Rooted Teaching: Facilitating Indigenous Perspectives for Project-Based Learning

Glossary

These are the key terms, defined for educators, from each of the five modules. While many of these terms have their own “mainstream” meaning, they are defined here in the context of global Indigenous activism and theory.

Additionally, many resources are repeated across modules. This is intentional: it helps educators narrow down key texts for their own courses while also emphasizing major thinkers integral to the development of this series.

Module 1 Glossary

Intergenerational knowledge: the transmission of teachings, stories, practices, and responsibilities across generations within communities, emphasizing continuity, resilience, and the living nature of ancestral wisdom (Battiste, 2002; Smith, 2012).

Place-based knowledge: a form of understanding rooted in long-term relationships with specific landscapes, where knowledge arises from lived experience, observation, and ceremonial connection to the land itself (Bang et al., 2012; Cajete, 1994, 2000).

Reciprocity: an ethical principle emphasizing mutual exchange and relational balance between humans, non-human beings, and land, requiring that benefits received are honored through care, gratitude, and responsibility (Cajete, 2000; Kimmerer, 2013).

Relationality: an epistemological framework in which knowledge, identity, and ethics emerge through dynamic relationships among people, land, non-human beings, and ancestors, emphasizing responsibility and reciprocity over autonomy or hierarchy (Wilson, 2008).

Relationational Sustainability: an Indigenous framework of ecological and ethical responsibility that centers reciprocal, place-based relationships with land, water, non-human kin, ancestors, and future generations. It resists extractive or individualistic approaches and instead emphasizes stewardship, ceremony, and community accountability across time (Cajete, 2000; Kimmerer, 2013; Reed & George, 2011; Simpson, 2017; Whyte, 2018).

Stewardship: in Indigenous theory contrasts with ownership by framing land not as property but as kin, requiring reciprocal care and accountability across generations; it emphasizes relationship and responsibility rather than dominion or entitlement (Kimmerer, 2013; Simpson, 2017).

Key Texts from Module 1

Bang, M., Warren, B., Rosebery, A. S., & Medin, D. (2012). Desettling expectations in science education. Human Development, 55(5–6), 302–318.

Battiste, M. (2002). Indigenous knowledge and pedagogy in First Nations education: A literature review with recommendations. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Cajete, G. (1994). Look to the mountain: An ecology of Indigenous education. Kivaki Press.

Cajete, G. (2000). Native science: Natural laws of interdependence. Clear Light Publishers.

Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.

Reed, M. G., & George, C. (2011). Where in the world is environmental justice? Progress in Human Geography, 35(6), 835–842.

Simpson, L. B. (2017). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. University of Minnesota Press.

Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books.

Whyte, K. P. (2018). Settler colonialism, ecology, and environmental injustice. Environment and Society, 9(1), 125–144.

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.

Module 2 Glossary

Accountability vs. Compliance: Accountability emphasizes relational, community-defined responsibility in contrast to institutional compliance, which may fulfill legal or bureaucratic standards without honoring Indigenous sovereignty or relational ethics (Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2008; Tuhiwai Smith, 2021).

Beneficiary Reflexivity: the ethical practice of interrogating one’s own position and benefits within colonial systems of knowledge production, ensuring that research does not replicate extractive dynamics (TallBear, 2013; Tuck & Yang, 2014).

Community-Led Knowledge: knowledge systems grounded in community authority, protocols, and priorities, where communities serve as originators and stewards of research and its outcomes (Smith, 2012; Tuck, McKenzie, & McCoy, 2014).

Consent (as an ongoing relationship): a process wherein ethical engagement requires continual, relational negotiation with communities, rather than a single procedural act (Ball & Janyst, 2008; Smith, 2012; Tuck & Yang, 2014).

Extractive Research: research practices that remove knowledge or resources from communities without reciprocity, shared authority, or benefit to the community, perpetuating colonial power imbalances (Smith, 2012; Kovach, 2009; Louis, 2007).

Key Texts from Module 2

Ball, J., & Janyst, P. (2008). Enacting research ethics in partnerships with Indigenous communities in Canada: “Do it in a good way”. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 3(2), 33–51.

Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. University of Toronto Press.

Louis, R. P. (2007). Can you hear us now? Voices from the margin: Using Indigenous methodologies in geographic research. Geographical Research, 45(2), 130–139.

Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books.

Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (3rd ed.). Zed Books.

TallBear, K. (2013). Native American DNA: Tribal belonging and the false promise of genetic science. University of Minnesota Press.

Tuck, E., McKenzie, M., & McCoy, K. (2014). Land education: Indigenous, post-colonial, and decolonizing perspectives on place and environmental education research. Environmental Education Research, 20(1), 1–23.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: Refusing research. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223–248). SAGE Publications.

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.

Module 3 Glossary

Ancestral Presence: the ongoing, active influence of ancestors within land, memory, and community, shaping contemporary responsibilities and relationships beyond linear time (Wilson, 2008; Tuck & Ree, 2013; Simpson, 2017).

Cyclical Time: temporality rooted in recurring patterns of land, ceremony, and community life, rejecting linear narratives of progress in favor of ancestral continuity and relational renewal (Simpson, 2017; Cajete, 2000; Yunkaporta, 2019).

Deep Time: long-duration temporal relationships held in land, language, and story, asserting Indigenous continuity and epistemic sovereignty over histories often erased by colonial narratives (Yusoff, 2018; Rifkin, 2017; Simpson, 2017; Kimmerer, 2013).

