Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence (Paperback)

by Gregory Cajete Ph.D.(Author),

Leroy Little Bear (Foreword)

Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence

Gregory Cajete, Ph.D., a Tewa Indian from Santa Clara Pueblo, is Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico College of Education and former chair of Cultural Studies and Dean of the Center for Research and Cultural Exchange at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

          He is the editor of a People's Ecology: Explorations in Sustainable Living.

          Author of Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education and Ignite the Sparkle: An Indigenous Science Education Model.

In fact, I have ordered four more of the same book, not my habit to go beyond one and uncommon for me to share. However, due to usage my pages are falling out of my original book copy. Professor Cajete's is rich in data, which fits into life events in unique ways; and why my first book I am taking apart and subdividing it, in a notebook. I wonder if we were writing side-by-side this the WOW Book of the century.

Review included testing against my four-lifetimes equal to more than three-hundred years of experiences and rediscovery of vast arrays of knowledge and sacred knowledge received and learned from elders. Each person life cycle normally equals 360 degrees in one physical form. Nevertheless, some of us live two to four life cycles during ones sacred life journey in ones physical form.

Many young children chosen to become sacred elders are born old and they begin living several life cycles, required of them to become sacred elders. Then not all originally chosen to learn from the Sacred Elders are found worthy, when they get of age. Then others like my Grandmother M were found sacred and worthy to be honored with great sacred saintly respect and when found as worthy as she was they receive sacred wisdom of the ages and abilities, which then makes them ageless. Grandmother M the Sacred Father found worthy to learn from the sacred ageless elders, in my life I was lucky enough to meet one such Sacred and Blessed Pueblo Elder, who was as blessed as Grandmother M, then I learned some of their sacred medicine teachers were the same teachers. Lifetime of experiences, knowledge, countless journeys, rich lessons, designed to enhance many lifetime circle timelines and add to cycles. That is the reason some people can life one to four 360 degrees in one physical form. 

Within these pages are some of the very same shared foundation knowledge, which is the reason, I am also going to give away a couple of copies to close friends, but I will not be giving my two copies away. As you can tell this book has impressed me in a way, very few books impress me, to such a degree. No I have not come across any book I feel this strong about.

In truth, I can go on and on about this book, but this book supports all of my background, knowledge, teachings, theories, and life adventures. Nevertheless, this is the first I have found I feel so much akin to and one first book I can highly recommend without any reservation. On a scale of one to ten, I would have to give this author a ten on knowing his subject matter and presenting it in a very honest and thoughtful manner.

Maybe I should also explain he is one who has stayed true to his Indigenous Native personality. So many I have come across claim to be but are more of an apple instead of a red ripe tomato. Even more strange, to discovered one in the education field, who has not sold his soul or the Native people out and has tackles all things life, from experience and a truly traditional point of view. I bow to him out of honest respect.

In my library house of books, considering books have almost taken over the entire house. . . front room, two bedrooms, storage area, closets, and our garage. (Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence (by Gregory Cajete (Author)) has to be great for me to highly recommend, especially since I have studied Sociology, Theology, Psychology, and Metaphysics, all I had opposition to for a number of reasons. Most were destructive and not constructive or they were clueless when it came to the lifestyle and mentality of Indigenous Peoples.

You will have to read the book to understand the following:

[Most indigenous research and teaching in the past Western, Angelo-Saxon, or Eurasian mentalities geared data towards life and based on their knowledge. Thus creating a wider gap in the understanding of native sciences, learning patterns, research, physics, philosophy, astrology, environment based on spiritual connection to the oneness of life, earth and the universe as a whole, incorporating nature, and the values of sacred spiritual oneness. Problem started from beginning, which insured the finished produce would continue to lacks awareness of Indigenous Natives, nevertheless I think a few of the excerpts from the book will help you to understand why I recommend this book.]

Photo copies of pages 64 through 78, and three-select paragraphs from page 79 and 80. The rest of the book too hard to copy due and/or I prefer to keep, the side notes, highlighting, marks, and underscores . . . get your own copy. The ISBN details are at the bottom. 

64             NATIVE SCIENCE

Tenets of Native Philosophy

Native philosophy has always been broad-based. It is not based on rational thought alone but incorporates to the fullest degree all aspects of interac­tions of "human in and of nature;' that is, the knowledge and truth gained from interaction of body, mind, soul, and spirit with all aspects of nature. In process, reflection, and practice, Native science embodies the natural system characteristics of diversity, optimization, cooperation, self-regula­tion, change, creativity, connectedness, and niche. As Robert Yazzie, chief justice of the Navajo Nation (1996), explains:

Navajo philosophy is not a philosophy in the Western sense of the word; it is the lived practices of cultural forms that embody the Navajo understanding of their connectivity in the worlds of spirits of nature, humans, animals, plants, minerals, and other natural phenomena. However, explained in terms of Western thought it may be viewed as the practice of an epistemology in which the mind embodies itself in a particular relationship with all other aspects of the world. For me as a Navajo, these other aspects are my relations. I have a duty toward them as they have a duty as a relative toward me.

