Áila K. O'Loughlin

The discipline of Western Philosophy has a dense history of theorizing about indigenous peoples, with particular focus on their taxonomic separation as well as intellectual limitation, but without taking seriously the theorizing by indigenous persons. Justin Smith (2015) summarizes this philosophical practice as imbuing indigenous peoples with native “know-how,” yet without the capacity to know or hold knowledge. Funding from Mellon/ACLS will support a research project in Philosophy on Indigenous Kinship Ethics with two outcomes: original scholarly work in Indigenous Kinship Ethics developing a concept of Collective Ethics based on the Sami term "Siida," and, design of a new course in Indigenous Kinship Ethics at North Hennepin Community College.