In this video, hand-tool powered earth works is used to make ponds throughout a landscape. Rather than use an A-frame and topo maps to lay out the excavations, time and careful observation guides engagement in the process, as Sean describes shortly into the video embedded above. Water and topography go hand-in-hand to describe and guide each other.
Taking a slow and deeply observant approach to interacting with Nature harmoniously is reminiscent of the TEK practiced by indigenous peoples, such as in tropical Mayan agroforestry. The human-scale care full engagement with land lends itself to the momentum of the forest. There are not a lot of examples left of this close-to-Earth approach, but thankfully life begets life and every lifeboat, ladder and lamp helps.
I remember the persecution of European spirituality and earth-based
ways of life, and with that I see the universally acceptable in the
revolutionary founding of the USA.
I remember the massacring and
grave injustices toward the original stewards of Turtle Island, and
with that I see the universally scornful and hypocritical in the
colonization of the land we call the Americas.
In the middle of these pillars of past memory, one may walk toward universal realization of the USA’s mantra, “liberty and justice for all.”
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Mamwlad is Welsh for motherland. In this song, indigenous poet Lyla June sings about the conquering of the indigenous peoples of Europe, singing with loving forgiveness; truth and compassion; and forward-looking faith.
“Great grandmothers burned at the stake for holding the earth in their hands…persecuted…these were not evil people, these were Europe’s healers. They were healers.
This old heart of mine, it weeps away. This old heart of mine, it feels the pain, of all our ceremonies going up in flames. But feeling is healing and these tears are falling like rain…and this is why we remember their names…and this is why we wash away the pain. So let it rain on this land.
My mother’s medicine lives in the Earth. Rising from the ashes as we remember. I can hear her songs running through my veins, as my brother’s blow on embers of old bards’ stories. I will place my feet in the streams to mend the tattered edges of my father’s dreams. I will see past blood and I will remember the beauty, the beauty of a people before the conquerors came. I will not choose war, I will choose peace, and honor the ancestors that live inside of me.”
With the soil of our ancestors and the seeds of future generations, we can grow a present worth gifting.
Consider the source of any bounty. A delicious dish of roasted brussel sprouts. A beautiful diamond. The materials to build a satisfying shelter, either piled up on site or arranged as they are when the build is complete. In each case, what is the source like, what is the harvest like? What is the supply chain like? Is there appropriate reciprocity, mutual benefit, and honor?
It can be either way, a virtuous regenerative cycle or a dishonorable, self-destructive cycle.
Consider this in your own life, and what do you find? Being among the people who can read and write on the internet, it is likely that we’re engaged in much forced-taking and dishonorable harvest. For example, the Earth provides some food freely or with mutually beneficial work, but much of the food in the United States comes to us through forceful production, harvest, transport, etc. in a cycle which depletes the very resources (e.g. soil, clean water) which it relies on.
Should we be ashamed of the dishonorable harvests we’re engaged in? Many are not our conscious choice or something we can easily affect; this is simply the world we’ve been born into, and it’s quite convenient at that! Yet I’d argue we should be ashamed, for who else will be? It is like a first step to improvement: acceptance. Accepting the dishonor of these processes is a first step. But do not let shame get you stuck in place. Let it inspire you to improve, to make the small steps you can each day on the long journey toward regenerative landscapes and lifestyles, rather than forceful, dishonorable and depleting harvests.
Don’t waste your hate, rather gather and create
Be of service, be a sensible person
Use your words and don’t be nervous
You can do this you’ve got purpose
Find your medicine and use it.
– Manifesto by Nahko Bear and Medicine for the People
This applies to the internal landscape as well as the external one. Cultivating contentedness of mind, speech, and body.
“The Standing Rock protest camp represents that struggle for freedom and the future of a people. All of us. If I ask the question “What would Sitting Bull do?”—the answer is pretty clear. He would remind me what he said 150 years ago: “Let us put our minds together to see what kind of future we can make for our children.”
