I am a transition person, a woman of many nations. My mixed-blood is composed of various native ancestry and French/Viking. Though I consider myself an Anishinaabekwe, my teachings are varied and come from Algonquin, Ojibwa, Laudanasaunee, Mic-Mac, Cree and from elders of other nations as well. I believe that we people, both native and mixed blood, carry knowledge and teachings in our blood and genes. We carry the deep knowledge of our ancestors, the knowledge of who we really are. In this context I feel it is my duty to learn traditional teachings of all native Turtle Island groups relating to the earth, along with the songs, and ceremonies so that I can also transmit them to others thereby keeping the culture alive and help regain a healthy planet.
For 500 years now, governments have been trying to define who and what we are and have divided us by these policies. A prolonged attempt at genocide is still going on across the world. Along with this abuse comes a disregard for the wisdom of peoples who have known their land for millenia. Native peoples have not been allowed to contribute the richness of their culture and knowledge to the new exploitative and industrial based societies that colonized them and destroyed the natural environment that had sustained them for thousands of years.
Traditional knowledge of all kinds has been undervalued, a situation that has led to the worldwide ecological disaster confronting us now. We are the keepers of traditional ecological knowledge. Human communities everywhere depend on the bounty that nature provides. The deep ties to the land and its resources, long held by aboriginal peoples everywhere, are a source of information that can benefit everyone. First Nations traditional knowledge and the interrelationship between indigenous peoples and their lands are vitally important information sources to better manage land and resources. Soil productivity, diversity of habitats and healthy wildlife populations were the main focus of daily life, necessary to life itself. The botanical and ecological understanding of the earth’s various geographical areas, acquired over thousands of years, has served us as a source for food and medicines, teachings, and for spiritual expression. Indigenous rights to land and water and the involvement of indigenous peoples in government are necessary to the managing of the land for its very survival.
We are arrived at the 12th hour. It is now our last chance for the scientific community, and policy-makers, environmentalists, producers of all kinds, and everyone else who cares about this planet, to insist on immediate change at all levels of planetary exploitation. We carry the Spirit of our ancestors that I believe to be kind, loving, and aware. We belong to this land but we are still not understood. It is time for us to speak out and make our true selves known so that we can take our rightful place and find the balance that has been taken away. Let us trust in the guidance of our ancestors that comes to us through our traditional practices. They will lead us back with pride and strength to where we belong, to where we must be for the good of all.
