On Indigenous Voices and Restoring the Kinship Worldview

Indigenous worldviews, and the knowledge they confer, are critical for human survival and the wellbeing of future generations. Author and Professor of Education, Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows), and author and Professor Emerita of Psychology Darcia Narvaez have both written and lectured extensively on the need to integrate Indigenous worldviews into every aspect of society—from education to sustainability, wellness, and justice.  

Through their work and writing, Four Arrows and Darcia emphasize the deep need to move away from the dominant Western paradigm—one that dictates we live without strong social purpose, fails to honor the Earth as sacred, leads with the head while ignoring the heart, and places individual “rights” over collective responsibility. Their most recent collaboration as editors of the anthology Restoring the Kinship Worldview, presents 28 powerful excerpted passages from Indigenous leaders including Mourning Dove, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Winona LaDuke, and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez.  

Join Four Arrows and Darcia for a conversation exploring the wisdom of Indigenous worldviews and how embracing these precepts can nourish our individual and collective lives in these challenging times.  

By embracing our kindship , we can realize an Indigenous vision and strong social purpose that sees all life forms as sacred and sentient. Discover how these ideals can provide a holistic orientation to lead us away from extinction toward an integrated, sustainable future.

 
Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows), aka Don Trent Jacobs, PhD, EdD, is internationally respected for his research and publications about Indigenous worldview. Formerly Dean of Education at Oglala Lakota College and a tenured Associate Professor of Education at Northern Arizona University, Four Arrows is currently a professor with Fielding Graduate University. Selected as one of 27 "Visionaries in Education" for the AERO text, Turning Points, he is author of 21 books, half of which are about Indigenous Worldview applications for education, sustainability, wellness and justice. He is a recipient of a Martin Springer Institute for Holocaust Studies Moral Courage Award for his activism on behalf of Indigenous Peoples and sovereignty. He is co-editor of the Indigenous section of Sage's new International Handbook for Critical Pedagogies.  

His book, Teaching Truly: A Curriculum to Indigenize Mainstream Education, was selected as one of the top 20 progressive education books along with Paulo Freire, John Dewey, and Neil Postman. Other books have been endorsed by Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Michael Apple, Thom Hartmann, Jon Pilger, Darcia Narvaez, Henry Giroux and other notable educators. Dr. Michael Fisher wrote a book about his work entitled Fearless Engagement of Four Arrows (2018). His newest book is The Red Road: Linking Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives to Indigenous Worldview (in press, IAP).  

Four Arrows has Irish and Cherokee ancestry and is a made relative of the Oglala Lakota who has fulfilled his Sun Dance vows and is an Oglala Pipe Carrier. He is available for interviews via his website. 

Darcia Narvaez, Professor Emerita of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, researches moral development and human flourishing from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating anthropology, neuroscience, clinical, developmental and educational sciences. Her earlier careers include professional musician, business owner, classroom music teacher, classroom Spanish teacher and seminarian, among other things. She grew up as a bilingual/bicultural Puerto Rican but calls the earth her home. Dr. Narvaez’s current research explores how early life experience influences wellbeing and moral character in children and adults, specifically the effects of humanity’s evolved nest on child, adult and cultural wellbeing. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association and former editor of the Journal of Moral Education. She is on the advisory boards of Attachment Parenting International, Your Whole Baby, and the Self Reg Institute. She has numerous publications, including hundreds of chapters and articles and more than 20 books such as Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First Nation Know-how for Global Flourishing; Basic Needs, Wellbeing and Morality: Fulfilling Human Potential and Embodied Morality: Protectionism, Engagement and Imagination. A recent book, Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom won the 2015 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association and the 2017 Expanded Reason Award. She blogs for Psychology Today (“Moral Landscapes”), hosts the webpage EvolvedNest.org and is president of KindredWorld.org.

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