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Animism Unbound

6/15/2017

"Reborn" © Jen Otey

BY PEGI EYERS

As a term for activating our most primal and authentic eco-self in the wild, many important definitions for Animism exist today. Yet these descriptions can obscure this ancient way of knowing with the clutter of western mind. Seeking out the reassurance of intellectual complexity as we "return to the garden" may be the norm for a society disconnected from the land. But Animism is as natural as the flowing of our senses, and it's not that difficult to bypass linear thinking and experience the wonders of nature first-hand. Animism is simple, direct, immediate and profound, and as close to us as the green space, seasonal cycles, and other-than-human-worlds that surround us.

“Everything in nature is alive and speaking. Our spiritual practice is about opening our eyes, ears and hearts to hear, understand, and communicate back. The elements, the Ancestors and the spirit beings that surround us want us to communicate with them. They want to work with us to heal the Earth, but they need our invitation.”1 (Starhawk)

ANIMISM UNBOUND You wander far into the wilderness, to where it seems no human being could possibly have gone before. You wait quietly for something to happen. And sure enough, although you cannot pinpoint the source, small bell-like notes rise up in a pure waterfall of sound, like seeds floating in orbits or flower circles chiming in bliss. Surrounded by harmonious bands of singing green and streaming blue, somehow you traverse bogs, meadows and the antlers of branching trees, to find yourself at your cabin door once again.

"Tree of Life" © Tamara Phillips

Looking to indigenous societies worldwide (including those in Old Europe), we are reminded that humans thrive best within an animistic reality in which everything, inanimate or animate, has life, energy and spirit. To the practicing Animist, every part of Earth Community is aware, and a mountain or an entire territory can be the outward form of spiritual presence, or an abode of elemental forces inhabited by sentient beings and creatures. Without a doubt, the life force in nature such as the movement of waters and stars, or the growth of plants and animals, implies the presence of indwelling spirits.

Deeply personal messages and affinities are all around us, and the appearance and timing of phenomena like a rainbow, the cawing of a raven, patterns etched in sand, or the visitation of a snake can have great individual purpose and meaning. Interpretations can either come easily with an undeniable “knowing,” or become clear over time and distance.

In my own case I have always held an Animist knowing and companionship to wild nature, as I continue to see, feel, sense, observe, know and communicate with other presences out on the land - creatures, beings, elementals, earth spirits, deities, plant allies, and the archetypal animal spirits. These conversations can be one-off, or depending on the place, evolve and strengthen over time, with great care and devotion.

"Sympathy binds human beings to plants, animals, rocks and stars. Therefore they become beings rather than objects, fellows rather than things, and members in a circle of social relations.”2 (Peter Nabokov)

Having interactions with the ecosystem as part of our daily lives, Animists are in agreement that our dependency and reciprocity binds us to the Earth Communities with whom we share our lives. Deeply connected to the land and its seasonal cycles, Animists are in rapport with the animals, plants, living spirits, Ancestors and spiritual forces, and “indigenous animism looks to the wholeness of nature for its principal teachings.”3 (Emma Restall Orr)

ANIMISM UNBOUND The day you finish a Daniel Quinn book that reinforces the sentience of Earth Community and changes your worldview forever, you leave the house, and just outside the door a magnificent toad is waiting. You long for the day when you are as at home in your environment as this attentive being. You place a blessing of protection on the small creature, which leads to a conversation full of magnetic knowing and mutual love. And from that day onward, you remember Wise Toad as a guardian of life's passages.

Western society has finally realized what indigenous societies have always known, that Earth Community is awake and aware, albeit in different ways than how we perceive consciousness as humans. Stones, trees and other aspects of the natural world are autonomous and willful beings who possess their own traits and dispositions. A spiritual force pervades all of nature, and the magical and mysterious presences and spirit beings in forests, shorelines, caves, mounds, springs and meadows continue to present themselves to us, and communicate great insight, awareness and numinosity.

The world is alive with purpose, energy and sacred life. The elementals, earth spirits, plant allies, faeries and “devas” can have identifiable characteristics, personalities or gender, and narratives from oral traditions can portray these other-than-human beings as neutral, lovable, exuberant, terrifying or even mischievous!

ANIMISM UNBOUND You find yourself encountering turtles everywhere you go - images and other icons - and you spot them on summer lawns and in the wild. You feel a sense of the miraculous beyond serendipity, and begin to know a closeness to Mother Turtle, who tells you life lessons of the most sacred symbols unfolding, in the deep recesses of both cosmos and Feral Earth. Then one day you encounter a broken turtle beside the highway, psychopomp and sing to her as she crosses over, and are driven to spend the next four years raising exorbitant sums of money for a turtle rescue organization.

With love and thanks to the many artists who contributed to "The Art of the Turtle"

"Animism, because it seeks to relate and converse with the world, rather than to define and control it, always renews itself. It wakes up every morning fresh and alive, and every evening it tucks itself to bed to dream again for the very first time. Since animism involves a relationship with the world, a living being that exists in the now, the present moment, what more relevant perspective could you find?”4 (Willem Larsen)

If we are open to sharing through our heart, mind, dreaming body and other senses, the stones, trees, plants, animals, birds, insects and sacred creatures with whom we share this wondrous planet have an infinity of healing, guardianship, and learning experiences to offer. By stilling our inner dialogue, focusing on positive intent and emotions, and listening deeply with our ears plus our entire range of senses, we have the ability to initiate conversations with earth spirits and energetic beings. The results can be surprising and awe-inspiring! Some people hear actual speech, for others it is a waking dream, powerful vision or spontaneous experience, while others receive messages through night-time visitations, strong feelings or intuition.

We have never been separate from the life-affirming power of the natural world. As it was in ancient times, the other-than-human world embraces a host of endlessly expressive and individualistic living entities whose actions we may adore, emulate, decipher, predict and even influence! Our relationships with all beings, whether spiritual or physical, indicates an acceptance of multiple realities in the world.

Deeply related and interactive in our mutual admiration, kinship and needs, the cycles and manifestations of growth that occur in self and nature correspond materially and spiritually. The macrocosm and microcosm meeting within ourselves, the divine principle of “as above so below” are also realized. By virtue of being connected to the holism of Earth Community, we become attuned to a vast cosmovision, and all notions of monotheism fall away. Animists evoke, honor and obey a multiplicity of spirits, deities, elements and powers.

“In tribal societies, there is so much to see and hear. The bear speaks, the river speaks, the rainbow signifies, the eclipse is a sign. The animistic personification of natural objects may be difficult for us to accept in any ‘literal’ way. Yet, judged solely on intellectual grounds, animism can be credited with a more sophisticated perception of physicality than Western knowledge. Far from regarding matter as dead stuff, tribal societies perceive it as infused with mind, will, and intention.”5 (Theodore Roszak)

"Our Lives are in the Land" © Christi Belcourt (Anishnaabe)

As a clear example of an indigenous tradition, within Anishnaabe epistomology the intrinsic cooperation and communication between humans, animals, birds, insects, plants and spirit beings is known as the “Council of Life.” Also, in the traditional language of the Anishnaabe, most nouns are animate, indicating that in this conceptual framework “things” are alive, and have autonomous standing and spirit.

The Animist perspective is also apparent in the cosmology of the Haudenosaunee, as “the world around and all its features – rivers, trees, clouds, springs and mountains are regarded as alive, endowed with spirit and sensibility every bit as real as those of humans, and in fact of exactly the same type and quality as a human’s. Among the Iroquois this was called Orenda, the invisible force inherent in all parts of the universe.”6
(Kirkpatrick Sale)

ANIMISM UNBOUND "Like echoes like" you are thinking, as you pick up a stone marked with lines of red ochre, exactly the same as the ancient petroglyphs you have visited with indigenous friends. Asking permission, the patterned stone willingly joins the other objects in your sacred pouch, that includes a small figure of divine feminine blessing. Weeks later on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico the pouch is lost to human greed and grasping, yet when you return home, the stone marked with red ancestral pigment is on your altar waiting. You accept this magic as willingly as the Petroglyph Stone has accepted you.

