Have you ever wanted to be more supportive and involved in struggles for Indigenous health and wellbeing, but didn’t know how? This portion of the class will provide students with some best practices and faux pas when assisting Indigenous Nations. We will talk about the importance of helping the original stewards of the land you live on, some creative initiatives to bring Western society into service of local Indigenous communities, how to approach Indigenous communities and more. 

While there were some deviations from this norm, the majority of sustainable Indigenous civilizations do not build major dams, drill water wells or divert large amounts of water. How then, did and do these civilization work with water in a manner that sustained their nations for thousands and thousands of years. We will go over the physical, symbolic and spiritual properties of water, common proverbs as they relate to water, floodplain irrigation, strategic placement of settlements and an ethic that trusts that what the snow and rain provides is enough. Hopefully this can help us think differently about water today and bring us into greater harmony with sacred water. 

Related to Indigenous Hydrology, we will explore ways in which various Indigenous societies are already ready for uncertain climatic futures. We will go in depth into the genius of diversifying food sources, as well as the importance of weaving strong kinship networks. We will provide some thought experiments that highlight the vast importance of working collaboratively and strategic as a human society. We will also touch on the role of ceremony and spirituality in regulating the climate and the importance of prayer in forging a path forward for future generations. Lastly, we will discuss Creation Stories and how they document the end of certain worlds and how the people managed to survive and thrive in the face of these transformations.