Participating in the Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Being and Leading Circle led by Indigenous Scholar in Residence, Mike Lickers on June 1st was an especially impactful experience for me in the program so far. As Dr. Lickers guided us through a powerful shared experience and called on us to listen deeply, to come to a quiet place and to ‘listen twice as much as talking’ (Lickers, 2021), the result was so much more than a simple transmission of information. I continued to reflect on this exceptional experience when reading Decolonizing transformations through ‘right relations’ (Gram-Hanssen, Schafenacker, & Bentz, 2021). In their article, Gram-Hanssen et al. suggest characteristics of ‘right-relations’ including to “allow oneself to be affected, even transformed, in the process of engaging with the world” (2021). The experience of Dr. Lickers’ Circle felt indeed deeply engaging and affecting. This was not so much surprising for me as it was important, because I agree with Gram-Hanssen et al. that a “… willingness to be affected and altered by the process of reciprocal collaborations is key to imagining de-colonial ways of being” (2021, para 1). In the circle, Dr. Lickers also brought up the Two-Row Wampum Belt treaty between the Haudenosaunee and the Dutch in the early 17th century. As with the first time I had heard about this treaty, Dr. Lickers described the two rows in the Belt that represent the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee, each group paddling their own canoe, sharing the river without imposing their laws or opinions on each other (2021). I deeply and humbly recognize the merits of focusing on this facet of the treaty. Given the relentless and systematic oppression of indigenous cultures by colonial societies and the tendency for settlers (whether consciously or not) to engage in behaviours that “overwhelm and absorb the other into a hierarchical relationship” (Coleman, 2019, p. 67 as cited in Goodchild et al., 2021, p.9), I fully support the need for indigenous peoples and other oppressed groups to protect their identities, culture and knowledge to ensure they are not further violated. That being said, in reading Relational Systems Thinking: That’s how change is going to come, from Our Mother Earth, I was very inspired to learn about the significance of the other three rows in the Belt: “The three white rows … symbolize the ne’skennen (peace), karihwí:iyo (good word or way), and ka’satsténshsera (unified, empowered minds)” (Coleman, 2019, p. 65 as cited in Goodchild et al., 2021, p.8). As described in the article: “The two-row wampum treaty explicitly outlined a dialogical Indigenous European framework for how healthy relationships between peoples from different ‘laws and beliefs’ can be established. Dialogue, says Otto, is not about two parties talking to each other. Dialogue literally means ‘meaning flowing through’” (Goodchild et al, 2021, p.9).
In reading Goodchild et al’s article, I understand the ka’satsténshsera row of the Belt to mean a space or a process by which the travelers in each canoe are affected and influenced by each other. If as a settler society we can do the necessary, extensive and ongoing work of decolonizing our thoughts, actions and systems and approach our relationship with indigenous people with humility, respect, and care, then this third row of unified and empowered minds seems to me to be the ultimate way of being and engaging with one another that we can aspire towards.
References
Goodchild, M. et al., (2021). Relational Systems Thinking: That’s how change is going to come, from Our Mother Earth. Journal of Awareness Based Systems Change 1(1), 75-103 https://jabsc.org/index.php/jabsc/article/view/577/696
Gram-Hanssen, I., Schafenacker, N., & Bentz, J. (2021). Decolonizing transformations through ‘right relations.’ Sustainability Science, (20210507). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00960-9
Lickers, M. (2021). Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Being, and Leading Circle. Course activity for the MACAL, RRU, online. https://154.kaf.it.ubc.ca/media/IndigenousCircleMLickers/0_sk9wvwsw/249567