"Indian Canoe" © Norval Morrisseau ~ acrylic on stone

There are an infinity of examples found worldwide that reflect interactive success between the human/nonhuman world, such as the miraculous communications in the Findhorn community. By developing empathy skills, opening up their consciousness and widening their sensory abilities, Eileen Caddy, Peter Caddy and Dorothy MacLean were able to hear the wisdom and tutelage as expressed by the overarching nature spirits, or “Devas” of the plant realm.

In a state of heightened awareness - a space of great joy, freedom and unconditional love - they found that the Devas were thrilled to be noticed by humans, and with ongoing interaction became close companions in cooperative gardening and co-evolution. All forms of life start with energies that are materialized into specific physical form by the overarching soul essences of each being, the “Kingdom of Devas” who hold the archetypal patterns. Feeling and harmonizing one’s self with the soul essence of a plant can evoke a response, such as this communication received from the Flowering Gentian.

Blue Gentian

"We bring breaths of open spaces and hills, of sunshine, showers, and breezes. All of these are part of your being. Even if you live in the midst of a busy city, these natural things are home to you. They are part of the atmosphere of this Earth, part of the surroundings in which you live and grow. Even if your life and thinking are completely enmeshed in the human world, still you are part of our Deva world, which works for the perfect flowering of all life. This is your birthright. You may turn your back on it, but someday you will learn the truth and live in connection with all life on this planet. Only then will you tap your highest potential.”7
(Gentian Deva)

An abundance of interactions with the other-than-human-world are just waiting to happen! Numinous encounters tend to be immediate and profound, and then morph into the heart and soul of one's personal mythology. Lived experiences on the land can even form the basis for new oral traditions, as the storied landscape gives rise to new cultural narratives and lifeways. As we focus on the wild as our cultural and spiritual practice Animism will thrive, and by sharing these old/new ways of living with others, the syndrome of nature disconnect will fade away. By extension, our collective responsibility to all life applies to our human clans and kinship groups as well, with the all-inclusive community practices of sharing, care and support.

“Nature is alive and talking to us. This is not a metaphor.” (Terence McKenna)

Honoring the life force in creation and knowing that all beings are sacred are the core beliefs of Animism, and it is our collective responsibility to support this interexistence with the highest respect and generosity of spirit. Human beings are just one strand woven into the complex systems of Earth Community! By respecting the Earth as a living entity and acknowledging all forms of consciousness in the natural world, Animism is the worldview that works best for humanity when we take our appropriate place within (not above) the Circle of All Life. Our reawakening to Animism, arising from our collective ancient past, will naturally move us forward to a future of ecocentric ethics and reciprocity with Earth Community.

ANIMISM UNBOUND   In a state of shock and confusion you practice earthing on the lakeshore for a few hours. Your cares and doubts fall away, and you focus on one particular small shrub who has been gently waving. Remembering your lessons on green energy you pay close attention, but the plant spirit is offended and turns away. After a while other layers open up, and in the healing waters of the deep lake currents you sense a great and ancient feminine being. You think you know her, but hesitate to call her name. It is a brief yet incredible encounter, and as you walk home a voice crystallizes in your mind. "Thank you for seeing me. I have been here since time immemorial, and I will be here after you are gone. Gather your kindred spirits who love the Earth - the time to act is now."

NOTES
1. Starhawk, “A Pagan Response to Katrina,” Starhawk’s Tangled Web: Goddess and Pagan Resources, September 14, 2005.
2. Peter Nabokov, Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places, Viking Penguin, 2006
3. Emma Restall Orr, The Wakeful World: Animism, the Mind and the Self in Nature, Moon Books, 2011
4. Willem Larsen, “Becoming Traditional: Animism, Culture, and the Newly Born,” The College of Mythic Cartography, March 6, 2007
5. Theodore Roszak, “The Greening of Psychology: Exploring the Ecological Unconscious,” The Gestalt Journal, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring, 1995
6. Kirkpatrick Sale, Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision, University of Georgia Press, 2000
7. Dorothy MacLean, To Honor the Earth: Reflections on Living in Harmony with Nature, HarperCollins, 1991

RESOURCES ~ ANIMISM
Indigenous Narratives ~ Immediate and Fluid, Lived Experience!
The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge Sources of Life – Peggy V. Beck, Anna Lee Walters and Nia Francisco >link<
Messengers of the Gods: Tribal Elders Reveal the Ancient Wisdom of the Earth – James Cowan   >link<
The Manitous: the Supernatural World of the Ojibway – Basil Johnston >link<
The Seven Dawns of the Aumakua: The Ancestral Spirit Tradition of Hawaii – Moke Kupihea   >link<
The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living – Joseph M. Marshall III >link<
Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future – Melissa K. Nelson >link<
Western Interpretations ~ Complex and Structured
Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology - David Abram >link<
Animism: Respecting the Living World - Graham Harvey   >link<
Everything You Need to Know About Animism - Sarah Anne Lawless >link<
The Wakeful World : Animism, Mind and the Self in Nature - Emma Restall Orr   >link<
Nature Spirits & Elemental Beings - Marko Pogacnik >link<
Talking with Nature, Journeys into Nature: A Michael J. Roads Reader - Michael J. Roads >link<
Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings – John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess >link<

Pegi Eyers is the author of Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, an award-winning book that explores strategies for neurodecolonization, social justice, ethnocultural identity, building land-emergent community & resilience in times of massive change.
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon.com
www.stonecirclepress.com

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More Settler-Colonialism: Boomers and the Rez (True Story)

4/28/2017

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So the privileged creatures of civilization, the white sybarites of the comfortable boomer generation, have decided to “get back to the land.” They already tried it in the hippie days, but never mind (!) this recycled idea has merit what with property values these days, and with retirement looming on the horizon, why not re-land oneself within the neo-romantic crucible of fen, beach and forest? After all, the Canadian wilderness goes on forever, and everyone is entitled to a magnificent vista of sunrise and sunset. What are wide open spaces for, except to “be yourself,” let loose, and fully express that inner “lord or lady of the manor” that has been caged up for so long?

Now taking into account your boredom with your own whitestream and your disdain for the hillbillies in "the back of beyond," why not purchase property right next to First Nations as a way to exotify yourself? Then, you can go on and brag about being so urbane, sophisticated, multicultural, and “spiritual” that you have had the foresight to position yourself right next to the “tribal!”

And be sure to benefit from your romanticization of the “other” by making your business more interesting and palatable to other culturally-starved and spiritually-deprived white people. And then of course, your “gentrification” of the colonizer/colonized relationship allows you to claim there is “cultural diversity” in your neck of the woods, which makes everything just so much more inclusive, and colorblind, and “one tribe” and kumbaya! Smooth move, neo-liberal.

Now, in the interest of wage slavery and your zoomer-boomer business plan, don't forget about the folks right next to you on the "Rez." Desperate to put food on the table or make some sort of progress in the “white world,” you will find a willing person (“token”) from the native community to support you in your scheme. However, you may also need some personal assistants, wait staff, dishwashers or groundskeepers. No problem! There's no place for cognitive dissonance in capitalism, so feel free to draw on the interchangeable pool of indigenous labour right next door. And then, by all means let everyone know that your First Nations neighbours are on board with your project, so that makes it 100% alright!

Of course, (and in keeping with your fantasy) you and your clientele of cultural tourists will not think of helping the First Nations community as a whole, or fighting in the trenches, or conducting Allyship in solidarity with First Nations struggles, as that is way too far beneath you. Rallies, marches, mobilizing and political actions are no place for fashion statements, artistic expressions, great music or food! And for sure, getting your “hands dirty” with social activism will only tarnish the exotic representation of Native People you have so carefully constructed to bring in the business.

So my dear Zoomers ~ never mind that the First Nations community are still in the throes of recovery from 500 years of cultural genocide, oppression, displacement, racist microaggressions and land theft, that’s just so “all in the past!” Let's just keep quiet about all that, for when it comes to obnoxious white-privileged Settler interloper-opportunists and snake-oil sellers, it’s truly about “me-me-me.”

