Dylan Thomas & Doris Schattschneider (2011) Dylan Thomas: Coast Salish
artist, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 5:4, 199-211, DOI: 10.1080/17513472.2011.625346
https://doi.org/10.1080/17513472.2011.625346
In the article "Dylan Thomas: Coast Salish artist," Dylan Thomas and Doris Schattschneider explore the intersection of traditional Indigenous art and mathematical precision. The text details how Thomas utilizes the fundamental geometric elements of Coast Salish design, the trigon, circle, and crescent, to create complex symmetries that resonate with both cultural heritage and mathematical principles like tiling, rotation, and reflection. By examining Thomas’s creative process alongside M.C. Escher’s influences, the authors demonstrate that Indigenous art is not merely decorative but a sophisticated system of "visual math" that reveals deep relationships between form, space, and spirituality.
Stop 2: I paused again on page 205, where Thomas discusses his fascination with M.C. Escher. As a secondary teacher, I’ve used Escher to teach tessellations many times, but I’ve rarely connected him to Indigenous art. The stop here was the realization of a shared "neural substrate" between these different cultures, the human drive to find order and beauty in repeating patterns. It made me reflect on how my curriculum often separates "Western" math from "Indigenous" art, when the underlying logic of rotation and reflection is exactly the same.
Stop 3: Symmetry in these designs isn't just for aesthetics but is used to represent spiritual balance and the "interconnectedness of all things." In our math classrooms, we usually treat symmetry as a cold, mechanical property of a shape. This reading made me consider what is lost when we strip the "soul" away from geometry. It shifted my perspective on how I might introduce symmetry to my students and not just as a transformation on a coordinate plane, but as a way to visualize balance in the world around them.
A Question I Wonder: Thomas describes his process as a blend of traditional constraints and modern mathematical exploration. How can we, as secondary math teachers, design authentic assessments that allow students to demonstrate geometric mastery through cultural or artistic expression without "colonizing" the art form or reducing it to a simple math problem?
I am amazed at the connections in our weekly articles because the answers are right here in the Bridges Paper of A World Community for Mathematical Art: While mathematics and art follow different rules, the Bridges article shows that these differences can be a source of creativity rather than conflict. To design authentic assessments in our classroom, we need grading systems that honour both worlds. This means evaluating not only mathematical accuracy but also the artistic or cultural skills students bring, the integrity of the cultural practice they choose, and the reflective process that connects the two. When students lead the cultural interpretation, and teachers assess the process as much as the product, we avoid reducing the art to a math problem or imposing mathematical frameworks onto cultural traditions. Instead, we create space for students to demonstrate geometric mastery in ways that are meaningful, respectful, and deeply human.
ReplyDeleteHi Kabula, thanks for your super reflective stops. I really enjoy how you consistently connect your own practice to what we read in class! I recently had a similar conversation in my antiracism course about decolonizing curriculum. One challenging question that continues to stay with me is: Who can teach Indigenous ways of knowing? Can only Indigenous teachers teach Indigenous ways of knowing?
ReplyDeleteI feel there needs to be more work done in the field of mathematics education around the integration of Indigenous ways of knowing. While it is encouraging that our curriculum now mandates this, I would like to see more research in this area. There is a substantial body of work in the social sciences, but mathematics was often excluded from these conversations until relatively recently.
As Clementina notes above, we need grading systems that honour both ways of knowing, or meaningfully intertwine them. My antiracism professor posed a question that really pushed my thinking: why can’t Indigenous ways of doing mathematics be counted toward grades? (If they already are, I may simply be unaware.) If we truly believe that Indigenous ways of knowing are valid, then they ought to be assessed with the same legitimacy as Eurocentric ways of knowing.
There are certainly layers of complexity when it comes to assessment, particularly when considering post-secondary expectations. However, from my understanding, UBC is one of the institutions at the forefront of validating Indigenous ways of knowing within secondary courses. Across the country however, I am not too sure how other provinces are faring with Indigeneity. It would be interesting to take a look!
What an important and fascinating discussion! Clementina, that’s a great question about assessment. We do want to honour students’ cultural and artistic work — but at the same time, we are not teaching art techniques or cultural teachings, and I don’t know whether it’s really fair to mark students on what was not actually taught. Nonetheless this work can be acknowledged, in non-competitive, non-numerical ways… Great discussion too about the responsibilities of non-Indigenous teachers to engage with Indigenous ways of knowing and learning.
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