Go back to George's "Essays" page. The University of Minnesota has been developing a strong relationship with the White Earth Reservation in the northern part of the state over the last several years. This interaction has produced many powerful experiences, high quality programming, solid collaboration and institutional soul-searching. The University's partnership with White Earth has enabled faculty members to learn more about the limitations of academia and their own discipline; the traditions, worldviews and concerns of native people in our state; and the problematic legacy of the land grant system in Indian Country.
George Spangler, a senior faculty member and fisheries scientist, has been deeply involved with LINC since its inception, serving as Project Convenor. He is an award-winning instructor, as committed to knowledge acquisition in the discipline as he is to ethics and critical thinking. He is an innovative instructor, employing non-traditional pedagogies, trans-disciplinary teaching strategies, and controversial, but important issues. He is a committed researcher and cares deeply about the preservation of our natural environment. George is also very knowledgeable about Native American treaty rights, having served as an expert witness for native people at Federal District Court and Ontario Provincial Court hearings.
In 1998, the University sponsored a faculty trip (with generous support from the Kellogg Foundation's FSPE initiative) to the White Earth Reservation. Participants learned about the history of the White Earth Reservation, treaty rights and treaty history, contemporary sociopolitical, environmental and social concerns, Anishinaabe culture and traditions, and the legacy of University research on Indian communities in Minnesota. Faculty members were uniformly excited about the tour, and many followed up and established successful, award-winning research, outreach and educational collaborations with the Reservation.
George was a faculty participant on this trip and had the opportunity to hear a tribal elder explain their understanding of matter, consciousness and the physical world. According to the story, spirits come from the stars and inhabit living beings on earth. After a time, the spirits re-enter the heavens and the living being dies. The elder explained how traditional burial houses are oriented to the heavens, based on this understanding of how spirits enter and leave the world.
A few weeks ago, the elder told the same story at a NL-LINC gathering for faculty
from across the region. This time, George began mulling over the struggles between
faith and science, the tangible and the divine, evolution and theology. His
emergent understanding expresses a relief and keen interest in how biological
evolution is commensurate with a theological explanation on how a physical world
manifests itself. If one indeed conceives of spirits as separate from bodies
or physical entities, then no conflict between organic evolution and the notion
of a spiritual world exists. For a scientist, an explanation of spirit that
is not in conflict with theories of the material universe is reassuring and
implies an ease in connecting two communities and worldviews in an increasingly
profound manner. This type of learning -- acquiring a sense of indigenous theology
and integrating scientific and religious precepts -- has proven transformative
and will inform George's practice as teacher, researcher and community collaborator.
Date created: December 15, 1995 Last modified: September 17, 2001 Copyright © 2001, George R. Spangler Maintained by: G. Spangler GRS@fw.umn.edu