Epistemologies

by Perciliana Moquino

Epistemology is the study of how we know things. It is the nature, scope, and sources of which knowledge emerges; it is also the process in which knowledge is acquired. In our Perspectives in Native American Studies course, we talked about the origin of "Epistemology,” a Greek word, foundational to western cultures. I often grapple with the idea of using Western terminology to name the deepest parts of ourselves as Indigenous peoples, how we think, how we view the world, and how we interact with it. Why not just use our own words in our own languages? Why do we need outside influence? In this (almost) diary of mine, I will share what “Epistemology” has come to mean for me, and maybe, for other people understanding Indigeneity as well. To do this I will gather works of various authors, and my lived experience and share what the word means. I hope to explore what the nature of Epistemology is for Indigenous people, how it is acquired, passed on, and how we as peoples may strengthen our nations through it. Epistemology is the study of how we know things. For Indigenous peoples, Epistemology is understanding our active participation in knowledge gathering and cycling - and why it is important. How can we critically think about “Epistemology” as the blanket of multigenerational, wise, empowering love language of Indigenous peoples?

In Raheja’s “Native Studies Keywords” she shares that Epistemology is the “theory of knowledge” (Raheja, 2015). Raheja criticizes that when used to describe knowledge gathering in Western terms it is “a particular field of action always in play to achieve hegemony, to find consent to the truth claims of dominant populations” (Raheja, 2015). This definition is isolating; it takes but one person's voice to become the deciding vote on what is determined to be truth. My goal is that by understanding the word Epistemology through the Western voice we may better understand why Indigenous peoples choose this word to envelope Indigenous words for “knowledge” and Indigenous ways of attaining knowledge. Because as Raheja begins to weave together for us in the article, Epistemology definitions in Western and Indigenous terms are detached from one another. Indigenous knowledge gathering is communal. It takes a nation, a village, a clan, a family, to define knowledge systems. Raheja shares the complexity of the word; Indigenous Epistemology is not attained through homogeneity. Instead, it is “variably transmitted through their prior generations. These (new) generations continue to dream, dance, sing, and practice our knowledge and experiences into new meaning” (Raheja, 2015). It requires community. By understanding Epistemology and its complex meanings we may have a better chance at knowing how the word should be used, and when.

To start out, I will begin with my community. In our culture, we have two words to define Epistemology: knowledge gathering and attained knowledge. Nootz’thah’wah (knowledge) and Weet’thoo’nee (Wisdom). Nootz’thah’wah is to gain an understanding of a situation, a place, or person/peoples. It is collective action towards gaining wisdom. Weet’thoo’nee is to be enlightened, it is a state of being. Nootz’thah’wah is the actions you take to attain Weet’thoo’nee. These words help shape our understanding of our roles in life, and how we may best walk a path to enlightenment and knowledge gaining. The words are beautiful and powerful, but they are strung together with humility. It is the ability to be humble and content in knowing you will never know it all but steadfast and faithful in what you do know. Nootz’thah’wah and Weet’thoo’nee can describe a child, who brings new and old knowledge into the world at birth, it can describe how adults put to action those knowledge systems and describes what knowledge elders have attained over time (as life has shaped you) and pass that on (Moquino(a), 2024). Knowing the definition of these two words can push us to the next question... how do we keep these practices and understandings alive? It is through our children, respectful of each generation in between, which I will explore further below.

