Regrounding democracy in traditional ecological knowledge, ft. Joseph Gazing Wolf
How do we expand our views of 'wealth' and 'security'?
Dear green dreamer,
I'm excited to bring you another moving and perspective-shifting conversation this week. Particularly, I found it very thought-provoking to challenge the conventional ways that many of us have been taught to understand "security" and "wealth" — through the lived experiences and wisdoms of our guest. Enjoy, and gratitudes for all that you are ~
with warmth, kamea
“The more I have worked to build my way out of poverty, the greater the levels of worry, anxiety, and just general exhaustion that I’ve experienced in my life. My best moments in life were when I had nothing and all I had was animals that I worked with...” – Joseph Gazing Wolf
What does it mean to expand our perceptions of wealth — and question what it means to build freedom and security in life? How might we re-ground our understandings of democracy in traditional ecological knowledge? And how do we embrace an all-of-the-above approach when it comes to our possibilities for systemic change?
In this episode, we are honored to welcome Joseph Gazing Wolf, who offers a wealth of wisdom drawing upon his life experiences growing up in landless, abject poverty.
Join us as we explore how what it means to become “uncontrollable” in the eyes of mainstream systems, what we can learn from the diverse Indigenous knowledges rooted in different places around the globe, and more.
View the episode transcript and references here, and dive into the extended version of this conversation via our Patreon here.
Joseph closes out with…
A recommendation: “Several books by a mentor of mine, Father Anthony de Mello. He’s written books on mindfulness and love, and I would say those have been the most impactful.”
A reminder: “I think for me the most important thing is mindfulness. It's what makes any knowledge that I hold applicable, right? If I'm not mindful in the moment, and it doesn't matter if I've written all the books on feminism, I'm not gonna treat my sisters with respect if I'm not being mindful in the moment.”
An inspiration: “My brothers and sisters in Gaza are my greatest inspiration at the moment. I play the oud, which is a traditional Levantine instrument, North African instrument. It's the ancestor to the guitar. One of my sisters who’s in Gaza right now, I play in a band with her, and she took out her oud and started playing it for the kids around her while bombs were falling around them. People who are in these horrifying situations still able to see beauty in life and produce it — those people inspire me.”
And some words of guidance…
“Take every opportunity to experience those sweet moments and to create them for others, because that's really what life comes down to.
We can achieve all kinds of wonderful things societally, but the truly valuable thing in our individual lives is turning to a loved one and kissing them, turning to a child and hugging them, showing compassion to those around us and being a person of loving presence to others. That's really what matters.”
About the guest: Joseph Gazing Wolf is an interdisciplinary Indigenous philosopher. As a scholar in the academic and nonprofit sectors, Joseph partners with Indigenous communities to support the revitalization of their ancestral lifeways, ecologies, and epistemologies. As a land steward in the conservation and agricultural sectors, Joseph works to provide technical support for Indigenous land stewards.
What inspirations or curiosities are still lingering with you from this episode?
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