37 Leroy Little Bear
Dr. Leroy Little Bear |
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Time period:20th Centruy – Present Subject:Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Science (Metaphysics) |
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Biography:Dr. Leroy Little Bear was born on the Blood Indian Reserve in Southern Alberta, a member of the Kainai First Nations, and the Blackfoot Confederacy. He grew up with six siblings and began his education at St. Mary’s Indian Residential School at 10. From a young age, Dr. Little Bear was aware of the colonial context of the school he was attending and how learning was presented from a colonial viewpoint. In the early 1970s, Leroy earned a bachelor’s degree, being one of the first Indigenous students to graduate from the University of Lethbridge. In 1975 he received a law degree from the University of Utah. Throughout his career, Dr. Little Bear was a founding member of the Native American Studies Department at the University of Lethbridge and the founding director of the Native American Program at Harvard. On top of this he had an influential role in advising the National Indian Brotherhood, Canada’s constitutional changes, the British North American Act, and treaties 6,7, and 8. He has also worked with the United Nations, forming the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples In 1997 Dr. Little Bear retired from the University of Lethbridge, and in 2016 Leroy received an honorary Doctor of Arts and Science degree from the University of Lethbridge. He has also received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education (2003) and has been inducted into the Alberta Order Excellence (2016) and the Order of Canada (2019). Although Dr. Leroy Little Bear may not be considered a traditional “scientist” by Western standards, in my mind, he is a scientist. He helps explain why the world is the way it is and seeks to bring understanding and education to all. His contributions to the world in the intersection of Indigenous Knowledge systems and Western science earn him a place in this book. |
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Summary of their contributions:Although Dr. Leroy Little Bear has not specialized in a specific traditional scientific discipline in the Western sense, he focused more on the intersection of Indigenous knowledge systems and Western science, seeking to bridge the gap between the two. Advocating for the intersection of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Western science, Dr. Little Bear has pointed to Blackfoot science and their metaphysics of life to incorporate Indigenous science within the Western science classroom. In one of his presentations, “Metaphysics: Intersecting Western and Native Ideas. Resilience from a Blackfoot Perspective.” Dr. Little Bear points out that Blackfoot perspectives can be applied to climate change, teaching us about reciprocity with the land we live on. His other contributions to science advocate for the recognition, validation, and integration of Indigenous knowledge systems within science as a whole. Touching on areas such as ecology, environmental science, education, philosoph