INDG 303 Reflection Podcast

Janessa Walker reflects on her Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being course. She learned about the holistic medicine model used by Indigenous communities and how it incorporates into all aspects of their lives. This concept of interconnectedness and the importance of looking at well-being holistically resonated with Janessa. She also discusses the importance of reciprocity, respect, relevance, and responsibility in building relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Janessa highlights the need for funding programs that promote these values and facilitate cross-cultural dialogue. She also mentions the challenges and questions that arise when discussing reconciliation between settlers and Indigenous communities. Overall, Janessa gained a greater understanding and appreciation for Indigenous culture and perspectives through this course. Hello, this is Janessa Walker, and I'm going to do my reflection podcast for Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being, INDG 303. I learned a lot of interesting things throughout Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being course, but the one that stuck with me the most was how Indigenous communities incorporate the holistic medicine model into all aspects of their lives. I had very little prior knowledge about Indigenous communities and all of the special customs, cultures, and values they held. The idea that we're all connected to each other, Mother Earth, and ourselves in such a spiritual and dichotomous way is very intriguing. This was the most interesting to me because it caused a lot of personal reflection about my own life. It made me really look back at times when I was not completely happy with myself and instead of looking at a singular aspect of why, I understood the importance of looking at it through a holistic lens, and my physical pain may be affected by my mental and spiritual pain as well. The idea that my body, soul, spirit, and environment all play an important role in my mental and physical well-being was very powerful. The Indigenous aspects of INDG 303 was the most interesting to me because it allowed for the most reflection and can easily be incorporated into other aspects of my personal and professional life. I look back onto my physical therapy assistant practicum in an Indigenous community-rich area and how they have incorporated the aspects of the medicine wheel to accommodate for the members of the communities around the hospital. This small change had big impacts because it allowed the elders and community members to heal in a way that better lines up with their values and ideals. They have specific spoken rooms set up in the hospital and seniors' lodges to allow for burning ceremonies to take place. I think allowing each area for all practices, whether religious or cultural, is a form of reconciliation and should be encouraged all over the province. The importance of these practices in Fort McMurray shows us that we should allow space for Indigenous people to practice their form of medical intervention over the entire country instead of just the Western medicine that is being forced upon them. It's equal to a chapel or space of prayer and the connection to which power of C's fit for a person in their time of crisis should be a right to everyone on Canadian land. The knowledge that I gained through taking this course had helped me in my other classes as well. A disability studies class that I was taking connected back to the medical model as a master student presented MAP, Managed Alcohol Program. This program focused on alcohol management programs from Indigenous community members by using Indigenous ideals and the medical model instead of going about it as a Western medical approach. They are looking at implementing Indigenous-focused rehab for homeless individuals that struggle with alcohol abuse. I think this is a fantastic program and it is very important to have Indigenous influence when treating individuals that have Indigenous ties. Culture and spirituality is very important to heal before you can heal physical aspects. I wouldn't have had such a connection or understanding of this research without the important aspects I learned throughout taking the Indigenous class and reading Mind, Body, Emotion, and Spirit by Glenn McCabe. An issue that resonated with me the most throughout taking this course was the four R's, above all reciprocity. I'd never heard the word reciprocity before taking this course. Although I tried to be understanding and giving in my life, the reasoning Indigenous communities feel reciprocity has such a high value on the experience of being a human living on this earth was very, very intriguing. I was able to really comprehend the importance of giving back to others for the sake of gratitude rather than greed. I find that looking at reciprocity from my own and more Eurocentric ideology, there is an underlying selfish reasoning to exchange actions, objects, and feelings. I always look at giving and exchanging goods as a way to make myself and others feel good rather than just showing gratitude for the world around me. I learned in this course that it is an Indigenous value to always give back as a thank you for what we take. This value connects Indigenous communities to Mother Earth and each other without the feeling of competition or superiority that is seen in more Western societies. I think that reciprocity towards the earth is something that gets left out by people who practice more Western ideals. When I take time to reflect on how amazing and lucky we are to live in such a plentiful and beautiful space, it never occurs to me that there are ways I can give back to the earth and show my respect other than the obvious. Our lives are so fast