I spent every summer of my childhood at my grandparents house on White Iron lake in Ely. Being there and having those experiences shaped how I’ve traveled this world the entire 60 yrs of my life. This makes me physically and spiritually ill.
As I posted in my initial response to this post, my father’s mother was half Cherokee, my father’s grandmother was full Cherokee. Their blood is in my blood. And I spent a lot of time during my childhood in Prior OK near Cherokee nation. They were truly the kindest, gentlest, wisest, humblest people I’ve ever known. And I was blessed to have them in my life.
I’ve also traveled the world extensively, seeking wisdom from indigenous peoples. And many years ago, I had the great good fortune to meet and interacted with the 13 Grandmothers. I’ve listened to their stories, their songs, their prayers, and shed tears with them.
They’ve traveled the world to share their wisdom. Many of the original grandmothers are now with great spirit and their daughters have taken on their task.
“For the Living Continuation of Ancient Traditions”
“The way that we preserve our ceremonies, our culture, is by sharing the knowledge with those who would take the time to listen.”
- Grandmother Mona Polacca, Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa
I currently live in Arizona and I’ve taken workshops and participated in sweat lodges with Mona Polacca. Her wisdom is immense.
the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS).
This is a specific policy shift aimed at changing how federal research is conducted on US lands.
The "So What": The Mechanical Shift
• From Extraction to Partnership: Historically, "Western Science" treated Indigenous lands as data points to be extracted. Braiding mandates that research must be community-driven and co-led by Tribal partners from day one.
• Validating "Traditional Ecological Knowledge" (TEK): It officially treats TEK not as "folklore," but as high-resolution longitudinal data. For example, using oral histories to understand 500-year fire cycles that Western records only track for 100 years.
• Climate Resilience: The US government is using this to solve "wicked problems" like wildfire management and food security that Western models alone haven't been able to fix.
The "Who": The Key Players
• The NSF & Federal Agencies: Specifically the CBIKS, which is a $30 million initiative based at UMass Amherst but spread across eight international hubs. They are the ones setting the "Gold Standard" for how federal money can be spent on science.
• Tribal Colleges & Nations: Institutions like the College of Menominee Nation are co-leading these hubs, ensuring that Indigenous intellectual property is protected.
• Policy Makers: Federal and state agencies (like the Forest Service or NOAA) who are now required to "braid" these knowledge systems into their environmental impact reports and land management strategies.
• Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer: While a scientist herself, her work (specifically Braiding Sweetgrass) provided the linguistic and philosophical "bridge" that the US scientific establishment eventually adopted as a formal framework.
The United States of America has done grave damage to the indigenous peoples who have inhabited these lands for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans.
I’ve seen it firsthand. My father’s mother was half Cherokee, my father’s grandmother was full Cherokee. So I spent a lot of time during my childhood in Prior OK near Cherokee nation. They were truly the kindest, gentlest, wisest, humblest people I’ve ever known. And I was blessed to have them in my life.
Subsequently I’ve spent years studying indigenous history, their culture, their medicine, and personally participating in their traditional ceremonies, including sweat lodges, sun dance, pipe, and talking stick, peyote, etc. And professionally, I’ve often included indigenous teaching as an important part of my lifelong work.
It’s heartbreaking to see the lack of awareness of and concern for our environment, our planet, because ultimately what we do to Mother Earth, we ultimately do to ourselves, that which literally sustains us. .
Chief Seattle is famous for his 1854 speech regarding our responsibilities as caretakers- "This we know: the earth does not belong to man—man belongs to the earth".
Likewise, he also said, "Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth," and "Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it".
So many have lost sight of the fundamental importance of caretaking this precious planet.
I, for one, am SICK of money being able to waltz in anytime, anywhere, and do whatever in the Hell they want to do without anyone having the power to stop them!
Buy off any opposition through the power circle of sycophants. All you need is MORE MONEY! Money fixes everything, — except what it destroys!!
Deaths don't seem to able to be reversed either — man, woman, child, animal or environment.
they care more about the profit and just don't think any farther ahead than their own lives. they see the effects and dismiss them as not their fault...
I spent every summer of my childhood at my grandparents house on White Iron lake in Ely. Being there and having those experiences shaped how I’ve traveled this world the entire 60 yrs of my life. This makes me physically and spiritually ill.
As I posted in my initial response to this post, my father’s mother was half Cherokee, my father’s grandmother was full Cherokee. Their blood is in my blood. And I spent a lot of time during my childhood in Prior OK near Cherokee nation. They were truly the kindest, gentlest, wisest, humblest people I’ve ever known. And I was blessed to have them in my life.