Pegi Eyers is the author of "Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community," a new book that explores strategies for neurodecolonization, rejecting Empire, social justice, ethnocultural identity, Apocalypse Studies, building land- emergent community & resilience in times of massive change.

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What is Cultural Appropriation?

4/23/2017

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It's just fashion, why are you so upset?

PEGI EYERS

To understand how cultural appropriation shows up in our environmental movements and spiritual life, we need to look at the backstory, or how cultural appropriation came to be. About 50 years ago a strange phenomena began to happen. In mainstream society young white people were rebelling against the imperialist machine, while in a much less visible sphere, First Nations were just starting to recover from the dark ages of genocide, oppression, residential school displacement and segregation. In the dominant society of the mid-20th century, ties to a genuine spiritual life had been broken, organized religion was on the decline, and all of a sudden young white people were reconnecting with nature. This was a wonderful thing - but they had no role models to follow so they turned to First Nations, freely adopting these cultural tools and spiritual traditions, and some going so far as to create a whole new indigenous identity for themselves. Without proper boundaries, the whitewashed genre of "Native Spirituality" was born, and cultural appropriation became imbedded in the flourishing New Age Industry.

Of course we owe a huge debt to the original rebellion of the hippies and the counterculture that gave us the alternative choices, sexual freedom, new spiritualities, holistic self-care and healthy life-sustaining practices we enjoy today. These are features of society we now take for granted, but unfortunately within the massive self-help, transformational and New Age marketplace the genres of “Native Spirituality” and “Shamanism” have been normalized. Being exposed to this material for so long, many New Agers are shocked to find these genres being questioned, yet an interrogation is exactly what is needed. Not only are white practitioners of "Native Spirituality" on shaky moral ground, First Nations have made it abundantly clear that they are completely opposed to the theft of their cultural and spiritual property.

Today, cultural appropriation occurs on a continuum from relatively harmless practices, to serious mental disorders such as identity theft. Having moccasins, native jewellery, native art, or a drum in the privacy of your own home (acquired from native artisans) can be considered good Allyship by supporting the livelihood of First Nations. But in mainstream industries like fashion, fine art, entertainment and home décor, items like dreamcatchers and headdresses are big business, and these cultural signifiers are casually used by white people for fun and self-expression. Many of these symbols, often products made in China, are the sacred property of First Nations! We can just imagine how deeply hurtful this must be.

Native-themed fabrications rely on stereotypes, and infer that First Nations are a thing of the past or “frozen in time,” whereas the reality is that indigenous people are part of contemporary, living cultures. Indigenous people are also erased and made invisible by the use of sports team names and mascots, and dehumanized by decorative props used to sell goods, ideas and services. With all this "Columbusing" going on, the genuine voices, cultural markers and indigenous knowledge of First Nations themselves are lost in the shuffle.

At the far end of the cultural appropriation continuum, identity theft is by far the greatest problem. White people who have a superficial understanding of traditions held by indigenous people for millennia create a fake native identity for themselves, and then offer spiritual services and ceremonies to other white people for a fee. Since spiritual guidance is not part of the economic structure in traditional First Nation societies, the phenomena of the self-styled "Shaman" charging big bucks for ceremonies and other quasi-native experiences is shockingly reprehensible and morally wrong.

Unfortunately, using the title of “Shaman” to describe one’s practice is now so widespread it is probably impossible to send it back to the Pandora’s box from whence it came. The origins of the term “shaman” first appeared in the 1914 reports of American ethnologists to describe the practices of the Evenki-speaking Tungusian and Samoyedic tribes of eastern Siberia, and it can be argued that only practitioners from those specific societies have the right to use the term. Also adopted by the early anthropology and New Age communities, as we unpack these movements today we see that the contemporary use of "Shamanism" is based on an intrusive and offensive European interpretation.

Why is cultural appropriation such a serious problem, and why is it so harmful to First Nations?

Taking on a native identity is a continuation of colonization, which (1) seeks to eradicate indigenous people, (2) take the land and resources, and (3), erase the cultural identity of the indigenous people themselves. And when we consider the phenomena of cultural appropriation on a deep level, we see that the activity of white wannabees or pretendians is not harmless or “spiritual” – it is an act of the deepest racism. The cultural markers white folks are drawn to, like drums, pipes and sweatlodges, are the very same things that were outlawed by the colonial powers. What white people freely use in their everyday lives are objects First Nations could be killed for using, not that long ago. What could be more macabre?

Cultural appropriation is an enormous widespread problem that interferes with First Nations resurgence and sovereignty. More than just the lifting of ideas, practices and physical objects, cultural appropriation dominates how oppressed groups present themselves to the world, and undermines their efforts to preserve their own traditions. Not to mention the disempowerment and loss of basic human dignity this suggests, indigenous people no longer have their own autonomy or control over how they are represented in the public domain, which is a fundamental right for every human being. When white academics, scholars, writers, New Agers and Neo-Pagan practitioners (those with advantage and power) appropriate, write or teach about the cultural and spiritual traditions of indigenous societies, they are in fact dominating the original indigenous knowledge (IK). Their versions of IK become the valid narratives, fabrications that are sold back to the white majority and even to indigenous peoples themselves.

Fabricated Identities as "White Shamans"

Playing around with one’s personal identity is an indulgence for privileged white people, and critical responses by First Nations to the appropriation of their spiritual and cultural property is readily available in books, essays, blogs, Facebook groups and pages. Judging from their comments, they are shocked, horrified and insulted by any adoption of native identity in any sphere of popular culture or spiritual life. NDN’s stress over and over that there are absolutely no conditions that make it acceptable for a non-native person to assume a native identity and become a “cultural ambassador” of First Nations IK to other white people. Battling cultural appropriation has been at the forefront of indigenous resistance in the Americas for many decades now, and has been addressed with legal means, documents from leaders such as Chief Arvol Looking Horse, and up to the highest level with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIPS). White pseudo-shamans are also the objects of ridicule and derision. This can easily be witnessed by following the work of indigenous activists and organizations that monitor cultural appropriation such as NAFPS: New Age Frauds & Plastic Shamans; Native Appropriations: Examining Representations of Indigenous Peoples; or F.A.I.R. MEDIA for a couple of days.

In response to the white seeker's claim of having "permission" from one First Nations person to use their spiritual or cultural property, it doesn't follow that the rest of that FN community agrees. By going ahead and using FN spiritual or cultural property as a non-native person, you are (a) still going to look ridiculous, (b) appear to be "tokenizing" by separating out one FN's opinion from their wider community, (c) are still indulging in racist and colonizing behavior, and (d) are showing that you have no clue what your own cultural identity is. Beyond the universal tools found in nature to make fire, shelter, and regional wild foods that are going to be similar whatever culture you belong to, it is best to recover the indigenous practices from your OWN ancestry.

So what is the difference between cultural exchange and cultural appropriation?

There is one simple Rule – ask yourself if the cultures are on a level footing, and one culture is freely sharing with another, or is there an oppressor/oppressed relationship, and is the oppressor taking from the oppressed? With the history of settler colonialism on Turtle Island, identity theft is the final link in the chain of cultural genocide. Cultural appropriation is made possible by white supremacy and systemic racism.

What does cultural appropriation say about our own identity as white people?

In the massive Empire-building project on Turtle Island, we had our ethnocultural identity stripped from us as we joined homogeneous nation-states with whiteness as the default. Colonized for centuries now, white people have forgotten why having an ethnoculture is important, yet we yearn for it at the same time. This collective soul loss is at the root of our attraction to indigenous societies and the exotic "other." We may exist in the cultural vacuum known as Settler-Colonialism, but Turtle Island Indigenous Knowledge is not our culture!

