Abstract

This paper argues that Indigenous epistemologies transform our understanding of land by positioning it as an active, relational agent in the production of knowledge rather than a passive object of inquiry. Bringing Igbo cosmology from southeastern Nigeria into dialogue with Diné (Navajo) philosophy, it examines how concepts such as Ala and Hózhó position land as morally authoritative, animate, and embedded within networks of reciprocal obligation. Drawing on the work of Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Vicente M. Diaz, the paper critiques Western epistemologies that reduce land to property, resource, or territory, and instead advances a framework grounded in relational accountability and place-based knowledge practices. Building on Diaz’s concept of sensory historiography, the paper introduces ecological memory as a framework for understanding how landscapes function as living archives that retain and transmit histories beyond textual and visual records, particularly in contexts of colonial displacement. Through analyses of ritual, oral tradition, and embodied practice, it demonstrates how knowledge is produced through ongoing relationships among humans, land, and more-than-human life. By placing Igbo and Diné perspectives in comparative dialogue, the paper highlights shared commitments to relational ontology, ethical reciprocity, and the inseparability of land, identity, and sovereignty. It ultimately calls for decolonial research practices grounded in responsibility to land, community, and more-than-human worlds.

Keywords: Igbo, Dine (Navajo), Decolonial, Land, Indigenous Knowledge, Nigeria, Native American

Presensation:

23rd ISA Annual International Conference, Dominican University, River Forest, Chicago, IL., USA, May 14–16, 2026