[thechat] READ AT YOUR OWN RISK: Open Letter to America from a Canadian

javier velasco lists at mantruc.com
Thu Aug 22 16:58:00 CDT 2002


Erika Meyer wrote:

> In any case, cultures evolve.  Immediately prior to white contact,
> all living Indigenous North American cultures had very strong
> traditions which promoted not taking more than you need, using of all
> parts of each plant and animal, respect for all living things (this
> included trees, rocks, mountains, etc), and living in relative peace
> with one's neighbors (conflicts were largely ritualized).

Inidenous North American cultures considered rocks to be living things?

Interesting, I'm not sure if South American Indigenous cultures thought
the same way. I do know of some mexican cultures attibutting
consciousness to rocks though, but that's also north america.

I know very few about the Mapuche culture (hugest Indigenous culture in
Chile), I'm very interested in them tough. The word Mapuche means 'man
of the land', this definition explains a central part of their culture:
The people belong to the land, the land does not belong to the people.
They were very "sustainable" in their mode of life, never built any
perdurable construction, only light wooden huts (that's why people tend
to think they were not very 'advanced'), tehy had lots of magic, and a
deep knowledge of nature, medical use of the land, they cared for the
animals, trees are sacred and hold the spirits of their ancestors...

I also enjoyed your post a lot Erika. I love the way you've studied your
roots: gee, how I want to sit with you for a chat :)



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