Unfortunately, many people today have grown up with the Western culturally conditioned notion that only one science and one philosophy exist. But philosophies are culturally relative, founded on the worldview of the culture from which they come and which they were created to serve. A list of the guiding thoughts of Native science might include the following:

[PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE     65]

·         Native science integrates a spiritual orientation.

·         Dynamic multidimensional harmony is a perpetual state of the universe.

·         All human knowledge is related to the creation of the world and the emergence of humans; therefore, human knowledge is based on human cosmology.

·         Humanity has an important role in the perpetuation of the natural processes of the world.

·               Every ((thing" is animate and has spirit.

·              There is significance to each natural place because each place reflects the whole order of nature.

·              The history of relationship must be respected with regard to places, plants, animals, and natural phenomena.

·              Technology should be appropriate and reflect balanced relation­ships to the natural world.

·               There are basic relationships, patterns, and cycles in the world that

need to be understood; this is the proper role of mathematics.

·               There are stages of initiation to knowledge.

·               Elders are relied upon as the keepers of essential knowledge.

·              Acting in the world must be sanctioned through ritual and ceremony.

·               Properly fashioned artifacts contain the energy of the thoughts, materials, and contexts in which they are fashioned and there­fore become symbols of those thoughts, entities, or processes.

·              Dreams are consider gateways to creative possibilities if used wisely and practically.

Native science operates according to cognitive and linguistic ((maps" that chart both collective and individual wisdom. How something is related and the nature of causality in a given natural context are foci of deep reflection. The ways in which aspects of nature are transformed through time and space and the nature of proper orientation to ((sacred space" demand the observation of subtle details that are the foundation of knowledge. Ritual and ceremony can be personal or communal ((tech­nologies" for accessing knowledge, and symbols are used to remember key understandings of the natural world. Native science is a process for understanding in all aspects of Native tradition.

The ((coming to know" of Native science revolves around the natural creative process of human learning. Intervention in a natural process is taken on only with great care and much consideration. Continual emphasis is placed on "being of nature" or working with its natural flow; listening and looking closely are consistently practiced. Teachers act always as facilitators.

[66        NATIVE SCIENCE]

Knowledge is presented in "high contexts;' in which many levels of information are shared at many levels of communication. True knowing is based on experiencing nature directly. "Doing" and playing are integral parts of Native learning; apprenticeship is a form of directed learning. Meditation or silence and reflection also playa role in internalizing the lessons of nature.

Elders provide guidance and facilitate learning, often through story along with artifacts and manifestations of traditions, but it is the indi­vidual's responsibility to learn. An individual's dreams and visions prop­erly prepared for and properly received may bring true knowing. Even the "trickster" (chaos) may facilitate creative understanding, and this role in whatever form it is played is highly respected.

Process of Native Science

The perspective of Native science goes beyond objective measurement, honoring the primacy of direct experience, interconnectedness, relation­ship, holism, quality, and value. Its definition is based on its own merits, conceptual framework, and practice and orientation in the tribal contexts in which it is expressed. Concerned with the processes and energies within the universe, it continually deals in systems of relationships and their application to the life of the community. Science cannot divide its application into departments; it is integrated into the whole of life and being and provides a basic schema and basis for action.

For instance, the traditional Yupiaq people based their philosophy and lifeways on maintaining and sustaining relationships among human, natural, and spiritual worlds. The balance of nature, or ecolog­ical perspective, was of utmost importance to the Yupiaq. To understand the Yupiaq worldview it is necessary to understand the multiple meaning of a word that epitomizes Yupiaq philosophy. This word is "ella," which is a base word that can be modified to change its meaning by adding a suffix or suffixes. Examples include "Qaill' ella auqa?" (How is the weather?); "Qaill' ell an auqa?" (How are you feeling?); "Ellapak nunii" (The world's land); "Ellagpiim yua" (Spirit of the Universe); "Ellapak" (Universe); and "Ella amigligtuq" (The sky is cloudy).

[PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE        67]

Varia­tions of this one root word can be made to refer to weather, awareness, world, creative force or god, universe, and the sky. The key word here is awareness or consciousness. Consciousness is the highest attainment of the human being; the human being must be able to make sense out of values and traditions as juxtaposed with the "objects" of the universe. As a manifestation of their "ella;' the Yupiaq developed a body of values and traditions that would enable them to maintain and sustain their ecolog­ical worldview (Kawagley 1994: 15).