The popularity of New Age Capitalism has allowed us to use the cultural and spiritual property of indigenous people without realizing that it is cultural appropriation. These boundaries should have been in place years ago, but the timetable of healing from genocide and slavery did not enable people of colour to be empowered to speak out on this serious issue until recently. Now that white people are aware of the problem, we are obligated to educate each other and stop these harmful practices.

Even if the false “shamanic” identity has been perpetuated for years and the practitioner has an established business, they need to stop aligning with the racist policies of colonialism and white knowledge domination. Shifting to the authentic earth-connected wisdom traditions of one’s own ancestors and offering that European Indigenous Knowledge (EIK) to one’s cultural group is not all that difficult, and would be a blessing to all involved. So-called “shamans” have re-created themselves once, and can do it again (!) this time using their own true identity and ethnicity, and their followers will love them for it. In fact, with the millions of spiritually-starved and culturally-alienated diasporans in the Americas, it is inconceivable that those focused on spiritual and cultural renewal would not see the value in offering their own authentic EIK teachings to others!

When First Nations people are telling us over and over that cultural appropriation is demeaning and disempowering (as well as a continuation of colonialism), we really need to rearrange our ethical maps and stop this offensive behavior. In grappling for the shiny treasures we lack in our own lives, we have forgotten basic values like honour and respect.

               Cultural Appropriation
      MEGA-RESOURCES FROM A-Z

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Harney, Corbin. “Spiritual Phonies.”   The Way It Is: One Water, One Air, One Mother Earth.    Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2009

Hemachandra, Ray A.   “Selling the Sacred? American Indians and the New Age.”   New Age Retailer, November/December 2003

Hobson, Geary.   “The Rise of the White Shaman as a New Version of Cultural Imperialism.”    The Remembered Earth: An Anthology of Contemporary Native American Literature.   Geary Hobson (editor), University of New Mexico Press, 1981

Huhndorf, Shari M. Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination.   Cornell University Press, 2010

IPinCH: Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage - Theory, Practice, Policy, Ethics. “The IPinCH research project is an international collaboration of archaeologists, indigenous organizations, lawyers, anthropologists, ethicists, policy makers and others concerned with the theoretical, ethical, and practical implications of commodification, appropriation, and other flows of knowledge about the past, and how these affect communities, researchers and other stakeholders.”   Simon Fraser University, 2015
www.sfu.ca/ipinch

Jean, Terri. “Selling Native Spirituality.”   Blue Corn Comics: New Age Mystics, Healers and Ceremonies, 2007   www.bluecorncomics.com/newage.htm

Jenkins, Philip.   Dream Catchers: How Mainstream America Discovered Native Spirituality. Oxford University Press, 2004

Johnson, Myke. “Wanting To Be Indian: When Spiritual Searching Turns into Cultural Theft.” Unsettling America: Decolonization in Theory & Practice, September 20, 2011   http://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com

Keene, Adrienne. Native Appropriations: Examining Representations of Indigenous Peoples. Online resources and blog focusing on issues of cultural appropriation and stereotyping, 2015     http://nativeappropriations.com
www.facebook.com/nativeappropriations

Kehoe, Alice. Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking.   Waveland Press, 2000

Kehoe, Alice. "Primal Gaia: Primitivists and Plastic Medicine Men." The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Policies. James Clifton (editor), Transaction Publishers, 1990

Lischke, Ute and David T. McNab (editors). Walking a Tightrope: Aboriginal People and Their Representations. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005

Meyer, Carter Jones and Diana Royer (editors).   Selling the Indian: Commercializing and Appropriating American Indian Cultures. University of Arizona Press, 2001

My Culture is Not a Trend: A Dialogue About Cultural Appropriation (blog), 2013
>link<

NAFPS (New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans). Anti-racism forum, resource and watchdog site for investigating, outing and warning the public about impostors, exploiters, cultural appropriators and pseudo "shamans." Maintained by First Nations scholars, activists and their allies, 2015   www.newagefraud.org

Our Red Earth.   Death Among Us: Observations On Internet Exploiters Of American Indian Spirituality.   Our Red Earth Organization, 2000   www.oocities.com/ourredearth/index.html

Owen, Suzanne. Appropriation of Native American Spirituality.   Continuum, 2011

Root, Deborah. Cannibal Culture: Art, Appropriation & the Commodification of Difference. Westview Press, 1996

Rose, Wendy. "The Great Pretenders: Further Reflections on White Shamanism." The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonisation and Resistance.   M. Annette Jaimes (editor), South End Press, 1999

Scafidi, Susan. Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law.   Rutgers University Press, 2005

Shanley, Kathryn W. “The Indians America Loves to Love and Read: American Indian Identity and Cultural Appropriation.” American Indian Quarterly, Volume 21, Number 4, 1997

Specktor, Mordecai. “Shamans or Charlatans? Do Some Teachers of Native American Spirituality Distort Indians’ Culture?”   Utne Reader, July/August 1989

Strom, Karen M.   A Line in the Sand. Online resource for cultural appropriation, cultural property issues, stereotypes and cultural sovereignty, 1996 – 2015    www.hanksville.org/sand

Strong, Pauline Turner. American Indians and the American Imaginary: Cultural Representation Across the Centuries. Paradigm Publishers, 2013

Sunder, Madhavi. From Goods to a Good Life: Intellectual Property and Global Justice.   Yale University Press, 2012

United Nations. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Adopted by the General Assembly September 13, 2007. View or download the full declaration at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues website. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

Waegner, Cathy Covell (editor).    Mediating Indianness. Michigan State University Press, 2015

Wallis, Robert J. Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasies, Alternative Archaeologies and Contemporary Pagans. Routledge, 2003

We Are a People: Not Your Mascots. Non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the misappropriation of indigenous identity and imagery through the acceptance of mascots, stereotypes and racist behavior, 2015
www.notyourmascots.org

Wernitznig, Dagmar. Going Native or Going Naive? White Shamanism and the Neo-Noble Savage.   University Press of America, 2003

Win, Wambli Sina (Lakota),   “The Red Road is Not For Sale,”   The Native Times, March 2011.

York, Michael. “New Age Commodification and Appropriation of Spirituality.” Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 16, No. 3, 2001

Young, James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (editors).   The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

Ziff, Bruce and Pratima V. Rao (editors). Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation.   Rutgers University Press, 1997

Excerpt from Ancient Spirit Rising (Stone Circle Press, 2016),
sections workshopped on Canadian Ecopsychology Network
(CEN ~ March 23, 2017), and shared to
Unsettling America on April 26, 2017

90 Comments

The Story Behind the Story

4/21/2017

4 Comments

BY PEGI EYERS

Nature Spirituality has always been essential to my life journey, and the teachings of First Nations elders and community peoples has been an important part of my learning and personal transformation. At an Elders Gathering hosted by Trent University in 2012, I heard revered Wisdom Keeper and Professor James Dumont (Anishnaabe) say that “everyone needs to get back to their own indigenous knowledge.” Like a lightning bolt from the blue, this simple statement activated a monumental set of questions about my own life, and issues in the wider society.

I found these controversies and discussions irresistible, and began a research process that spanned 3 years of inquiry, writing and great discovery. Why were my white cohort creating "fake" native identities? What were some of the more obvious delusions in New Age Spirituality? What was white privilege? Why was cultural appropriation a continuation of Settler-Colonialism? What were healthy alternatives for the non-native spiritual seeker? Where was our own European indigenous knowledge located? Why were Americans and Canadians so disconnected from their Ancestors? Why were indigenous epistomologies better than western ways of thinking? What could we do as social justice activists, and is reconciliation with First Nations even possible? What does it mean to step back from the trajectory of Empire, and find more sustainable solutions both for ourselves, our communities, and the land itself?

