Your phrase "modern people who have let their own Indigeneity starve" struck a chord. As someone from Canada's settler-colonialist population I'm trying to find ways to nourish and express my essential humanness as part of nature. To do that without feeling like I'm extracting from Indigenous culture has been awkward. So thank you for creating this sharing space. Right now I feel a bit parasitic in your mycelial network but that will change as I grow and metabolize!
Yes just you sharing this today means you are already contributing! we all can grow our roots of indigeneity, its daily, seasonal, cyclical work, no matter who your lineages and ancestors are. I love this quote from mentor and friend Martin Prechtel:
"That’s why they say that a memory of having descended from dead Indigenous ancestors does not make you Indigenous just because you genetically descend from them; it’s how you match their expertise at living well, friendly to the fate of the ground that feeds you today and how you grow the seeds of cultural food they’ve left you that keeps both you and the seeds alive and makes you the candidate for the possibility of being Indigenous."- Martin Prechtel
New to this space, received a link from my partner. Thank you for this invite to learn and be inspired collectively. Loved Sand Talk. I started a book club called Literature of the Earth, but didn't tend it well so it sort of dissipated. The last thing we read was Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram, which led to a nice discussion, but personally it meant more to me than I could convey. Very interested in joining your book club.
I helped to rekindle a reading discussion in our local permaculture guild, and will discuss Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark next month. I'm very slowly making my way through Suzanne Simard's Finding the Mother Tree, and would be delighted to hear others' thoughts.
I am looking for space where we support one another in resisting intolerance, in resting, in learning. People are commoditized as is nature, as are people embedded in and in commune with land. I'm drawn to any narrative which helps us explore a multitude of perspectives on diversity, among people and among our other-than-human kinfolk. Other writers I'm thinking of now are Robin Wall Kimmerer, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Barry Lopez.
Thank you for these book suggestions. My daily readings are from the book "Embers" by Richard Wagamese, in which he shares teachings from his Elders and his own reflections. I read from it the way (some) Christians read their Bible - thoughtfully, at the start of each day, before meditation or journaling. It brings great solace and guidance. I hope others here find it helpful.
Welcome, it’s so good to see and feel you here! I will admit that I got excited for a second to share with my friend who introduced me to your work, but then realized that as a new mother, it’s unlikely she’ll have the time to read long form. So if there’s any part of you that would consider the voiceover feature (it doesn’t have to be fancy, you can literally record in one take with your phone), that might be a great benefit for some people who may not be able to access your work in other ways.
Just an idea, and totally understand if time constraints or other reasons don’t allow for it. Again, simply delighted to feel you here. Deeply appreciative of the way you write and see the world through the lens of natural processes, and extend such great care in inviting modern humans back into this web 🙏🏼
Wonderful suggestion. I am just getting familiar with this platform, but I would love to look into voiceover options. I have also contemplated hosting some podcast type conversations here with this feature as well. I will keep you in the loop on this as I explore and experiment. Thank you!
Wonderful! I didn’t start doing voiceovers myself until several essays in, but ended up going back and adding them to all the others because it turns out my mom loves them 🥹 Then recently it occurred to me that I could simply make them podcasts as well, so the last one got sent to Apple and Spotify… 😮 (not saying mine are amazing or anything 😅, but it’s been a joy to do!) I do get a little fancy because I’m a musician also – but some of my favorite writers just record on their phone and I love them just as much! I love the quiet of reading, but I also love the comfort of hearing caring voices
Thank you for the invitation to comment. I'll start with an introduction, as a node isn't making itself obvious at present. I first connected with you through a webinar you hosted through the Wild Seed Project. I've followed you since and greatly enjoy your writing! I have shared it with others on several occasions. I look forward to continuing relationship in this third space. I'm sure I'll have other things to say in the future, but for now, hello! 👋
Stumbling across this article — only a few days after I shared some of my own ideas on this rhizomatic/mycorrhizal network of relations — feels serendipitous and beautiful. Thank you for sharing these ideas and connecting on this strange third space of modem life.
Beautiful! I will head over to your page and read your post...thanks for sharing! Feel free to share a link to your post in the comments here for others to find their way over there to read
Thank you, Rowen, for your invitation, and your continued focus and open explorations. I am looking forward to following along, and participating in the growing of rhizomatic and radicle roots. The thoughts that come to mind are many, with one of the first being Patty Krawec's 'Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future'. She's on my bookstack, and has much potential shared by a thoughtful group, as it includes tangible personal actions.
Another potential resource that comes to mind is Tilke Elkins' Ceremonied Art, a seed of a project that has just begun to emerge from soil.
And third, a thought if you'd like a candle-lit path from a somewhat seasoned substack writer, Caroline Ross of 'Uncivil Savant', on the nuts and bolts of engaging with this substack platform creatively.
