Ideas Why spirituality is central to Indigenous mathematics
Dec 19, 2025
Meet Edward Doolittle, a Mohawk mathematician and Associate Professor at First Nations University of Canada. He dives into how Indigenous mathematics intertwines with culture and spirituality, emphasizing that math is deeply embedded in Creation. Doolittle explains the significance of the medicine wheel in understanding math as a holistic experience. He critiques traditional curricula while advocating for land-based, emotional, and community-focused learning. Highlighting the spiritual connections in mathematics, he showcases how stories, like the Sky Woman tale, can serve as meaningful teaching tools.
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Fourfold Foundation Of Indigenous Math
- Edward Doolittle frames Indigenous mathematics as mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual, not just cognitive skills.
- He argues developing all four domains produces a more complete and culturally relevant math education.
Use Back‑Translation To Reveal Meaning
- Use back-translation with Indigenous languages to reveal conceptual differences when adapting curricula.
- Translate terms into Indigenous languages and then back into English to learn alternate meanings and avoid misunderstandings.
Indigenous Logic May Embrace Contradiction
- Doolittle links Indigenous logics to paraconsistent logics that allow true contradictions to coexist.
- He says this fits Indigenous worldviews which accept non-binary, non-discrete realities missed by classical logic.