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Eric Nicolas Schneider
Joined: Nov 12, 2003
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Achievements of Indigenous Cultures
February 6, 2004 @ 02:11 AM
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Hello! I am opening this thread, because the other threads have produced the topic of establishing a correct perspective and consciousness of history and cultures' relationships.
I would like to invite ewverybody to share and collect the grand "ACHIEVEMENTS AND GIFTS" that traditional cultures have invented and provided to the PLANET and the well-being of the affluent nations of today.
Spreading this knowledge can help nurturing the respect and appreciation for indigenous people and t´raditional cultures, thus support their protection, AND motivate people to listen attentively to the indigenous wisdom keepers' advice for succesfully transforming the seriously disfunctional industrial societies.
THE TERM INDIGENOUS needs to be re-defined here: In the context of today's dominant culture, WHO are the indigenous cultures?
- is it the children of nature, the tribal communities? yes, but what about Inca and Aztecs empires?
- is it those ignored in policy and lobbying today, and that is those that are not among the recognized "world religions" yes, but what about the ignored fundamental achievements of India?
- is it all besides the NON-Mediterranean judeo-christian- muslim people? yes, but who knows about the great achievements of Arabia that nurtured the flourishing of Europe in the time of the Greek philosophers and the knights? and what about Egypt? who is aware of them?
We see, it is a mix; maybe we agree on a common gut-feeling we have about "indigenous / traditional" and other ignored cultural entities,... you decide!
>>>>
Let's LOOK BACK to check where the "advancement of civilization" (most often considered to be modern western/european/US-american achievements) originated from, and, ALSO : LOOK AHEAD to what treasures the indigenous / traditional cultures offer for the common wealth of humanity, and the creation of sustainable societies. :-)
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johnny flink
Joined: Feb 7, 2004
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Food resources & medicines & democracy
February 7, 2004 @ 03:42 AM
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It is an amazing fact how much of today's basic crops have been cultivated by the ancient cultures of the Americas : they comprise potatoes and corn, tomatoes, peppers, cocoa, sugarcane, tobacco and many spices. And what we see in our grocery stores is just a little choice of the varieties still used in Latin America. As stated in another forum, this has been a major reason for the rapid advancement of European societies. The potatoe, first rejected by the farmers and partly introduced by force, was the first stable food source for the growing population.
Also, the riches which propelled the European monarchs warfare and expansion originated for the better part from South America. There are no considerable silver and gold mines in Europe.
The major medications today are said to be made of approximately 40 different ingredients, - all from the rainforest plants of South America; and the knowledge was learned from the natives of course!
Last not least, the American constitution, the first modern democracy, - and often considered the best model yet (in theory) - was "copied" from the agreements of the Five(?( Nations Confederacy of the Iroquois, if I remeber well.
!! Maybe some Canadian TIG-members can give us some exact facts on this...!!
Realizing a democracy that allows all people to participate, and that is resistant to corruption is what we need to create a better world. I believe we have to learn from the indigenous people to set right priorities in what we need and want, and how to behave towards ourselves, each other and the living world around us. We need to learn a good deal about worldview from them. That is a major gift they have always been offering the world, but it is still widely ignored.
!! I am sure some indigenous TIG members know more about it than myself... Help !!
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johnny flink
Joined: Feb 7, 2004
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festivals + weekdays + calendars + well-being
February 8, 2004 @ 07:59 AM
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Dear Weltgeist, thank you for this inspirational topic. I spent the day in some research, and found out a whole lot about the world around me...
Festivals:
Easter and Christmas are not Christian festivals. Jesus never knew them. They are rather "Churchian", but they are not even that. They came about after the 5th Century, when the Pope allowed his messengers to adapt to traditional belief systems (indigenous, pagan (=rural)) in order to expand the influence of the Roman belief system (also the Pope's title, Pontifex Maximus, is the ancient title of the Roman High Priest. Something that Jesus always spoke out against: there is no need for a transmitter of God (pope, priest etc.), because everybody can open up to the Great Spirit and Great Father individually, similar to Buddhism).
Actually, the major churchian festivals are adopted from nordic traditions, so-called "pagan":
- Easter is dedicated to the goddess Ostaria. Bonfires celebrate the return of light and fertility.
- Christmas is an ancient nordic festival celebrating mid-winter solstice, - the shortest day of the year. Yet, the middle of winter indicates the coming return of the sun. In the old days, they used to hang small pine trees upside down from the ceiling as a female symbol "V", representing fertility. To catch the spirit of Christmas means shifting attention QUITE A LITTLE BIT from the mainstream. Also, Coke-red Santa Claus in an invention by Cocal Cola, end 19th Cent.
- Summer solstice is the opposite time of the year, when the sun is highest and most powerful, - the longest day of the year, about June 21. This has always been a major event in the native American cultures. It is still celebrated at the major ancient germanic "natural Stonehenge", the Externsteine /Extern-Stones. On this occasion, the sun's rays pass a specific hole in the stone.
- Thanksgiving is dedicated as thanks to the natives that brought the starving settlers through the harsh winter. What strikes me, is that they celebrate it not after but before the winter. This is the time of the traditional harvest of wheat and rye festivals of Europe. Maybe they simply replaced the corn harvest with turkey harvest because they had no wheat fields ?
- Halloween is from Ireland - which is a really ancient and magical place anyway, full of fairy tales.
Fairies and tales are all indigenous, traditional.
Isn't it strange how ignorant people are, how they still be-devil the pagans and indigenous. That is quite psychopathic!
Week-days:
Thursday goes back to Thor, God of Thunder, of the nordic traditions. Friday goes back to Freya, the great female Goddess, nordic. Monday means the Moon, nordic origin. Sunday is for the sun, nordic also. Saturday is saturn, greek.
Calendars:
The most impressive seems to be the Mayan Calendar. It appears that the Maya "see" the ocean of time beneath our daily and yearly currents, just like the Chinese have disvovered the invisible energy lines used for acupuncture.
Preventive Herbal Medication:
Whenever I drink a herbal tea, it's because my tribal ancestors found out what it is good for. The realm of ayurvedic medicine is also very old traditional knowledge.
Energy and Health:
Ayurveda and acupuncture are thousands of years old, so are massages, yoga, similar gymnastics and the use of hot tubs. Everything that "makes us feel good" has indigenous / traditional roots .
Altogether, "things that make us feel good", from massage and teas to festivals.
Ehhhm, this leaves me with a question: to this point, has the modern world brought us anything to feel good, besides technology-driven comfort on the cost of others, our own and - our children ? Seriously, I am lost to find something meaningful...
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