Ways of Being in the World

cont'dindian_time__time_seasonality_and_culture_in_traditional_ecological_knowledge_of_climate_change_-_indian_time_time_seasonality.pdf Ways of Being in the World

Wednesday, January 21st --  Introductions and an in-class reading/discussion.  Provide Syllabus. 

Monday, January 26th -- Class cancelled
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CLASS ON MONDAY JANUARY 26th CANCELLED.  You may have received the notice from WSU that the university is resuming normal operations on Monday.  However, Professor Sterrett's return travel to Wichita has been interrupted by the weather and she will not be in Wichita on Monday.  So we cannot have an in person class.  Not everyone said they were able to attend by Zoom, so we will not have a Zoom class, either, since in a small discussion-type class such as this one, it is not easy for someone who misses a class to make up the missed class.  
    We look forward to seeing you at our next class meeting, on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026.   
--- SGS on behalf of Prof Sterrett and Prof Berry
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Wednesday, January 28th -
--  Prof Berry's commentary on pages 1-5 of WBW anthology.
-- Visit to "Taoimah Rutledge: Origins and Evolutions" exhibit at Ulrich Museum, right next door to the building our class is in. Assignment (due Monday, February 2nd; bring to class): Assignment #1 handed out. 

Monday, February 2nd -
-- Please read pages 8-18 of WBW anthology. This includes the paper "Power and Place Equal Personality" by Vine DeLoria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux) and Daniel R. Wildcat (Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma)
-- Also view the two videos about The Three Sisters listed in the Syllabus under MODULE 1.  

Wednesday, February 4th 
-- Read pages 19-31 of WBW anthology. This is the paper "American Indian Circular Philosophy" by Donald L. Fixico (Shawnee, Sac and Fox, Muscogee, Seminole)


Monday, February 9th  and Wednesday  February 11th
ASSIGNMENT:  Assignment #2 Reflections on Module I 
 assignment2_wbw_-_reflections_on_module_1.pdf
READING associated with Assignment #2. "Indian Time"
 indian_time__time_seasonality_and_culture_in_traditional_ecological_knowledge_of_climate_change_-_indian_time_time_seasonality.pdf

Monday, February 16th
READING Assignment: We begin Module 2 today!
MODULE 2 Philosophy of Religion: Creation, the Sacred,
and the People WBW Introduction (p.50-51) Then, pages 56-73 of WBW.
2.1 Assorted Responses to Christianity: Speeches and
Letters
2.1b SHAKÓYE:WA:THAˀ (Red Jacket) "1805 Speech on
Religion (Seneca)" in WBW
2.1c Ma-chú-nu-zhe (Standing Bear) "1896 Landmark Civil
Rights Case Testimony (Ponca)" in WBW
Supplemental reading:"American Indians and Christianity," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. 
2.2 "The Problem of Creation" by Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux) 

Wednesday, February 18th
2.3 Winona LaDuke (Objibwe) "In the Time of the Sacred Places"
Supplemental videos: 
"I am Salmon" 
Winona LaDuke "Seeds of Ancestors, Seeds of Life"
Optional supplemental Commentary piece by Winona LaDuke:
"Is it Sacred Enough?"

Monday, February 23, 2026
QUIZ on Module 1
Video: "Mother Law and the Doctrine of Discovery"  
We watched the beginning in class; remainder for homework. 

Wednesday, February 25, 2026
In-class only Film Documentary: "The Doctrine of Discovery: Unmasking the Domination Code" 

Monday, March 2nd, 2026
We'll finish viewing the film, then discuss these readings:
Brian Burkhart (Cherokee) INTERLUDE
Brian Burkhart (Cherokee) "Everything is Sacred"
Mary L. Keller (settler) "Indigenous Studies and 'the Sacred'"

Wednesday, March 4th, 2026
We'll continue on readings from Monday. 
Two items discussed in Monday's class:
--- "Surely, you don't mean rocks": Indigenous Kinship Ethics, Moral Responsibility, and So-Called 'Natural Objects' by Aila Kel Katajamaki O'Loughlin
--- An ancient fable (there are many versions of this story, using different animals; this version appeared on a Star Trek episode).  "Scorpion & Fox"

Thursday, March 5th Course-related EVENT at Ulrich (optional)
Taiomah Rutledge talk -- POSTPONED until April 29th

