Transformation and Renewal through Indigenous Dialogue

Transformation and Renewal Through Indigenous Dialogue with David Begay (Navajo), Angelita Valencia Borbon (Yaqui), Greg Cajete (Tewa), Amethyst First Rider (Blackfoot), Rose von Thater Braan-Imai (Tuscarora), Nancy Maryboy (Navajo), Melissa Nelson (Anishanaabe/Metis), Lee Nichol.
Facilitated by Leroy Little Bear (Blackfoot)

Reaching back through recorded history, into the multivalent worlds of oral tradition, Indigenous people have long indicated knowledge of how the world comes into being, and how humans can live in accord with this perpetual ”coming into being.” This knowledge is expressed through origin stories, ceremonial activity, ritual enactment and renewal, paradoxical language play, and trickster humor – it permeates all aspects of daily life in traditional cultures.

When Leroy Little Bear first read David Bohm’s Wholeness and the Implicate Order, he recognized many reflections of his traditional Blackfoot worldview, albeit expressed in different language. David Peat, a friend of both Little Bear and Bohm, arranged for the two of them to meet. There was a natural affinity, and all three concurred that dialogue between Indigenous and Western worldviews was in order.

This program marks a new phase in that ongoing dialogue process, which is not strictly “Bohmian,” nor strictly traditional. It is a new form, ever-evolving, now finding its place in the world of Zoom.

Among the potential topics:  Can shared cultural meaning bridge the polarity between analytic thought and holistic perception? How does our understanding of whole and part affect our action in daily life?  Is it possible to step beyond theory to inhabit the implicate orders of the natural world and the living land? What part do language, art, creativity, and silence play in such investigations? What role do tacit cultural infrastructures play in forming the “worlds” we inhabit?

As Little Bear says, “We may have these starting points, but where we will end up, nobody knows. The best part of dialogue is the opportunity to shed our tacit infrastructures. Prepare yourselves accordingly!”