Colonialism to Climate Crisis: Indigenous wisdom to the fore

My column for the Illuminem: February 7, 2023

https://illuminem.com/illuminemvoices/c14ab26f-1b7c-4bd3-bcdb-4fe0de09a6ed

Brutalization of Americas – its land and the indigenous peoples – was the worst form of colonizing. Amitav Ghosh’s brilliant novel ‘The Nutmeg’s Curse’ is a graphic account of how all these actions became a major trigger for the Climate Crisis that we are today enmeshed into.

I pick recent news stories of four Native American Tribes (Canada and the US) which are early rays of hope. Hoping and wishing that the indigenous peoples will get back into the Stewardship of Nature. Reviving “the belief that spirit existed in all matter”. A belief that the colonizer tried very hard to erase. The only hope for getting us out of the mess we are in.

But then this is not just about the Americas alone, anymore. Ghosh reminds us: “Much, if not most, of humanity today lives as colonialists once did – viewing the Earth as though it were an inert entity that exists primarily to be exploited and profited from, with the aid of technology and science…”.

Can we think seven generations ahead when making decisions? Chief Oren Lyons, a Native American Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan tells us: “In our way of life, in our government, with every decision we make, we always keep in mind the Seventh Generation to come. It’s our job to see that the people coming ahead, the generations still unborn, have a world no worse than ours – and hopefully better…”.

“Would that we consider those unborn generations as we trample our forests and pollute our skies in the name of progress and our present-day entitlement”? Asks Wayne Dyer.

CC: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/zaneta-s_colonialism-to-climate-crisis-indigenous-activity-7034074375674847234-CW-P/