INST 301 Assignment 5
Essay Response Units 9 & 10
Nicole Fraser
Bachelor of Professional Arts in Human Services, Athabasca University
INST 301: Indigenous Education
Liana Gallant
April 7, 2025
The naturalization of Indigenous knowledge involves integrating Indigenous knowledge
systems into mainstream society, ensuring they are visible, valued, and respected, particularly
within educational contexts. This process goes beyond merely acknowledging the existence of
Indigenous knowledge; it aims to actively incorporate these perspectives into everyday
practices, policies, and ways of understanding the world. One element in naturalizing
Indigenous knowledge is collective memory, as McLeod (2007) described. Cree memory is an
ancient practice described as a large, intergenerational, collective memory. It involves carrying
the memories of the Ancient Ones, serving as a "place of storytelling wherein the old people
rest" (McLeod, 2007). Cree narratives are considered essential for the soul and are viewed as
both a gift and a responsibility. This intergenerational memory process passes down important
stories and experiences through time (McLeod, 2007). The metaphor of a bundle is used to
describe stories, referring to "nayahcikan," which means “something you put on your back,
, something you carry” (McLeod, 2007). McLeod encourages us to awaken our collective
narrative memory and to decolonize Cree consciousness. He emphasizes that “part of the
process of recovering this ancient memory held in sound lies in recording the oral history of our
elders while we still have them with us” (McLeod, 2007). Engaging with this collective memory
involves sitting with elders and storytellers and listening to their stories (McLeod, 2007).
Spiritual history describes insights within the Cree language that allow the construction of
“spiritual history,” narratives involving spiritual beings or “atayohkanak which means ‘spiritual
helpers,’ spiritual grandfathers and grandmothers. These narratives are essential because they
give insight into how Cree people related to their ecology and the environment, and with other
beings” (McLeod, 2007).
According to Little Bear (2009), factors toward naturalizing Indigenous knowledge
identified as “the way it should be” concerning education and learning processes include using a
multiplicity of learning processes in the teaching of Aboriginal students; teachers should “know
the students’ background: their culture, their history, their social, economic, and political values
and beliefs;” naturalize or incorporate “Aboriginal learning styles and processes, indigenous
knowledge, and curriculum content into the education system;” include Indigenous knowledge
in the curricula toward maintaining and restoring the integrity of Indigenous peoples and their
cultures, include place as a necessary aspect and integral part of any curriculum,; in recognition
of Aboriginal languages and teachings as a primary source of Indigenous knowledge, Aboriginal
language should form a significant component of curricula; involve community or community
development to engage in an ‘inside-out’ approach that builds on relationships (Ireland, in Little
Bear, 2009), as key aspects in the education of Aboriginal people (Little Bear, 2009). Knowing is
Essay Response Units 9 & 10
Nicole Fraser
Bachelor of Professional Arts in Human Services, Athabasca University
INST 301: Indigenous Education
Liana Gallant
April 7, 2025
The naturalization of Indigenous knowledge involves integrating Indigenous knowledge
systems into mainstream society, ensuring they are visible, valued, and respected, particularly
within educational contexts. This process goes beyond merely acknowledging the existence of
Indigenous knowledge; it aims to actively incorporate these perspectives into everyday
practices, policies, and ways of understanding the world. One element in naturalizing
Indigenous knowledge is collective memory, as McLeod (2007) described. Cree memory is an
ancient practice described as a large, intergenerational, collective memory. It involves carrying
the memories of the Ancient Ones, serving as a "place of storytelling wherein the old people
rest" (McLeod, 2007). Cree narratives are considered essential for the soul and are viewed as
both a gift and a responsibility. This intergenerational memory process passes down important
stories and experiences through time (McLeod, 2007). The metaphor of a bundle is used to
describe stories, referring to "nayahcikan," which means “something you put on your back,
, something you carry” (McLeod, 2007). McLeod encourages us to awaken our collective
narrative memory and to decolonize Cree consciousness. He emphasizes that “part of the
process of recovering this ancient memory held in sound lies in recording the oral history of our
elders while we still have them with us” (McLeod, 2007). Engaging with this collective memory
involves sitting with elders and storytellers and listening to their stories (McLeod, 2007).
Spiritual history describes insights within the Cree language that allow the construction of
“spiritual history,” narratives involving spiritual beings or “atayohkanak which means ‘spiritual
helpers,’ spiritual grandfathers and grandmothers. These narratives are essential because they
give insight into how Cree people related to their ecology and the environment, and with other
beings” (McLeod, 2007).
According to Little Bear (2009), factors toward naturalizing Indigenous knowledge
identified as “the way it should be” concerning education and learning processes include using a
multiplicity of learning processes in the teaching of Aboriginal students; teachers should “know
the students’ background: their culture, their history, their social, economic, and political values
and beliefs;” naturalize or incorporate “Aboriginal learning styles and processes, indigenous
knowledge, and curriculum content into the education system;” include Indigenous knowledge
in the curricula toward maintaining and restoring the integrity of Indigenous peoples and their
cultures, include place as a necessary aspect and integral part of any curriculum,; in recognition
of Aboriginal languages and teachings as a primary source of Indigenous knowledge, Aboriginal
language should form a significant component of curricula; involve community or community
development to engage in an ‘inside-out’ approach that builds on relationships (Ireland, in Little
Bear, 2009), as key aspects in the education of Aboriginal people (Little Bear, 2009). Knowing is