I’ve also traveled the world extensively, seeking wisdom from indigenous peoples. And many years ago, I had the great good fortune to meet and interacted with the 13 Grandmothers. I’ve listened to their stories, their songs, their prayers, and shed tears with them.
They’ve traveled the world to share their wisdom. Many of the original grandmothers are now with great spirit and their daughters have taken on their task.
“For the Living Continuation of Ancient Traditions”
“The way that we preserve our ceremonies, our culture, is by sharing the knowledge with those who would take the time to listen.”
- Grandmother Mona Polacca, Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa
I currently live in Arizona and I’ve taken workshops and participated in sweat lodges with Mona Polacca. Her wisdom is immense.
https://www.grandmotherswisdom.org/
I'm super grateful for..
The three-strand metaphor from Kimmerer's work:
1. Strand 1: Indigenous Ways of Knowing (Relational, holistic, place-based).
2. Strand 2: Western Scientific Knowledge (Reductive, objective, experimental).
3. Strand 3: The Scientist/Human (The bridge that brings the two together in service of the land)
the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS).
This is a specific policy shift aimed at changing how federal research is conducted on US lands.
The "So What": The Mechanical Shift
• From Extraction to Partnership: Historically, "Western Science" treated Indigenous lands as data points to be extracted. Braiding mandates that research must be community-driven and co-led by Tribal partners from day one.
• Validating "Traditional Ecological Knowledge" (TEK): It officially treats TEK not as "folklore," but as high-resolution longitudinal data. For example, using oral histories to understand 500-year fire cycles that Western records only track for 100 years.
• Climate Resilience: The US government is using this to solve "wicked problems" like wildfire management and food security that Western models alone haven't been able to fix.
The "Who": The Key Players
• The NSF & Federal Agencies: Specifically the CBIKS, which is a $30 million initiative based at UMass Amherst but spread across eight international hubs. They are the ones setting the "Gold Standard" for how federal money can be spent on science.
• Tribal Colleges & Nations: Institutions like the College of Menominee Nation are co-leading these hubs, ensuring that Indigenous intellectual property is protected.
• Policy Makers: Federal and state agencies (like the Forest Service or NOAA) who are now required to "braid" these knowledge systems into their environmental impact reports and land management strategies.
• Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer: While a scientist herself, her work (specifically Braiding Sweetgrass) provided the linguistic and philosophical "bridge" that the US scientific establishment eventually adopted as a formal framework.
Side note... Trump fires the entire overseeeing board this week.
Her audiobook is great btw!
https://youtu.be/xaSKR6g76HA?si=j-BbLLI655kQ2NMb
SEVEN GENERATIONS, INDEED.
The United States of America has done grave damage to the indigenous peoples who have inhabited these lands for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans.
I’ve seen it firsthand. My father’s mother was half Cherokee, my father’s grandmother was full Cherokee. So I spent a lot of time during my childhood in Prior OK near Cherokee nation. They were truly the kindest, gentlest, wisest, humblest people I’ve ever known. And I was blessed to have them in my life.
Subsequently I’ve spent years studying indigenous history, their culture, their medicine, and personally participating in their traditional ceremonies, including sweat lodges, sun dance, pipe, and talking stick, peyote, etc. And professionally, I’ve often included indigenous teaching as an important part of my lifelong work.
It’s heartbreaking to see the lack of awareness of and concern for our environment, our planet, because ultimately what we do to Mother Earth, we ultimately do to ourselves, that which literally sustains us. .
Chief Seattle is famous for his 1854 speech regarding our responsibilities as caretakers- "This we know: the earth does not belong to man—man belongs to the earth".
Likewise, he also said, "Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth," and "Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it".
So many have lost sight of the fundamental importance of caretaking this precious planet.
How fragile we are…
I, for one, am SICK of money being able to waltz in anytime, anywhere, and do whatever in the Hell they want to do without anyone having the power to stop them!
Buy off any opposition through the power circle of sycophants. All you need is MORE MONEY! Money fixes everything, — except what it destroys!!
Deaths don't seem to able to be reversed either — man, woman, child, animal or environment.
Funny how that works, … isn't it??
shared. and I did put in my two cents about this FOREIGN mine, I think they just don't care about leaving a livable planet for their own kids...
They probably don't have the foresight to see how it effects them.
they care more about the profit and just don't think any farther ahead than their own lives. they see the effects and dismiss them as not their fault...
Perhaps, I'm probably given to much benefit of the doubt.