Native Wisdom

Nitakuys oyasin -"we are all related." The Oglala Sioux saying is the philosophy underlying Native American spirituality and practices, a sense of connection to the entire universe. “Native Wisdom” features several informative appendices, including a brief glossary of Lakota words and traditional spiritual songs in English and Lakota.

From the Publisher: Many native North American cultures have origins that predate Confucius, who lived five hundred years before the birth of Christ. For generations the people of these traditions have thrived under conditions that many view as harsh ifnot hostile. Through their close association with nature, members of native communities have created complex systems for cooperating with one another and living within their environments. Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional Cultures Teach Us aboutSubsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality explains how to nurture a society by closely observing the traditions of various native cultures. Author Gary Holthaus explores the need to live sustainably, in harmony with the land, in order to preserve our cultures, communities, and humankind itself. Holthaus asserts that all cultures are subsistence cultures: urban or rural, all humans depend on the land and its provisions for survival. Humankind faces a convergence of forces: climate change, oil depletion, loss of water, loss of topsoil, and species die-off of proportions that exceed those of the past 65 million years. In Learning Native Wisdom, Holthaus shows that any path to sustainability includes elements of both subsistence and spirituality. The book offers a way to confront potential perils and create a better future.

The teachings of the Native Americans provide a connection with the land, the environment, and the simple beauties of life. This collection of writings from revered Native Americans offers timeless, meaningful lessons on living and learning. Taken from writings, orations, and recorded observations of life, this book selects the best of Native American wisdom and distills it to its essence in short, digestible quotes — perhaps even more timely now than when they were first written. In addition to the short passages, this edition includes the complete Soul of an Indian, as well as other writings by Ohiyesa (Charles Alexander Eastman), one of the great interpreters of American Indian thought, and three great speeches by Chiefs Joseph, Seattle, and Red Jacket.

The Piatkus Guide to Native American Wisdom is a comprehensive introduction to the beliefs of the native peoples of North America. Grey Wolf grew up within the Lakota community and in this book shares his knowledge of a deeply spiritual way of life. He provides rituals and practical exercises to help you put into practice Native American traditions in your daily life.

Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First Nation Know-how for Global Flourishing is an edited collection that explores the practical traditional wisdom that stems from Nature-based relational cultures that were or are guided by this worldview.

Presents the wisdom of twelve Native American elders who reminisce about their past and the ways in which their native culture can be preserved and passed down to future generations.

A “profound and inspiring” collection of ancient indigenous wisdom for “anyone wanting the healing of self, society, and of our shared planet” (Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma). A Penobscot Indian draws on the experiences and wisdom of the First Nations to address environmental justice, water protection, generational trauma, and more. Drawing from ancestral knowledge, as well as her experience as an attorney and activist, Sherri Mitchell addresses some of the most crucial issues of our day—including indigenous land rights, environmental justice, and our collective human survival. Sharing the gifts she has received from the elders of her tribe, the Penobscot Nation, she asks us to look deeply into the illusions we have labeled as truth and which separate us from our higher mind and from one another. Sacred Instructions explains how our traditional stories set the framework for our belief systems and urges us to decolonize our language and our stories. It reveals how the removal of women from our stories has impacted our thinking and disrupted the natural balance within our communities. For all those who seek to create change, this book lays out an ancient world view and set of cultural values that provide a way of life that is balanced and humane, that can heal Mother Earth, and that will preserve our communities for future generations.

Another book in the Little Books of Wisdom series: portable, elegantly packaged inspiration from around the world -- irresistible for the impulse buyer and the serious reader alike.