We currently are facing what I call a cascading number of international crises: interminable wars, artificial intelligence which we have created and now at times seems to be threatening us with extinction or enslavement, a loss of spirituality, impoverished relationships with other humans, and a collapsing natural world that seems often to be our enemy rather than our home, and many others. I think a lot of these problems are linked and in fact are affected and amplified by each other. To some extent I believe that these problems have a common source—namely, a wrong-headed attitude to nature that stems from our faulty assumption that we are separate and apart from nature, but also superior to it and can do with it whatever we choose.

It is also my belief that this attitude is a long-standing one shared by most—but not all—people and particularly by us in the western world.  This attitude is leading us to serious trouble as clearly demonstrated by these cascading crises. I also think there is a better way based on a more healthy relationship to the natural world and it has been demonstrated by many –but not all—indigenous people.  I do not believe that indigenous people are the same and do not believe that there is an iron law that provides indigenous people are good and white people are bad. We are all mixed. None of us are pure. No tribe has a monopoly on wisdom. Neither does any religion.

Yet I also believe there is a lot wisdom that we can all benefit from that has been learned by indigenous people around the world. Us westerners haver too often been arrogant, thinking that we know best and have nothing to learn from others. It is exactly this attitude that is leading us to our doom. We can do better. We must do better.

One of those persons from whom I believe we have a lot to learn is an indigenous person called Robin Wall Winterer. She has written some very interesting books. One of them is called Braiding Sweetgrass.  Elizabeth Gilbert called the book “a hymn of love to the world.” The subtitle of the book is “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.” I want to talk about that book and others. I hope you will travel with me on this meandering journey.