Incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems into decision-making
The Land and Peoples Relationship Model and the teachings of No Voice
Two years ago, I attended the Intuitive Inter-species Communication Symposium, where many Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers shared the methods they used for decision making.
Elder Joe Copper Jack shared his work using the Land and Peoples Relationship Model, a collaborative planning and mediation knowledge tool based on indigenous knowledge. He is the grandson of Chief Jim Boss (Kishwoot) of the Ta’an Mun (Headwaters People) of Lake Lebarge, Yukon, and of Copper Jack of Chitina, Alaska, Indigenous Knowledge Holder and Land Relationship Planner, and creator of the Land and Peoples Relationship Model.
Land and Peoples Relationship Model
This Model ‘actively invites plants, non-human animals and other beings of the land to have a seat at the land management table’. He brought No Voice perspectives to our attention, who are ‘those with no voice’, and included them in all discussions, conversations, and decisions made at roundtables.
No Voice had a seat in the Zoom room throughout the day.
Elder Copper Jack reminded us the importance of weaving together worldviews, instead of solely relying on colonialist, Western, mainstream perspectives. He used the stream banks tree metaphor to illustrate that although different knowledge systems and worldviews may not meet or bridge, they could still collaborate side-by-side, ‘without one trying to dominate the others’.
Elder Copper Jack also reminded us to listen to understand and not to respond; to feel as much as to think, and not to be so rigid in our ways.
Including No Voice
The Talking Circle included several No-Voice members, including Turtle, Grizzly Bear, Fern, and Dragonfly. Everyone was asked these questions: What is needed to live into a multi-species culture? How do we engage together (humans and other beings)? What is required of us?
Here were their answers:
No Voice, Turtle: ‘We are the earth. We are born of her and we will be recycled into her mysterious substrate, in the loam, in the soils, the structure and fibre of life herself. Don’t get into othering process, where we make ourselves other than our kin... Remember to be in the flow. Notice where the flow is going, like in water. So that we may flow around obstacles. Where there’s strong resistance, adjust our posture, our inner posture, so that we may be ones to offer less resistance to the flow and to whatever happens around us.’
No Voice, Grizzly Bear*: ‘Share space. Build trust and truth.’
No Voice, Fern*: ‘Walk carefully and walk with understanding. Listen to what you cannot hear.’
No Voice, Dragonfly*: ‘Have multiple perspectives. Be open to light, air. Embrace fun. Feel the connection and rhythm of Earth, and build safe habitats for all.’
*Quotes of Grizzly Bear, Fern, and Dragonfly are summaries from intuitive inter-species communicator participants.
