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Learned so much from @DrNicoleRedvers yesterday about "An Indigenous Micro- to Meta-Narrative: Microbes & Social Equity". (See thread attempt for notes!)
Thank you, @DrSueIshaq, for making this talk open!
#InternationalDayOfWomenInScience
Thank you, @DrSueIshaq, for making this talk open!
#InternationalDayOfWomenInScience
@DrNicoleRedvers started with Roots and Relationality: "I locate myself in reference to the work I do, to page homage to and remain accountable to my relations, ancestors, elders... this is not my knowledge, it is a collective knowing that spans thousands of years."
On decolonizing the human-centric worldview, @DrNicoleRedvers suggested that "the microbial microcosm provides a compelling narrative for re-situating humans in a broader world narrative."
@DrNicoleRedvers described a traditional ceremony of birth: "Indigenous practices facilitate microbial exchange between infant and soil of Mother Earth", and challenged us to overcome the dissonance between "being in nature" and "being of nature".
A "great sickness" was prophesied by many cultures, who see the pandemic as a time of reckoning. @DrNicoleRedvers says 
are the bodily site of held grief: COVID-19 is Mother Earth grieving through our , and masks are both a literal + symbolic barrier between us and 
are the bodily site of held grief: COVID-19 is Mother Earth grieving through our , and masks are both a literal + symbolic barrier between us and
Is "back to normal" the place we need to be? NO, say Elders from around the world. The pandemic is an opportunity to reflect and do better.
@DrNicoleRedvers also offered advice for would-be collaborators. "If you seek to partner with indigenous communities, acknowledge and honor their vast traditional and scientific knowledge - but do not prioritize that knowledge over the individuals."
"You cannot have knowledge without the people, and you cannot have the people without the land." So true for all cultures, yet we forget. Thank you for the reminder, @DrNicoleRedvers