When James Dumont said that “everyone needs to get back to their own indigenous knowledge," of course he was making a statement on the appropriation of First Nations cultural and spiritual property by non-natives, but he was also giving us a great blessing, by implying that we can access our own indigenous knowledge from our own traditions. I was driven to elaborate on these important and timely themes, and advanced my own personal knowledge in the process. I will be forever indebted to James Dumont for inspiring me to write Ancient Spirit Rising and present it to the world.

book cover design by Pegi Eyers

For those of us of European descent, core questions continue to arise on locating our authentic wisdom traditions and reclaiming our roots in Earth Community, and the themes in Ancient Spirit Rising are an attempt to add to this critical conversation. For the first time in human history with travel, the internet and other resources, we have full access to the indigenous knowledge (IK) of any culture, including our own. Then why must we take bits and pieces from the First Nations of Turtle Island when we have our own ancestral belief systems, sacred objects and ceremonies that are bursting with earth-connected wisdom, beauty and power? In these times of massive change, the reclaiming of our own ancestral traditions can provide us with spiritual and material tools for re-landing ourselves in our local ecosystems, challenging the toxic effects of capitalism, and creating a sustainable future.

As I was writing Ancient Spirit Rising I began to realize that having a spiritual focus in life included social and environmental justice, and by not engaging in activism on behalf of oppressed peoples and the other-than-human world we are not reaching our full potential. In the rich environment of cultural pluralism that exists in the Americas today, taking responsibility for our privilege and the history of Settler-Colonialism will go far in establishing mutual respect and peaceful co-existence between all peoples. By increasing our solidarity and allyship with Turtle Island First Nations (our “co-existence in co-resistance”) Ancient Spirit Rising offers diverse strategies for healing the colonizer/colonized divide.

Discovering alternatives to common misconceptions, reversing the racism of cultural appropriation, and developing skills for intercultural competency are all positive and empowering practices. Working for peace and justice is essential to personal and planetary healing, as is the directive to re-enchant and rebalance the world with a massive injection of holistic principles promoting biophilia and spiritual ecology. Essential to re-rooting ourselves as eco-centric peoples is to fall in love with the Earth again, and to revere the elements, manifestations and creatures in the natural world as sacred. “You cannot destroy that which you love.”

The “Great Turning” to ecological civilization is happening everywhere, in all sectors of society, and the various knowledge systems and movements are doing a wonderful job at bending the curve! Many of us are finding the value in embracing ethics and lifestyles that reflect our connectivity to the new “Earth Story.” But what is often missing in these practices are the spiritual expressions that would arise from a strong, grounded connection to the land, from the recovery of our own ancestral traditions, and from “getting back to our own IK.”

As we take on our cultural recovery project, there are a wide range of earth-connected spiritual traditions already in place that center on our European Old Ways. Although I advocate for specific ethnocultural paths such as Gaelic Traditionalism, Old Norse Traditions, Hellenic Polytheism, Religio Romana (ancient Rome) or Baltic/ Romuva Spirituality (for example), the renaissance of reconstructionist paths such as Druidry, the Avalon Tradition, Neo-Paganism, Wicca and Matriarchal Studies is good news indeed, and contemporary nature-based spiritualities such as Animism and Ecomysticism hold elements of both ancient and modern practice. Becoming part of a specific ancestral group can give us a firm foundation, and a place to turn for spiritual guidance, cultural values and familial connection. If we are the lucky ones who know the details of our heritage, how beautiful and how honoring of ourselves and our Ancestors to re-create our specific traditions to the best of our ability!

Wild nature is calling us all back home, and Ancient Spirit Rising offers diverse paths to recovering our essential bio-lineage through earthing, rewilding, ecopsychology and visiting sacred sites. Our reclaiming process involves the re-inhabitation of place, or getting to know the unique features of our home landscape, and we also have a responsibility to embrace green sanctuary work, geo-justice and eco-activism, and to do the hard work of caring for and protecting the land. We all have a part to play in the paradigm shift, and Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community offers exciting guideposts and modalities for our revitalization journey. We are all People of the Earth, and I invite you to join me on this exciting path of personal and collective transformation!

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Cultural Appropriation in Goddess Spirituality & Matriarchal Studies

4/6/2017

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"Vanessa" - painting by John Parson

The resurgence of the Divine Feminine today is a true revolution, as women everywhere reclaim their love for Mother Earth and the Creatrix that is the cosmic principle behind all life. The patriarchy is fading, and the rebalancing of the feminine and masculine are two aspects of the same reality, reconnecting all people with the nurture and care that outlines our ancient relationships to Earth Community. The renewed interest in feminine deities, philosophers, intellectuals and strong role models has been phenomenal, and the rise of women in leadership roles is an integral part of the paradigm shift to sustainable egalitarian societies. The challenge for women coming into their power is to bring the feminine values of nurture and care to governance, instead of internalizing the patriarchy or assuming the agendas of Empire. If matriarchal cultures were reinstated with their worldviews of inter-connectedness and sacred knowledge today, all people would benefit in wondrous ways! And the evolution of our species may depend on the shift toward the feminine values of balance, reciprocity, equity, grassroots democracy, negotiation, peacemaking, unconditional love, intuition and nature connection!

On a cautionary note, with roots in early feminism, eco-feminism, Neo-Pagan and Wicca practice, Goddess Spirituality has also flourished within the canon of New Age Capitalism, and the many texts and tools in this corner of the self-help marketplace reflect the pervasive commodification and appropriation of indigenous knowledge (IK) to create consumer products. The modern Goddess Spirituality movement encourages women to work with any goddess deity, goddess metaphor or goddess energy from any cultural tradition they choose, and rituals, petitions and pathworking can remove the deity from the originating culture or epistemology in newly-created narratives. By taking the particular goddess out of context, and revising or fabricating the traditions and IK of the “other” for the monetary gain of selling books or conducting workshops, Goddessians are dominating the knowledge of specific cultures and practicing cultural appropriation.

"The White Native" Syndrome

As members of the privileged white society, the same ethical considerations apply to all spiritual seekers, who may simply be unaware they are furthering the racist and destructive practices of colonialism. It may be best to resonate with the goddesses of your own ethnicity, or if you must reference the goddesses of Turtle Island First Nations and other indigenous communities, be sure to cite genuine mythologies from authentic indigenous scholars and storytellers themselves, and be discerning that these narratives are not Neo-Pagan or New Age versions that have been absorbed, whitewashed, “painted-up” and reflected back (which can happen). For Goddess Studies scholars who are aligned with the principles of decolonization, engaged with deconstructing whiteness, and in the process of reclaiming their own ethnoautobiographies, the work they present to the Goddess Feminist public could easily be prefaced with "you really need to be focused on honoring the Goddesses of your own ancestral tradition(s)."

Excerpt from the essay by Pegi Eyers "The Tenets of Goddess
Spirituality (and a Cautionary Tale)" that appeared in the anthology
She Rises: Why Goddess Feminism, Activism and Spirituality?
from MAGO Books

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Climate Disaster & Massive Change

3/31/2017

2 Comments

"VISBY MASSACRE 2" by Jeremy Herndl

PEGI EYERS

The worldview that drives our civilization is one of endless growth, which is impossible on a planet with limited resources. Already we have pushed the natural world to the extreme limit of what sustains all life, with the pollution of water and air, the destruction of ecosystems, and the surface temperature of the globe itself being altered beyond natural law. And what is the main driver for climate change, the most destructive force of all? It is our high-carbon economy, our addiction to a massive fossil-fueled industrial transportation network, a nature-crushing grid of highways that supports this mess, “anthropocene” changes to the land with agricultural mega-business, and the manufacture of millions of objects, technologies, plastics, consumables, gadgets, luxuries and amenities that we take for granted. Throw in an out-of-control population bomb and the human infrastructure required to support the explosion, and the chaos we face is grave indeed. The looming disaster is human-induced, and increased greenhouse gases are leading directly to extreme weather events and massive global warming.

In terms of solutions, we are far past the point where individual actions like “recycling” will make a difference, and the only way forward is to dismantle our civilization by mobilizing the citizenry like in times of war. Yet do we see this happening? Are we collectively turning back from the worldviews and technologies that are killing the planet? Are we finally coming to understand that our humancentric worldview will destroy us in the end? Are we not just one interconnected part of Earth Community? Yet human beings are experts at cognitive dissonance, and it seems likely that we will remain in denial right up until the four seasons turn into one, the drought intensifies, water shortages increase each year, and the landscape re-arranges itself into strange corroded places we have never seen before. We cannot be absolutely sure what the future will hold, but the data projections on rising global temperature do not lie.

