Indigenous Onto-epistemologies

Juan Camilo Cajigas-Rotundo
Orcid ID: 0000-0002-1200-2973
jcajigas@ucdavis.edu
University of California, Davis, USA

Abstract:

This paper aims to present an exercise in cross-cultural philosophy, taking as a baseline the contribution of the Native American Sioux philosopher Vine Deloria Jr. in dialogue with a variety of authors working on indigenous critical thinking. I will sort this theoretical exploration under the rubric of indigenous onto-epistemologies. Such an exercise will be based on a cross-fertilization methodology that would maintain differences alive and, at the same time, would stress connections, among different geophilosophies. Then, in what follows, I will weave different sources of reflection in three main areas: 1. the metaphysics of land, 2. non-dualist approaches to nature and society, and 3. the relationship between spirituality, social change.

Keywords: Vine Deloria Jr. Indigenous critical thinking, geophilosophies, space-time continuum, nature-society, spirituality and social change.