Week 2

“…everything is connected…”

                We feel  the impact and ripples of our footprints and those of others around the globe.  The concept of Sila or Inua as the “substance of which souls are made” is very powerful to me.  The simplest particles on earth impact one another… just as different organisms impact one another.   I feel  strongly about the holistic concepts presented, and that the sum of the parts can be greater than any individual part.   How the parts work together can have a great impact on the outcome.  As an example, a native whaling crew can have a greater impact than a single whaler.  Skills are transferred, values are transferred, community is made stronger…. 

credit: Google images

       

                Whether we are a teacher… whether we are a whaling crew member…   whatever role we play in our community of choice… we are important.  This is what I try to communicate and model for my students.  We all can “make a difference in the world” as stated by Dustin Madden.

                This week there has been much “food for thought”… from the grasshopper effect which involves the volatilization and deposition cycles of materials around the globe to the images of the highlands and lowlands in the “Earth as a System” video.  We often focus on that we can see, and yet there is still much of our earth (such as the underwater “lowlands”) to discover.  The choices we make “on top of the water” definitely impact the biospheres  above and below the water line.  We are truly called to be guardians of the plant as posited in the “People of the Arctic” video.

credit:  Google images

             Whereas western scientific ways can often (but thankfully not always) jealously guard their exploration and discoveries  while a researcher may work in relative isolation… traditional native knowledge embraces the wisdom of experience, insight and community.  Both approaches can complement each other.  The tradition of passing down wisdom person to person communicates value, trust, and experience.  How many western scientific “discoveries” have ended up in the back of a dark file drawer… never to be seen again?  We all ”win” when we come from a perspective of partnership and community…. whether it is our classroom community, our residential community or our global community.

Three Colleagues:

I very much enjoyed Ernestine’s adventure and travels in her first post.  Matt’s vistas are  beyond compare! I also enjoyed Ester telling about fish camp and sharing that she looks forward to passing the traditions on.  I look forward to the next “installments”.