Traditional Earth Wisdom / Native Understanding

Quaker Earthcare Witness has often invited native peoples to participate in our programs as we have met in different regions of North America . We have done this in the belief that resources for restoring the earth may be found in the storehouse of Earth wisdom of many traditional cultures.

This outreach was inspired in part by the examples of early American Quakers, such as William Penn and John Woolman, who felt a “near sympathy” as they tried to be compassionate and fair their dealings with native Americans. But recent overtures have focused more on what we have to learn from them about care of mother Earth. Some examples are:

Thomas Binyaca, a Hopi elder, led an afternoon interest group in the Unity with Nature Center at the FGC Gathering in Stillwater , Okla. , in 1993.

Harvey Longboat, a Cayuga elder from Canada , led an afternoon interest group at the Unity with Nature Center at the FGC Gathering in Hamilton, Ont., in 1996.

Don Alejandro, a Mayan elder from Guatemala , gave a plenary talk at the 1999 FGC Gathering in Kalamazoo , Mich. , and later led an afternoon interest group under the care of Quaker Earthcare Witness.

All three of these elders emphasized ways that many native peoples ritually express thankfulness to the Creator for the fruits of the earth, constantly reminding themselves that humans do not own the earth and therefore do not have the right to misuse it.

At the FGC Gathering in River Falls, Wis., in 2000, a representative of the Menomonee Nation spoke at the Unity with Nature Center about the sustainable forestry program they have practiced for the past 150 years, based on the principle that the land is held in trust to benefit the entire community, including future generations.

In the 1990s, QEW established a “Native Understanding & Support” committee, for the purpose of giving concerned Friends an opportunity to discuss not only ecological lessons to be learned, but to move to a deeper level of compassion and understanding of what a spiritual relationship to the land really means. One way is to stand in solidarity with native peoples who are under stress, such as those whose traditional lands and hunting and fishing rights are threatened. When we see the land as a sacred trust, we are obligated to defend its integrity.

Members of the committee provided moral support to a group of traditional Mohawks in upper New York State who were caught in a factional struggle over rights to their traditional lands. A representative of that group, Vicki Shenandoah, spoke to the QEW Steering Committee meeting in Burlington , Vt. , in 2002.

The committee became less active in following years, however, and recently it was laid down. Some members questioned whether bringing in native elders to talk to white audiences on college campuses was an effective way to change the values and consciousness of those who have been steeped in the larger non-traditional culture. Some native people have expressed similar reservations about the value of such short-term cultural exchanges. These relationships do not exist in an emotional and historical vacuum: Old wounds and resentments are still keenly felt by many.

Those who are currently exploring traditional ecological wisdom within Quaker Earthcare Witness understand that we are all in need of mutual healing, not just mutual understanding. We look forward to new opportunities to open communications with native groups who live near future QEW meeting sites, perhaps in settings where we will have a better chance of becoming humble and teachable.

Additional resources:

Black Elk Speaks, the legendary "Book of Visions" of an American Indian, by John G. Neihardt (Pocket Books, 1959).

Yakoana, the Voice of Indigenous Peoples, a video documentary by Anh D. Crutcher. (Under Your Nose Productions <www.yokoana.com>) Available from the QEW Video Lending Library.

From the Heart of the World, the Elder Brother's Warning, a video documentary. A pre-Colombian American tribe once believed destroyed, the Kogi, who call themselves the Elder Brothers of the human race and us the Younger Brothers, are convinced we are destroying the balance of life on earth. Believing that our only hope is to change our ways, the Kogi have set out to teach us what they know of the balance of mankind, nature and the spiritual world.  May be borrowed from the QEW office.

A helpful website by the Western Shoshone Defense Project: www.wsdp.org/related_efforts.htm

Related articles on traditional ecological wisdom will be posted in this section in the future.