Monday, March 9th, 2026: QUIZ on Module 2

Wednesday, March 11th, 2026: 
Special Visit with Taiomah Rutledge - our class meets at the Ulrich Museum 

Monday, March 16 & Wednesday, March 18th -- SPRING BREAK (No classes)

Monday, March 23rd - Begin MODULE 3
Chapter 3. Metaphysics:  The Nature of Reality: What is Real?
Read: Introduction to Chapter 3 of Ways of Being in the World; then:
3.1 Viola Cordova (Jicarilla Apache) "Coda: Living in a Sacred Universe" 
3.2 "Skywoman Falling" by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)
Watch:
-- Ron Corn, Jr. (Muqsahkwat) "Native American Culture - Language: The Key to Everything." TEDx talk on youtube:  
-- Dr Leroy Little Bear (Kainai First Nation) "Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science" Talk on youtube

Two short videos about waves, particles, and quantum mechanics to accompany Dr Leroy Little Bear's talk. 

Double-Slit Experiment Explained 
https://youtu.be/A9tKncAdlHQ?si=4k8wHNHHNOy3PsJl

Wave-Particle Duality:  
https://youtu.be/DfQH3o6dKss?si=HgQppKGz4V6KD6bh

Wednesday, March 25th 
Read:
-- Brian Burkhart (Cherokee) "The Metaphysics of Morality in Locality: The Always Already Being in Motion of Kinship" Chapter 5 of Indigenizing Philosophy Through the Land  (click on the title to get the chapter for free)
-- V.F. Cordova (Jicarilla Apache) "Bounded Space: The Four Directions" - pages 3-6 of APA American Indians in Philosophy 2., no. 1 (Fall 2002)
Watch: 
-- Kinsale Hueston (Dine) "After Sacred Water" YouTube video November 30, 2021.
-- "Our Home in the Sky: Indigenous Interconnectedness with the Stars," May 15, 2021.  YouTube video TELLUS Spark. (Long but Recommended)

======= Two service learning opportunities ============== 
Note:  this course requires that you do one service learning unit.  What you are graded on is what you research and write about it, not the amount of physical work you provide. 

Haskell Wetlands Community Day  OR volunteer at Haskell Wetlands/ Greenhouse -- either satisfies Service Learning Req't:
Community Day is Friday, April 10th, 2026  Info here: https://allevents.in/lawrence/2nd-annual-haskell-wetlands-day/200029672586129 

Volunteer at the Mid-America All-Indian Museum (MAAIM) - see site for form  https://www.theindianmuseum.org/Pages/Opportunities.aspx

Pre-Reflection Essay Assignment handed out in class (contains reading assignment on Haskell Wetlands from Wildcat's Indigenuity).
-- Info on researching history of the MAAIM to be handed out in class. Until 2022 it was called a Center rather than a Museum.
Here is an article from 1976 on its opening: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle-mid-america-all-incian/194910488/  cont'd on https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle-indian-center-opening/194911241/
Also Interesting letters to the editor in 1981 about a controversy over the Mid-America All-Indian Center: kansas.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-eagle-letter-on-indian-cente/194909236/

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April 1 - April 8:  REST OF MODULE 3

3.3 "Indigenous Identity: What Is It and Who Really Has It?"
by Hilary N. Weaver (Lakota) WBW textbook

NEW! ADDED May 3rd: 
Photo (colored) postcard of Dr Berry's Great Grandmother Kiowa Annie
https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1594304/m1/1/
More photos: Anna E Berry  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68163232/anna_e-berry

3.4 "Endlessly Creating Our Indigenous Selves" by Leanne
Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) WBW textbook

(Online essay) "Indigenous Feminism is Our Culture" by J. Gearon (Dine
(Navajo Nation)) orig published in Stanford Social Innovation Review, 
February 11, 2021. [Artist Profile and Artwork of Author is at
https://www.firstnations.org/artist/jihan-gearon/ ]

3.5 "Where Does Agency Come From? Exploring Indigenous Models of Mind" by Kurtis Boyer (Métis) WBW textbook


QUIZ on Module 3 -- April 15th 

Class on April 13th:  BEGIN MODULE 4

4.1 "On the Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge as a Collaborative Concept: a Philosophical Study" by Kyle Powys Whyte (Citizen Potawatami Nation) WBW