I find sustenance in following along with your writing and sharing, as well as the comment sections here on substack. Indeed, this feels more rhizomatic than ig (I'm also shedding that layer), and more central than patreon, so I am grateful to have found your space here, now, too.
I first saw your digital writing environment in a screenshot from at least a year ago? This one is even more intriguing. After decades of cobbling together my own messy world this lit my whole being with excitement!!! Please do let us know when you will be workshopping or sharing some of your tools. I love and live in this relational learning - and geekery of the beloved tools :). Thank you!
Your writing is inspiring and invigorating and I am so grateful to have found you. Thank you for all of the work you are doing.
I particularly loved this:
“you who help me see the islands and nodes of coherence, as we plant seeds that allow the sprouting a relational and irresistible future full of diversity, mutual flourishing and a culture of care.”
For a long time I’ve believed we need to start writing better stories about the future, because stories are powerful (it’s called spelling for a reason) and we need to collectively imagine a future we want to live in.
Oh, also thank you for “more-than-human.” That’s so much better than non-human. :)
Mycological exchange would be wonderful! The substack world is still new to me too, and I am not seeking too much more screen time, but I deeply appreciate your writing Rowan. I'd like to offer a title for the shared reading, it's one I can delve into again and again- "How It Is: The Native American Philosophy of V.F. Cordova". She has grounded my understanding of relationship to self and place, as an outsider.
I love your framing of “third spaces” and the positive potential for shared emergent learning. A fresh perspective that is inspiring.
In my work I’m constantly seeking how to embed indigenous worldview in experiential education. Using story, play and creativity to shape young one’s worldview. Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez Book ‘Restoring Kinship Worldview’ and the associated worldview chart has been a great guide for this……and also for checking-in on my own colonised views that need tending and reimagining for deeper relating.
Thanks for writing such beauty and feeding my web of relationality with likeminded kin and thought.
Your phrase "modern people who have let their own Indigeneity starve" struck a chord. As someone from Canada's settler-colonialist population I'm trying to find ways to nourish and express my essential humanness as part of nature. To do that without feeling like I'm extracting from Indigenous culture has been awkward. So thank you for creating this sharing space. Right now I feel a bit parasitic in your mycelial network but that will change as I grow and metabolize!
Yes just you sharing this today means you are already contributing! we all can grow our roots of indigeneity, its daily, seasonal, cyclical work, no matter who your lineages and ancestors are. I love this quote from mentor and friend Martin Prechtel:
"That’s why they say that a memory of having descended from dead Indigenous ancestors does not make you Indigenous just because you genetically descend from them; it’s how you match their expertise at living well, friendly to the fate of the ground that feeds you today and how you grow the seeds of cultural food they’ve left you that keeps both you and the seeds alive and makes you the candidate for the possibility of being Indigenous."- Martin Prechtel
New to this space, received a link from my partner. Thank you for this invite to learn and be inspired collectively. Loved Sand Talk. I started a book club called Literature of the Earth, but didn't tend it well so it sort of dissipated. The last thing we read was Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram, which led to a nice discussion, but personally it meant more to me than I could convey. Very interested in joining your book club.
I helped to rekindle a reading discussion in our local permaculture guild, and will discuss Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark next month. I'm very slowly making my way through Suzanne Simard's Finding the Mother Tree, and would be delighted to hear others' thoughts.
I am looking for space where we support one another in resisting intolerance, in resting, in learning. People are commoditized as is nature, as are people embedded in and in commune with land. I'm drawn to any narrative which helps us explore a multitude of perspectives on diversity, among people and among our other-than-human kinfolk. Other writers I'm thinking of now are Robin Wall Kimmerer, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Barry Lopez.
Great suggestions! Glad you found your way here!
Thank you for these book suggestions. My daily readings are from the book "Embers" by Richard Wagamese, in which he shares teachings from his Elders and his own reflections. I read from it the way (some) Christians read their Bible - thoughtfully, at the start of each day, before meditation or journaling. It brings great solace and guidance. I hope others here find it helpful.
I love Embers! Such a great book. I recently read Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse book.
Welcome, it’s so good to see and feel you here! I will admit that I got excited for a second to share with my friend who introduced me to your work, but then realized that as a new mother, it’s unlikely she’ll have the time to read long form. So if there’s any part of you that would consider the voiceover feature (it doesn’t have to be fancy, you can literally record in one take with your phone), that might be a great benefit for some people who may not be able to access your work in other ways.
Just an idea, and totally understand if time constraints or other reasons don’t allow for it. Again, simply delighted to feel you here. Deeply appreciative of the way you write and see the world through the lens of natural processes, and extend such great care in inviting modern humans back into this web 🙏🏼
Wonderful suggestion. I am just getting familiar with this platform, but I would love to look into voiceover options. I have also contemplated hosting some podcast type conversations here with this feature as well. I will keep you in the loop on this as I explore and experiment. Thank you!
