The goal was to set aside as much of this day as possible to focus on learning about Indigenous issues and make progress on recognising the Truth of what happened to Indigenous communities, while doing my own research into what I could meaningfully do to further the goals of reconciliation.
I also wanted to celebrate the strength and vibrancy of First Nations culture. I heard a beautiful song on CBC radio by Buffy Sainte-Marie, called Ke Sakihitin Awasis (I love you baby), so her music was the soundtrack to my work. Both my children looked at me, asking “is this First Nations?”, because it went beyond the traditional music they had associated with First Nations culture. We then found an Indigenous Canada playlist on Spotify which exposed us to some of the beautiful, modern, and original ways First Nations artists are expressing themselves.
The first thing on my reading list was the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan, so I could learn what my University had already done and wanted to do. Two things that really jumped out for me was a realisation that UBC, as an instrument of the Canadian government, was complicit in the oppression and exclusion of First Nations communities by not standing up against these policies. Furthermore, people who designed the residential school system or otherwise worked as policy makers were educated at UBC, and learned nothing of the value of First Nations culture while there. While I was glad to read the strong words acknowledging and condemning the truth of UBC’s role, it was a powerful reminder of the huge task we face as a society to decolonise our institutions, including those we normally celebrate and value.
The ISP also talks about the need to decolonise our courses, and provide a culturally safe learning place that recognises the value of Indigenous ways of knowing. I hope to start by researching the ways in which my discipline, neuroscience, has contributed to the exclusion and oppression of Indigenous communities, and also how Indigenous knowledge could help transform and advance our research.
I started with this book: Critical Neurophilosophy and Indigenous Wisdom by Four Arrows, Greg Cajete, and Jongmin Lee. This is available in the UBC library for download.
Chapter 1: Generosity
This chapter begins with a description of six studies, five of which are neuroimaging studies in the field of neuroeconomics. The sixth study concerns the observation that infants show a preference for characters that act in a helpful way to each other, indicating that development of a reciprocal generosity starts very young in life. The neuroimaging studies are very similar to those I look at to inform my own research, and to those I teach. The Indigenous-centred discussion that followed reminded me of the important of cultural influence in how we ask our questions. We frame all neuroeconomics experiments in terms of individual gains, to self or others, but not the appreciation of reward in a group, or the idea of working towards a shared resource. The idea of giving and taking, reciprocal generosity, is a really important part of Indigenous ways of being, and shares very much with the idea of homeostasis- everything must be kept in balance. These imaging studies report that brain activation differs when individuals believe they are playing against another person vs against a computer, yet I never thought of how these neuroeconomic games (Dictator’s, Ultimatum game etc) are ultimately played just between two people. Everything is about the benefit to the self, not the self’s group, in Western philosophy.
The concept of neurophilosophy as described in the book draws heavily on social neuroscience, rather than behavioural neuroscience, and I wasn’t sure how research into brain function using animal models would be viewed, or even whether it would be mentioned. However, this comes up in interesting ways. The idea that we can learn from animals, as long as we show them respect, is part of Indigenous teachings. Certainly the Eurocentric-Western view of science has pulled humans away from other animals, in celebration of their uniqueness, yet much of what we think makes us unique is just a story told to us by our brains. Indigenous culture is far more accepting, it seems, of humans as being one point on the animal spectrum, rather than categorically different and apart.
There was a difference of opinion in the panel as to whether animals were capable of “reasoned reciprocity”, that comes from a more detailed mental representation of societal forces, but certainly there was agreement that emotional reciprocity could be shown by animals.
Story-telling is an important way of passing on Indigenous wisdom across generations. I hesitate over how to use such information in a science class in the same way as I would pause if asked to incorporate hypotheses arising from religious beliefs- science is based on empiricism, not articles of faith. But, much Indigenous knowledge has been based on observations of the world over thousands of years. Clues to hypotheses that may lead to new mechanistic understandings regarding the relationships between events may be hiding in plain sight within these stories. Beyond the content of any specific story, it is the world view and cultural approach that could be critical for neuroscience, so that we ask and answer the questions that enable us to become a healthier and happier society.
What would behavioural neuroscience experiments informed by Indigenous views look like? More of animals working together? Reduced focus on individualistic tasks/aims?
Catharine Winstanley, September 30th-October 5th 2021