Reviving Our Indigenous Souls

Indigenous is neither a culture nor a people. Its a way. The indigenous way is the embodied ancient memory of how to be fully human, and its encoded in your soul, no matter who your ancestors are. Hidden deep and dormant within your indigenous soul is your identity and your lifes purpose, longing for you to remember them and put them into action. Reviving Our Indigenous Souls: How to Practice the Ancient to Bring in the New can help you do both, as you learn the origin, meaning, and application of 31 common verbs that collectively capture what it means to be fully human; visualize via illustrated appendices the interplay of the physical and spiritual aspects of your indigenous soul at work; discover how ancient wisdom and timeless practices have already defined and shaped you and will forever do so; follow the cues for reflection to discern the meaning that each chapter brings to your own life; and engage in recommended practices to achieve success in reviving your own indigenous soul. At this unprecedented time in planetary and cosmic history, you are needed. You are whole and sufficient, gifted and powerful. You are enough, and you are called to go out into the world and be enough. Let Reviving Our Indigenous Souls remind you of the former and guide you through the latter.

Selected speeches from Indigenous leaders around the world--necessary wisdom for our times, nourishment for our collective, and a path away from extinction toward a sustainable, interconnected future. Indigenous worldviews, and the knowledge they confer, are critical for human survival and the wellbeing of future generations. Editors Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez present 28 powerful excerpted passages from Indigenous leaders, including Mourning Dove, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Winona LaDuke, and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. Accompanied by the editors’ own analyses, each chapter reflects the wisdom of Indigenous worldview precepts like: Egalitarian rule versus hierarchical governance A fearless trust in the universe, instead of a fear-based culture The life-sustaining role of ceremony Emphasizing generosity and the greater good instead of pursuing selfish goals and for personal gain The laws of nature as the highest rules for living The editors emphasize our deep need to move away from the dominant Western paradigm--one that dictates we live without strong social purpose, fails to honor the earth as sacred, leads with the head while ignoring the heart, and places individual “rights” over collective responsibility. Restoring the Kinship Worldview is rooted in an Indigenous vision and strong social purpose that sees all life forms as sacred and sentient--that honors the wisdom of the heart, and grants equal standing to rights and responsibilities. All author proceeds from Restoring the Kinship Worldview are donated to Indigenous non-profit organizations working on behalf of Indigenous Peoples. Inviting readers into a world-sense that expands beyond perceiving and conceiving to experiencing and being, Restoring the Kinship Worldview is a salve for our times, a nourishment for our collective, and a holistic orientation that will lead us away from extinction toward an integrated, sustainable future.

In earlier medical systems, long communication with the patient and his family were in practice. The Vedic books also show that poetic communication is a way to understand the cause of disease. In modern times medical treatment is heavily dependent on machines to diagnose a disease. Even though it takes care of the clinical part of the treatment it overlooks the psychological aspect of a patient. Often it fails. This is why we need a support system in the healing process to make it more holistic. Poetry Therapy can be one among many.

How does one define reconciliation that gives meaning to those who have experienced and suffered from colonization, and to those who have not? Is it even possible? This book presents a collection of storytellers whose stories draw on personal, family and community experiences and not only give a narrative of history, but are crucial to the cultural and political resurgence of indigenous nations and, most importantly, a gateway to reconciliation. Many of these stories were untold for numerous years, as it simply was not safe to share, but the present is a different time, and people are ready to listen. Each voice in this book is unique; the voices will draw you into a new perspective of the challenges the authors faced, as well as the opportunities. Once these voices have been heard, the time for healing, understanding and mentorship may begin. What ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ means to Alberta Billy, one of the brave voices in this book, is to regain community strength and to help indigenous people heal and educate others. The understanding that should be taken from this book is how resilient the sense of community is with the indigenous people, and how we can learn from them. In the end, the intention behind reconciliation is to form a larger community with no cultural borders, where everyone benefits.

From the earliest settler policies to deal with the “Indian problem,” to contemporary government-run programs ostensibly designed to help Indigenous people, public policy has played a major role in creating the historical trauma that so greatly impacts the lives of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Taking Back Our Spirits traces the link between Canadian public policies, the injuries they have inflicted on Indigenous people, and Indigenous literature’s ability to heal individuals and communities. Episkenew examines contemporary autobiography, fiction, and drama to reveal how these texts respond to and critique public policy, and how literature functions as “medicine” to help cure the colonial contagion.

This handbook offers an expanded discourse on transformative learning by making the turn into new passageways to explore the phenomenon of transformation. It curates diverse discourses, knowledges and practices of transformation, in ways that both includes and departs from the adult learning mainstay of transformative learning and adult education. The purpose of this handbook is not to resolve or unify a theory of transformation and all the disciplinary contributions that clearly promote a living concept of transformation. Instead, the intent is to catalyze a more complex and deeper inquiry into the “Why of transformation.” Each discipline, culture, ethics and practice has its own specialized care and reasons for paying attention to transformation. How can scholars, practitioners, and active members of discourses on transformative learning make a difference? How can they foster and create conditions that allow us to move on to other, unaddressed or understudied questions? To answer these questions, the editors and their authors employ the metaphor of the many turns into passageways to convey the potential of transformation that may emerge from the many connecting passageways between, for instance, people and society, theory and practice, knowledge created by diverse disciplines and fields/professions, individual and collective transformations, and individual and social action.

The National Mission For Manuscripts, Through Its Nationwide Documentation Efforts, Is Engaged In Preserving And Rendering Accessible India'S Knowledge Cultures. The Mission'S Seminar Series, Samrakshka, Which Began In February 2005, Presents Various Regional And Local Practices Employed In The Creation And Preservation Of Manuscripts.

When we allow our hearts to resonate with stories, we feel a reverberation, the echoing spirit of all humanity, and the universe itself, beating within. We are called into harmony, and we feel our spirits aligned with all that is. As Wedlidi Speck states in his introduction to this important book: Reconciliation is storied differently by different people⦠In the end, by sharing the stories in this book, we may just find the definition of reconciliation is embedded in each story shared⦠Readers will find that reconciliation is personal, and it includes family and aims towards community. To that end, in order to understand the fullness and richness of reconciliation, we hope each reader will find a role in reconciliation by placing all these stories together in a mixing bowl of sorts and coming up with a broader view that will heighten our country's cultural awareness, deepen Canadian sensitivity, sharpen Canadian agility and grow cultural safety in all our country's homes, villages and work spaces.