Aazheyaadizi: Worldview, Language, and the Logics of Decolonization

by Mark D. Freeland

Overview

Many of the English translations of Indigenous languages that we commonly use today have been handed down from colonial missionaries whose intent was to fundamentally alter or destroy prior Indigenous knowledge and praxis. In this text, author Mark D. Freeland develops a theory of worldview that provides an interrelated logical mooring to shed light on the issues around translating Indigenous languages in and out of colonial languages. In tandem with other linguistic and narrative methods, this theory of worldview can be employed to help root out the reproduction of colonial culture in Indigenous languages and can be a useful addition to the repertoire of tools needed to return to life-giving relationships with our environment. These issues of decolonization are highlighted in the trajectory of treaty language associated with relationships to land and their present-day importance. This book uses the 1836 Treaty of Washington and its contemporary manifestation in Great Lakes fishing rights and the State of Michigan’s 2007 Inland Consent Decree as a means of identifying the role of worldview in deciphering the logics embedded in Anishinaabe thought associated with these relationships to land. A fascinating study for students of Indigenous and linguistic disciplines, this book deftly demonstrates the significance of worldview theory in relation to the logics of decolonization of Indigenous thought and praxis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611863802
Publisher:	Michigan State University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Series:	American Indian Studies
Edition description:	1
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

MARK D. FREELAND is Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at South Dakota State University and the Coordinator of the American Indian Studies Program. He was a community organizer at Four Winds American Indian Council in Denver, Colorado, between 2003 and 2015.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1 Worldview 1

Chapter 2 Space 29

Chapter 3 Time 59

Chapter 4 Relationships To Life 87

Chapter 5 A Logic Of Balance 129

Conclusion 147

Notes 157

References 203

Index 213

Editorial Reviews

Decolonizing is a process, a self-conscious process that we engage one step at a time. With this book, Mark Freeland has taken a huge step in the direction of a logic of decoloniality. At a theory level, his work on the concept of worldview is groundbreaking and represents a seismic shift in Indigenous discourse.”
—TINK TINKER (wazhazhe/Osage Nation), Professor Emeritus, Iliff School of Theology, and author of American Indian Liberation: A Theology of Sovereignty

From the Publisher