What We Can Learn from Indigenous People

“In our every deliberation, we must consider
the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”

Iroquois Maxim

In The United States, we just celebrated our national holiday of Thanksgiving – a time to pause and remember how much we have to be grateful for. This is a good time to consider where we have been and, more important, to think seriously about where we are going as a country.

No one living here today has any personal responsibility for the actions of the Europeans who settled in this land, but we owe it to ourselves to be aware of the history that led us to where we are now. This is not a history lesson, but history must be mentioned, because it is the backdrop of what we lost and what we can gain from the indigenous people who had lived in this land, in harmony with it, for centuries before Europeans came here.

It is an indisputable fact that the people who were here were living in harmony with the land that sustained them. Their lives were guided by values that can speak to us today, as we consider how we can stop the destruction of the earth and of one another in a struggle to survive in today’s world that seems to be spiraling out of our control.

Suffice it to say that we have badly messed up the balance between ourselves and the living, intelligent planet that sustains us (to the extent that we allow her to do so). We have also failed dramatically in our relationships with one another.

We have so much to learn from those who lived here before us.

In the article, “Can the Indigenous Worldview Build a Better Future?” Vicki Zakrzewski asks:

• “Do we believe that every person, including those who are different from us, has intrinsic worth?

• Do we believe that the animals we love as pets and the ones who live in the wild have intrinsic worth?

• Do trees, rivers, oceans, mountains have intrinsic worth?

• If the answer is yes, then what should our actions be towards all these things and towards life itself?”

This presents us with an opportunity to consider our shared values and the choices that we are making as a people. It also invites us to consider our personal values and the choices that we make in our individual lives.

We can ask ourselves:

• Do I share the values of the indigenous people of the world?

• What values have I embraced to guide my life?

• Do my daily choices reflect those values?

• Which choices are not in harmony with those values?

• What changes can I make to enable me to live more in harmony with my values?

I know that this requires some reflection, so I invite you to come back to it when you have time, if you are so inclined. I also know that many people will not give it another thought, and that’s okay. The choice is yours.

This is not a test. Very few of us live consistently by the values that we have chosen to guide our lives. We are human. We are all in a process of becoming more of who we can be.

This is an invitation to do some reflection, in whatever form that takes for you.

This is a time of thanksgiving. We all have so many things to be grateful for. For me, the opportunity to continue to grow is one. Times of reflection are a gift that I give myself.

I wish for you whatever helps you to live the life that you choose to live.

And I wish you joy every day.

    Image by Valentin from Pixabay

What are your thoughts?   Please leave a comment below.

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We’re grateful that you are on this journey with us.

With love from our hearts to yours,
Pat and Larry