Wednesday, July 8, 2020

GIVE BACK TO THE EARTH



"Over the time we have been here, we have built cultural ways on and about this land. We have our own respected versions of how we came to be. These origin stories -that we emerged or fell from the sky or were brought forth - connect us to this land  and establish our realities, our belief systems. We have spiritual responsibilities to renew the Earth and we do this through our ceremonies do that our Mother, the Earth, can continue to support us. Mutuality and respect are part of our tradition, give and take. Somewhere along the way, I hope people will learn that you can't just take, that you have to give back to the land." Dr. Henrietta Mann of the Cheyenne nation. Professor Emeritus University of Montana.

Artwork by a member of the Lakota Nation, Angela Babby. I believe it is a stained glass work.

As a dominant culture we take, an take, an give back a fraction of what is taken. Manure that could fertilize the land is turned into garbage. Mountain tops are removed, pipelines leak, dams break. A few try to fight back. It's like whistling in the wind.

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