Understanding an Oral System 

Theory

Natural Laws

Within any system of knowledge there are laws that govern worldviews, relationships, and interactions. Within an oral system, natural laws are the foundation of worldviews.

Elder Reg Crowshoe articulates, “everything that was created was natural laws, the air, the vacuum in space, the plants, the animals, all humans, anything that was created was natural law” (personal communication, September 5, 2020).

Natural laws are defined through creation stories and understandings elicited from the teachings in the story. Through smudge, Reg has shared tenets of the Blackfoot creation story with me to prompt an understanding of natural laws. The earth was created when Creator felt lonesome and through this feeling, he wanted to conceive of something that would ease his loneliness; this feeling is the ‘original emotion’. Out of original emotion, came ‘original thought’ as he contemplated what to create to help him with his loneliness. After thinking, Creator collected stardust and rolled it into a ball blew on it as it spiralled out becoming suspended in the sky; this became known as earth. When Creator, made earth, he began thinking of what else to create within earth; everything he created is deemed as ‘original creation’. Once entities were created on earth, Creator projected sound into all of creation; the earth, the animals, the wind all received sound — they received language, this is described as ‘original sound’. This sharing, which captures only minute details of a very complex story, teaches me that emotion, thought, creation, and sound are the beginnings of our world, and a few of the first tenets that teach us about humanity. Creation stories teach us how all aspects of creation came to be while also teaching us the positioning of humans in the schema of creation. There are many creation stories, for example, the creation of day and night or the creation of constellations. Stories explain natural order and the interconnected and interdependent relationships of our universe. Through observing the natural order and the interactions of all of creation, phenomenon can be explained and understood as absolute laws.

Ontology

Absolute Laws

“Absolute laws are things like, theories, medicine theories, or laws that govern us, and the way those absolute laws came about was as all the natural things that were created as natural law, [started to] interact, they create a story, and as they create a story, that story becomes an absolute law” (Piikani, Reg Crowshoe, personal communication, September 5, 2020).

Observing the interconnectedness and interactions of the natural world provide storied maps for humans to understand how we are to engage with creation (Cajete, 2019). The interplay of relationships provides knowledge to humans; when validated as a story, they become absolute laws that govern human behaviour. We follow the laws to honour our relations allowing us to survive and thrive. One of these stories that guide humans is how smudge was brought to people, the niitsitapi (Blackfoot, real people). Reg has shared this with me with smudge, many times, it is the story of Scarface, here is an excerpt;

“[Creator} took that feather and wiped off the scar on his face, the scar represented all the hardships in the tribe you came from, now you can go back and help them because I’m taking off these hardships….the smoke represents the feather that creator used on Scarface, and you purify all that hardship all the bad stuff, purify yourself, that’s why we use the smudge to start, call to order, and purify those away. That’s why we smudge, through stories like that, we talk about as knowledge and official ways to do things because we didn’t have books back in those days it was just stories like that that we used”. (Piikani, Reg Crowshoe, personal communication, January 6, 2019).

The experience of Scarface informs me of the importance of starting processes with smudge to begin with a clear mind and heart. In lighting the smudge, I also acknowledge smudge as a being as it signals the spiritual dimension as inherently part of the learning, knowing, and validating. The word, spiritual, does not insinuate a sacredness, yet a recognization that all beings have a spirit (Piikani, Reg Crowshoe, personal communication, February 20, 2020). Depending on the ceremony or purpose of a gathering, beings could be, plants, animals, thunder, healing, or in the case of this inquiry, knowledge. Interacting with the knowledge spirit is guided by certain protocol as to have an ethical engagement with the being and to ensure that the relationship does not cause harm to oneself or others (Ermine, 2007). Using proper protocol to acknowledge and respect the spirit promotes an equilibrium which causes the least resistance in achieving the purpose of the ceremony or gathering (Deloria, 1998; Ermine, 2007). Elder’s teachings say that when someone enacts the proper protocols, things will happen smoothly, not without challenges of course, but the path will be easier.

Absolute laws come in a multitude of forms through stories of interactions. Watching the interaction of plants with sun and water are a perfect example of absolute laws. Through observations, I can deduce that a plant needs water and sun to thrive, without them they will die. Smudge is an absolute law, I have learned through Reg and other Elders that smudge is the connector between us and Creator, or if in a group, the connector between all of us and with Creator.

Practical Laws: Cultural Protocol

“In our learning when we have gifted tobacco, we have made our commitment, we are acknowledging that knowledge has spirit, we are acknowledging that there is spiritual beings and entities that guide our learning process, that guide us in coming to know…” (Vicki)

Practical laws are the human actions that keep relationships in balance and renewed. The laws are contrived from both the natural and absolute laws. Practices are influenced by the ethic of natural consequence, meaning, that if humans do not follow practical laws natural consequences can befall the individual, family, community, and/or natural environment. Practical laws come to fruition when observing our natural environments and noticing actions and behaviours that harm or solidify good relations. These laws are practices and/or protocols that establish and maintain ethical relationality. Cree scholar, Willie Ermine (2007), speaks to ethics as knowing what harms or enhances the life of sentient beings. Ethical relationality is using the knowledge of what is harmful or life enduring to guide actions with relatives (Donald, 2016; Kimmerer, 2013). For example, when I harvest sage, I follow protocol so I have permission to take sage from the earth and use it for health and well-being. Knowing that I am taking the life of the plant, my offering is the acknowledgement that I am taking and honouring the life being given. Taking sage without protocol is ignoring practical laws and will invoke natural consequences. Practical laws exist to keep relationships in balance and with the least amount of conflict and harm between beings.