My teammate Craig got me to watch the interview with Lily Gladstone back in November, which was really interesting. I think she is Blackfoot, and you learn about the Blackfoot Nation in addition to hearing about her and her journey.
Even though she ended up not winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2024 that she was nominated for, the ideas that she brought up about Blackfoot society was interesting. A lot of people might hear about the Hierarchy of Needs, a framework by Abraham Maslow, an American, to describe the needs of an individual, from the most basic level of survival to the highest level of being a “self-actualized” person.
What I didn’t know was that Maslow got his ideas after spending time with Blackfoot members, observing their culture. And as the research paper that Lily Gladstone mentions, Blackfoot society is fascinating and quite different. Where Maslow’s hierarchy ends, Blackfoot society’s “hierarchy” begins. Kids in Blackfoot culture already start off “self-actualized”, with the level of autonomy and respect they are given. And instead of the individual, Blackfoot culture’s highest level of attainment is when it can ensure its own survival into the future.
See:
That article discusses interesting topics of self-actualization vs. community actualization, community perpetuity, and examining the construct of a hierarchy (or pyramid) vs. a circle of interconnectedness.
Sequenced Thoughts from C/S 