Native science stems from a deeply held philosophy of proper rela­tionship with the natural world that is transferred through direct experience with a landscape, and through social and ceremonial situa­tions that help members of a tribe learn the key relationships through participation and their "ella," as the Yupiaq would say. Methodological elements and tools of Native science that have traditionally facilitated such learning included:

Observation: Careful observations of plants, animals, weather, celes­tial events, healing processes, the structures of natural entities, and the ecologies of nature.

Experiment: In Native science, there is no deliberate attempt to distort a natural event beyond observation. Native peoples have tradi­tionally applied practical experimentation at all times to find efficient ways to live in their various environments, and ingenious and ecologi­cally appropriate technologies were developed.

Meaning and understanding: These were the priorities of Native science, rather than a need to predict and control. Meaningful relation­ship and an understanding of one's responsibilities to those entities in nature that people depended on were the reasons for a Native science, which invited a desired result through entering into specific relationships with the energies of the natural world.

Objectivity: Native science reflects the understanding that objec­tivity is founded on subjectivity. There is a stress on direct subjective experience, predicated on a personal and collective closeness to nature, which will lead to an understanding of the subtle qualities of nature.

[68    NATIVE SCIENCE ]

Unity: Native science stresses order and harmony but also acknowl­edges and honors diversity and chaos as creators of reality. "Relationships and renewable alliances take the place of fixed laws, and Indigenous science accepts the possibility that chance and the unexpected can enter and disturb any scheme. Thus, the circle is left open and chance as repre­sented by the clown, the trickster, and gambling games, occupies an important role" (Peat 1994:257).

This plate is representative of ancient Anasazi design motifs that symbolize the four directions and other elements of nature (chaos), along with the fundamental order of the universe in the center. Photograph © Marcia Keegan.

Models. Native science also has models. Teaching revolves around high context models in which information is communicated at many levels, and which are highly representational and elicit higher order thinking and understanding. An example of such a ritual process model is the Plains Sun Dance, which may include symbols such as the circle, numbers, geometric shapes, special objects, art forms, songs, dances, stories, proverbs, or metaphors, all of which unify experience with meaning and facilitate the mind's conscious process of connecting with the energies and animating power of nature. Native symbols go beyond simple archetypes when they represent the universe itself, as with a cere­monial structure such as the Navajo Hogan.

            [PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE        69]

Causality. Native science reflects a belief in causes that affect and go beyond the physical, principles such as synchronicity and the action of natural energies and entities. Other such principles include the transfor­mation of energy to other forms and resonance with the order of the universe, as reflected in the adage, "as above so below."

Instrumentation. Native science relies on preparation of the mind, body, and spirit of each person as the primary vehicle of "coming to know." The mind and body can be used for careful, disciplined, and repeatable experimentation and observation. Knowledge is gathered through the body, mind, and heart in altered states of being, in songs and dance, in meditation and reflection, and in dreams and visions.

Appropriate technology: Because social value [is] gained by honoring mutual reciprocal relationships, spin-offs of Native science in technol­ogy are carefully applied. Adoption of technology is conservative and based on intrinsic need, and care is taken to ensure that technologies adopted and applied do not disrupt a particular ecology. Such care is grounded in the belief that it is possible to live well through adhering to a cosmology and philosophy honoring balance, harmony, and ecologi­cally sustainable relationships.

Spirit: Native science incorporates spiritual process: no division exists between science and spirituality. Every act, element, plant, animal, and natural process is considered to have a moving spirit with which humans continually communicate.

Interpretation: Native science bases its interpretation of natural phenomena on context. Therefore, meaning is based the context of the events and reflection of Native philosophy.

Explanation: Native science works with a multiplicity of metaphoric stories, symbols, and images to explain events in nature.

Authority: Native science gains its authority partly through the society, elders, direct experience, and dream or vision, and on the sanctity of the relationship established over time with particular environments. ''Authority, if we are to use that word at all in the context of Native science, resides in individuals and their direct experience rather than some social establishment" (Peat 1994:265).

[70        NATIVE SCIENCE]

Place: Particular places are endowed with special energy that may be used but must be protected. This sentiment extends from the notion of sacred space and the understanding that the Earth itself is sacred. The role of people is to respect and maintain the inherent order and harmony of the land.

Initiation: There are both formal and informal pathways to certain levels of Native science. For instance, in the Midewiwin Society of the Ojibwe, there are four stages of initiation, each involving extensive train­ing, learning of songs, ceremonies, stories, interpretation of special scrolls, and petroglyphs (Peat 1994:267-68).

Cosmology: All philosophies are founded on an elemental idea of how the universe was created along with humankind's emergence into the world, and Native science is connected to the origins and migrations of people through the American landscape and to notions of time-space, sacred cycles, astronomy, art, myth, ritual, and dance. Cosmology is reflected in the cycles of community celebrations, rites of renewal, and stories, and serves the important function of validating Native peoples' way of life, core values, and social ecology.

