2.9: Glossary

The following glossary defines key terms from the source regarding Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing, organized in alphabetical order:

• All My Relations: A teaching that emphasizes the interrelatedness of all things, including people, the land, animals, plants, air, and the spirit world. It serves as a reminder of the responsibilities individuals have to one another.
• Anishinaabe/Nehiyaw: The specific cultural identity of the author, Jennifer Anaquod, who is from Muscowpetung.
• Circular (Cyclical) Learning: An Indigenous approach to knowledge where learning does not follow a sequential, linear path. It recognizes that stories and teachings have no fixed beginning, middle, or end, and can be organized in a non-linear way.
• Connection to Place: A fundamental aspect of Indigenous ways of knowing that links identity and knowledge to specific land or traditional territories. This connection remains vital even when a person is physically displaced from their home.
• Coyote: A figure in many Indigenous nations who serves as a teacher, historian, and storyteller. In the sources, he acts as a writing partner who helps bridge the gap between Indigenous ways of knowing and Eurocentric academia.
• (Dis)placement: The experience of being forced from traditional home territories due to migration, residential schools, or other systemic factors, leading to a sense of disconnection from land and culture.
• hiSTORIES: The weaving together of personal, family, and cultural narratives to create an understanding of one's worldview.
• Indigenous Worldview: A complex, holistic understanding of the world centered on story, interconnectedness, and relationships. It prioritizes cyclical thinking over linear progressions.
• Interconnectedness: The concept that everything in the world—people, nature, and the spirit world—is interrelated and tied together through stories.
• Interstitial Space (Third Space): A metaphorical or virtual "in-between" space where different ways of knowing (such as Indigenous worldviews and academic frameworks) can meet and be explored safely.
• Kaskeyihtamowin: A Nehiyaw word meaning to long for home to the point that it causes physical illness.
• Kiscâyãwin: A Nehiyaw word meaning to belong somewhere.
• Linear Learning: A non-Indigenous way of organizing information and learning that follows a direct, sequential path with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
• Non-maleficence: A principle of doing no harm; in the context of Indigenous storywork, it refers to the ethical responsibility to protect and respect both the research participants and the stories themselves.
• Reciprocity: One of the "four R's"; the act of giving back and sharing oneself and one's own stories in exchange for the knowledge shared by others.
• Respect: One of the "four R's"; it involves valuing all ways of knowing, reflecting on one's own role, and adapting to meet the needs of those one works with.
• Responsibility: One of the "four R's"; being accountable to the stories, the people sharing them, and the ancestors who walked before.
• Reverence: One of the "four R's"; approaching stories and knowledge with deep respect and an acknowledgment of their sacredness.
• Story: The central pillar of Indigenous worldview; stories are living entities that connect people to their past, future, and the world around them. They are viewed as relations that should be treated with care.