STEAM Academy strives to embed Ogwehonwe ways of knowing and learning into all courses.
Meet Mr. Martin, our Indigenous Program Facilitator, whose job is to bring people, knowledge, teachings and activities to STEAM Academy and weave them throughout the courses at STEAM Academy.
STEAM Academy’s Indigenous Knowledge Philosophy is based on the words of Harvey Longboat Sr:
If a people do not keep pace with others perhaps it is because they hear a different drummer. Allow them to step in harmony to the music which they hear however measured or far away. Our cosmology places Native people in a balanced familial relationship with the universe and the earth. In our languages the earth is our Mother, the sun-our Eldest Brother, the moon-our Grandmother, the plants and animals-our brothers and sisters. From this view our people believe that all elements of the natural world are connected physically and spiritually and are to interrelate to each other to benefit the whole. The responsibility then falls on the people to peacefully maintain nature’s delicate balance to ensure that unborn generations can enjoy what we enjoy today. Six Nations Polytechnic accepts this responsibility and is devoted to facilitating the will and determination of our community to maintain an environmentally friendly world through education, training and research. Six Nations Polytechnic, a native focused institution of learning, has a moral responsibility to the people to take a lead role in the preservation of our environment. Through the Hodinohso:ni`/Rotinonhshonni world view of our universe we will assist in the survival of life on this planet through research, study of alternative views, and dissemination of information. Six Nations Polytechnic will endeavour to keep up with the beat of the 21st century and at the same time offer the understanding inherent in our language and culture. In this way the people may receive an education that assists them to keep pace with both drums. Six Nations Polytechnic will take a lead role in bridging the chasm of understanding between the two cultures of our lives and create an atmosphere for healing our differences so that we can both look with optimism into the 21st century. Six Nations Polytechnic has the role and responsibility, as an institution of the people of Six Nations, to offer the opportunity to be educated to ensure languages and culture survive. It also has the responsibility to provide an education that enables our people to survive in both worlds. Six Nations Polytechnic is becoming the catalyst that offers the opportunity and place for our Native scholars and elders to share their knowledge with all our people and to offer the non-Native an opportunity to study a different worldview.
Created by Harvey Longboat Sr. – 1994