"THE BURNT FOREST" by Vasily Polenov, 1881

So what do we do in the face of the massive change that is coming? The environmental movement that created so much awareness at the beginning is essentially a failure. For the sake of the bottom line, governments and corporations continue to cling to extraction capitalism and toxic technologies, and the population is obsessed with consumerism, escapism and entertainment. Yet for all the tragic news, movements everywhere are seeking to “shift the paradigm” before it’s too late, to reduce emissions, install renewable energy, resist the lure of civilization with degrowth and voluntary simplicity, and seek out bioregionalism and the support that local community can offer. Alternative currencies, solidarity networks, localvore, rewilding, the ancestral arts, and reviving our bond with the natural world are all activities we can be pursuing right now, in our own place and in our own time. And as we experience Empire collapsing right before our eyes, there is a guideline we can all share.

“Decolonize now, voluntarily, intentionally, with full awareness and the selective use of resources, OR, decolonize later under duress and hardship, as a dramatic response to traumatic conditions when the current economic paradigm reaches the limits of its sustainability. But decolonize you must, or fade away with the memories of a lost civilization.”

Presentation by Pegi Eyers for the 10th Annual Community Movements Conference at Trent University, February 4, 2017. From Climate to Culture: The Complexity of Change

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We Are the Ancestors of the Future

3/30/2017

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ANCIENT FIRES BURNING BRIGHT original art by Pegi Eyers

PEGI EYERS

In these times of climate change and planetary peril our challenge is to recover our bonds to Mother Earth, and to be at one with wild nature as an interconnected part of the flourishing of all life. And as we fulfill these directives of balance and right relationship we realize the highest values for all those on Turtle Island, which is to participate in the beauty of Earth Community and to protect the land for the Seven Generations yet to come. Here is a a simple yet multi-faceted vision of our old/new eco-story!

We are all Ancestors of the future, and this is how Ancestors live. Learn the Old Ways of your people and find or adopt a piece of land to love with all your heart. Re-embrace your true home and become empowered to hold space for decolonizing community to arise. Carve out a natural lifestyle, listen to what the Earth is telling you, and form bonds of resistance in solidarity with the original Earth Keepers of the land. Live in harmonious and sustainable ways on the land, celebrate and honor the land, and praise the land. Create the ceremonies, rituals, artistic expressions, songs and dances that express your own heritage and convey your interaction with the spirits of the land you love. Practice the sacred activities that dovetail with the cycles and the Great Wheel of the Year on the land. Plant when it is time, harvest when it is time, rest when it is time, and respect the living things – the plants and animals that have given their lives for your existence. Practice reciprocity and honour all beings, write and tell the stories when it is time, and prepare the soil when it is time. Root your heart to the earth where it can stay strong, stay your face to the moon, your skin to the sun, your hands to the soil, your eyes to the beauty of nature, your heart to the creatures, your wonder to the interconnectivity of it all, your gratitude to the Great Heart of Turtle Island, and your soul anchored in the deep dreaming of the land that will hold you in loving embrace throughout your long revolutions of birthing, living, dying and being born to live again.

Excerpt from "Seeking Settler Re-landing" by Pegi Eyers originally published in Unsettling America: Decolonization in Theory & Practice, March 30, 2016

Pegi Eyers is the author of "Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community," a new book that explores strategies for intercultural competency, healing our relationships with Turtle Island First Nations, decolonization, recovering an ecocentric worldview, rewilding, creating a sustainable future and reclaiming peaceful co-existence in Earth Community.

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Earth Mother Magic

2/23/2017

1 Comment

Pegi Eyers

Venus of Laussel
>Patricia Monaghan<

You rise in my dreams,
like the power of stone,
breaking the glass door
between wind and the body.
You are the measurer:
blood of my moons,
lines of my years.
A thread of breath
connects me to time,
wind in my blood,
a thread to your womb,
Thirteen short lines -

You rise, then are gone

Magic happens in amazing ways. We cannot predict the time or the place, or the shape of the mystery or deity that enters our world. As a practicing Animist, I have often experienced deeply personal messages and affinities out on the land, such as the appearance and timing of phenomena like a rainbow, the cawing of a raven, the patterns etched in sand, or the visitation of a snake. For me, having a deep companionship with wild nature is the very essence of animist knowing, and I continue to see, feel, sense, observe and communicate with other presences in Earth Community - creatures, beings, elements, plant allies and the archetypal animal spirits. I have also communed with inexplicable events and earth spirits in the landscape that are firmly connected to local indigenous cosmologies. But until one beautiful warm summer day in 2011, awe-inspiring visitations from my Ancient European Ancestors were few and far between.

After a long hike through wild lands up from Stony Lake, Ontario, winding between dense forest, overgrown fields and outcroppings of rocky Canadian Shield, I was indulging in “earthing,” which is the practice of resting on the ground for the regenerative benefits to one's body, mind and soul. As I casually looked up to the sky from my wilderness meadow at the clouds billowing overhead, they coalesced into the exact shape and archetypal configuration of the "Venus of Willendorf," the well-known carved-stone figurine from an ancient matriarchal culture in Old Europe. With stunned disbelief I watched as every detail became clearer and clearer, and SHE, this magnificent inexplicable feminine presence, hung in the sky for many minutes before hazily drifting off into other shapes and forms, as clouds always do.

Digital re-creation of the Venus of Willendorf floating in the clouds

Humbled and shaken by this great visitation, to this day I am still learning to accept, and acquiesce to, the powerful consciousnesses that work through the natural world. Writing about this Great and Ancient Mother now, one of the primordial “Old Shes,” I still can’t discern the how or why of the Great Mystery, but hold this moment in my soul forever. I can see how human beings need to interpret and make associations with events that are unfathomable, to give our experiences individual purpose and meaning. What was my iconic “Venus” telling me? That every important cultural keystone connected to the land is stored forever in the body of the earth and the sky? That the spirits and ancestors will show themselves at the right time? That nature is a feminine force – ever loving and nurturing? That I am personally associated with cultures that honor the feminine? That the world right now has an urgent longing for the feminine? That I needed to recover the long-lost lifeways of my Ancestors, and find the trail that leads back to Her?

Found outside the Austrian village of Willendorf, this figurine is part of a wider neolithic tradition, and has been carbon-dated to 24,000 BCE. As modernists we can't know for certain if the culture included large rounded women, or if the artifact was sacred or just an everyday object, or if it was exclusive to either woman's or men's spirituality, or if it was portable, or part of a more extensive altar. Yet we can say with certainty that the neolithic ancestors of Old Europe held the procreative force of the feminine as sacred. The “Venus of Willendorf,” if not an actual representation of a living woman, is an expression of fertility and all the cyclic earth-emergent chthonic powers of fecundity and feminine nurture. We can only speculate on the particulars of a culture that held these grounded values, but what a wonderful collective that must have been! Rooted in the truth of life, and the patterns of nature reflected in the human form, this beautiful hand-held object far transcended the female “beauty ideal" that was later promoted in the western world.

Red ochre had been applied to the carving, the ancient igneous pigment used worldwide to express the sanctity of feminine moonblood and the source of all life. To the ancient ones it was obvious that women, with their regenerative cycles, performed the same functions as the earth, which was the source of all nourishment, protection and procreative power.

Once established, a connection to Earth Mother Magic can never be broken, and the deeper meaning in my own personal mythology continues to unfold. Around a year after this visitation, I was blessed to receive my DNA profile from Oxford Ancestors, which placed my motherline 32,000 years ago among the ancient cave-painting cultures in the valleys of France. I discovered that I am a member of the largest and most resilient Celtic group, the mtDNA-based Helena Clan, one of the world clans descended from “Mitochondrial Eve” as traced by Bryan Sykes in The Seven Daughters of Eve. Without a doubt, at some point in ancient history my neolithic clanmothers either created the small "Divine Feminine" figurines that were found all over Europe, or were honored for their fecundity, fertility and wisdom in this way by the tribe. To explore this amazing connection through space and time to my life today, is an extremely thrilling ongoing project.

