Interconnected Pathways Through Encounters that are Deeply Rooted
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In the centerpiece is an oak tree, representing the tree of life. It can be a powerful symbol of resilience and vitality. The deep roots represent the connections between all living things and the wisdom they bring to the tree. Similarly, connecting this to the “western red cedar, known as the tree of life to the Aboriginal people of the West Coast of North America, for whom it is of great spiritual, cultural, medicinal, and ecological significance” (Simard, 2022). The guiding principles written in a circle around the tree are respect, reciprocity, relationality, responsibility, reverence, and humility in relation to the encounters I have experienced through my exploration A with the more-than-human natural entities. This artwork highlights key moments I encountered in my educational journey at Miller Park. This tree is the connection that holds these guiding principles and how these roots intersect, interconnect, and intermingle. As I reflect on my encounters with the natural world and how they connect with different aspects of the guiding principles, I can dive deeper and see the connections at play.
These roots are just beginning to form, diverging into many different pathways to connecting and opening up my perspective. With reciprocity comes respect for the berry bush I encounter when I enter my natural space. It calls me to “give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken. Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever” (Kimmerer Wall, 2015, p. 183). I am reminded of the honorable harvest when I cross paths with the berries in the forest. I remember the times when I would pick those berries and how I could reciprocate that gift. Leading me to “gratitude [which] is much more than thank you. It is a thread that fosters relationships” (Kimmerer, et al, 2022, p.42). I came to know those berries, to greet them every time I entered the forest, to develop a kinship with the berry bush.
This relation calls for my attention towards kinship, and in turn, how I can take this relation into my practice is fundamental to changing my perspective. Children are naturally attuned and ready to engage with the natural environment. Therefore, I want to be more attuned to the rhythms of nature. As a teacher, I want to facilitate this new rhythm of letting students and nature take the lead and guide. Empowering other voices to take over and share their learning and knowledge allows for many rich learning opportunities to rise.
From an Indigenous philosophy, “Hodenosaunee teaching states that ‘we are all a part of the land beneath us, the sky above us, and all that surrounds us’. Cir- cularity is organic and fluid rather than static and linear. Placing elements within cir-cles indicates that there is dynamic synergic and interconnected movement” (Styres Sandra, 2011, p. 718). I see the circularity that all things hold meaning and relation to one another. To see the flow of the roots as though branching out and connecting it with the land, sky, and all that is around me. All these connections keep me rooted in time, place, and relation.
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Understanding the rhythms of a place, I am unlearning this idea of an Ego, and Western worldview and moving away from this linear, hierarchical learning of humans on the top and plants, animals, and the land beneath us. As I engage further with the land, we come to a Nature, and Indigenous worldview where all the elements are in relation to one another. There is a rhythm when we are in relation to one another in this interconnected knowledge system. We must become more attuned to different worldviews because we are heavily set in our dominant European worldview embedded in our society and curriculum that ultimately becomes enforced and valued. I want to shift my lens and deconstruct and dismantle the idea of linear learning and humans having all the knowledge. To seek out more truths, to not reinforce this hierarchy of learning, to relearn, deconstruct, and decolonize education.
References:
Indigenous and Western Worldviews (2021). Comox Valley Schools. https://www.comoxvalleyschools.ca/nalaatsi/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2021/12/indigenous-and-western-worldviews.pdf
Kimmerer, R. W. (2013) Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.Sandra D. Styres (2011) Land as first teacher: a philosophical journeying, Reflective Practice, 12:6, 717-731, DOI: 10.1080/14623943.2011.601083
Simard, S. (2022). Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.