I'm a sessional instructor at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta and am participating in Spirit of the Land as a digital liaison for the class.
There is a growing unease in all of us as the effects of our lifestyle on the environment becomes ever more present. If you’re here on this site, I need not mention the multiple ways our modern lifestyle is taxing the natural world beyond its means. I’m not here to tell you where we are, but where we can go together.
I’m excited to tell you that this site is becoming a gathering place for those who are creating community around values that place the natural world at the center of our systems of meaning. For too long we have taken a human invention – the economic system – and subordinated the natural world to its rules. We did not create, nor can we recreate the natural system, but we CAN recreate the economic system if we dig into the deep soil of our lives and pull to the surface those rich values of connection, respect, frugality, and love that promote cooperation, harmony and life.
This spring the work of Spirit of the Land will continue in Vancouver and Victoria with the Caring for All Creation course. This offers others the chance to share the work we did in Fall 2013, and continue the work through live broadcasts of meetings and sharing the journey on this blog.
By gathering together we are able to promote that longing for a healthy relationship with our planet we all share. We can be inspired by the work we are all doing individually to come into right relationship, and build a sustainable system on the strength and tenacity of grass roots.
Lorne Green shared the difficult history of residential schools with our class. Part of connecting with the land is healing the wounds colonialism has inflicted on us all. This is an important step forward for all of us, and will open us to right relationship with each other and with the land.
Peter LeBlanc also led us in a contemplative exercise on discernment.
Leah shared her experience at a permaculture program in Cuba. In Cuba, a land of merely adequate resources, everything is put to use in creating spaces of low-input agriculture. Economic expenditure of energy of the system – including human energy – is at the center of this intelligent design.
Also, Nola Sharp joined us to lead us in our contemplative practice. I first met Nola in a narrative therapy workshop and the thought of how we story our lives has played in my daily questions ever since.
Roy Louis and his wife Judy connected our class with the history of the Cree people of this land. Roy and Judy are collectors of artifacts and stories, and they connected us with the storied land. History has a different feel when it’s being told about uncles and cousins. These are the tales of the treaty makers.
what a fabulous and inspiring program this is! here are suggestions of some books you might also find of interest. there are so many excellent books out there. these are just the ones that come to mind at the moment:
Wild Earth, Wild Soul: A Manual for Ecstatic Culture – Bill Pfeiffer
Active Hope – Joanna Macy’s most recent book with Chris Johnstone
Going Dark – Guy McPherson
Conscious Collapse – Carolyn Baker
The Derrick Jensen Reader: Writings On Environmental Revolution – Derrick Jensen
or anything else by Derrick Jensen
The Practice of The Wild – Gary Snyder
Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth and Mind – edited by Theodore Roszak
Deep Ecology – edited by Bill Devall and George Sessions
Ecofeminism – Maria Mies, Vandana Shiva
The Ecology of Wisdom: Writings by Arne Naess
Woman and Nature – Susan Griffin
Spirituality for America: Earth-Saving Wisdom From the Indigenous – Ed McGaa
Here are some thoughts from my Anthro 610 course that I am doing alongside SoL.
Right Relationship looks at our practice of contemplation as a way to form relationship with the land. This is echoed in articles I have read about the notion of Time and Sentience in Arctic communities.
Conservation vs. Preservation looks at the effect of sequestering Nature in National Parks. What does this do for the space, for the people in the space, and for the notion of space in general.
Thanks for following along, and I apologize for making you go to my blog to read it! Check out the articles I’ve referenced if you have the chance!
You are meant to hear this – take it with you and live it. ~ Sylvia McAdam
The Spirit of the Land conference was a gathering of the grass roots. It was a gathering of creativity, prayer, music, art, media, ceremony, and bodies that packed the Augustana chapel to capacity. We gathered together to build a dream, to sit in contemplation, to connect with a deeper part of our humanness, and to discuss how to inspire everyone to see what Aldo Leopold calls the Fierce Green Fire – the animation of creation.