Representations: Signs and formulas of thought appear in many forms, records in stone, clay, birch bark, hides, structures, and hundreds of other forms. These representations record key thoughts, understand­ings, and stories important to remembering aspects of Native science.

Humans: People play a key role in facilitating knowledge about the natural world in conscious thinking and tool making. Given this role, humans have special responsibilities to the natural world and to other living things. Native science is the study of learning and carrying out these responsibilities. Native science is about stewardship and the prac­tice of deep ecology.

Ceremony: Ceremony is both a context for transferring knowledge and a way to remember the responsibility we have to our relationships with life. Native ceremony is associated with maintaining and restoring balance, renewal, cultivating relationship, and creative participation with nature.

Elders: Elders are respected as carriers of Native knowledge, wisdom, and experience. Therefore, they are utilized as the first line of teachers, facilitators, and guides in the learning of Native science.

[PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE      71]

Life energy: Life energy is acknowledged throughout the expressions of knowledge, understanding, and application. All things have life force. A natural energy moves all things, which we be understand [must be understood] and respected.

Dreams and visions: Dreams and visions are a natural means for accessing knowledge and establishing relationship to the world. They are encouraged and facilitated.

Paths: Predetermined systematic activities of learning are viewed as ways to search for and find knowledge. All of nature has these inherent patterns of trajectories, "right paths," which reflect the unfolding of natural pathways through which it may be understood. The "Good Red Road," "Dream- Time Path;' "Earth Walk," and "Pipe Way" are some of the ways Native peoples have referred to the directed path in the quest for knowledge, meaning, and understanding.

Native Science Practice

Native science practice attempts to connect the "in-scape"-our human intelligence, a microcosm of the intelligence of the Earth and the universe-with the heart and mind. Art and language, through story, song, and symbolic dance are used simultaneously to explore relation­ships to the in-scape and the land.

Exploring the in-scape may be considered a "first step" in Native science practice. This is another way of saying . . . that the practice of Native science begins with setting forth specific intentions; to seek knowledge from participation with the natural world; and then exploring intuition and creative imagination.

These are foundations of the metaphoric mind-the mind without or before words-a natural tendency all people intuitively exhibit when confronted with new learning and knowledge. Native science builds on and encourages this creative and instinctual way of learning. In traditional Native societies, exploring the in-scape is something that children are encouraged to do and continue to do throughout their lives.

72        NATIVE SCIENCE

The ability to transform and metamorphose, to think metaphorically, comes with practice, and the development of meaning and understanding comes with increasing knowledge. Language is more than a code; it is a' way of participating with each other and the natural world. At one level language is a symbolic code for representing the world that we perceive with our senses. At the deeper psychological level, language is sensuous, evocative, filled with emotion, meaning, and spirit. Meanings are not solely connected to intellectual definition but to the life of the body and spirit of the speaker. In its holistic and natural sense, language is animate and animating, it expresses our living spirit through sound and the emotion with which we speak. In the Native perspective, language exem­plifies our communion with nature rather than our separation from it.

The world of nature is in constant flux; therefore, Native science does not attempt to categorize firmly within the domains of ideas, concepts, or laws formed only through an analysis bent on a specific discovery, as is the case with Western scientific analysis. Rather, Native science attempts to understand the nature or essence of things. This does not mean that Native science excludes rational thought, but rather that it includes heart and being with rational perception to move beyond the surface under­standing of a thing to a relationship that includes all aspects of one's self.

In Native science, sanction of knowledge through appropriate ritual and tribal society acknowledgment is important, because knowledge of the natural world and how best to relate to it is not just a matter of individual understanding but is gained and shared for the benefit and perpetuation of the community. An example is the undertaking of a pledge to Sun Dance in Plains Indian traditions. Commitment to gain and share knowledge is an important aspect of Native science since deep knowledge of nature brings with it responsibilities in its application and sharing. It is a "given" in Native traditions that deep knowledge is not easily gained and requires time and dedication to attain. Sanction and commitment are also connected to ethics, or the care and attitude in which important knowledge is gained and shared. In this way, sanction and commitment act as foun­dational safeguards for both individual and tribe and form a kind of check and balance for important knowledge.

  Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence  . . . Part Two

[PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE      73]

The maintenance of dynamic balance and harmony with all relation-, ships to nature is the foundational paradigm of Native science. Reality is based on mutual reciprocity, the rule of "paying back" what has been received from nature. The world operates on a constant flow of give-and-­take relationships. In traditional Native hunting, when a hunter takes a deer, an offering is made and thanks given to the spirit family of the deer and, in some traditions, to the "mother of game" who is another mythic manifestation of the Earth Mother. Hunting rituals are performed before, during and after traditional Native hunting to acknowledge the transfor­mation of the deer's life, spirit, and flesh into that of the human. The Native hunter and community know well that this gift from Nature and the game spirits will have to be "paid back" at some time in the future by humans in the universal cycle of death, birth, and rebirth.

