Tribal Elemental Ontology

In this essay, we explore the tribal elemental ontology through examining such accounts of human-elementsElements-environment exchanges and relations as recorded in their genealogical myths and its associated events and practices. In many indigenous worldviews, humans are conceived as sharing a close elemental communion with other species, animals and the natural world—all forming an important agency of the worldview production. These accounts of life are vastly different from how knowledge is conceived within western worldviews or epistemological understanding. Such metaphysical orientations lead to different types of ontological orientations, specifically with animals and natural elementsElements. The essay looks at the portrayal of the elementsElements within the tribal systems of thought and considers its philosophical and sociological meanings in relation to the broader environment. In particular, it builds upon the role of elementsElements in tribal metaphysics in conceiving the nature of the being, other species, and perspectives on reality or truth claims which in turn presents critical insights for rethinking about our cosmological assumptions and ethical relations with each other and with other life forms on earth.