The Intellectual Journey of Thomas Berry by Eaton Heather; Brown Brian; Chapple Christopher Key

Author:Eaton, Heather; Brown, Brian; Chapple, Christopher Key
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

The Relation of Indigenous Thought for Non-Native Peoples

Just as American Indians were integral with the North American continent, so too Thomas felt non-native peoples in industrial-commercial societies were also embedded in the North American continent. The transformative issue was moving from a singular lack of reciprocal awareness to a mutually flourishing relationship with the continent. Thus, these encounters with native elders and recognitions at indigenous gatherings suggest a context for understanding influences from indigenous thought on Berry. That is, encountering individual indigenous elders along with his study of indigenous histories brought Thomas to an appreciation of a new insight brought by indigenous peoples to the story of human-Earth relations. Thus, the interior resources of indigenous peoples not only continue to foster their survival, but also mark a potential shift to the Ecozoic Era.[13] It is only potential, because these transformations could be missed or lost by a dominant society. For Thomas, one perspective on our contemporary transformative challenge begins with awareness of indigenous worldviews. In indigenous cosmologies, he found a micro-cosmic awareness, or self-reflection, often established in rituals based on micro-cosmic stories. This cultural process typically identified local lands and biodiversity as cosmic places and persons in the landscape. By rituals and traditional narratives, these lands and other-than-human persons were brought into deeply meaningful relationships with individuals and groups that established religious ecologies with cosmological symbolisms.[14] Furthermore, indigenous peoples differentiated their experiences of time in the movements of animals, in the rhythms of the seasons, and in the stellar world. For Thomas, these realizations coordinated with, and amplified, his studies in cultural histories. Thus, indigenous thought can be said to have shaped his historical thinking about the mythic and cosmological dimensions of the environment. In particular he realized that humans integrated personal and place-based relations with the Earth.

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