Lecture - Dr. Marie Battiste: “Indigenous Knowledge: Roots and Routes to Learning” March 5, 2009

All are welcome to attend, and admission is free.

Dr. Marie Battiste, a Mi’kmaq educator from Potlo’tek First Nations of Unama’kik, Nova Scotia, has worked actively with First Nations schools and communities as an administrator, teacher, consultant, and curriculum developer, advancing Aboriginal epistemology, languages, pedagogy, and research. She is Professor and Director of the Aboriginal Education Research Centre (AERC) at the University of Saskatchewan and Co-director of the Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, a national project of the Canadian Council on Learning.

“Indigenous knowledge is part of the collective genius of humanity,” says Battiste. “Despite the long and sustained use of Indigenous Knowledge around the world, little is understood about it, because Eurocentric foundations of knowing have dominated education in what I have called ‘cognitive imperialism.’”

According to Battiste, indigenous peoples now comprise about 5% of the world’s population (370 million), embody 80% of the world’s cultural diversity, occupy 20% of the world’s land surface and know and nurture 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Their accumulated experience, wisdom and knowledge represent over 5000 languages and cultures contained in more than 70 nation-states.

Battiste’s presentation will offer a foundation for understanding what indigenous knowledge is, what processes for learning are critical to its continued use, and how it can be respectfully brought into learning environments in indigenous communities and beyond.

Official Website: http://www.ocad.ca