This transformation of energy is also exemplified in the continual transformation of energy to matter and back again. Electrons continually borrow energy from the universe to transform themselves into different kinds of atoms. However, what has been borrowed from the universe must eventually be paid back, and this happens when an electron "dies" back to the field of energy from which it came to provide energy for the creation of new electrons and atoms.

Native science applies the principle that we humans bring our reality into being; hence, the focus of Native traditions on prayer to bring about and perpetuate life. It must be emphasized that what we think and believe and how we act in the world impacts on literally everything. We bring our reality into being by our thoughts, actions and intentions. Native science is about creating the inner sensibilities of humans, or the inner ear, which hears the subtle voice of nature. The structures and symbols of Native science serve as bridges between realities. In archaic Plains Indian tradi­tions, the medicine wheel was a structure that brought inner and outer realities of nature together. Many Native symbols are representations of the non-human realities of nature, such as the "abiding stone" or dream time.

In Australia the Aboriginal peoples speak of The Dreaming, a reality in which the Ancestors walked on the land and special resting points created certain features. Some Ancestors turned into rocks. But this does not mean that the Ancestors stopped Being and metamorphosed into animate rock. Rather, the Ancestor still exists, for Dream Time is different from our linear arrow of time, in which the past is gone forever. Dream Time coexists and interpenetrates the here and now-the Ancestor and the rock enfold one another (Peat 1994:287).

74        NATIVE SCIENCE

Native practices and ceremonies that specifically help people to remember and act on their responsibilities to the natural world and help perpetuate the harmony of the universe include world renewal ceremonies such as the Yurok White Deer Skin Dance, ceremonial complexes such as the various forms of Plains Indian Sun Dance, and seasonal ceremonies such as the various Green Corn Dances among Southeast Indian tribes. Native science applies the principle of being true to all of one's relationships, which means keeping true to all our primal responsibilities, compacts, and alliances with the natural world. All of these reflections of relationships require our constant attention and participation.

GUIDING STORIES

Native science is a story, an explanation of the ways of nature and sources of life, embedded in the guiding stories of a people and the language and way of life that convey their stories. Indigenous people are people of place, and the nature of place is embedded in their language. The physi­cal, cognitive, and emotional orientation of a people is a kind of map they carry in their heads and transfer from generation to generation. This map is multidimensional and reflects the spiritual as well as the mythic geography of a people.

Knowing the origins of their people, their place, and the all-impor­tant things the place contains is considered essential orientation for a tribal person. A people's origin story maps and integrates the key relationships with all aspects of the landscape. Hence, the origin stories of a people are presented via symbolic language, story, art, song, and ritual.

[PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE      75]

Essential elements of stories are passed on through societies, art forms, ceremonial complexes, forms of technology, and the everyday activities of life and work. The adoption or adaptation of knowledge usually has a lineage in the origin story of a people. For example, in many Indigenous stories of emergence and migration, the places a people stopped and where important events happened are mentioned. These are actual places marked and named in the map that Native people carry in their stories and in their minds. In brief, Native stories relate the evolu­tion of the people through time, space, and place.

When the Western scientific story meets that of Native origins, a clash of paradigms occurs, because cultural stories of origin are creative interpretations of the experience of a people in participation with places. Literal fact is woven with metaphoric meaning. The ethnocentric notion that only the Western scientific story is accurate prevents any dialogue regarding the participatory meaning of Native origin stories and their orientation to a people's homeland.

GUIDING THOUGHTS

The guiding thoughts of Native science are simple yet profound, and subtle yet encompassing. Everything is considered to be "alive" or animate and imbued with "spirit" or energy. A stone has its own form of animation and unique energy. Everything is related, that is, connected in dynamic, interactive, and mutually reciprocal relationships. All things, events, and forms of energy unfold and enfold themselves in a contextual field of the micro and macro universe.

In the practice of Native science, the more humans know about themselves-that is, their connections with everything around them ­the greater the celebration of life, the greater the comfort of knowing, and the greater the joy of being. This relationship to space and time, and between living and nonliving things, is not just physical, but psychologi­cal and spiritual, in that it involves dreams, visions, knowing, and under­standing beyond the simple objectified knowledge of something. In other words, it is inclusive of all the ways that humans are capable of knowing and understanding the world.

