“Everything in creation is sentient and carries knowledge, therefore everything is deserving of our respect.” As brilliant Aboriginal Scholar Tyson Yunkaporta suggests in his paradigm-shifting book Sand Talk, indigenous thinking can save the world and it starts with respect. He points out that the non-Aboriginal approach (which got us into the mess we’re in) generally has the approach backward. Thinking we know everything we start with directing (demanding and controlling), when that doesn't work we reflect, figure out we need to connect to understand what's going wrong, then eventually, belatedly get to respect. Whereas the indigenous approach is the opposite. It starts with Respect. You Connect from a place of respect. Then together Reflect to create mutually beneficial solutions so that finally when you get to Direct, you’re acting on shared knowledge in ways that are agreed on by all. I highly recommend reading Sand Talk as it is written with Aboriginal syntax which whilst jarring at first, gives you a taste of the way of thinking from the act of reading as well as from the content. I wanted to share this today, as today is a fraught day where I'm from. Australia day, or Invasion day depending on your point of view, commemorates the arrival of the first fleet of British colonizers 234 years ago and the disrespect, displacement, and destruction of the First Nation people and their way of life. At long last there is growing respect for Aboriginal people and belated acknowledgement of their land stewardship including cultural burns to clear out underbrush every few years to avoid the truly horrendous bush fires we saw in 2019. Partly responsible for the shift is another brilliant paradigm shifting book, Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe, which challenged our perceptions of pre-colonial aboriginal civilization, shifting the narrative and belatedly awakening respect. So in all things going forward can we please start with respect? Respect, connect, reflect, direct - in that order. #respect #indigenouswisdom #tysonyunkarporta #sandtalk #darkemu #brucepascoe #australiaday #australia https://www.instagram.com/p/CZL2aaXOWzr/?utm_medium=tumblr
