I decided to research Dr. Gregory Cajete. I chose him because he was not done yet and I have never heard of him before. What I had found on him was that he is a Native American educator whose work is committed to honoring the foundations of indigenous knowledge in education. As of now he is working at the University of New Mexico. Cajete has written many books, on of which being Look to the Mountain in 1994. This book has been influential among holistic educators because it contrasts modern “Western” forms of knowledge with indigenous, meaning Native American, epistemology and education. Cajete had described this as nourishing a meaningful, spiritual relationship between the individual, the community, and the natural world. Some other books Cajete wrote include Ignite the Sparkle: An Indigenous Science Curriculum Model, Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence along with others. Cajete is also one of the foremost scholars in the field of sociocultural studies as it relates to Indian education and curriculum and native science. He has been a recognized figure in Indian education. He also has become a popular speaker in the mainstream science and education academy conference circuit. As disciplines such as ecological and environmental studies have broadened to indigenous knowledge and pedagogy, Cajete and his work have gained mainstream attention. Cajete is the principal investigator for many well-known studies relating to native science and education. These are supported by grant funding from institutions such as the National Science Foundation, New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has also received fellowships from The Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Center, the U.S. Department of Education and The School of American Research. I agree with him about honoring the foundations of indigenous knowledge in education, because without the original knowledge in education where would we begin?
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