2009 Return of Traditional Knowledge

2009 - The Year of the Return to Traditional Knowledge.

With society more wrecked than any point since the dark ages, isn't it time NOW to listen to our Indigenous Elders, those who have maintained their relationship to the planet for thousands of years. 

I had the opportunity last Fall to cook for many of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers at the Groton Hotel in Upstate NY's beautiful Fingerlakes Region.  The Grandmother's were visiting for the Women's Gathering pioneered by Janet Fish, a good friend of mine, bringing together an intergenerational team of Indigenous Grandmothers and Leaders, locals, academics, cultural leaders and others for extended discussions of the relationship of humanity and the planet. 

It was clear that all those attending were aware that human's were destined at this pace to outstrip resources, destroy biomass and pollute all the air and land on earth in a few short decades unless something dramatic was done.   This is why the Grandmother's had come to this gathering, to share their respective traditional knowledge about mother earth. 

I had the amazing opportunity during this amazing Week Long Event to make a fire with two sticks and a bow...what an amazing experience and in my home town of Groton, just 10 minutes from Ithaca and Cornell University.

I learned a lot from this experience...including how to make fire, but most of all I learned that there was still hope, that humanity could indeed return earth to Homeostasis using the technology we now have.  I was most touched when the Grandmother from the Arctic shook her head at me and simply said..."no more down, only up up up!"  The message was clear, no more looking back, pointing fingers or losing hope.  The time to act is now.  We must all make sacrifices and changes to our lives to end the continual pillage of our mother, the earth, and therefore improve our own relationships with each other in the process.

2009 is the year I dedicate to Traditional Knowledge and the Indigenous Around the World!