Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence

by Gregory Cajete

In Native Science, Gregory Cajete "tells the story" of Indigenous science as a way of understanding, experiencing, and feeling the natural world. He points to parallels and differences between the Indigenous science and Western science paradigms, with special emphasis on environmental/ecological studies. After discussing philosophical foundations, Cajete addresses such topics as history and myth, primal elements, social ecology, animals in myth and reality, plants and human health, and cosmology and astronomy. In the Indigenous view, we human observers are in no way separate from the world and its creatures and forces. Because all creatures and forces are related and thus bear responsibility to and for one another, all are co-creators. Five centuries ago Europeans arrived on the American continent, but they did not listen to the people who had lived for millennia in spiritual and physical harmony with this land. In a time of global environmental degradation, the science and worldview of the continent's First Peoples offer perspectives that can help us work toward solutions.

Genres: Indigenous, Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Philosophy, Spirituality, Ecology

327 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Gregory Cajete, Native American educator whose work is dedicated to honoring the foundations of indigenous knowledge in education. Dr. Cajete is a Tewa Indian from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. He has served as a New Mexico Humanities scholar in ethno botany of Northern New Mexico and as a member of the New Mexico Arts Commission. In addition, he has lectured at colleges and universities in the U.S. , Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, England, Italy, Japan and Russia.

He worked at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico for 21 years. While at the Institute, he served as Dean of the Center for Research and Cultural Exchange, Chair of Native American Studies and Professor of ethno science. He organized and directed the First and Second Annual National Native American Very Special Arts Festival held in respectively in Santa Fe, NM in 1991and Albuquerque, NM in 1992. In 1995, he was offered a position in American Indian education in the University of New Mexico, College of Education

Currently, he is Director of Native American Studies and an Associate Professor in the Division of Language, Literacy and Socio cultural Studies in the College of Education at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Cajete earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from New Mexico Highlands University with majors in both Biology and Sociology and a minor in Secondary Education. He received his Masters of Arts degree from the University of New Mexico in Adult and Secondary Education. He received his Ph.D. from International College – Los Angeles New Philosophy Program in Social Science Education with an emphasis in Native American Studies.

Dr. Cajete has received several fellowships and academic distinctions, including the American Indian Graduate Fellowship from the US-DOE Office of Indian Education (1977-78); the D’arcy McNickle Fellowship in American Indian History from the Newberry Library, Chicago, IL (1984-85); and the Katrin Lamon Fellowship in American Indian Art and Education (1985-1986) from the School of American Research in Santa Fe, NM.

Dr. Cajete also designs culturally-responsive curricula geared to the special needs and learning styles of Native American students. These curricula are based upon Native American understanding of the “nature of nature’ and utilizes this foundation to develop an understanding of the science and artistic thought process as expressed in Indigenous perspectives of the natural world.

Dr. Cajete has authored fivebooks: “Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education,” (Kivaki Press, 1994); “Ignite the Sparkle: An Indigenous Science Education Curriculum Model”, (Kivaki Press, 1999); “Spirit of the Game: Indigenous Wellsprings (2004) ,” “A People’s Ecology: Explorations in Sustainable Living,” and “Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence” (Clearlight Publishers, 1999 and 2000).

Reviews

[Priyanka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the Indigenous philosophies behind creating and discovering knowledge. Warning: it's a freakin' hard read; very dense. (The writing style makes it less accessible.) If you can handle it, the book will learn. The author makes many interesting comparisons between the Western and Native ways of thinking. Also, it is helping me understand the limitations of Western Science, which is generally though of as the only way of seeking knowledge.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book makes a number of interesting and important points about what science really is, and how the Western definition is only one approach to science. However, the treatment is quite lengthy and exhaustive, with many excursions into minutiae: as a consequence it’s not an easy read. Ultimately not really a book that it makes sense to work through from beginning to end, but very useful as a reference for specific topics on Indigenous knowledge and culture across North America.

[Isaac Bishara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An authentic re validation of indigenous science...great literature for the conscientious deep ecologist

[Sam Dotson · Rating 4 out of 5]

TL;DR - I would recommend this book (if you can find it) to most people with the caveat that readers should ignore most of the comments on findings of Western Science. Rating: 3.5/5

Do you agree with this statement: It's not considered science until it is written down? If you're smarter than I am, you'd quickly identify that this is sort of a trap question because the answer depends on how you define many of the terms. What is science? What does it mean to "write" something down? Is it meant literally, like on a piece of paper, or somewhat figuratively, allowing different means of recording information? Cajete's book, Native Science, challenges readers to wrestle with their preconceptions about science and what it means to really know something.
My response, to my initial question, was "of course." But, baked into that response is the assumption that "science" means "Western science" and "writing" means literally written down. These definitions can, and should, be expanded to be inclusive of other ways of knowing. The phrase "other ways of knowing" conjures images of healing crystals, reiki, and other woo woo. But Native Science truly should be considered a systematic accumulation of knowledge. It's certainly different from Western Science, but it is still Science.

