Traditional Blackfoot ways of knowing have been significantly altered in the past centuries. Western researchers have given little credence to Native knowledge, and have generally been reluctant to consider Indigenous peoples' ways of knowing "philosophical." Presently, knowledge of Native epistemologies would allow educators to better understand Indigenous students and the role that traditional Indigenous ways play in their schooling experiences. ;The Blackfoot Star Stories 2 describe the relat…
Read moreTraditional Blackfoot ways of knowing have been significantly altered in the past centuries. Western researchers have given little credence to Native knowledge, and have generally been reluctant to consider Indigenous peoples' ways of knowing "philosophical." Presently, knowledge of Native epistemologies would allow educators to better understand Indigenous students and the role that traditional Indigenous ways play in their schooling experiences. ;The Blackfoot Star Stories 2 describe the relationship between the Blackfoot cosmology and its relation to earth. The Star Stories are part of the Old People Stories, and are distinguished from Everyday Stories; this discrimination corresponds loosely to the academic distinction between "myths" and "legends," respectively. These stories explain and exemplify important values, lessons, songs, and experiences through their telling, that are the basis of the Blackfoot educational philosophy. This study analyzes these stories for insights into ways they outline or exemplify key concepts of Blackfoot epistemology. ;This study combines ethnographic interviews and storytelling with Blackfoot elders from the Blackfoot Confederacy with archival documents. The interviews focus on elder's reflections to question about "what" the Star People did and "how" the they teach us about how to live. Elder's responses included a combination of reflections and more stories that, together, offer insight into Blackfoot epistemological concerns. ;I present some Old People stories and some Everyday stories, and conduct an analysis of themes, which I supplement with interviews and archival data to discuss in-depth. The processes, rights, and authorities involved with Blackfoot knowledge follow guidelines set in the Old People stories. Furthermore, stories and practices related to traditional ceremonial teachings have clearly focused epistemological bases. These are rooted in the general environment---both earthly and stellar---of the traditional Blackfoot homeland. The basis of this way of life is rooted in the circle, which is so central to the Blackfoot understanding of development that it forms the core of all Blackfoot teachings. ;1Blackfoot word that most closely approximates epistemology, referring also to notions of awareness of total being, and knowing. 2So called because they concern Spumatapiiwa , or "Sky People"
