October 23rd 2022: Is the Land Alive?

Is the land alive? The Gaia Hypothesis says maybe.  The Gaia Hypothesis was proposed by Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock in the 1970s. It says that the temperature of the earth and the acidity of our lakes and oceans are kept constant by feedback processes operated by all the living things on the planet. Of course, we know that human activity is causing the temperature to rise and is, in effect, breaking that feedback loop that regulates Mother Earth.

Our Indigenous neighbours tell us a similar story. While there are many Indigenous cultures one of the common threads is their deep connection to the land.  It goes much deeper than that. For example, Yellowknives Dené thought holds that the land is more than the earth. It is also people and animals, rocks and tees, lakes and oceans. 

Western thought is something quite different but at West Hill United, we value wisdom from other cultures. We will contrast Western thought with indigenous thought systems looking for ways in which we can respond to the impending climate crisis.

1st Reading:  A Story Told by George Blondin The following story told by the late George Blondin, a respected Sahtu Dené elder, illustrates the Dené worldview that the land means more than the earth beneath our feet. Glen Coulthard writes that “in the Yellowknives Dené dialect, “land” (or dè) is translated in relational terms as that which encompasses not only the land, but also people and animals, rocks and trees, lakes and rivers, and so on. Seen in this light, we are as much a part of the land as any other element. This implies a reciprocal relationship among humans, animals, plants and land.” This means that in order to thrive we must all work together.

2nd Reading: Mother Earth by Denis McKay , Denis McKay is a Nlaka’pamux poet and Artist. Her poem, Mother Earth, tells of her relationship with the land. How the land supports her even though it has many scars from how it has been treated. McKay commits to solidarity with Mother Earth in gratitude for all she has received.