Healing Leaves

An Indigenous environmental scientist breaks down why western conservationism isn't working--and offers Indigenous models informed by case studies, personal stories, and family histories that center the voices of Latin American women and land protectors. Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate devastation, Indigenous science is nowhere to be found in mainstream environmental policy or discourse. And while holistic land, water, and forest management practices born from millennia of Indigenous knowledge systems have much to teach all of us, Indigenous science has long been ignored, otherized, or perceived as "soft"--the product of a systematic, centuries-long campaign of racism, colonialism, extractive capitalism, and delegitimization. Here, Jessica Hernandez--Maya Ch'orti' and Zapotec environmental scientist and founder of environmental agency Piña Soul--introduces and contextualizes Indigenous environmental knowledge and proposes a vision of land stewardship that heals rather than displaces, that generates rather than destroys. She breaks down the failures of western-defined conservatism and shares alternatives, citing the restoration work of urban Indigenous people in Seattle; her family's fight against ecoterrorism in Latin America; and holistic land management approaches of Indigenous groups across the continent. Through case studies, historical overviews, and stories that center the voices and lived experiences of Indigenous Latin American women and land protectors, Hernandez makes the case that if we're to recover the health of our planet--for everyone--we need to stop the eco-colonialism ravaging Indigenous lands and restore our relationship with Earth to one of harmony and respect.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Reb Noson's letters, based on the understanding he learned from the great chasssidic master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, were written between 1822-1824 to strengthen and comfort his family in the face of life's challenges. Their prescriptions are needed even more today as they provide answers to people searching to bring real meaning and hope into their lives.

In her poetry collection, The Healing Leaf, author Pamela Moorehead expresses her life experiences through a search for words with healing value. Her poetry explores interests in humanitys internal struggles, including humans abilities to tell the truth, let go of poisonous attitudes and emotions, and learn to listen to their intuitive voices. In poems like Murder in the First and The Wheels Go Around, Moorehead invokes strong feelings and philosophies about living an open life that seek to inspire the need to think, write, reflect, and meditate. There are moments when attitudes and emotions, whether positive or negative, bring freedom, like a caterpillar shedding its cocoon to become a beautiful butterfly; Mooreheads poetry is driven by the need to reveal these life-altering, energizing moments. Better Understanding There is a strain in my heart for humanity We speak with our tongues as how view insanity Turn around and the actions are not noble gestures Violence sex drugs and alcohol are our pleasures Somehow mankind cannot get it together Now I cannot say that I am perfect The things I learned as a child in our time Was truly worth it If we have become honest about loving And living Bullying from every perpetrator would disintegrate into nothing