On Canada Day, I reflected on the horrific findings on Canada’s residential school sites. Many of our world’s issues come from a lack of understanding, so I signed up for a course on Coursera to learn more about our Indigenous people. The Indigenous Canada course gave me a perspective on Canadian history that I didn’t learn in school. The biggest takeaway was that Indigenous wisdom and way of life is something we should respect and value.

This post was originally published in August 2021 and updated in October 2024.

Indigenous beliefs make so much sense. It saddens me that European settlers saw this simple, sustainable way of life as uncivilized. Those who sought to colonize what is now Canada saw Indigenous culture and practices as things to be eliminated and destroyed. That kind of thinking led to the biggest black mark in Canada’s history—the creation of the residential school system and the deaths of thousands of Indigenous children.

The more I learn, the more I realize the Indigenous peoples had it right all along. In a world where many people are in despair, we can learn so much from their way of life.

7 lessons from Indigenous wisdom

The concept of “Seven Generations” is shared among many Indigenous peoples. It means transferring knowledge by looking seven generations in the past and in the future. With that in mind, 7 seemed like the right number of lessons to share in this post.  

There are many different Indigenous groups in North America—each with their own beliefs, traditions, and worldview. This post, and even the 12-week course I took, could never do justice to them all. I share these 7 lessons based on what I took away from what I learned. However, I’m not an expert and I apologize for any inaccuracies or misinterpretations.

Live in balance and maintain peaceful internal and external relations

This feels like a good place to start. Imagine a world where this was a reality! Indigenous culture highly values peace and harmony. Every child, youth, adult and elder has a role and a responsibility to each other and the community.

Indigenous justice systems focus on restorative justice where the offender takes responsibility for their actions and works towards healing and recovery for all parties.

All people are related, connected to each other, and to all life on Earth

The Western worldview, including that of the nations that colonized Canada, puts humans at the top of a hierarchical pyramid of living beings. This view does not exist in Indigenous culture. Respect for all living things is a foundational principle, recognizing that humans are interconnected with all living and nonliving things on Earth.

Land is borrowed from future generations

Indigenous people enjoy a distinct relationship to the land recognizing the connection between the health of the land, and the health and wellbeing of the people who inhabit the land.

Environmental stewardship is an important part of Indigenous culture. Land is not something to be owned or exploited for current use, but rather it is borrowed from future generations. Human beings are caretakers of the land and have a responsibility to preserve it for future generations.

Understanding this view sheds a new light on the land disputes we’ve seen in Canada over the years. The land treaties signed by the Indigenous peoples and the European settlers were interpreted differently by the two parties. The Indigenous view was that the land didn’t belong to them, so it wasn’t something that was theirs to give away.

Women play a key role

Indigenous women traditionally played critical roles within their communities with women holding spiritual, political and economic power equal to men.

Colonization imposed white, male European economic, political and social systems on the Indigenous peoples, suppressing the leadership roles women held in Indigenous societies.

In a world where women continue to fight for equality, Indigenous women seek to return to the egalitarian world they knew before colonization.

Material goods do not define wealth

The idea of defining wealth by the accumulation of material goods is unfamiliar in Indigenous culture. In many Indigenous communities in what is now western Canada, redistribution of wealth occurred at potlatch ceremonies. The host of a potlatch was responsible for feeding the guests and giving them valuable gifts. The more they gave, the more respected they were in the community.

Community before the individual

Organization in Indigenous communities is about order. It’s not about power, control or ownership of goods and land.

The overall health and needs of the community come before individual needs. Maintaining harmony in society was seen as a time-tested way of ensuring a good life.

Children are highly valued

Indigenous peoples view children as gifts from the Creator. They value children as future leaders and caretakers.

The goal of education is to prepare children for life. The Indigenous ethic of non-interference means elders don’t give direct instruction or answers when asked a question. Instead, they pass knowledge along through generations by storytelling, leaving the individual to self-reflect and draw their own conclusions.  

This value of intergenerational learning makes the history of our residential schools even more heartbreaking. Children were taken from their families, educated by people who did not share their culture and values, and forbidden from speaking their languages and practicing their traditions.

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Knowledge is key to healing

Despite the settlers’ efforts to “get rid of the Indian problem” and “kill the Indian in the child”, Indigenous traditions have survived. It’s time for all Canadians to recognize the value and wisdom of our Indigenous peoples. Learning is a great place to start.

If you want to learn more about our Indigenous peoples and the true history of Canada, the University of Alberta Indigenous Canada course on Coursera is an excellent place to start. It’s free and will take only a couple of hours of your time each week.

Which of these lessons from Indigenous wisdom resonated with you? Join the conversation below.