Love Where You Live
This week, I attended a celebration in my hometown of Park City. Together with 5 municipal governments, 3500 individual donors, and 11 nonprofits, we raised $38million to save a very special place – Bonanza Flat. We share a love of place, and a desire to protect it for future generations. We put aside our differences and worked together for the greater good. Many of us were moved to tears with joy and gratitude for our ability to come together and protect the heart of the Wasatch – forever.
Our ability to collaborate for positive action was based on a foundation of love of place. We feel like we belong to each other and to this place. The word “indigenous” is defined as, “produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment”. As a lifelong Utahan, and a resident of Summit County for 27 years, I am deeply integrated into the landscape of place – this very special spot on the planet. It is this love, this connection that I share with others, that has inspired massive, positive action of conservation. It truly takes this kind of love of place and deep connection to inspire the actions necessary to preserve it. The author, Joel Solomon, spent time on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. The traditional chief, Fools Crow shared with him, “The best way to help the indigenous people is to be one. Sooner or later, you must find a place, where you can stay, and you must protect that place.”
Understandably, the claiming of the term “indigenous” by those who are not Native American raises questions.. There has been a long history, and continued practice of co-opting Native American culture and rituals when it suits us, and not standing up for the real issues of exploitation when it is inconvenient or against our monetary interests. Yet, what good does it do us as a people, as a country, to deny ourselves access to the sacredness of the earth? It is time we all become indigenous, and align our actions in harmony with the natural intelligence of our planet – with the knowledge that has been held sacred by the first nations all over the world. Our planet desperately needs us to love where we are and fight like hell to protect it. Indigenous consciousness, love and care for place, aligning with the natural wisdom of nature’s cycles, and valuing these things as sacred is a moral imperative.
A recent example is the unfolding and outpouring of support for Standing Rock. People from all backgrounds, from around the globe, were deeply moved by the courageous action of the members of the Standing Rock tribe to resist the exploitation of their water for a pipeline. People traveled and prayed and came together with an indigenous consciousness that I haven’t seen in my lifetime. It was the largest gathering of North American tribes since the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Love of place is powerful. Connection to the earth and its natural wisdom is essential if we are to leave a positive environmental legacy for the generations to come. Our protection of Bonanza Flat illustrates the possibility and the impact.
To further develop your earth connection, contact me for upcoming classes. marychrista@consciouscoalitionconsulting.com
