Indigenous Wisdom, Capital, Technology and Education
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Indigenous Wisdom, Capital, Technology and Education Damian Ruth1 Received: 21 June 2020 / Accepted: 24 October 2020 © New Zealand Association for Research in Education 2020
Abstract This article contrasts specific aspects of indigenous world views and wisdom on the one hand with specific themes in capitalism, colonisation, corporate interests, technology and education, on the other and argues that there is a fundamental clash of values between them. There is no assumption of a homogenous indigenous wisdom and no claim is made about novel insight into capitalism, colonisation, corporate interests and technology and education. The contribution is in tracing lines of thought in all of them and, by juxtaposing them in the context of a contemporary upsurge in digital/online/blended learning with particular attention to the global techno-corporation, to expose a fundamental clash of values that deserves more thorough scrutiny than it is getting. The paper does not present a linear argument, but rather a woven tapestry of themes. The conclusion is that education would be better served by the insights of indigenous wisdom and a more critical and tempered view of capitalism and technology. Keywords Indigenous wisdom · Capitalism · Technology · Educational technology
Introduction When Māori hunters returned from the forest with birds they had killed, they gave a portion of the kill to the priests, who, in turn, cooked the birds at a sacred fire. The priests ate a few of them and then prepared a sort of talisman, the mauri, which is the physical embodiment of the forest hau which translates from the Te Reo as ‘spirit,’. This mauri is a gift the priests give back to the forest and which “causes the birds to be abundant.1 1
Hyde (1972, p. 18) points that there are three gifts in this hunting ritual: the forest gives to the hunters, the hunters to the priests, and the priests to the forest. Without the priests there is a danger that the motion of the gift will be lost and that the ritual becomes a simple give-and-take, and the hunters may begin to think of the forest as a place to turn a profit. * Damian Ruth [email protected] 1
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Vol.:(0123456789)
New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies
It is estimated that American settlers slaughtered between 30 to 60 million bison in the 19th Century. Hunters on cross-country trains would shoot bison from their windows, sometimes several at a time. They would then often cut out the tongues and leave the rest of the carcass to rot.2 This paper explores the clash between a sensibility shaped by indigenous world views on the one hand and capitalist/marketized world views and a technological mindset on the other. It identifies a core of sensibilities among many indigenous peoples without assuming a homogenous indigenous world view and it does not attempt to convey the complexities of indigenous wisdom. It identifies capitalist/marketized world views and relates them to colonisation. It then identifies specific themes in
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