Language Is Life

[Mia Kalish]

People don’t seem to realize that when you teach something, it really,
really, really needs to relate to Something. 

 

I watch people try to teach mathematics in abstraction . . . as if the
abstractions were born independent of the hundreds of years of stories and
references that provided the objects-to-think-with. Of course it fails :-) 

 

It’s not funny that it fails, just that people who have gone through years
of education to be teachers have somehow missed the fact that our
“knowledge” relates to our worlds. Yes, multiple worlds. 

 

Gary Witherspoon writes wonderfully on this, not the topic of mathematics
exactly, but on the topic of how information and knowledge makes sense
within the culture where it is happening (like Diné and mathematics, for
example) but not from the culture from which it is being observed. I wonder
where he is now (he was at Rough Rock for a long time). 

 

Once upon a time, I asked if people had mathematical terms in their
dictionaries. I got some responses, but it turns out that there is not much
recorded. However, I have figured out how to go back into the culture and
construct Indigenous mathematics. There is a tremendous amount of it, you
know. There is math and science in sculpture, in sand paintings, in pottery,
in art, in story, in home building and food preparation. There is math and
science in calendricality, in architecture, in road building, in sailing, in
astronomy, in dance . . . it’s all over. 

 

This is my dissertation :-) It’s working. :-) 

 

The important and interesting thing to my mind is to see how it looks in the
culture, not to grab out a few pieces and say, See, Indigenous people have
{this/these} concept(s) too. That destroys the picture of Indigenous math,
and implies (again, and aren’t we tired of this yet [Oh dear I’ll never get
a job with that kind of an attitude :-)]) that Western Mathematics is the
ONLY Mathematics. Not. The Arab world and the Chinese worlds had zero,
infinity, and probably even calculus long before western europe.

 

Mia 

 

  _____  

From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]
On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 6:35 PM
To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ILAT] Language Is Life

 

Darn there I go making people feel good. lol

thanks

 

On Apr 20, 2006, at 5:31 PM, phil cash cash wrote:


Thanks Andre, that was a very "feel good" news item.  We need more of the
same posted to ILAT.  ;-)

later, Phil

 

On Apr 20, 2006, at 12:11 AM, Andre Cramblit wrote:





Language Is Life©

André P. Cramblit Karuk Tribe

 

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