some of the conversations we had in class, they weren't the brightest, weren't the happiest. But, like, they were needed to have to, like, show the full history behind indigenous settler relationships. I felt, I felt also the presentations, some of the presentations, like, the topic-wise, they're just a bit difficult to get through as an indigenous male myself. As, like, there's a lot of nasty things that have been done to us and they need to be highlighted. But, sitting down through some of those presentations was a little difficult. Just seeing photographs of whatever, whether it be residential schools or diseases that impact indigenous people. It's just, like, being prepared to be uncomfortable and having difficult conversations. And also, like, difficult thoughts in your own mind. Like, how would you tackle this in such situations? It's just, like, got to be ready to be outside your comfort zone. It's an uncomfortable topic that we're all dealing with, but it needs to be dealt with. And I think that's part of the reason why it took so long for this whole, like, truth and reconciliation movement to go forward as it's such a difficult thing to discuss for old people, whether you be indigenous or non-indigenous, as it's just such a touchy subject. You also got to think, like, really critically in this class. You got to analyze it from all different angles. See, like, why would they make this decision? Or why would this group of people make this decision? And just, like, fully understand what they have to lose and what they have to gain from this. And it's just, like, the power dynamics, you got to understand those as well. Like, why is it like this? Why isn't it like this? How come this group of people, how come they've been marginalized for so long compared to this other group of indigenous people who haven't? It's just, like, you got to see it from all angles. And you got to understand, like, not all groups, not all indigenous groups are equal. They all face their own challenges, whether it be where they are located geographically, their own independent history. It's just so much, there's so much yarn to untangle. And the yarns come from a whole different group of yarn, if that makes sense. It's just a bunch of work trying to untangle the whole situation. Also, another piece of advice I'd give to future students is just take the class. Like, if you're iffy on not taking it, or maybe taking it, like, you don't know where it sits on your schedule, just take it. It's a good class. It's engaging. It's obviously difficult, but, like, there's worse classes you can take at this level. And, like, you learn a lot more about Canada, really, because this is our history. It's, like, it's difficult. It's our reality, though. It's what we face on. It's what Indigenous people are still facing. It's what non-Indigenous people are still facing. It's just, like, it's really important to take this class. And I feel like it should be a mandatory class in some programs, because it's important. Like, it has everything you need to know about the history. It has everything you need to know about why people act the way they do. And it's important for Indigenous people to feel heard. And so I think it's really great that we have an Indigenous prof in this class as they have first-hand experience on what these issues are and how they can affect Indigenous communities. So, yeah, just take the class, you know. There's a lot worse options out there. This class is two hours, 45 minutes, twice a week. It didn't feel that way at all. I've taken some classes that are just such a drag to get through. But this isn't one of them. So it's important to take this class, as it's good for the Indigenous community and it's good for the non-Indigenous community. And it's great for the school in general. I'm very happy that U of C offers this class. I know some schools don't offer classes like this out there. I know some schools offer it better. So hopefully U of C, they'll get better, but also maintain where they're at. Like, don't go lower, but there's always room to improve. And I think it's great. And to end this podcast off, I want to say a thank you to Professor Beattie for this great summer semester. I really learned a lot and I really enjoyed coming to classes. You had a lot to teach us. You had a lot of interesting perspectives that I never really thought of. And it's a great class. I really enjoyed it. Thank you very much for this great summer. And I'll definitely look for classes with you in the future because it's been such a great time. Thank you.