[76       NATIVE SCIENCE]

Native people were interested in finding the proper, ethical, and moral paths upon which human beings should walk. As co-creators with nature, everything we do and experience has importance to the rest of the world. We cannot miss-experience anything; we can only misinterpret what we experience. The information gained through experience is considered in interpreting relationship with the natural world, thereby pointing to the kind of "story" that might contain and convey that infor­mation. Concerned about the ethical aspects of knowledge, environmen­tal observation, and understanding received from visions, ceremonies, and spirits, Native scientific philosophy reflects an inclusive and moral universe. No body of knowledge exists for its own sake outside the moral framework of understanding.

The tribal universe is a circle of learning, life, and relationship that is inclusive of all-important information needed to make life deci­sions. The Plains Indian medicine wheel is an example of the circle of learning by orienting to perceived qualities of the sacred directions these people recognized.

The Lakota wheel is probably best known as the medicine wheel. The four directions, each one symbolizing the relationship of certain qualities to the whole, make up the wheel. .... [E]ach direction is represented by a word that stands for the quality of that direction. In this wheel, an animal also represents each direction. East is illumination, and it is signified by the eagle. The mouse represents South, or innocence. West is intro­spection and has the bear as its symbol, and north, which is wisdom, is depicted by the buffalo. . . . The Lakota used this wheel to teach people how to bring balance into their lives. They believed that people were born with a certain energy .... [A] person's task, then, would be to ... balance with the qualities of the other three directions (Nelson 1994:18).

[PHILOSOPHY OF NATIVE SCIENCE      77]

The following could be described as foundational premises or reali­ties of the Native worldview, and consequently, of Native science as well:

Natural democracy must prevail. The Earth is alive and nurtures all things of her body and all have intelligence and a right to exist. This is the essence of the Native concept of "natural democracy." Democracy, or the concept that all are equal and have a say in how their lives will be lived or affected, is a principle of social ecology.

Everything is related. This premise is based on acute observation of the entire web of life in order to gain insight into the relationships among all living things. Such observation was used in making a living that was unobtrusive and life enhancing.

All relationships have a natural history. People have a history in a place and a history of relationship to each other. People have a history with regard to plants, animals, nature, and all things in nature.

Native science orients itself to a "space and a place." Native peoples' places are sacred and bounded, and their science is used to understand, explain, and honor the life they are tied to in the greater circle of physi­cal life. Sacred sites are mapped in the space of tribal memory to acknowledge forces that keep things in order and moving. The people learn to respect the life in the places they live, and thereby to preserve and perpetuate the ecology.

Everything has a time and an evolutionary path. This is the under­standing of natural evolution through cycles. "In some undetermined manner, the universe had a direction to it: every entity had a part to play in the creation of the future, and human beings had a special vocation in that they initiated, at the proper time, new relationships and new events" (Peat 1994:43).

NATIVE SCIENCE PARADIGM

What is the Native science paradigm? Western scientists believe that science is a Western invention, but as discussed previously, Western science has its own specific history and is a particular kind of expression of Western culture. Given this cultural disposition, card-carrying Western scientists believe that non - Western societies relate to nature only

in ways categorized anthropologically as folk tales or cultural technology, and that these ways are not science in their experience of the term.

78        NATIVE SCIENCE

The word "science" has only recently been used to depict systems of knowledge that refer to the multidimensional world of nature and people's ways or traditions of relationship with the world. Use of "science" by Native peoples contains this type of understanding. This use to describe the experience and traditions of Native peoples remains controversial given the biases and scientism of some Western scientists.

In the introduction to the winter 1996 issue of ReVision, Jurgen Kremer writes, "Indigenous consciousness defines itself in the experi­ence of personality, the ego as agent, separate and simultaneously connected and previous to other egos, to the land, the seasonal cycles, to spirit, the world of transcendence, dreams and ancestry." Therein lies the difference between Western and Indigenous paradigms. The issue is a matter of perspective. Indigenous consciousness has always included, along with the practical relationships of the natural world, aspects such as the direct relationship of communities of people with the spirit of the place in which they have lived and the places they have come to know and understand.

Herbert Read, pioneer arts educator, wrote, "Science is the explana­tion, and art is the expression of the same reality" (1945:7). That defini­tion has important ramifications for Native science. Within Indigenous consciousness, science is also an art form, which incorporates both an objective explanation of how things happen in the natural world and a way of "looking." The idea that science and art are two sides of the same coin is what Indigenous people have always tried to convey, and this is also in the margin of Western philosophical thinking, as philosophers, artists, humanists, and religious leaders insist that science is a part of the greater whole of human expression.

In Western society, conflict about the definition of science has been underway since the time of Galileo when science was separated from reli­gion. Religion became the antithesis of science-although some would describe science as a kind of religion. These controversies continue to characterize Western philosophical traditions.

The following are short excepts from pages 79 thru 82  I have marked the pages up to the point they can not be copied . . .

