native lands- Gonzalo

 The guest speaker we had was very insightful and I appreciate his respect of land and the peoples whom occupy them. It reminded me of my friend Geronimo, who has lived on a reservation for many years. When we would travel together through California, he would thank the land for its abundance and beauty, always reminding me to be mindful of whose land we are on and to not disturb the wildlife. And I was appreciative to then  see an academic with similar values was very refreshing. Sorry but that was just some insight into my thought process as these ideas are not new. In my experience, when we get home from traveling we sage ourselves to remove any lingering energies. On familiar land we would walk barefoot to connect ourselves to the land, and say a prayer. I think as a "modern" society that lives in cities we've lost that connection to the mountains, trees, plants, those things that are alive and take care of us. I don't understand how we pay for water, and it is illegal to collect rain water.  Mother nature provides to us but in a capitalist society everything is a commodity and must have a dollar value. In my backyard we grow lemons, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, chiles, oranges, roses, and other plants depending on the season. Most people buy everything from a store and don't have that connection to their food either. There's an appreciation for life in growing plants. 

Comments

  1. love the barefoot notion. in Germany, scientists and parents both believe that its esp. imp for kids to walk barefoot, it stimulates their brains, all the nerve endings in the feet. love running barefoot, too! totally diff mechanics. and i hear ya on mother nature in the backyard.

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