---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••> Subject: Salmon Nation Declaration of Interdependence Date: Sun, 4 May 2003 22:15:17 -0700 Organization: Institute for Cultural Ecology Declaration of Interdependence Johnny Sundstrom We believe that giving, receiving and giving back are the essence of the laws of nature. That the gift of life and the privilege of livelihood are at the heart of the relationship between the Earth and all of its inhabitants. However, for too long, our people, our economy and our behavior have been characterized more by taking than by giving. As a result the land has been depleted, the waters have been fouled, the forests have been over-harvested, the wild sources of our food have become ever scarcer, the air has been tainted and the atmosphere damaged, the freedom of our great rivers has been shackled, the natural reserves of energy production have been squandered, and our immigrant society has overrun and decimated indigenous cultures and the sacred places they depend on. Those of our citizens who seek their livelihood from their stewardship of nature's resources are being priced and regulated off of their holdings and out of their vocations. The education of our youth is losing its support, and its mission to develop complete and knowledgeable citizens is being compromised by specialization, reduced funding, and a loss of contact with the wholeness of the world. Our society is forgetting its elders, neglecting its infants and ignoring the basic needs of the ill, the injured and the disabled. This nation has given up on trying to be the best in the world and has settled for being the most powerful. All of this can be directly attributed to a system which institutionalizes rewards for greed and its accumulation of assets, stifles the values of sharing, penalizes stability and threatens our futures both as species and as ecosystems. When a people has failed to become at home in the place where they live, it is time for change. When abuse and exploitation of the sources of life and sustenance have come to dominate the relationship between a people and their environment, it is time for change. When future prospects for the bounty and the beauty of nature's gifts are in jeopardy, it is time for change. When an economic system functions without honor, it is time for change. When the spiritual relationship between inhabitants and the landscape has been eroded or lost or simply does not exist, it is time for change. And what kind of change is needed? What must we do to bring about the restoration of sanity, safety, responsibility, resource security and the simple truths of community, compassion and charity? What must we do here in Salmon Nation to save our people and our place from the extinction of hope and the processes of degradation that are continuing to encroach on all that makes life good and enduring? Above all, we must restore the spirit of the giveaway - we must replenish Nature's resources so that there is enough to be perpetually shared by our people and all those creatures who share our habitat with us. We must re-create a traditional basis for effort which insures that both personal satisfaction and social status are defined by what one can give back rather than by what one can take. This is not new, this potlatch tradition is ancient in this place. It has its foundation in the historic abundance provided by the land and its waters, and the return of this way will be welcomed by all who embody these desires for change. In order to do this we will have to respect, protect, utilize and preserve the wisdom of our elders and those who have come before us in this place. We will need to provide equitable incentives for good stewardship of our working lands and producing waters. We must insure that we obligate the present and not the future for the costs of repair, development and maintenance of our infrastructure needs. We must instill and encourage commitment to life-long learning and the free discussion of ideas, at the same time as we seek scientific consensus as a basis for civic decision-making. We must be prepared to defend what is rightfully ours without becoming overburdened by the costs of fear and insecurity. We must seek friendship and community with all who neighbor and interact with us. We must revel in our diversity and respect our cultures as they are revived or invented. Traditional practices and sacred sites must be protected. We must rely on the mechanisms of cooperation to accomplish our greatest goals, and guarantee that those who do the work have rights to both fair rewards and a voice in the decisions that design their endeavors. Above all, we must recognize and esteem the Spirit of this Salmon Nation as it exists within and because of all who live, love and pass away here in this homeland of the Thunder-beings and the birthplace of great mountains. In order to accomplish these ends it will be necessary to achieve self-reliance as a region with distinct climates, terrain and culture. It will be necessary to create our own strategies of survival and sustenance with or without the involvement of those whose interests are determined by factors from outside our northwestern homeland. If, as in an earlier time, we must sever or transcend political bonds to those who do not share our values and our desires, then those steps should be taken. We can no longer afford to risk the future of our region by leaving it in the hands of those whose vision is one of global domination at the expense of local necessities. We can no longer sit silent while our relationship to nature and its resources is compromised by the forces of extraction and profit for the benefit of distant capitals of finance. We must be free to determine the destiny of our people and to share that destiny with all that co-habits this land with us. We will be free and our Salmon Nation will be built on the spawning grounds of the past and in the rearing pools of the future. This will be our gift to the givers and it will be our claim to this place. ------------------ <http://www.ecotrust.org/declaration/dec_interdependence.cfm> Join the Constitutional Convention on a Declaration of Interdependence! <http://www.salmonnation.com> Visit Salmon Nation Online. •••@••.••• -- ============================================================================ For the movement, the relevant question is not, "Can we work through the political system?", but rather, "Is the political system one of the things that needs to be fundamentally transformed?" cyberjournal home page: http://cyberjournal.org "Zen of Global Transformation" home page: http://www.QuayLargo.com/Transformation/ QuayLargo discussion forum: http://www.QuayLargo.com/Transformation/ShowChat/?ScreenName=ShowThreads cj list archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=cj newslog list archives: http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=newslog 'Truthout' excellent news source: http://www.truthout.org subscribe addresses for cj list: •••@••.••• •••@••.••• ============================================================================