Some important concepts from the book:
1. Knowledge cannot be separated from its societal context. The priorities of a society show up throughout the research process and often passes invisibly. Native Science acknowledges and embraces this context.
2. Oral traditions can transmit and preserve a lot of information. This was the hardest concept for me to wrap my head around, but I'll try to summarize by way of example. What does the Nike Swoosh mean? It symbolizes a lot of things: The company, Nike; the phrase "just do it," perhaps it indicates social class, or the whole concept of fitness. There are many layers of meaning to the Nike Swoosh, one of the most recognized symbols on the planet. Similarly, metaphors and symbols conveyed through art, ceremony, and oral tradition can hold a lot of information and meaning. An ingenius method for transmitting data across generations.
3. Science cannot be divorced from other aspects of society. The author emphasizes that calling Native Science "science" is somewhat arbitrary (a quote from the book) because it's so deeply incorporated into the culture. Producing knowledge, sharing it, and using it were all apart of daily life. Whereas in a Western tradition, "science" is sometimes viewed as separate from daily life.

Critique:
I have one gripe with the book: Over-interpreting findings in Western Science. Most of these statements are either strictly false or require such charitable interpretation from the reader that it might as well be. Cajete tries too hard to convince the reader that Western Science is 'discovering' ideas that were already known to Indigenous peoples. I'm ready to believe that as a concept, but the execution was poor. Ultimately, I was able to ignore these moments and get a lot out of the book.
Examples:

1) In an early subsection of the book devoted to "Chaos Theory," Cajete writes, "in the world of Chaos, anything is possible." This is untrue. Contrary to popular belief, a chaotic system is completely determined. It's a beautiful theory but this section did not do it justice.
2) A little bit later on the author discusses the flow of energy and seems to suggest that particle physics was known to Native Science? "Electrons continually borrow energy from the Universe to transform themselves into different kinds of atoms." Again, this is strictly untrue. I couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for that comment besides the author's misunderstanding.


Future Reading:
This was my first encounter with concepts of Native Science. To supplement the ideas in this book I plan to read
1)Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native American Worldview
A book written by a physicist. Hopefully it will clarify some of the points Cajete was trying to make about the connection between Western and Native sciences.
2) Who's Asking?: Native Science, Western Science, and Science Education
This book has two authors, both trained in Western Science, but one has Native heritage and other not, thus offering a joint perspective.

[Tomek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a major stepping stone in highlighting the epistemology of TEK and the contributions of indigenous science to a wider audience. One can clearly see Cajete's influence on the likes of Kimmerer. However, it's beginning to show its age. The style is kind of strange: some sections are lists while others are long-form text; some sections include academic citations while others don't even have endnotes. There is a good deal of repetition throughout that can make the read tedious at times. Finally, I am rather skeptical of the pan-indigenous perspective that Cajete presents, which tends to flatten social and cultural differences. For example, he argues indigenous languages lack a word for wilderness, but then what of the Kalinga of the Philippines or the Hausa of West Africa (depending on the translation)? In the end, I appreciated some of the Southwestern examples he provides (perhaps he should have focused on that specifically?), but I don't feel I learned anything new beyond what I've seen in other texts that I preferred.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of really interesting topics touched on here, but then the book generally doesn't deliver. So we are told that there is wisdom in a story about a woman who married a bear and then was not comfortable living with humans, but not told enough about the story to glean what the wisdom is. Or that some understanding correlates with quantum physics, but not how.

Many high-starred reviews mention difficulty with the reading, and I think maybe they are blaming themselves and I am blaming the author. There is the potential here for an amazing book or perhaps even multiple amazing books, but it ends up being frustratingly superficial and kind of condescending.

[Francis X DuFour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting explanation of Native (indigenous peoples) science and how it differs from Western science. Native science is inclusive of all things that are of the earth and strives to enrich and nurture all, i.e. land, climate, agriculture, medicine and spiritual life. Western science has become a tool for monetary gain and resource exploitation, despite its adverse effects on the planet.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting and informative content but it is a tough read - for every section that I found flow within there was another that challenged my attention. That being said the content is really good !

[Mills College Library]

500.8997 C139 2000

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This writer is brilliant!

[thebookishqueer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite this book being a bit dated, it was still really interesting and engaging. Not too dense either!

[Mark Valentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Use this book as an encyclopedia of Native thinking and ways. Each chapter has a wealth of research and explanation concerning the Native mind as it relates to Nature. I found the chapters on Natural Democracy, on the importance of storytelling (Myth and Reality), Place, Medicine and Food, and Coming to Know (what we call Education) to be extremely valuable. Cajete also has a fascinating chapter on astronomy that is essential reading. He has compiled an incredible amount of sources--the bibliography and suggested reading lists are comprehensive--and I know that I will be referring back to this book for quotes and to look up items for review. I am glad that I have it in my library since it is not so much a pleasure read as it is a resource and a reference.

[Amanda Kingston]

Enjoyed reading from Cajete's work on indigenous science and knowledge about caring for the earth. I appreciate the emphasis that having a relationship with the land is a part of of our own structure as humans- it orients us to ways of care and builds our knowledge through pathways of love. Super recommend!

[Alex]

Good argument against Western rationalism as the only legitimate science. Sometimes goes a little overboard to discredit critics.

[Shamkablam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of my research project on indigenous cosmovisions and sustainable ideologies. noms

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fascinating. Cajete does a great job helping us (Westerners) see science from a different perspective.

[Allison6876 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for AMIN 3301 - interesting