From the experiences of myself, parents, and grandmothers, these are several ways our people pass on Epistemologies. One way is through Tribal Leadership, in the villages I am from, Kewa and Cochiti, we do not follow the democratic system of electing officials to leadership. Instead, we follow the traditional system of having our leadership appointed each year by leaders before them. Our system balances out, so that not one person holds more power than the other. There are 3 branches of government: the Governor & Lt. Governor (deals with outside affairs), the Church Mayor & Lt. Mayor (deals with our Church business), and the War Chief & Lt. War Chief (deals with our traditional practices and doings within the village). Under those three you have the Governors Officials, the Church Officials, and the War Chief Officials. These roles change yearly, as we believe not one person should hold power for too long. All these positions are elected by the Council and Chief of the village. Those on the council include past Governors & their lieutenants, Church Mayors & their lieutenants, War Chiefs & their lieutenants – these roles on council are for life. Lastly, we have the Chief of the village, no matter what age they may be, they will hold that position until they pass on. As our children grow up, they watch these systems in current time, and as they reach certain ages, they begin to be taught it, before being given the roles (Moquino(a), (b), (c), 2020).

Another example is our clan systems: In my village we have many clans. I will not speak about them all, but I will share mine and the complexity and guidance it carries over in my life. I am from the Oak clan, born for the Fire clan. My mother is Oak, and my father is Fire. In our traditional ways we follow our mother's clan, as this is the clan we are born into. The clan will determine which places we take community in the most. Often, we spend our lives attending the births, healings, weddings, and funerals of others in our clan, as they do for us. Oak people are addressed as my brothers (meh meh) and sisters (thah’ah). Our father's clan is the clan we pay respect to, these people are our mothers and fathers. Regardless of age we call each other by yah (mother) or thah’thah (father). So a seven year old girl of the Fire clan can be my mother; I would address her as such. This is to show that we are all one people (Moquino(a), (c), Arquero, 2018).

I bring these two practices today to show the balances of Epistemological cycles of my people. There is not one branch of governance that holds more power than the other, and there is not one clan that holds more importance than another in your life. Rather, we learn from all corners of our village, even our children. The process of gaining and attaining wisdom is done through the community (as shared by Raheja), not by individuals. There are checks and balances to hold accountability and humility when one feels superior to another. These processes help guide us to Nootz’thah’wah (knowledge) and Weet’thoo’nee (Wisdom); our Epistemological cycles.

Recently, my mother, Trisha Moquino, founder of the Keres Children's Learning Center in Cochiti, NM, dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous languages in children, participated in a conference in Hopi. The conversations held at the conference expanded on Epistemologies within the Southwest, and how children and language are at the center of that, as our society is centered around “the Belief and Respect in our Children” (Moquino(c), 2024). The idea that “our children can help us find our way back to who we were, who we are, who we are meant to be” (Moquino(c), 2024) was fully embraced by the conference. Our children continue to carry on our knowledge systems and ways of interacting within the community, and by centering their voices we empower them to take care of the next generation of people. In response to my mother's words, a Hopi elder shared this quote from Gregory Cajete: “Epistemology, or how we come to know what we know, provides the philosophical foundation through which we gain perspectives of the world. In turn, our overall philosophy guides our individual and collective behavior in the world. How we apply philosophy forms and informs our culture and society" (Cajete, 2014). This understanding allows the community to become interconnected and calls for the generation of children to be honored and empowered from the generations before them so that the health of our cultures and societies remain strong and intact. The emphasis on individual and collective guidance allows us to “apply” or remain active in our ways of life.

However, it is my hope to explore ideologies of Epistemology (transfer of knowledge) outside of my Southwest community, and into the global Indigenous community. In the article “Indigenous epistemologies of childhood in contexts of inequality: Three case studies from the “Global South,” by Amigó, García, Enriz, and Hecht we are able to explore Indigenous early childhood in the Global South and how each age group interacts in knowledge building. In the case of the Mbyá people featured in the article, the relationship to and with children is valued so much that there is a name to conceptualize each stage a child enters into: mitã oikota va’e (a child to be), pytã o pytã’i (the new one), kuña pytã, ava pytã (gender specific age), ñemongarai (naming period 1yr old), kiringue (time until puberty), Ñe’enguchu ramota va’e (boys- the one whose voice ide deepened) and Iñe ‘ engue ramo va’e (Girl- the one getting ready to listen). Once a woman bears her first child, she becomes Kuña tai (a young woman), (Amigó, García Palacios, Enrich, Hecht, 2022). The translations for each stage highlight something important to their culture. A child to be, the new one, the one getting ready to listen, a woman who has had her first child to name a few. Each of these ages highlights a wonder being brought into the world, someone new, someone who is ready to listen, grow, and carry-on future generations. These ages of an individual's life highlight the role in their community, and how one individual interacts with various aspects of the community and communities' survival.