Intergenerational Responsibility: the ethical and cultural obligation to act with care for both ancestors and descendants, sustaining relationships and knowledge across time (Kovach, 2009; Smith, 2012; Whyte, 2018).

Temporal Stewardship: the ethical responsibility to care for time as a relational and ceremonial continuum, sustaining obligations across generations, ecologies, and cosmologies (Whyte, 2018; Cajete, 1994; Yunkaporta, 2019).

Key Texts from Module 3

Cajete, G. (1994). Look to the mountain: An ecology of Indigenous education. Kivaki Press.

Cajete, G. (2000). Native science: Natural laws of interdependence. Clear Light Publishers.

Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.

Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. University of Toronto Press.

Rifkin, M. (2017). Beyond settler time: Temporal sovereignty and indigenous self-determination. Duke University Press.

Simpson, L. B. (2017). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. University of Minnesota Press.

Tuck, E., & Ree, C. (2013). A glossary of haunting. In S. H. Davis & E. Tuck (Eds.), Youth resistance research and theories of change (pp. 639–651). Routledge.

Whyte, K. P. (2018). Settler colonialism, ecology, and environmental injustice. Environment and Society, 9(1), 125–144. https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2018.090109

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.

Yunkaporta, T. (2019). Sand talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world. HarperOne.

Yusoff, K. (2018). A billion black anthropocenes or none. University of Minnesota Press.

Module 4 Glossary

Kincentric Ecology: the understanding that humans exist within a web of living kinship with all elements of the natural world, requiring reciprocal, respectful relationships with non-human relatives (Salmon, 2000; Kimmerer, 2013)

Non-Human Pedagogy: the practice of learning from non-human beings—such as animals, plants, and landscapes—as active teachers within a relational and land-based educational paradigm (Cajete, 1994; Bang et al., 2014; Kimmerer, 2013).

Place-Based Knowledge: knowledge rooted in specific land-based relationships, ceremonies, and histories, emphasizing that knowledge is lived, contextual, and shaped by ecological and cultural specificity (Cajete, 1994; Simpson, 2017; Bang et al., 2014).

Responsibility to Land: a relational and ethical obligation to care for land as a living relative, rooted in ceremony, cultural continuity, and Indigenous law (Simpson, 2017; Whyte, 2018; Wilson, 2008).

Situated Knowing: a framework that affirms that knowledge arises from specific cultural, ecological, and relational contexts, emphasizing accountability, place, and positionality in contrast to universalist epistemologies (Smith, 2012; Kovach, 2009; Haraway, 1988).

Key Texts from Module 4

Bang, M., Marin, A., Faber, L., & Suzukovich III, E. S. (2014). Reframing cultural and Indigenous epistemologies in science education. In N. G. Lederman & S. K. Abell (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Science Education (Vol. II, pp. 285–313). Routledge.

Cajete, G. (1994). Look to the mountain: An ecology of Indigenous education. Kivaki Press.

Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.

Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.

Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. University of Toronto Press.

Salmon, E. (2000). Kincentric ecology: Indigenous perceptions of the human–nature relationship. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1327–1332.

Simpson, L. B. (2017). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. University of Minnesota Press.

Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books.

Whyte, K. P. (2018). Settler colonialism, ecology, and environmental injustice. Environment and Society, 9(1), 125–144.

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.

Module 5 Glossary

Ancestral Engineering: the complex, place-based technologies developed by Indigenous peoples across generations, grounded in ecological knowledge, cultural protocol, and spiritual relationship with land (Cajete, 2000; Lewis et al., 2020).

Appropriation: the unauthorized use of Indigenous knowledge or culture without community consent, while integration involves respectful, reciprocal collaboration that centers Indigenous authority and benefit (Smith, 2012; TallBear, 2019).

Eco-logical Design: a process that emphasizes culturally embedded, land-aligned innovation that arises from ecological intelligence, spiritual responsibility, and kinship with the natural world (Cajete, 2000; Wildcat, 2009; Kimmerer, 2013).

Indigenous Futurism: a movement that uses speculative art, literature, and theory to envision Indigenous futures grounded in sovereignty, relational ethics, and ancestral continuity (Dillon, 2012; Lewis, 2020).

Technological Relationality: the integration of technology within webs of kinship and ecological relationship, emphasizing that tools and innovations are shaped by ethical, cultural, and spiritual commitments (Lewis et al., 2020; Yunkaporta, 2019).

Key Texts from Module 5

Cajete, G. (2000). Native science: Natural laws of interdependence. Clear Light Publishers.

Dillon, G. (2012). Walking the clouds: An anthology of Indigenous science fiction. University of Arizona Press.

Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.

Lewis, J. E., Arista, A., Pechawis, A., & Kite, S. (2020). Making kin with machines: A posthumanist Indigenous AI protocol. The Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence Working Group. https://www.indigenous-ai.net/

Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books.

TallBear, K. (2019). Caretaking relations, not American dreamings: Settler futurity and the denial of relationality. In J. L. Aronson & M. S. Bell (Eds.), Otherwise worlds: Against settler colonialism and anti-Blackness (pp. 139–156). Duke University Press.

Wildcat, D. R. (2009). Red alert! Saving the planet with Indigenous knowledge. Fulcrum Publishing.

Yunkaporta, T. (2019). Sand talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world. HarperOne.