and we take and take and take from the earth and from each other that it will become unsustainable and I think that the Indigenous value of reciprocity and the respect that they show for Mother Earth is a way that we can continue to be on this earth for many, many years to come. All of the core Indigenous values bind into each other and practicing one requires practicing all in order to get the full effect of them. Reciprocity, respect, relevance, responsibility are a framework for how I believe we can start to connect non-Indigenous and Indigenous communities. These conversations need to be held within a supportive experience of learning that builds relationships and capacity among young people to come to know and find strength in themselves, their connections with one another, and the land so they can continue making change for their community. When researching information about the four R's for my personal essay, I came across a program that works to provide training seminars for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth on how they can use the four R's to better connect and start the conversation around reconciliation. They provide training, seminars, and programs across Canada to develop the framework for cross-cultural dialogue. I believe that advocating for funding for the programs like the four R's youth movement will allow them to spread their values held by the Indigenous community and help to rebuild the cross-cultural relationship. Shifting to the discussion to look at the relationship through a respectful lens will help youth learn how to respect themselves and others from a young age rather than going into society with a biased view. If you can't get what you want, want something else. Reading The Serviceberry by Robin Wall-Kilner was really enlightening and it helped to conceptualize using the four R's in real life examples. I find it hard to apply some of the Indigenous theories into concepts because I have not grown up around Indigenous communities. I really like to think of things as absolutes and objectively, so shifting my mindset for this class was difficult. The story about the serviceberry showed how holistic ways of thinking can be applied in everyday situations and made the lessons easier to understand as a non-Indigenous person. The explanation around why gift-giving is so important and how it can provide social capital and has factors of ROI took concepts that we use every day and made them through the holistic lens. We live in such a capitalistic society, so it was nice to learn and remember that we can give and grow in actions that are not financially beneficial in nature. Kilner's explanation that gift-giving to Mother Earth and reciprocity elicited gratitude for plants, elders, rain, sun, and berries instead of just human entities. I also was really enlightened when the story pointed out that reciprocity creates a sense of abundance, allowing us to loosen our hold on power and greed. This can be summed up in a quote that says, if there's not enough of what you want, want something else. One of the questions or challenges that arose for me regarding indigeneity was the concept of reconciliation. Reconciliation is something that we speak a lot about and is getting attention in the past couple of years, but as a concept is something I know very little about. This course explained and clarified what reconciliation means from an Indigenous perspective. I was still left with a lot of questions around the how aspects of reconciliation, but after watching a short film in class that went through the child's life and the duality of the residential school children's lives and beliefs, first what the Catholic Church had pushed on them, as well as many articles and videos we have watched, I more fully understand why reconciliation between settlers and Indigenous communities is something that needs to be continually worked at and cannot be achieved overnight. As a person with colonial ancestors, I am unable to fully understand the generational repercussions of these horrific events have had on modern generations. I see the issues that have occurred like reserves having minimal support and money, the increased amount of Indigenous homeless youth and children, and the foster system having a large number of Indigenous children in its care. But throughout increasing my knowledge of Indigenous culture and ways of knowing, I am more, I am able to understand that these are results of a system set up by white people that sets Indigenous individuals up for failure. Where my questioning and hesitation comes in is the solutions we have or not have come up with to try and fix these situations. I would love to learn how land acknowledgment and increased Indigenous art forms and music is making a difference to these communities, because as an objective outsider, I do not understand how important they are culturally to heal the people most affected. By taking this course, Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing will be greatly beneficial to my chosen perspective. Helping people where they are at is my main motive. Not every solution fits for every person, and by immersing myself and learning about other cultures, I will be a better healthcare practitioner as I will be able to fit their mold and meet them and do what they want rather than what I think might be best for them. It is about how they prefer to be helped and understanding that there are different approaches to healing other than the Western medical model. Incorporating the medicine wheel into my practice of physiotherapy will be beneficial to my practice and my patients. Physiotherapy is a newer practice that is not seen as legitimate in a lot of cultures, so by incorporating aspects of different cultures into my practice, it