Okâwîmâwaskiy : regenerating a wholistic ethics
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Political Science, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Walker, Katherine
issued: 2021-06-28T22:27:09Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: For generations, Cree Elders and other Indigenous philosophers on iyiniwi-ministik (North America) have recognized that revitalizing concepts of ourselves from within our Indigenous knowledges can bring about new lived realities. This recognition is partially reflected in Indigenous political theory as an examination of the ‘self’ of self-governance (Alfred, 2005) or the process of what was once called ‘surviving as Indians’ (Littlebear, Menno & Boldt, 1993), and is today often called ‘resurging as Indigenous peoples’ (Wildcat, et al., 2014). Building from Indigenous resurgence literature, my research takes a deep insurgent turn inward to explore the ethical implications of a Cree-recognized self formed in relationship with okâwîmâwaskiy or ‘mother earth.’ While it's important to understand how colonization affects the self or how we and others think about nîhiyawâtisowin / Creeness and Indigeneity, colonization is also an ongoing problem because it effects a certain non-nêhiyaw/non-Cree concept of the self. In effect, wîhtikow politics or a colonial, dehumanizing and consumptive-driven politics has eaten away at a wholistic Cree ethical understanding of ourselves and relationships with others. In revitalizing a Cree wholistic ethics, I deal with two ongoing woundings inflicted by wîhtikow politics: the attempted killing of a spiritual domain of the self and the displacement of our mothers from within wholistic Cree relations. I argue that the resurgence of a self grounded in okâwîmâwaskiy is attending to these wounds. Drawing primarily on Cree narratives, language and contemporary Cree theory and practice, I seek to relocate okâwîmâwaskiy in Cree life to better illuminate the life-ways that comprise this sense of self. Though represented as a mother’s care, the wholistic layers of okâwîmâwaskiy distribute the responsibility of care among all living beings and offer a care based on wholistic needs.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/78831
note: OKÂWÎMÂWASKIY: REGENERATING A WHOLISTIC ETHICS by Katherine Walker A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Political Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) June 2021 © Katherine Walker, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: okâwîmâwaskiy: regenerating a wholistic ethics submitted by Katherine Walker in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science Examining Committee: Barbara Arneil, Professor, Department of Political Science, UBC Co-supervisor Sheryl Lightfoot, Associate Professor, Political Science, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and First Nations and Indigenous Studies, UBC Co-supervisor Kiera Ladner, Canada Research Chair in Miyo we'citowin, Indigenous Governance and Digital Sovereignties, and Professor in the Department of Political Studies, UM Supervisory Committee Member Mark Warren, Professor, Harold and Dorrie Merilees Chair in the Study of Democracy & Department of Political Science, UBC University Examiner Cash Ahenakew, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples’ Well-being & Associate Professor, Department of Education, UBC University Examiner Adam Gaudry, Associate Professor, Faculty of Native Studies, UAlberta External Examiner iii Abstract For generations, Cree Elders and other Indigenous philosophers on iyiniwi-ministik (North America) have recognized that revitalizing concepts of ourselves from within our Indigenous knowledges can bring about new lived realities. This recognition is partially reflected in Indigenous political theory as an examination of the ‘self’ of self-governance (Alfred, 2005) or the process of what was once called ‘surviving as Indians’ (Littlebear, Menno & Boldt, 1993), and is today often call…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0398723
language: eng
degree discipline: Political Science
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Arneil, Barbara
contributor: Lightfoot, Sheryl R.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/78831