Humainologie creative dialogue with Zoom link for team practice on Wednesday February 10

Here are two good quotes on our theme for February (Love and Service to Others):

“Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very large house. They told me it was a bank and that the white men place their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it back with interest. We are Indians and we have no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by, they return them with interest, and our hearts feel good. Our way of giving is our bank.” - Chief Maquinna, Nootka

“Being Indian is an attitude, a state of mind, a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings. It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet; to allow feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes; bringing aliveness up from the Earth and from the Sky, putting it in and giving it out from the heart.” - Brooke Medicine Eagle

Here is the Zoom link for our creative dialogue team practice this coming Wednesday February 10

Topic: Humainologie creative dialogue team practice Time: February 10, 2021 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Every week on Wed, until Feb 24, 2021, 8 occurrence(s) Feb 10, 2021 06:30 PM Feb 17, 2021 06:30 PM Feb 24, 2021 06:30 PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81306921476?pwd=QnJ3bkFvSXVQSWVacXJ4Wml4cTEwUT09 Meeting ID: 813 0692 1476 Passcode: 12345

In our creative dialogue facilitated by Erica Amery last Wednesday, we again achieved flow, the joy of movement. Erica’s topic was Intercultural Communication. I had summarized Ari Shavit’s book about the triumph and tragedy of Israel.

The displacement of peoples has many historical precedents, and perhaps the largest has been the displacement of Indigenous Peoples by Europeans in the Americas. We are living on land that was previously the home of a rich and diverse culture - or cultures, comparable to the richness and diversity of those in Europe - which our odd colonial way of thinking had begun to destroy. There were some who saw the light, who became aware of the vast expanse of wisdom to be found in the very Indigenous cultures which colonialism was threatening. In “Dances with Wolves,” Kevin Costner plays the role of a man whose life is transformed because of his encounter with an Indigenous culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_nhvO8stg

Who knows, it might transform your life too. I suggest we explore that wisdom of Indigenous cultures a little further right here, in the land of the Tsuut’ina Nation, Stoney Nakoda Nation, and Siksika Nation. To get started, I’ve appended herewith a synopsis of the book Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips, and Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality, by Bob Joseph with Cynthia F. Joseph.

Looking forward,

Arthur

Book: (Bob Joseph with Cynthia F. Joseph) Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality (2019)

Reading my synopsis of a book falls far short of reading the book itself, though my synopsis might be sufficient for your purposes. Reading a book falls far short of putting into practice what the book suggests or doing further research of your own. That said, here’s my synopsis.

The historical orientation provided In the Introduction is a good place to start: “The path to reconciliation began in 1982 when the rights of Aboriginal Peoples were recognized in Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act. The next milestone on the journey was in 1998 when the federal government made the Statement of Reconciliation, thereby acknowledging government inflicted damage on Indigenous Peoples. …In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its Final Report: the first volume is titled Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.” Based on tens of thousands of testimonies from survivors, the deeply disturbing report raised the obvious question of where to go from here. And that led to 94 Calls to Action contained in the Final Report, “guidelines for moving forward together in a spirit of reconciliation.”

The expulsion of North America’s Indigenous Peoples from ancestral lands by Europeans is one of history’s major atrocities. I think that, somehow, I share in the responsibility for righting that wrong. This book is a concise and incisive guide to help with that process. The author Bob Joseph also has a presence on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO9v7CcDWiw

I was surprised at how little I knew about Canadian Indigenous Peoples, including very basic things. For example, I did not know that in British Columbia alone, there are “over 200 First Nations communities…each with its unique culture, traditions, and history.” Such communities will often have their own websites. A quick search of the internet led me to the website of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary https://www.afccalgary.org/

There are eleven distinct Indigenous language families in Canada. Within a language family, one may find languages as similar as French is to Spanish (and also as different). The linguistic and cultural diversity among Indigenous Peoples in Canada is comparable to the linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe. However, English is becoming the common language of Indigenous Peoples in Canada (except in Quebec). Also: “Aboriginal Peoples are the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian population.”

