What is it about?
This examination highlights the omnipresence of the concept of relationality in the ways of life and world views of Indigenous peoples. It explores some of the basic notions expressed through these Indigenous teachings and practices, focusing on Canadian First Nations but including Native Americans. Some themes discussed are the interconnection and interdependence of humans and nature, expansive views of personhood and kinship, the principle/law of reciprocity––designated here as gift-giving reciprocity, and the implicit Indigenous critique of Western culture and society. Following this presentation, the intersubjective understanding of relationality, that is the non-verbal and verbal sharing between persons, which is generated through the purview of Relational Psychoanalysis is explored. The conclusion offers an exchange between these relational standpoints, suggesting common themes and emphasizing the transformative quality of the Indigenous “All My Relations.”
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Why is it important?
A key feature of the text is to demonstrate the power and integrity of some Indigenous approaches to culture, society, and the environment through their expansive views of kinship and personhood with both animate and inanimate nature. Of particular relevance today is the principle of the alignment between community life and natural ecosystems. The concluding section explores some of the contributions that this Indigenous perspective offers in terms of contemporary psychoanalytic theory as well as an understanding of human life and meaning more widely.
Perspectives
I am cognizant of the quite legitimate questions that arise when a non-Indigenous academic provides a presentation of Indigenous teachings and practices and have endeavored to respectfully proceed in the spirit of the recommendation of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015), “Education for Reconciliation,” that educators and researchers at all levels have a responsibility to “integrate indigenous knowledge” and “advance understanding of reconciliation” (p. 333).
Michael Oppenheim
Concordia University Montreal
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Relationality in Indigenous teachings and practices and in relational psychoanalysis: An initial inquiry., The Humanistic Psychologist, May 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/hum0000379.
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