Page 79 Paragraph 2:

[Native science reflects a celebration of renewal. The ultimate aim is not explaining an objective universe, but rather learning about an understanding responsibility, relationship and celebrating those that humans establish with the world. Native science is also about mutual reciprocity, which   presupposes a responsibility to care for sustain and respect the rights of other living things, plants, animals and the in which one lives.]

Page 80 Paragraph 1:

[Ultimately, science is storytelling for understanding of the natural world. Indigenous science is also a process of understanding, a way of coming to know rightful relationships to the natural world that yields life.]

Page 80 Paragraph 3:

["Coming-to-know" is the best translation for the education in Native traditions. There is no word for education, or science, or art in most indigenous languages. But a coming-to-know, a coming to understand, metaphorically entails a journey, a process, a quest for knowledge and understanding. There is them a visionary traditions involved with these understandings that encompasses harmony, compassion, hunting, planting, technology, spirit, song, dance, color, number, cycle, balance, death, and renewal.

In truth, I can go on and on about this book, but this book supports all of my knowledge, teachings, theories, and life teachings. This is the first I have found I feel so much akin to and the first book I highly recommend. On a scale of one to ten, I would have to give this author a ten on knowing his subject matter and presenting it in a very honest and thoughtful manner.

·                     Paperback: 256/311 pages

·                     Publisher: Clear Light Books (November 1999)               You might have to contact the Publisher for the book

·                     Language: English

·                     ISBN-10: 1574160419

·                     ISBN-13: 978-1574160413

Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence (Paperback)

by Gregory Cajete Ph.D.(Author), Gregory Cajete, Ph.D., a Tewa Indian from Santa Clara Pueblo

Leroy Little Bear (Foreword)

Chapter 15 a: Revised and Extended to share more of Visual/Spiritual/Physical in form Grandfather EagleHawk to share more of the rare slice of adventure

I have left the original chapter, 15 . . .

but I realized I cheated you by not giving your the wonderful in-depth hearts of those rare moments, I have now added.  

Chapter 15a:  Grandfather EagleHawk

I greet you Sacred Little Mother of the people

Looking up at the mountains cooler tree line, and preparing my mindset, for the area over a mile high and thinking, how we could come to love that area. Then the caravan slows a good mile below the tree line, and SunHawk turns left onto the desert road, time forgot, even reservation roads I have discovered in better condition, than this washboard road. Nothing like a good all-shock-up massages, along with several roller coaster experiences and weightless highs, hidden in the midst of cactus, rattlesnakes, chaparral, coyotes, juniper, lizards, fireweed, and bottlebrush along with numerous other high-desert life I was yet to identify or encounter.

Lived in the city too long, never in underdeveloped high desert, and now I would have to face a new reality check: what a way to recognize I had become numb and desensitized to nature's life. Okay, I agree I lost my connection with the unseen universe of nature, but why is it so important to rip me away from everything I have know and return me to 1950 in Gravel Switch. I definitely have no knowledge of where, why and what the purpose is for this journey. Yes, I know I should have taken more time to explore and learn about other areas. Yes, I spent too much time avoiding, but . . . still?

Yes, I have on a number of occasions, carried on these strange one-way communications, which began before I had power over words. Guardian conversations happen, away from other human forms, and not influenced my stray thoughts or while doing things that required medium level concentration. Today, they were giving me some strange sensations of spiritual scolding.

Dogs bouncing airborne and/or hopping around in the back area of the station wagon, they seem to enjoy the wild ride. Truth, it was humorous going over all of these crazy road conditions and watching their behavior. My teeth . . . well not so happy, and me without a bra, but they appeared to enjoy the crazy ride over this old dry-creek bed of a washed out, washboard dirt road. I can't explain it but there is something in their behavior, which tells me they know more than I do about where we are going on this unique ride. They are too happy for one of our normal drive about, they enjoy their journeys, but this one their happiness is a good fifty-present more than one of our normal rides.

We traveled on for what felt close to a good hour across this dry creek road, (it was twenty-three minutes) before we came to a turn that extended up into the tree line in the mountains. SunHawk stops at the gate to let me know this switchback turn, is the turn up to our new place. "Damn, SunHawk, how can anyone make it up this road, I would say the last time anyone actually used this road was during the horse and buggy era."

"Red Sun, this is our new home and you will just have to get use to it. Now, listen up, you are going to have to put your pedal to the metal to get up and stay on the road. It is about five miles up and if you fail to keep the speed, you could end-up in trouble. The sand it worse than driving in snow, the road it narrow, with switchback, potholes, and roller coasters dips hiding large boulders. The closer to the top the more dangerous it gets so make sure you are ready to drive and not ride the brakes or you could go off into a small gully."

