Dedicated to the memory of
Leon Secatero (1943-2008) and
Paula Gunn Allen (1939-2008) and Dan Moonhawk Alford (1948-2002),
friends to all people with an open mind and heart.

The most advanced scientific view has found that in the sub-atomic realm, there are no longer any things:  there is only a dynamic flux of process and relationship.  This was an astonishing discovery, but it was not new.  Indigenous people for millennia have seen the cosmos as a place of kinship – a place of harmony and beauty.  Come join us as we explore the beginnings of a new language – a language that is now emerging through dialogues with Native elders, quantum physicists and other Western scientists.  Come join us as we explore the connections between the Quantum realm of Energy and the Indigenous Spirit realm.

Space and Place

Knowledge of time and space was once dependent upon place, closely tied to observation of the natural cycles of celestial and earthly phenomena that surrounded one's homeland.  But for the greater part of the past 500 years, the Western world has literally moved away from direct engagement with the local landscape by moving away from their ancestral homelands, aided by the increased speed of ship, train, plane and automobile.  In the process, knowledge became increasingly abstract - no longer confined to a given locality.

The development of abstract thought may have been a necessary precursor to great scientific achievements, but in the process, the primacy of place became devalued, relegated to a byproduct of the coordinates of time and space.

Some key questions arise:  Does human experience start from blank, empty space and then construct particulars of place?  Or are the concrete particulars of "place" immediate and irreducible, with the notion of empty space literally an after-thought?  Can these questions shed light on a deeper exploration of the sacred, of origin, and of homeland?

Indigenous peoples are named such because they have remained, to a larger degree, in touch with the lands in which they have inhabited for centuries.  There is a direct relationship – a familial relationship - between the language of Indigenous peoples and their land and culture.  How does space become place - imbued not merely with objects but with living stories?  If we think of place as primary, would that help reconnect human beings with their local ecology, and avoid potentially catastrophic consequences for our planet and species?

With the advent of relativity and quantum theory, there is a renewed appreciation within science for the cosmos as an interconnected and undivided whole - not just within physics, but in biology, ecology and many other fields.  Are there points of commonality between emerging modern science and Indigenous wisdom?  What is the role of language in the perception of space and the intersection of land and culture?  How does this relate to new perceptions of space and place and new inquiries and ways of knowledge construction?

Last year, we celebrated our tenth anniversary of the Language of Spirit dialogues by exploring the theme of time from Indigenous and Western science perspectives.  This year, we will build on our discussions of last year and the previous ten years, to explore the theme of space – inner, outer, and everywhere in between – and its relationship with place.  We welcome you to listen and participate as we engage upon this bold new frontier.