Wonderful! I didn’t start doing voiceovers myself until several essays in, but ended up going back and adding them to all the others because it turns out my mom loves them 🥹 Then recently it occurred to me that I could simply make them podcasts as well, so the last one got sent to Apple and Spotify… 😮 (not saying mine are amazing or anything 😅, but it’s been a joy to do!) I do get a little fancy because I’m a musician also – but some of my favorite writers just record on their phone and I love them just as much! I love the quiet of reading, but I also love the comfort of hearing caring voices
Oh neat! I didn’t know this was a feature on Substack. Thank you!
I've started doing voiceovers! I've done the last couple of posts and will work to get the rest in my archive complete. Thanks for the nudge!
Thank you for the invitation to comment. I'll start with an introduction, as a node isn't making itself obvious at present. I first connected with you through a webinar you hosted through the Wild Seed Project. I've followed you since and greatly enjoy your writing! I have shared it with others on several occasions. I look forward to continuing relationship in this third space. I'm sure I'll have other things to say in the future, but for now, hello! 👋
Stumbling across this article — only a few days after I shared some of my own ideas on this rhizomatic/mycorrhizal network of relations — feels serendipitous and beautiful. Thank you for sharing these ideas and connecting on this strange third space of modem life.
Check it out here!
https://open.substack.com/pub/jewishecology/p/the-roots-that-connect-the-world?r=bbr9g&utm_medium=ios
Beautiful! I will head over to your page and read your post...thanks for sharing! Feel free to share a link to your post in the comments here for others to find their way over there to read
You’re too kind! I hope that you’re able to make this space a home for life-affirming dialogue and intercultural exchange!
yes that is the intention. looking forward to being in community here!
I would be very interested in your book club.
Thank you, Rowen, for your invitation, and your continued focus and open explorations. I am looking forward to following along, and participating in the growing of rhizomatic and radicle roots. The thoughts that come to mind are many, with one of the first being Patty Krawec's 'Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future'. She's on my bookstack, and has much potential shared by a thoughtful group, as it includes tangible personal actions.
Another potential resource that comes to mind is Tilke Elkins' Ceremonied Art, a seed of a project that has just begun to emerge from soil.
https://www.ceremoniedart.org
And third, a thought if you'd like a candle-lit path from a somewhat seasoned substack writer, Caroline Ross of 'Uncivil Savant', on the nuts and bolts of engaging with this substack platform creatively.
https://carolineross.substack.com/p/that-practical-substack-post-pt1
https://carolineross.substack.com/p/that-practical-substack-post-pt2
I find sustenance in following along with your writing and sharing, as well as the comment sections here on substack. Indeed, this feels more rhizomatic than ig (I'm also shedding that layer), and more central than patreon, so I am grateful to have found your space here, now, too.
What lovely invitations to your virtual 3rd space commons & zoom book club💐
Accepted!🤝
Blessings🙏
I first saw your digital writing environment in a screenshot from at least a year ago? This one is even more intriguing. After decades of cobbling together my own messy world this lit my whole being with excitement!!! Please do let us know when you will be workshopping or sharing some of your tools. I love and live in this relational learning - and geekery of the beloved tools :). Thank you!
Your writing is inspiring and invigorating and I am so grateful to have found you. Thank you for all of the work you are doing.
I particularly loved this:
“you who help me see the islands and nodes of coherence, as we plant seeds that allow the sprouting a relational and irresistible future full of diversity, mutual flourishing and a culture of care.”
For a long time I’ve believed we need to start writing better stories about the future, because stories are powerful (it’s called spelling for a reason) and we need to collectively imagine a future we want to live in.
Oh, also thank you for “more-than-human.” That’s so much better than non-human. :)
Mycological exchange would be wonderful! The substack world is still new to me too, and I am not seeking too much more screen time, but I deeply appreciate your writing Rowan. I'd like to offer a title for the shared reading, it's one I can delve into again and again- "How It Is: The Native American Philosophy of V.F. Cordova". She has grounded my understanding of relationship to self and place, as an outsider.
I love your framing of “third spaces” and the positive potential for shared emergent learning. A fresh perspective that is inspiring.
In my work I’m constantly seeking how to embed indigenous worldview in experiential education. Using story, play and creativity to shape young one’s worldview. Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez Book ‘Restoring Kinship Worldview’ and the associated worldview chart has been a great guide for this……and also for checking-in on my own colonised views that need tending and reimagining for deeper relating.
Thanks for writing such beauty and feeding my web of relationality with likeminded kin and thought.