In this chapter of Medicine Wheel for the Planet, Dr. Jennifer Grenz takes us to the south of the Medicine Wheel where she shares stories told to her by Indigenous Knowledge Keepers of “the legacies of human leadership in our ecosystems.”
These stories tell of how indigenous peoples around the world have long been balancers of their ecosystems, so that there was not too much of one thing or too little of another. There wasn’t people plus nature, there was just nature. And that nature always included people as one of the relations.
These stories are just as relevant now as they were back when they were first told. Indeed, they help to change the way we think about, and thus act towards, the natural world.
Things we chat about in this episode:
How changing our relationships requires changing our language.
Why we love “bearing” “salmoning” and “rivering”.
Why there is no such thing as “pristine, untouched wilderness”.
What is the most important role people have to play in ecosystems?
How relational webs can restore ecological balance.
Cool things we reference:
🎨 Spider Web Art by Tomás Saraceno
Actions this quote inspires us to take:
Katherine: To try the exercise Jennifer describes on page 162: to go to a familiar place and “put on relational glasses” so that I can see all of the relationships in that place. I want to go really deep and find the smallest interconnections (even those I can’t see because they are too small or underground or otherwise hidden).
Manon: I am working on a riparian restoration project with a local environmental group. Instead of just going in, planting native species and then leaving, I want to approach this project from a relational perspective. I would like to take the group through an exercise inspired by this chapter, such as having them sit at the site and get to know the relations that live there.
Thank you so much for listening today! We really appreciate you being here. In our next episode we are deep diving into Chapter 12, our last chapter in Medicine Wheel for the Planet by Dr. Jennifer Grenz. Until then we hope you stay well and have many moments to Slow Read.
Your Friends,
Katherine and Manon
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