Dyck explains role of medicine wheel in science

The medicine wheel and the strengths of Aboriginal culture can help scientists as they interpret data and pursue scientific study.

That was the point of Dr. Lillian Dyck's presentation on the medicine wheel and science at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) on Jan. 12.

Dyck is both an alumni of the university and a member of the faculty, having earned her bachelor of arts and master of science degrees and her PhD in biological psychiatry at the U of S. She is a professor in the neuropsychiatry unit in the department of psychiatry and, prior to her appointment to the Canadian Senate in March 2005, was associate dean of the college of graduate studies and research at the university.

In addition to her scientific accomplishments, Dyck has established herself as an advocate for women and Aboriginal people. The goal of her medicine wheel presentation was to show that science includes not only the mental and physical aspect that are the focus of Western approaches, but like all things, have a spiritual and emotion side as well. Expanding the focus to create a more holistic approach to science can play a part in attempts to attract and retain more Aboriginal people and more women to science studies and careers.

Originally scheduled to take place in the Aboriginal Student Centre, the number of students and general public coming to hear the lecture far exceeded the expectations of planners, who were prepared to accommodate the 40-some people who had registered for the event. With a large influx of participants arriving 10 minutes before the presentation and asking to be let in, the event was quickly moved to a large cafeteria on the second floor of Marquis Hall.

Dyck, speaking to the crowd of nearly 100, talked first of her ancestry, explaining her Chinese-Cree roots and how she came to study science. With careful, logical reasoning Dyck pointed out how scientific study never is a completely objective act.

"Those trained in science are taught that the scientific method is infallible," she said, adding that the way we look at the data is coloured by our mindset.

"Scientists are subject to cultural or other biases," she said, then went on to explain how Aboriginal understandings of the world around us can help scientists who are trained to see through the eyes of Western culture.

She used the medicine wheel to illustrate. Applied to science, the eastern door, which represents the physical and a beginning, is like the training period of science.

"It's learning the language, the methods and the tools," said Dyck.

Moving counter-clockwise, the south door, associated with adolescence and emotions, is the emotional response to science as a discipline. It's about engaging the heart and not being completely cerebral about the data.

The west door, with its association with the adult and the spiritual, is the place to acknowledge the spirit where discernment can be applied.

"[It's about] using a person's inner hunch, gut feeling or intuition," noted Dyck. Sometimes dreams can also provide information, she said, adding that Western science has no context for a spiritual component.

The north section, associated with the last stage of life and mental or intellectual strengths, covers topics such as mentoring and support.

Dyck also stressed how the oral tradition in First Nation culture is important; for example, the ancestral knowledge of astronomy, agricultural and medicine. While the oral tradition is highly esteemed among Aboriginal people, Western culture views it as an unreliable source of information choosing instead to focus on pure, hard data.