Indigenous communities differ in such things as governance structures and perceptions of authority. In some, with matriarchal traditions, women are considered the decision-making authorities. Governance structures have historical roots not only in the indigenous communities themselves, but – especially if the governance structure involves elections – in processes imposed from outside the communities, by acts of the Canadian government. Both a traditional governance structure and an externally imposed (electoral) governance structure may coexist in a community. The recent trend is to move away from elected toward the more traditional structures.

The author lists seven issues that are of particular concern for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: 1) Poorer health (higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, tuberculosis and many other diseases; 2) Lower levels of education; 3) Inadequate housing and crowded living conditions; 4) Lower income levels; 5) Higher levels of incarceration; 6) Higher rates of suicide; and 7) Higher rates of unemployment. “Indigenous leaders and negotiators will tend to place premium value on measures that increase levels of health, education, housing, and income in their communities, as well as on measures that decrease levels of unemployment, incarceration, substance abuse, and suicide.”

In Chapter 8, “Respect: A Path toward Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples,” we learn about the three R’s that prominent national Indigenous leaders have emphasized to guide an Indigenous relations process: Recognition, Respect, and Reconciliation. “Recognition means to recognize constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights. Respect means to address the uniqueness of individual Indigenous Peoples, their cultures, and their constitutionally protected rights. Reconciliation means to restore harmony between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”

Based on the three Rs’s, the author helped develop a training model for building effective relationships with Indigenous Peoples. The seven steps in this model can be remembered using the acronym RESPECT, as follows: Research, Examine, Strategize, Present, Evaluate, Customize, Transform.

Research. To work effectively with an Indigenous Community, research is essential, and it starts with examining yourself. There’s a checklist with such questions as “Are you comfortable working with Indigenous Peoples?” and “Do you have personal contacts for Indigenous advice?” Another checklist guides you in your research about the specific Indigenous community with which you would be interacting: such things as any existing cultural centres; books by community authors; and a website the community may have. Specific information to look for includes community profiles and statistics; fishing, hunting, and gathering activities; decision-making structures; and more. A list of half a dozen sources to use in your research is also provided.

Examine. Based on your research, examine how it might be relevant to your interactions with the community. Timing is important. The community may not have time to interact with you during the season when they are fishing, for example, or a recent death in the community may make this the wrong time to try to schedule a meeting with them. Details of several cases illustrate ways you can blunder despite your good intentions.

Strategize. This section is worth an entire book. It’s how to “put together a strategy for approaching the community that you hope to engage with.” We learn of the importance of cultural survival in the consciousness of Indigenous communities everywhere; and of their emphasis on the “Seventh Generation Principle” – All decisions must include consideration of impacts on community members seven generations into the future. Then there’s the principle of connectivity: “In this view, everything is connected. The spirit world is connected to the mortal world, the sea is connected to the land, the sky is connected to the ground….” This section made me understand why someone like me might want to be adopted into an Indigenous community https://bestselfmedia.com/adopted-by-native-american/ Women as the decision-making authorities; casual dress code as an important form of communication; and the clumsiness of simple acts like looking at your watch – to illustrate just a few glimpses of the transformative wisdom here.

Present. After careful preparation, you may be ready to make your presentation to the Indigenous community. Don’t arrive too early and don’t get into idle chit-chat with someone before your presentation. Acknowledge the land. “An informed acknowledgement is authentic, accurate, respectful, and spoken with heartfelt sincerity. …The exercise of doing the research to find out on whose land a meeting or event is taking place is an opportunity to open hearts and minds to the past and make a commitment to contributing to a better future, which is the essence of reconciliation.” The authors comment on such things as eye contact, colloquialisms, a sense of humor, and much more: and what they advise may surprise you.

Evaluate. Evaluate how the meeting went. A list of questions is provided.

Customize. After all that, “Now is the time to customize your work, incorporating the feedback received and requests made….” Depending on the needs and priorities of the community you are working with, you may want to customize the next leg of your journey. The author emphasizes communications, notably 1) ensuring that the whole community knows what is happening; and 2) ensuring that you are receiving widespread feedback from the community.

Transform. Transform your relationship with the Indigenous community. The book is written in large part for someone working for a business organization. Almost every part of the book, however, is equally helpful for someone like me. I am very much aware that if I can transform my relationship with an Indigenous community near Calgary, it will also have a positive transformative effect on my own life.