SSIK Members and Other PSU Students Take Ojibwe Course/Trip–You Can Take Too

Immersion Within US Borders: a New Way of Knowing

By

Erin Servey

2015 Intern for the Interinstitutional Center for Indigenous Knowledge

The Pennsylvania State University Libraries

On Tuesday, September 1st in Pattee Library’s Foster Auditorium Dr. Bruce Martin, and ten of his students, were heard speaking about their unique excursion achieved through a course offered at Penn State. It is a course like no other. Actually, it is the only course like it in the entire United States.

This course, CED (Community, Environment, and Development) 401–Exploring Indigenous Ways of Knowing Among the Ojibwe, started and taught by Dr. Bruce Martin—takes students to 3 Ojibwe reservations in northern Minnesota for 2-3 weeks. They go to Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth nations in Northern Minnesota in May to take part in this cultural engagement experience.

Rather than traveling by plane the class travels by vehicle following the path of the great migration to really become immersed as well as to have bonding time before they arrive. Once there they not only get to canoe down the Mississippi, but also have the chance to witness and participate in the lives of their host families, take part in traditional Ojibwe ceremonies, and along the way learn about a way of life foreign to them.

This course, however, does have a prerequisite which also includes traveling: CED 400, Exploring Indigenous Ways of Knowing in the Great Lakes Region. CED 400 provides similar field opportunities to explore concepts and values distinctive to indigenous knowledge in the Great Lakes Region. Students can learn new ways of thinking in both classes in relation to issues of ecology, science, and worldview.

CED 401 revolves around average American students going into a highly indigenous place which Americans seldom visit although this course only captures the essence of 3 reserves out of the 568 federal recognized reserves in the country.

Photo by Erin Servey. Students from left to right Stoff Scott, Tom Stanton, Sydney Shaughnessy, Luke Niemkiewicz, Sarah Perelli, Kelli Herr, Brittney Lee.

Photo by Erin Servey. Students from left to right Stoff Scott, Tom Stanton, Sydney Shaughnessy, Luke Niemkiewicz, Sarah Perelli, Kelli Herr, Brittney Lee.

At one point Dr. Bruce Martin recounted how he has been asked why he does this, he responded, “To make us all a little less ignorant.”  Not that ignorance is necessarily negative, but it can simply mean only having been exposed to a singular view of the world. This experience makes students less ignorant by providing them with exposure to a completely new view of the world—a new way of knowing.

Many of the students spoke of life-altering experiences and encounters with people which gave them something to carry with them through their life journey.

Photo by Erin Servey. Students telling of their cultural experiences: from left to right Luke Niemkiewicz, Sarah Perelli, Kelli Herr, Brittney Lee.

Photo by Erin Servey. Students telling of their cultural experiences: from left to right Luke Niemkiewicz, Sarah Perelli, Kelli Herr, Brittney Lee.

 A few of them even still keep in touch with people they’ve met through the experience.

Photo by Erin Servey. Student Alex Dutt on the left, speaking of her continued contact with some of the Ojibwe she met. Continuing to the right: Brittney Lee, and Dr. Bruce Martin.

Photo by Erin Servey. Student Alex Dutt on the left, speaking of her continued contact with some of the Ojibwe she met. Continuing to the right: Brittney Lee, and Dr. Bruce Martin.

Dr. Bruce Martin has a special background and special connections in regards to CED 401; he was raised in northern Minnesota very near the Ojibwe tribes and attended school with some of them. Without the connections he has this trip would not be possible. Not anyone can walk into an Ojibwe reservation because of their vigilance in regards to current racism and history of conflict.

At the seminar, he enlightened the audience with some fascinating tidbits such as how 75% of words in the Ojibwe language are verbs whereas the majority of English is nouns. It is little facts like this that can make a person realize the vastness of knowledge, of how singular our worldview can be. In other words, how different worldviews can be in contrast to our own.

Photo by Erin Servey. CED 400 and 401’s TA, Danna Seballos.

Photo by Erin Servey. CED 400 and 401’s TA, Danna Seballos.

Any student at any of the Penn State campuses can register for either/both of these courses. To find out more about the courses or how to register, you can contact Dr. Bruce Martin (Adjunct Instructor, College of Agricultural Sciences): makwahmartin@gmail.com; you can also contact Danna Jayne Seballos (Teaching Assistant, CED 400 and 401): dms520@psu.edu

For the flyer for the course visit this link.

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