4.2 "Native American Epistemology Through Dreams" Joel Alvarez (Puerto Rico, Ecuadorian) WBW 

-- "Stories, Dreams and Ceremonies: Anishinaabe Ways of Learning" Tribal College Jouranl of American Indian Higher Education 11, no. 4 (2000): 26-29 by Leanne Simpson (Michi Saagig Nishnaabeg)

Video (not on syllabus) of Daniel Wildcat on Wetlands: 
2022 National Traditional Ecological Summit:
Keynote from Dr. Daniel Wildcat

New (April 2026) article in The Guardian: "Braiding knowledge:  how Indigenous expertise and western science are converging" 

4.3 The Epistemology of Deep Disagreement and Indigenous Oral HIstories" by Paul Simard Smith (Métis) WBW

ON INDIGENUITY: Learning the Lessons of Mother Earth by Daniel R. Wildcat. (Yuchi member of Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma) Pages 1-118)

April 27th: QUIZ on Module 4; Begin Module 5

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Assignment Re Service Learning: "Notes on Activity" and "Reflection on Activity" (click to get pdf of assignment) DUE on May 6th, 2026
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April 29th (Wednesday):  Meet at Ulrich Museum with Taiomah Rutledge.

May 4th (Monday): Module 5 

MODULE 5 Ethics: The Good Path: How Should We Live
Our Lives? WBW Introduction (p.182 -183)

5.1 “What Do We Need to Know to Live in Harmony with Our
Surroundings?” by Joseph Len Miller (Muscogee) WBW

5.2 "Indigenous Storytelling" by Jo-Ann Archibald, Q’um
Q’um Xiiem (Stó:lō ō/ Soowahlie First Nation) WBW

-- Videos on Native American Storytelling:
Indigenous Storywork by JoAnn Archibald - includes story "Lady Louse"
https://youtu.be/DyKsCsZnRHI?si=Ke61NGCW4Nhssaxx


5.3 "Healthy Community" by Piita Taqtu Irniq, Peter Irniq
(Inuit) WBW

-- Inuit Circumpolar Council. “Inuuluta Qanuigata / Being
Healthy as Inuit.” October 14, 2012. YouTube video, 12:53.
Part about what the ICC is:
https://youtu.be/rdOst2woWww?si=E1as75_2ltFCe9BS&t=14
Map of countries the ICC involves:  at the 0:40 point.
Part about Project CREATES (digital storytelling): 
https://youtu.be/rdOst2woWww?si=sB2DFr5DTMzcMeu8&t=453

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Articles and a TED talk we may refer to in class on May 4th, from Dr Berry: 

Review of the game Never Alone: pay attention to what the reviewer says about what they learned in playing the game, and about the different role that the story has compared to how stories are used in other games.  

Two online articles about Indigenous Storytelling: 

Here is an article that I refer my students to about Indigenous storytelling, https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/our-breath-being-indigenous-living-through-storying-traditions and

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/importance-indigenous-oral-traditional-storytelling-part-2 

TED talk: TED Talk - Indigenous storytelling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11zcaIurUVk 
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May 6th: (Last Day of Class):  Presentations on Service Learning.

Quiz 5 will be a take home essay question due by the last day of final exam period, which is May 14th, 2026.

LAST CLASS FOLLOW-UP:  Here are two items mentioned at the last class meeting that I said I would post on the course website: 

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1.  Music:  the documentary about Link Wray who wrote a song called "Rumble":  RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World
https://www.youtube.com/@rumbletheindianswhorockedt5019/videos
It has been available on PBS and Netflix although availability changes over time so you may need to search to find where to stream it now.  
 
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333080/
Wikipedia article on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble:_The_Indians_Who_Rocked_the_World

2. About identity and the comment that non-Natives often don't understand the concern over people mistakenly claiming to be Native American:  the two letters by Elizabeth Hoover on her website, here.  https://www.profelizabethmhoover.com/identity
   The first letter of apology she wrote (scroll down to the bottom of the page; it is titled 'Statement about identity' and is dated October 2022) is one that many non-Natives thought was fine and put an end to the matter. 
     But that wasn't the case: you can see in her later letter, which appears at the top of the page ("Letter of Apology and Accountability" dated May 1, 2023) in which she realizes why it was inadequate and says she has put away the moccasins, dance regalia, and ribbon skirts.  






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