Indigenous scholars succeed in Western science on terms that still demean them

Evidence

I scarcely doubted the primacy of scientific thought. Following the path of science trained me to separate, to distinguish perception from physical reality, to atomize complexity into its smallest components, to honor the chain of evidence and logic, to discern one thing from another, to savor the pleasure of precision. The more I did this, the better I got at it, and I was accepted to do graduate work in one of the world’s finest botany programs, no doubt on the strength of the letter of recommendation from my adviser, which read, “She’s done remarkably well for an Indian girl.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 153

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth tracing: the doubling of assimilation pressure — success is measured by abandoning Indigeneity while the praise is itself racist.
• XREF: Parallels ch8’s boarding-school damage and the eco-justice thread on how institutions force knowledge assimilation. — connects to: Western scholars now depend on indigenous informants, re-enacting colonial knowledge production — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Nations, Classes, Literatures, 124; Science’s truth monopoly blocks recognition of Indigenous knowledge — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 558

Broader Connections

• Western scholars now depend on indigenous informants, re-enacting colonial knowledge production #expands (0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 124
• Science’s truth monopoly blocks recognition of Indigenous knowledge #corroborates (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 558