We were welcomed to Treaty 6 land with the pipe ceremony of the Plains Cree and the scent of buffalo sage reminded us of the sacred nature of our gathering and the conversations to come. We were meeting to share our cariño, our deep affection for the lands that have nourished us, and to remove the veil of innocence surrounding Canada’s past and present treatment of the First Nations people of this land. In healing the wounds of these injustices, we can hope to move forward in solidarity as we take action to protect our lands – the prairie sky that opens our hearts, the sacred hunting lands of the ancestors, the safe space that leads to the childlike discovery of the natural world, our generations of family farms, and our developing cities.
Day 1 – Welcome to the Conference
Elder Roy Louis, Dean Allen Berger,Carmelle Mohr & Rajan Rathnavalu
We were asked to share a conversation about our connection to the land. Here are the ties that bind this group to the world.
Sylvia McAdam, co-founder of #idlenomore provided us with her powerpoint and the recording follows:
A key aspect of the conference was the community-building that took place during the roundtable discussions. Addressing the truth of exploitation of First Nations and the reality of the treatment of the land is difficult to hear and even more difficult to discuss. Healing requires hope and a desire for wholeness. It is only together that we will find right relationship, and at this conference we were given a safe space to practice these conversations.
Day 2 – Welcome
Janice Makokis and Roger Epp discussed treaty relationship from First Nations and settler perspectives. Janice spoke first of her experience of asking for guidance from Elders during her research. Answers from Elders take time and they always return to the Creation Stories to first ground the knowledge in its proper place. This telling of Treaty relationship from both perspectives was a re-storying of the creation of our nation. It was a re-history that acknowledged the truth of the exploitative stance of European settlers. By lifting the veil, we were able to retell our own stories in a way that recognized our common ground – the Earth.
This was followed by a roundtable discussion that was not captured due to technical difficulties.
Lorne Fitch spoke on one of the conservationist/philosophers who ground the conference – Aldo Leopold.
After lunch, a panel discussion showed us what it means to dream together. Each individual holds a sacred relationship with the land they love that inspires spiritual renewal.
~ Takota Coen(forest gardener & young farmer) ~ Don Ruzicka (organic farmer) ~ Brenda Barritt(food security) ~ Sylvia McAdam(scholar, indigenous leader)
And a roundtable discussion:
Followed by a question period for the panel
Chris Turner shifted our gaze from the “wild” to the natural aspects of the urban landscape. He noted that the land ethic of city design is focused on automobiles and not on livable human spaces. A rethinking of the natural as a part of the cityscape is key to including large populations in a reconsideration of the relationship to the Earth and her systems.
Finally, Dittmar Mündel spoke on the inspiration for the class and conference and the vital importance of hope in the face of such difficulty.
As the archivist for the conference, there are so many things I failed to capture. I apologize for poorly placed recording equipment, muffled sounds, clicking keyboards and the like, but I have done what I could with my abilities and technology. I would like to leave you with a final highlight, in case I’ve missed it in the recordings.
During Takota Coen’s talk (see the video below), he spoke of a moment during his training in the healing plants of the land. A great weight sat on his heart as he sat in contemplation of his relationship to the Earth and her systems. He recalled the ways he and his family had taken the generosity of the land for granted, the ways he had destroyed fragile systems, the moments he had forgotten the sacred nature of all of existence. He sat before a valerian plant and offered it his breath – the CO2 of his exhale – and received breath in return. He asked the plant what it needed from the humans. Overwhelmed by the connection, he felt called to communion and reached for a single leaf. Recognition was all the plant asked for, and in return it offered him grace, forgiveness, nourishment, and the very breath of life.
Recognition of the natural world – of its inherent rights and its essential contributions – this is the basis of a land ethic.
Carmelle returned to her Alma Mater this evening to share her recent experiences in Peru with DIACONIA. You can access more of her reflections on her blog from her time there, The Peruvian Square. Carmelle put us in touch with the stories of not only the place she visited, but with the people who welcomed her into the rhythm of their lives. The most important thing to do, they say, is to have a potluck with the people and share conversation. This is how we will address the pressing issues we are facing.
In addition, Rajan led us in a contemplative exercise to properly situate our hearts and minds for Carmelle’s talk.