In the meantime, and as an affirmation of this exciting work, a dear friend arrived home from Europe last year with a gift in tow. From her extended holiday in France, she made a point of going on a day trip to Lascaux, to tour the beautiful natural landscape there and visit the replica cave and cultural centre. As I viewed her photos and listened to her thoughts on this sacred site so important to my own mythology, much to my astonishment she placed a Venus of Willendorf pendant in my hand, brought to me with care from my ancient neolithic homeland!

And to deepen the magic even further, my dear friend lives within a crow's flight from the exact same wilderness meadow near the shores of Stony Lake, where the Venus of Willendorf had appeared to me in 2011. Earth Mother Magic indeed! Honoring the life force in creation and knowing that all beings are sacred is the core belief of matriarchal, indigenous and animist cultures, and it is our collective responsibility to support this interexistence with all life, with the highest respect and generosity of spirit.

REFERENCES

Her Words: An Anthology of Poetry About the Great Goddess edited by Burleigh Muten   >link<
Venus of Willendorf by Dr. Bryan Zygmont Khan Academy >link<
Icons of the Matrix by Max Dashu >link<
Radical Doll Making from Willendorf to Today: The Relevance of an Ancient Tradition by Jude Lally >link<
The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry by Bryan Sykes   >link<
Lascaux: Movement, Space and Time by Norbert Aujoulat    >link<
Cave of Forgotten Dreams A Film by Werner Herzog   >link<

Passages from this blog were originally published in Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community
(Stone Circle Press, 2016)

1 Comment

True Reconciliation Requires Restitution

11/30/2016

0 Comments

Pegi Eyers at Serpent Mounds, Keene, Ontario, Canada, 2013

PEGI EYERS

Partnering with the original Earthkeepers of Turtle Island in our shared love of the land, for common causes and issues of environmental protection, will do much to heal the First Nation/Settler divide. Yet peaceful cohabitation on Turtle Island will not occur automatically, until our process of “unsettling the settler” has acknowledged the original treaties that set out terms for our peaceful co-existence. As agreements set up between sovereign nations, treaties guide the rights, actions and obligations of both First Nations and Settlers, and the phrase “We Are All Treaty People” is not just a metaphor. On lands that are governed by treaties, our white identity needs to be reframed by our responsibility to First Nations and to the land itself. We also need to acknowledge that the basic premise of the treaties was flawed, as the Settler understanding of the treaty process was based on money and land acquisition, whereas the understanding of First Nations was based on a shared responsibility to the land and the other-than-human world.

Intrinsic rights to land-imbedded culture were negotiated in the original treaties to empower all people to live peacefully on the land, and the directives for mutual First Nations/Settler co-existence are still in place today. Against all odds, First Nations continue to remind us of our shared responsibility as treaty people, and continue to welcome us into a future that would manifest the original visions of mutuality and respectful relationship that their Ancestors held. What better model to follow than the treaties, as the paradigm shifts to localized peak-oil communities and we challenge the imperialist worldview, both for First Nations and ourselves? Placing our trust in First Nations community instead of Empire, and giving them our support to restore the treaties in our shared territories would seem the logical thing to do.

With honesty, humility and respect, we can share the ethics of this journey right now, as we move back and forth between the processes of allyship, activism, reconciliation and finally, retribution. It is also our responsibility to educate the overculture on these issues, for “as long as Canadians see a wilderness extending beyond their cities and towns, they do not belong to the land and will continue to view aboriginal peoples ambivalently, with envy and sometimes disgust. Before Canadians can feel comfortable with themselves and their territory, and cast away their obsessions with identity and goodness, Canada needs a rite of passage, a cathartic experience, through which non-aboriginal Canadians earn aboriginal peoples’ respect. I am not referring to ‘truth and reconciliation’ – reconciliation is more than a confession or apology, it must include some form of restitution. Beneficiaries of injustice must be willing to share their wealth and privileges with the victims; they must believe that by sharing, they too gain something - trust and a shared country.” (Russel Lawrence Barsh)

Russel Lawrence Barsh, “Aboriginal Peoples and Canada’s Conscience,” Hidden in Plain Sight: Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture, edited by David R. Newhouse, Cora J. Voyageur and Dan Beavon, University of Toronto Press, 2005.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada ~ 94 Calls to Action

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada lists events, projects, resources and other ways to get involved. “The truth of our common experiences will help set our spirits free and pave the way to reconciliation.” www.trc.ca

"Peaceful Co-existence"
- excerpt Chapter 29 -
Ancient Spirit Rising:
Reclaiming Your Roots
& Restoring Earth Community
by Pegi Eyers
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon.com
www.stonecirclepress.com

0 Comments

Are White People Indigenous?

10/7/2016

1 Comment

BY PEGI EYERS

The colonial history of the places we call home, and current political realities shape how we use the language of “nativization” and “re-indigenization" to describe our process of re-bonding with the land. This blog addresses the current (and unresolved) controversy on the use of these terms, and describes the boundaries that are in place to ensure that as Settler-Allies we continue to support the First Nations of Turtle Island in their ongoing cultural and spiritual recoveries.

To talk about the ambiguities we encounter in our re-indigenization process as white folks, let’s start off by asking - who is indigenous? And how do we define indigeneity?

It has been said that we are all indigenous to place, but to guide us in these deliberations there is an established definition accepted today by First Nations, academics, social justice activists and many others. According to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues the term “indigenous” has been developed by extensive criteria including the following:

1. Self- identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as their member.
2. Historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies.
3. Strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources.
4. Distinct social, economic or political systems.
5. Distinct language, culture and beliefs.
6. Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities.

The UNPFOII criteria make it clear that indigeneity is based on more than just simple land occupancy, but is also defined as a specific community or culture that is informed by the land over a long period of time.

So as members of the colonizer society, do we actually fulfill any of these criteria? Unfortunately, looking at the six points there is not a lot that applies to us. Unlike indigenous people, we belong to a culture that thrives on constant change, rejects the value of ancestor veneration, and does not view the land itself as a key component in our spiritual/cultural practice. And instead of carrying our traditions from generation to generation in an unbroken line the way indigenous people do, our Settler Society heedlessly ignores and discards the past, and what has gone before.

However, let's go on to consider what Encarta has to say on the term “indigenous.” The actual dictionary definition is “originating in and naturally living in a region or country, belonging to place.” Unfortunately in our rush to colonize the Americas, those of us in the European diaspora gave up our bonds to our places of origin, and our indigenity as connected to those lands. However this does not change the fact that all land is sacred land, and the potential is always there to re-connect to the Earth, bypass the dominance of modernity, and go directly to the source of our eco-being. And despite the raging debate on extending the definition of the term “indigenous” to those of European descent, re-landing ourselves is of incredible importance in our mutual care for the Earth, and nativization in a bioregional context must be part of our essential anti-colonization process. I would even go so far as to say that as members of Earth Community, it is the birthright of the entire human family to be indigenous to the Earth, and to appreciate and love the natural world. We must all face directly our innate need to be at one with wild nature, and to enjoy the blessings of Mother Earth and all her creatures as we go forward in this time of massive change.

A quotation from the Buddhist philosopher Derek Rasmussen addresses our dilemma. “What makes a people indigenous? Indigenous people believe they belong to the land, and non-indigenous people believe the land belongs to them. Can we commit to the land and each other? Let's hope so, because our current civilization is a one-time-only experiment. Once it has failed, we are going to have to re-braid ourselves back into the web of ‘all our relations’ - plant, animal and human. If there are future civilizations, they will be indigenous.”