"What you are saying, the only way to maneuver such unforgiving wild, narrow, twisty, hard washboard roller coaster roads, switchback, filled with many surprises, requires one placing ones petal to the metal and travel with a pray in ones heart, so one can stay on the road. Even with the vehicles I should expect airborne, fishtails, bunny hops of backend up and frontend down. What you are telling me it could be hours of problems, if one goes out in the soft desert sands or hit one of the many large boulders along the way."

"That is about the size of it, why don't I, go first so you can see where the road is at."

"Lead on, I don't see any thing but desert and very little road."

After we traveled for what felt more than a lifetime, of hard-knock, narrow, wagon trail road, we end up in a canyon at the top of a dead-end road, the canyon I certainly considered dead-end. SunHawk, Ken, Robert, and Glen greet me, and to my surprise, I learned Glen and his wife moved in with Robert and his family. SunHawk and the double-talk males left their portion of characters in their trucks. I know SunHawk was afraid to hear what I was going to say when I got my first look at the place and he confirmed it later. "Red Sun, my ears began burning before I got back to Riverside and they are still burning when you pulled up out front, please know this is only temporary."

          You darn right, with that much of a junk pile this close to the house, makes me wonder what type of and how many critters I going to find inside that questionable, which one of these dumps are ours to sleep in. That junk pile is dangerous, and who is going to get stuck with the job, clearing it out of here, I could see it coming, it was going to be me, if I wanted it done. That junk pile is only an invitation to dangerous illnesses, critters, and snakes. All the anger SunHawk expected and felt in the pit of his stomach, I was cutting lose on him, but trying to hold back to prevent making him sick, what I have been known to do to people when they make me real mad.

He knew the only way to take some of the sting out of the Scorpion's tail, meant change my focus to a different subject, for as long as possible. He was hoping to put it off, until he could figure out a way to calm down the warrior side of my personality, because hiding would not do any good. However, he was not ready to face my flash point temper over a major trash junk pile of garbage less than a hundred feet outside the front door. Example of my flash point temper boiling point: drop a good size piece of dry ice into one bowl of water, fire is out of control, along with a few dozen huge skyrockets going off in all directions. My temper covered a number of things; but the junk pile was the finally straw, compounded by the twisted-half-truth tongues.

"Never, had I been on the receiving end of one of the biggest of all fish tell stories, half-baked, half-truths, from you Sir, in all the years we have been together. SunHawk, you, and your friends have earned the Big Hook Award, plus you have earned the top double-talk storyteller award.

Remember, I told you about all the times, I would find an excuse to sneak over and listen to the men sitting on the front pouch of the Penn's General Store, in Gravel Switch, Kentucky. I heard some whoppers, but none earned the dishonorable Big Hook Award, or the top double-talk storyteller award, but all you men have definitely earned the greatest of all dishonorable awards of all times. Glen I bet you are behind the disgraceful lies since you are good at them.

SunHawk, Robert, Ken, and never mind . . . What do you do, when you know you dug yourself a big hole and you were going to fall in it any second; this is where SunHawk and the rest of you stand in my eyes, on the edge of a deep pit. Inasmuch as SunHawk promised, he would never lie to me. He might not answer when it came to career concerns, but he would never lie, and he realized his double talk equaled a gigantic lie. Why did he want to take a chance of feeling the full straight on force of my energy, especially after I refused to give him a kiss?"

 "Red Sun, Sweetheart, we're here, smell that sweet mountain air. That reminds me after four hours on the road, its time to offload the first eight out of the pick-up, get them situated then we can talk."

"SunHawk, may that is a good idea, offloading that is, right now I am going to take them all for a walk, to calm down, BECAUSE YOU REALLY DON"T WANT TO KNOW WHAT ELSE I AM THINKING, OR DO YOU. I wondered by the Cheshire cat smiles not only on your face, but on your posse's faces. Interesting how no one will look we straight in my eyes, by hiding your; which tells me, you all and I mean ALL YOU, took part conjuring up this lie. Truth, you are all poor storytellers and each of you has dug yourself a deep hole."

SunHawk had opened the popup window on the back of the pickup, hoping to keep them in the pickup, until he could get them untied. He was trying to get the young characters out of the back of the pickup, while every second I was getting more upset and the longer I watched him fumble with the leads I got madder.

"Give me the dogs and get out of my face while you let the three out of my wagon, SunHawk, do you think you can let them out without making up lies, while I untie the pups."

Nikkei and Niute looked to be in a state of bliss, the sparkle in their eyes, smile on their faces and the way they jumped around told me they were beyond happy, helped to soften my angry at everything a touch.

"SunHawk, you knew I was going to be angry, then why did you have to compound the problem by you words. What did you expect me to do, or say, once you brought me to this isolated cabin, on the edge of the mountains? Your words and behavior tells me you already expected me to be mad and you know our rule about lies and liars."

My pain not projected at them, but meant to slap SunHawk created all sorts of mental anguish boomerang into the pickup,