The subjectivity of experience and circumstance means that each Indigenous community's beliefs will be distinct. This creates a web of knowledge shaped by the individual experiences of a community. The method of interacting with the environment is never made fixed and instead, is carried through generations who continuously revise it and add to it. Therefore, Native Americans believe that useful knowledge can only be acquired through individual experience which, whilst subjective, is valid to that space and time. The world is viewed as infinitely complex and so it is impossible to come to a universal understanding of it. There is no belief in a universal worldview which could explain all aspects of reality for a permanent set of time. Something is believed to be true when it has been verified by experiences and provides explanations which assist in completing tasks.This worldview is dynamic as new experiences alter this worldview and add to it. In this context, phenomenology refers to the examination of ones experiences to come to a personal world view. Native American science and understanding is said to have a basis in perceptual phenomenology, meaning the philosophical study of phenomena. Native American knowledge is continuously adapting to the changing environment as the ecosystem evolves and this is how epistemology is understood to have such a strong root to nature. It is vital to understand how to gather medicine, predict weather conditions so as to effectively produce food, and how to navigate through the land in order to grow and thrive as part of an ecological dependent community. The process through which they interact with nature is through the necessary need for survival but also through a deep respect and understanding the land as a huge part of their identity. It is believed that the mind interacts with the environment in a very active, conscious way. There is also a strong link between nature and the interpretation of knowledge within Native American culture. In relation to consciousness, rationality and other heavily studied psychological states, the inherent structure of the complex Native American language is necessary to understand in the obtainment of indigenous knowledge. It is through the unique symbolism and the close connection with nature, that Native Americans consider knowledge to be acquired. Emphasis is put on the importance of language as one of the vital components of Native American epistemology. Native American epistemology is found primarily in theories, philosophies, histories, ceremonies and nature as multiple ways of knowing. Among Indigenous cultures, epistemology is understood differently and more inherently than how it is understood in Western philosophy. Ceremonies play a key part in Native American philosophy.Įpistemology refers to the study of knowledge, the ways in which a person acquires and processes information.
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