The author begins by explaining their own experience in school. While growing up, the author was taught skills such as carving and weaving alongside “core academic subjects” such as mathematics. As the other subjects became more demanding, a separation developed between those academic subjects and “domestic artisanry”.

The chapter analyzes the relationship between indigenous ways of thinking within the context of modern society. The article explores how although some people in academia have argued that indigenous thought is stagnant, it is in fact something that changes, grows, and adapts to changing circumstances. An example of innovation of indigenous thought through artifacts is through the Maasai spear. Historians have found various iterations of a spear from the Maasai. They found that it has developed to be more sophisticated throughout the years. This chapter concludes with talking about how the Maasai combine their own traditions through the centuries with modernity. These can coexist. However, it is the people who decide how that coexistence occurs.