Oil & Water:Can They Mix?
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505-792-2900
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Western and Indigenous Approaches to
Economy, Ecology & Community
Co-Sponsors |
|---|
| Earth Care International |
October 28 - Nov. 1, 2006
La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Oil and water: We were always taught they couldn’t mix. In the same way, we are taught the old must make way for the new; that the march of progress must go on. But is that really true? Can we mix indigenous and Western approaches? Can we create “original thought” that brings the best of the old and new to bear upon today’s complex problems?
Oil and water. Oil comes from inside the earth, water from the sky. Water flows down from our mountains to our rivers to the ocean and returns to where it came.
We are water. Water is life.
Water has traditionally been thought of as a commons because it is the ecological basis of all life. In the last century, water is becoming private property, moving from community to commodity. While everyone has been concerned with the price of gasoline, bottled water is now far more expensive than gasoline.
Oil is nature’s way of recycling plant material. It is created over millions of years, but we are using it up over decades, years, and weeks, faster and faster. Oil has become the symbol of greed, a magnet for war, the main ingredient of the petrochemical age. Nations that possess oil possess power. Those nations don’t want the status quo to change. But it is time for an oil change.
Most importantly of all, it is time for a change in our thinking. Fragmented thinking = a fragmented society. It is time for a deep change in the way the mind works. The products of fragmented society – a feeling of social disintegration and alienation, have too often been exported along with the products of capitalism – the alluring comforts of a modern technological society.
The world is an interrelated whole. If we see the world as an interrelated whole, our ecology is ultimately our community. Responsibility begins first for our local communities, and then in understanding the interconnection of all the systems we are nested in around the globe.
There is a great opportunity for healing if our consciousness can mature to the point of holding different ways of knowing without judgment. If we are to return to an ecological way of thinking, we cannot ignore nature’s economy and the interrelation of all that live on this planet. We can also not ignore the human-made money economy or simply wish it away. Money is not bad in itself. Economy and ecology are at their root about maintaining house (from the Greek oikos). It is possible to think of the money economy in terms of the natural world, to look for pattern and synergy rather than isolated accounting apart from the whole. Money can be a powerful tool for social good. And consumers have the power of their pocketbook to change the habits of the corporate world. All of this begins with a change in consciousness.
This conference is a ground-breaking conference that brings the leading thinkers of the West together with strong indigenous voices, women and men, elders and youth. We come together in the spirit of community, seeking to learn from each other and from the Earth herself. The mix of people is as profound as the topic.
The tools of the conference are in keeping with our message. We have many diverse speakers presenting in both plenary and small group sessions, and we will also come together for group dialogue, special events, and community building on particular topics of interest. The conference is dialogic-based as opposed to simply informational based. Our central purpose is to gather together to co-create and re-envision the future in sustainable ways that honor our traditional wisdom and future generations.
In the Southwest, there is a rich history and appreciation for water. We have thrived even with limited rainfall because of an acequia system that brings water to rural communities.
Abram, David
Arellano, Estevan
Bacon, David
Cajete, Greg
Cimino, Elaine
Clarke, Tony
Deason, Gary
Douthwaite, Richard
Duran, Phillip H.
Echo-Hawk, Jr., Walter
Eisler, Riane
Gangadean, Ashok
Glendinning, Chellis
Hardin, Jesse Wolf
Henderson, Hazel
Hiza, Margaret
Hogan, Linda
Kawagley, Angayuqaq Oscar
Lake, Osprey Orielle
Little Bear, Leroy
Littlebird, Larry
Martinez, Dennis
Maryboy, Nancy
Metzner, Ralph
Montuori, Alfonso
Pinkham, Lloyd
Riley, David
Sanchez, Kathy
Savory, Allan
Secatero, Leon
Selby, Christina
Selby, Taylor
Trojahn, Lynn
Twist, Lynne
Warshall, Peter