Learning science through relationships with Land and Cosmos
Casey Eagle Speaker, Kainai Elder
Science is traditionally taught and learned from a Western worldview. But there are many ways of knowing and connecting through knowledge and with science.
Humans have flourished alongside the land with the use of science and mathematics for thousands of years. Think about agriculture, which thrives through companion planting and geometry. Or our senses in relationship with the horizon, the zenith and movement of constellations, which guide navigation across land and sea.
Science becomes more relevant and relatable when we open up our minds and hearts to ways of knowing from the land, sky and spirit.
The Circle of Life represents how all things are connected and relational. The four parts represent the four directions, four sacred medicines, four stages of life, four ways of being, four winds and many more. Each of these four parts shape the TELUS Spark Science Centre Indigenous Action Plan.
Contact Alex (Specialist, Indigenous Science) to learn more about ongoing on-the-land programming for Indigenous youth ages 10-17. Workshop is free, food and transportation provided.
For more information: [email protected]
An outdoor space created through stories, ceremony, and community. With guidance from Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and Indigenous community members, the Gathering Circle invites everyone to connect with the Land, the Cosmos, and with one another. It is a place to gather, learn, teach and grow.
Surrounding the Circle is a medicine garden, with carefully chosen Native plant Ancestors, all with deep stories, medicinal qualities, and uses to many local Indigenous communities.
Plant Ancestors making the Gathering Circle home include: Saskatoon Berry, Choke Cherry, Goldenrod, Strawberry, Wild Rose, Kinnikinik, Red Willow (Red Osier Dogwood), Wild Onion, Thistle, and Yarrow.
In collaboration with Soil Camp & ALCLA Native Plants
There are close connections between the quantum world and Indigenous science and spirituality, and hence Spark worked closely with Dr. Leroy Little Bear (Kainai) and Rob Cardinal (Siksika) to weave together these ways of knowing science. Within an Indigenous worldview, all is alive and in motion, and connected through energy and spirit. These connections are embraced and expanded when in relationship and in ceremony, where the parameter of human senses are opened, allowing us to learn from the more-than-human.
Learn MoreFeaturing Indigenous products, books and more. The popular book, Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a great way to learn about plants and animals as teachers. Shopping online is available too!
Check out this collection!TELUS Spark Science Centre gratefully acknowledges Imperial, TD Ready Commitment, and Plains for their generous support of Indigenous science programming.
TELUS Spark Science Centre acknowledges it is situated on the Ancestral Lands of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), and Traditional Lands of the Tsuut’ina First Nation, the Îethka Nakoda First Nation, and more recently the Otipemisiwak Métis.
Land Acknowledgement