Returning to the Hopi Conference and Cajete’s words “our overall philosophy guides our individual and collective behavior in the world. How we apply philosophy forms and informs our culture and society" (Cajete, 2014) is encapsulated in the emphasis of naming each age in a Mbyá child's life. Calling for the generation of children to be honored and empowered from the generations before them by giving each stage of their life names. Establishing the significance of personhood to the tribe. Thus, allowing the connectedness to each member of the community to remain strong and intact. Again, the emphasis on individual and collective guidance allows us to “apply” or remain active in our ways of life.

Following the age group after childhood, is adulthood. Once children have been affirmed as part of the Epistemological cycle, how do young adults and adults remain confident in who they are as Indigenous knowledge members? I pose this question because in this era we rely heavily on technology, higher education, and western science to ensure our knowledge of this world and how we live in it are “correct.” Anything that differs from these knowledge tools are often invalidated. The age group most susceptible to this is young adults and the working class as our everyday lives push us out of our communities and into the global community. So how do we protect and validate our Epistemological processes as Indigenous peoples as we learn and adjust to a global world?

In “Adult Learning, Transformative Education, and Indigenous Epistemology” by Diane McEachern we can explore Indigenous Adult Learning and articulation of their Indigenous Epistemologies in an institutional setting. This article shares how Alaskan communities and education solidify and honor Yup’ik research and cultural methodologies within Western academics. The curriculum is used by the University of Alaska’s Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel, Alaska and is meant to empower young Yup’ik peoples in social services. It is a program that occurs one week a month for two academic school years while students earn college credit toward a Rural Human Service (RHS) college certificate. It is shared that “for each course, the program hires two elders who facilitate cultural grounding, encouragement, and stories that connect the course content further to the culture” (McEachern, 2016). The set up of the course itself is something that I really admire. They bring elders from the community as equal teachers to academic professors for these students. This highlights the idea that the knowledge systems Yup’ik students come from are every bit as important as the education received in school. The learning process is nestled in “support, connection, and cultural unity” where students are encouraged to foster a sense of well-being. “Students evaluate the relationship of their studies to their home community” (McEachern, 2016). Ultimately what this combination of knowledge systems does is allow Yup’ik peoples to strengthen and reaffirm their Indigenous knowledge systems, in a time frame that benefits them, while also empowering them in a completely different knowledge system – a Western one.

When talking about the idea of what makes knowledge real, Sara McDonough in her review of “Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples” shares scriptures from Linda Tuhiwai Smith. “What makes ideas ‘real’ is the system of knowledge, the formations of culture, and the relations of power in which these concepts are located. What an individual is – and the implications this has for the way researchers or teachers, therapists or social workers, economists, or journalists, might approach their work – is based on centuries of philosophical debate, principles of debate and systems for organizing whole societies predicated on these ideas. These ideas constitute reality. Reality cannot be constituted without them.” (Smith, 1999).

In all these knowledge systems shared, between clans, government, children, to adults in higher education, what has shaped these knowledge systems is the reality these groups of Indigenous peoples carry for themselves. It is the system of what it means to live and carry knowledge that empowers and grounds them within society. Though all of these Indigenous groups are separate, they continuously carry on this affirmation that their knowledge is there, they have systems of passing it, and it can be affirmed regardless of outside thought, and with outside thought (Western academics can be used to strengthen these systems as seen in the case of the Yup’ik, for the sake of the health of their communities). Their Epistemologies are living and breathing; they are a reality.