In my book Ancient Spirit Rising, I explore another set of place-based criteria that aligns with indigeneity. However separated by the human-built world, we are gifted at birth with the elements of air, water, earth and fire that are specific to the landscape around us. Inseparable from the archetypal patterns and intricacies of nature, we are imprinted with ions of air, fire in the form of energy from the sun, and especially the life-giving waters of a particular ecosystem. The molecules of the watersheds of our region are virtually found within our bodies, as these life-giving waters make up 60% of our physical being. As children we are drawn to the natural world, and often our earliest memories are of time spent in green spaces with flowers, plants and trees. The same building blocks of organic matter such as carbon, oxygen and nitrogen that form the Earth and all Her creatures, also sculpt the human form. Unique to each individual, human beings also have an innate sensitivity to electrical and electromagnetic fields, and are equipped with a multitude of sensory processes by which to interact with the other-than-human world. The biome is part of us, our bodies resonate with the energies of the earth, and it can be said that we are indigenous to place from the moment we are born.

Indigenity has also been described as “belonging to ancestral land,” which means that many generations have come and gone to mark their collective psychic and physical presence on the land. So by virtue of our buried ancestors and the spirits of our Beloved Dead that inhabit our psychogeography, how many generations does it take to establish deep connections? Two generations? Five generations? Ten? According to renowned author Leslie Marmon Silko, indigenity is quantified by having at least a thousand-year presence in a specific place. However long we have been here on Turtle Island, our bonds to the landscape into which we have been born and/or are currently living, will always be preceded by the much deeper attachments of the original First Nations.

Based on our collective lack of care for the natural world, it would be a Settler Sidestep to suggest a debate on the occupancy issue with Turtle Island First Nations. For example, my motherline in Ontario goes back to 1832, which is seven generations of interlopers being born on Turtle Island. If we define “indigenity” by an extensive number of generations being born and reclaimed by the land, seven generations barely qualifies. Perhaps the "indigeneity debate" would be better served after Settlers have successfully healed our disconnect from nature and have become caring Earthkeepers and stewards of the land. Or at the very least, (as it is for all human groups worldwide) dedicating the bones of our Ancestors to the soil of our homeland(s) should make us responsible to that land.

The tomb of my ancestors in Orillia ~ 7 generations of interlopers on Turtle Island

This quotation from Sirona Knight comments on on how our cultural and spiritual heritage becomes imbedded in the land. “Within the Celtic Spiritual traditions, the physical spirit and body of one’s Ancestors are given back to the land at the time of their death. In this way, the Ancestral energy, the sacred spirit of each person literally lives within the land, waiting to be called upon in ritual and ceremony.”

We cannot deny that in a few generations the spirits of our ancestors now inhabit Turtle Island. Yet the official meaning of “indigenous” (and rightly so) will continue with the baseline of the UNPFOII definition. Faced with paradoxes such as indigenous peoples in privileged societies who have not been colonized yet still have a long-standing ecological knowledge of their landbase, UNPFOII highlights the importance of self-identification, and that it is indigenous peoples themselves who will ultimately define their own identity as “indigenous.”

So we see that using the term “indigenous” to self-identify for us as Settlers is erroneous, and even more so when we consider the trend for non-native spiritual seekers to call themselves “indigenous” while continuing to incorporate the theft of Turtle Island indigenous knowledge and tools into their New Age, rewilding, transformational, Neo-Pagan and "shamanic" practices. Even more alarming are the white supremacists, both in Europe and the Americas, who are co-opting the term “indigenous” to connect them to a place of origin in order to perpetuate their metapolitical practices of racism, superiority, and white dominance over people of colour.

In my book Ancient Spirit Rising I respond to the genocidal effect of cultural appropriation by advocating for Settlers to recover their own ancestral-sourced knowledge, to reclaim an authentic ethnicity, and to use identity markers other than “indigenous.” Overall I use the terms “indigenous” “neo-indigenous” and “re-indigenization” very sparingly, and uneasily I might add, in favor of the terms "pre-colonial," “ancestral knowledge” “heritage,” "ancestral arts" and “ancestral roots."

The continuing antithetical use of the term “indigenous” by white people in identity theft and cultural genocide has forced organizations such as CAORANN Council (Celts Against Oppression, Racism and Neo-Nazism) to label any white person who uses the word “indigenous” as an identity marker to be racist. An excerpt from the hard-hitting CAORANN Statement "On Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Identity" is reproduced here, as it carries much relevance to our controversy.

“Recently there is a movement on the part of some non-Natives - Americans, Canadians and Europeans - to identify as 'Indigenous European.' The first people to use this phrase were white supremacist groups, who are appropriating the term 'Indigenous' to make it seem like white people are somehow an oppressed minority. Others are appropriating it because they have racist stereotypes of Native people as all "mystical" and therefore white folks who call themselves 'Indigenous' are somehow more mystical too. We have seen non-Natives using this cloak of 'Indigenous European' in an attempt to colonize councils of actual Indigenous people, and to even lead and pretend to speak for real Indigenous People. We feel this is an act of racism and attempted cultural genocide. We are shocked and appalled at these attempts by non-Natives to displace and disappear Native Peoples, and we strongly advise non-Native people to shun the use of 'Indigenous' or 'Indigenous European' for ourselves or our spiritual traditions. We already have terminology, in our own languages, for our ancestral, earth-honoring ways; we don't need to steal terms and identities from brown people. From this point forward, if you are a colonist or a descendant of colonists who insists on calling yourself 'Indigenous' or 'Indigenous European' (or the ridiculous oxymoron, 'Neo-Indigenous') we will assume you are an appropriator and a racist.”

There is no mistaking the position of CAORANN, yet their claims on "Indigenous European" need to be be challenged. Any description of "Indigenous Europeans" as members of the colonizer class in the Americas has to be separated out from those in Europe. There are genuine groups in many European countries who still live in the same homelands their ancestors have occupied for centuries, and are most definitely indigenous to place (and fit the UNPFOII definition). Offshoots of functioning European cultures in the Americas such as the Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann (the North American Gaeltacht), a designated Irish-speaking area in Tamworth, Ontario, have their own terms for self-identification, and would probably have no need to engage with the "indigeneity debate."

To make the polarization of the "indigeneity debate" even more difficult, there are many well-respected First Nations thought leaders and visionaries engaged in decolonization work right now that apply the terms “indigenous” and “re-indigenization” to all people currently living on Turtle Island. Statements from Melissa Nelson, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, John Trudell and Diane Longboat among others are widely available, and have been compiled in my blog post here. Yet these declarations are in no way representative of all First Nations. First Nations are NOT a homogenous or monolithic mass – there is a wide diversity of opinion and methodology within Indian Country. Yet language is constantly shifting and changing, and the fluidity of certain words defy ownership. There may always be multiple and various meanings attached to highly-charged words such as “indigenous.”

In any case, considering the outrage that is caused by the white use of the term “indigenous” it comes down to a question of personal ethics, and having a well-defined moral compass. Do we really want to add an extra layer of harm to First Nations by co-opting language that is not our own? There are no easy answers to this controversy, yet we can conclude that using “indigenous” as a term for self-identity is not the way to go. Instead of questionable practices, our re-landing should be synonymous with social justice, allyship, solidarity, and developing intercultural competency skills with First Nations, the original inhabitants of Turtle Island. Meanwhile, the genocide, oppression, human rights abuses and assimilation of First Nations in the Americas continues every single day.   It certainly makes our public debate on the term “indigenous” seem rather absurd, doesn’t it?

This blog originally appeared as a talk for The Canadian Ecopsychology Network (CEN), June 16, 2016. "Pegi Eyers - Fine Points of Re-landing (Reindigenization)"    >view video<

NOTES
1. Derek Rasmussen, “Non-Indigenous Culture: Implications of a Historical Anomaly,” YES! Magazine, July 11, 2013.   (www.yesmagazine.org)
2. Sirona Knight, Empowering Your Life with Wicca, Alpha Books, 2003

Read more on social justice, ethnocultural recovery, Settler re-landing, rewilding, ancestral connection, sacred land and animism in Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community by Pegi Eyers.
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