Recovering the Spirit, Bone By Bone: Colonization and the Classroom

Abstract

This paper considers the loss of Spirit, as linked to a sentient view of Earth, alongside the issue of colonization as a cultural mode, a worldview, and a chimeric, yet often invisible player in our classrooms. Following the work of Four Arrows and the kinship value structure inherent in the cosmologies and practice of Earth-oriented Indigenous and Traditional communities across time and geographies, I offer a series of observations and adjustments to how we might collectively proceed with the work of holistic education with a Spirit-Earth focus and an eye on the constant presence of colonized consciousness.