will allow patients to feel more comfortable and take physiotherapy as a legitimate source of care. As I discussed earlier, I have learned a lot of ways that I can advocate to shift the current Alberta healthcare system and incorporate and accommodate Indigenous community members. I realize that we need to speak with rather than speak for when discussing any issue that does not directly affect us. For example, I can advocate for my patients, but I should not speak for them as I do not know what is best for them or what personally they need. After listening to student presentations about Sacred Land, the student discussion made me realize that as a white person, I need to advocate for Indigenous voices while not stepping on the toes of those whose experience will be or has been directly impacted. Personally, I try to meet every person, whether I am in the terms of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and community rehab, disability rehab, and disability studies. In my program, we discuss how disabilities are values and acknowledged and adjusted in every home, community, and culture. Taking Indigenous ways of knowing and being this semester helped my understanding of how Indigenous communities approach disabilities. This was specifically addressed in our student presentation and reading Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision by Leroy Little Bear. They value each individual person as their special gift and look at people with disability in a positive light rather than viewing them as a, quote, burden or lacking. I think that the holistic approach to community is the most beneficial way of knowing and being and incorporates why Indigenous communities can look at people with disabilities in such a positive light. They know that looking at a community as a whole rather than each individual is what makes them stronger. And by providing that personal and community support, it will help to improve the health of the patients that I will be seeing. A sense of community has physical and mental benefits. This course has helped develop my understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing and being in the current social and political Indigenous and settler relationship. It highlighted how different Indigenous ways of knowing and being set up Indigenous community structures and contrasts between Western ideals. Throughout this course, I've developed my understanding of how settler systems, peoples, and ideals from the past have played a part in shaping the Indigenous settler relationship we see today. It also highlighted how some of the same systems, riles, organizations, and law in our current society continue to dehumanize Indigenous peoples. Listening to the public lecture by William Ehrman put into context how catastrophic losing one's identity can really be to their soul and the community around them. I really enjoyed how he got me to think about my own existence and the part I play in the relationship and how I can better the relationship between Indigenous people and people with colonizer ancestries. We are all in the same boat, and by losing our nationality and the inability to speak language of our ancestors, we all lose. I really like the quote that said, quote, it's not about human and human community interactions, but about the systems that have been embedded in the heyday of colonialism, end quote, because I think we get caught up in the minute details rather than focusing on the big picture. The current relationship between Indigenous peoples and settlers is getting better as the generations go on and continue to move forward. We are hopefully going forward to a place where we can look at each other with a sense of empathy and care rather than hate and bias that was so prominent in the past. Hopefully, we can get to a system where we can change the systematic injustices and form a respectful society together that takes each individual person putting in the work rather than allowing others to do the hard work for them. My advice, if I was planning on recommending this course to a friend, would be to start this class, I think that you need to go in, if you are a non-Indigenous person, to go in with an open mind and kind of let go of some of the previous bias that you have. I was taking this class because I needed an Indigenous-focused 300-level course in order to apply for my master's program in the fall, but I was pleasantly surprised how it has shaped and elevated my previous ideas around Indigenous ways of knowing. I went into this course with minimal knowledge about how Indigenous communities are shaped and what I didn't know shadowed by my Eurocentric mindset. My advice would be to go in with an open mind and to try to really reflect on how you can deconstruct what society is telling you and also what those around you are telling you. Another suggestion I would have for them is to take this course as a block week. It was a very interesting couple of months, but due to it being so spread out over a semester, it's hard to keep the focus and remember all the specific information from the start of the semester since there is not testing and just group projects. Overall, I really enjoyed taking this class. I learned a lot and I thought that all of the projects really required you to do your own research and dig into aspects of Indigeneity that you personally found very interesting. For me, it is the more medical side of it, but I got to learn a lot about their education systems and how each aspect plays a role in society. I would definitely recommend this course and take a course around Indigeneity again. I learned a lot and I really liked all of the projects. I really liked you as a professor. And yeah, thank you for the semester and thank you for listening to my podcast.