Appreciation for Native Wisdom

By Diane Waddell

 It is good to live on and near lands where First Nation persons have lived; to walk on those lands and by those waters which were once considered sacred; these lands and waters which indigenous persons today continue to hold sacred as they work to stay in ‘right relation’ with Mother Earth. 

 Dr. Dan Wildcat speaks of this land, air, and water in his new book, On Indigenuity: Learning the Lessons of Mother Earth. It is about the importance of learning about the sacred ‘Earth-Keeping’ that Indigenous persons can share with those who take the land for granted and under whose watch a climate crisis is occurring. 

 Dr. Wildcat, a Yuchi member of the Muskogee Nation of Oklahoma, is an author,  professor, and administrator at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS.  He has been a speaker at a previous PEC conference, talking about a previous book, Red Alert! Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge. He summarizes that book by stating that those of us who have helped create and exacerbate the climate crisis are doing everything but change our way of living to slow the crisis.

 He is passionate about the importance of learning from native people, those who consider the elements of Earth a gift rather than a resource, who see Earth as relational, and who live with mindfulness and humility.

 It is an invitation to listen, to hear, to put our ears to the ground and become aware of that sacred drumbeat, that sacred rhythm.  This is an invitation to share in gratitude Dr. Wildcat’s passion. 

 In this statement, Land Back! (Page 48) he proposes a restorative justice principle/proposal.  Hear and consider….

 Land Back!

 

Land back!

Why, where….to whom, for what?

Returned? Restored? Received? Reimagined?

Revered…Honored.

 

Land back!

Just politics, left of center,

Right of center, front and center

No, Just Centered

 

Land back!

Where we began, a specific place, a deep space,

A song, a prayer, embodied mindfulness full of grace

A grounded soaring spirit found in place

 

Land back!

Our situation brought full circle

Through prayer, song, ceremony, and direct action

A gift entailing gratitude and generosity we must share.

 

Land back!

Let’s talk, let’s pray, let’s play

Let’s forget just us and find a way to justice

In the national eco-kinship system too many have forgotten.

 

Land back!

A community restoration activity

The embodiment of right relations.

Land, air, and water — life-centered justice.

Land back!

 

                    —DRW

 Thank you, Dr. Wildcat.

Aho.

 

Diane Waddell is a leader in the JOY New Worshiping Community, Ecumenical Eco-Justice and the St. Joseph Sustainable Environment Advisory Committee.