To continue building similar systems, George Tinkers "The Stones Shall Cry Out: Consciousness, Rocks, and Indians." challenges researchers, philosophers, and knowledge gatherers to see research and knowledge gathering as a living, animate, breathing being. Tinker proposes this idea when they say that “among those things that are alive, in turn, there is a consistent distinguishing between plants and animals and between human consciousness and the rest of existence in the world. To the contrary, American Indian peoples understand that all life forms not only have consciousness, but also have qualities that are either poorly developed or entirely lacking in humans” (Tinkers, 2004). This is a form of Indigenous Epistemologies, a way of approaching research and a way of beginning to question the world. In this sense Epistemology becomes a reality, an action that can be seen in research and in practice. The theory explored before has now been given a voice.

Finally, pulling everything together, how can Indigenous knowledge systems be used to empower us in our right to be, specifically in self-governance? I highlighted this a bit in my community, but not on a broader Indigenous scale. Robert Allen Warrior pulls together the idea of sovereignty and Epistemology in “Intellectual Sovereignty and The Struggle for An American Indian Future” when he writes, “American Indian intellectual work and argue that the process of sovereignty provides a way of envisioning the work we do” (Warrior, 1992). How do we begin to do this? By having our own knowledge systems. In other words, Indigenous Epistemology is an extension of our sovereignty. It is a way of separating our ideas, beliefs, practices, and knowledge from the western world. It is what ties our cultures and communities together. I believe there is authority in that. It is a way of affirming how Indigenous peoples pass on and utilize knowledge to care for their communities and being the “knowledgeable” in any age of your life. This is why I believe when Epistemology is present, sovereignty is inherent.

In all of this, Epistemology, or the study of how we know things, has come to be generational, inclusive, and fluid in how it is transferred amongst societies, quiet, and empowering. It is a practice we participate in actively as Indigenous peoples. We receive it, hold it, and pass it on. The Epistemology and Epistemological cycles we carry empower us to be steadfast and faithful in what we do know, and how we know it. By doing so, we can continue moving forward as a strong, educated, and united people.

References:

1) Raheja, Michelle, et al. “Native Studies Keywords.” Project MUSE, University of Arizona Press, 2015, https://muse.jhu.edu/book/39810.

2) Moquino(a), Perciliana. Lived Experiences: Defining knowledge. Dartmouth College, 2024.

3) Moquino(b), Trini. Arquero, Abby. Moquino(a), Perciliana. Oral Conversations with Elders: Epistemological Practices of the Pueblos. Lived Experiences: Documented. Dartmouth College, 2024.

4) Moquino(c), Trisha. “Hopitutuqaiki & Keres Children’s Learning Center: Using the Montessori Method in Service to Indigenous Language Revitalization” Google Slides. Winter, 2024. https://docs.google.com/presentation

5) Amigó, M. F., García Palacios, M., Enriz, N., & Hecht, A. C. Indigenous epistemologies of childhood in contexts of inequality: Three case studies from the “Global South.” Childhood, 29(3), 307-321. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/09075682221109696

6) McEachern, Diane. “Wiley Online Library | Scientific Research Articles, Journals, ...Adult Learning, Transformative Education, and Indigenous Epistemology, Online Library Wiley, 2016, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/tl.20202

7) McDonough, Sara. “Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by

8) Smith, Linda Tuhiwai (Review).” Collaborative Anthropologies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2013, pp. 458–64, https://doi.org/10.1353/cla.2013.0001.

9) Tinker, George E. "The Stones Shall Cry Out: Consciousness, Rocks, and Indians." Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 19 no. 2, 2004, p. 105-125. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/wic.2004.0027.

10) Warrior, Robert Allen. “Intellectual Sovereignty and The Struggle for An American Indian Future. Chapter 3 of Tribal Secrets: Vine Deloria, John Joseph Mathews, and the Recovery of American Indian Intellectual Traditions.” Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 8, no. 1, 1992, pp. 1–20. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1409359. Accessed 27 Feb. 2024.