1) INTRODUCTION

 

TRIED-AND-TRUE, MULTI-DISCIPLINARY, INTER-GENERATIONAL,

 WHOLE-SYSTEMS LIVING-DESIGN & LIVELIHOOD FOR TODAY & MILLENNIA

We are all originally indigenous peoples from everyplace on earth.  'Indigenous' (Latin = 'self-generating') heritage is hundreds of thousands if not millions of years old.  There are remarkable worldwide similarities in 1) three-dimensional orchard-tree polyculture food production in tropical and temperate climate zones, 2) the organisation of labour around domestic economy Multihome living in Longhouse (apartment-like) and Pueblo (townhouse-like) complexes, 3) specialized Production Societies for the provision of goods and services, 4) time-based accounting with the string shell, 5) progressive ownership from youth to elder, 6) women's councils, 7) vision-quest education, 8) circle and council process and 9) formal dialogue processes among individuals at every level of community on every continent.

Individuals and the whole people each in their areas of empowered specialty exercise an 'economic' (Greek 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'manage' from 'manus' = 'hand' from 'care and nurture') 'democracy' (Greek 'demos' = 'people' + 'kratos' = 'power of') missing from modern political democratic and hierarchic for profit or non-profit corporate or cooperative governance. Indigenous socio-economic technologies form a self-generating constellation of sustainable human relations, culture and natural-science.

During the process of destroying the abundant indigenous 3-dimensional Polyculture orchard for control paradigms in meagre 2-D 'agriculture' (Latin 'ager' = 'field'), conquest following, colonialism, empires and adoption of hierarchic false artificial science, humanity has become alienated from our wise indigenous heritage.  Indigene Community website reconstructs multi-disciplinary indigenous socio-economic technology for re-establishing sustainable human relations in an abundant planet.  Our thousands of readers and correspondents come from countries across every inhabited continent on earth.  We hope that as a reader wherever you are, you will join us in compiling, celebrating and reanimating your portion of humanity's indigenous heritage.

This compilation interprets the 'indigenous' Great Law of Peace as stemming from the Indigenous Circle of Life  https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/home/indigenous-circle-of-life with 2 main practices used in humanity's heritage worldwide being

URL (Universal - Uniform Resource Locator)

www.indigenecommunity.info 

 

The SDC is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to the promotion of Ecological Design, which includes Environmental (with our world), Elemental integrating 1)Air, 2) Water, 3) Earth states of gaseous, liquid and solid matter, 4) Energy in solar, fire etc and Life both vegetable and animal, Ergonomic design with the human body, 'Economic' from the Greek = 'care and nurture of the home and family'.  Our programs are designed to support each other in livelihood (food, shelter, clothing, warmth and health) during the process of making a living.  Supporting people and processes are key to reaching our goals together.

INDIGENE COMMUNITY INTERACTIVE FACEBOOK BLOG:  Contributors and readers of Indigene Community can post information, pictures, discuss activities, comment and interact at the following:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_155954471113424  as well as contact the coordinator:  Douglas Jack douglasf.jack@gmail.com

Indigene Community is a collaborative project on compiling and implementing Indigenous Knowledge for sustainable development today.  Please feel free to offer your experience, suggestions, resources, stewardship, direction and wisdom.

MEANING

'INDIGENE' from the Latin means = 'self-generating'. ‘Indigenous’ goals of creating local inclusive welcoming interactive economies are not ‘race’ centered but reside in the universal human heritage for every peoples from every place on earth.

'COMMUNITY' > L. = 'com' = 'together' + 'munus' = 'gift or service'.  The words community, communication, municipality and remunerate are all derived from ancient practices of local accounting recognition for civil contributions.  Indigene Community Essential Goods and Services Mutual-Aid provides socio-economic tools to communities who wish to animate their existing human and physical resources to provide livelihood for all citizens.

 

MISSION & METHOD

Developing community or mutual-aid in a colonial world has failed from not understanding the roots of our present 'exogenous'  (Latin = 'other-generated') interaction and world-views.  Most don't realize that our present economy is not supporting itself and requires massive transfers of ecological wealth from every quarter around the world.  We've been indoctrinated by home, economic, educational, governmental and institutional influences to be alienated from our indigenous past.  Every place on the earth has a long history of sustainable indigenous living.  The colonial hierarchal (top-down) institutional ways of living violently impose themselves on peoples everywhere but are threatened by divergent indigenous cultural (systematic) ways of interacting differently from the norm as well as the humaine authority.  In churches and schools we are taught to associate 'indigenous' with 'primitive' (of first order), 'savagery' (Latin = 'sylva' = 'of the tree') or 'witches' ('women').

PROPOSITION

Indigenous ways are based on systematic 'peace' cultures stemming from complex checks and balances in economic, ecological and governance systems.  Economically, mutual-aid is the foundation of indigenous societies.  Being strength based needs are prioritized such as Abraham Maslow outlines in 'Hierarchy of Needs'.  Colonial conquering victors have written our history books and the continuing rules of engagement with each other to continue subjugation.  We are thus rarely and sparingly exposed to indigenous whole system's design.  Whole systems include sustainable life-science, urban-planning, plant-based technologies, socio-economic participatory practices, governance, collaborative progressive ownership, communications, economic-democracy and healing perspectives.  Humans as primates have a stewardship role in promoting tree-led food, material and ecological abundance through the mixed, multi-level orchard.

REBOOTING

Human culture has perverted its original kind and sustainable operating system due to a pervasive colonial (empire) 'virus' by which, we are destroying the planet's ecological capacities and productivity.  Analogy:  When a computer has a 'virus', we reboot it back at a time when the Operating System was integrated, whole and vibrant.  Indigene Community website compiles and attempts to describe the indigenous period, principles and practices, which cover hundreds of thousands and millions of years of human life on earth.  Humanity can find abundance and guidance from indigenous roots.  We won't reinvent our way out of problems using the same understandings which create them.

WEBSITE & LINKING

This website is devoted to compiling indigenous heritage from the traditions of every people on earth.  We realise that compiling heritage involves living and applying these practices in the present as well as developing sustainable planning for the future together.  This website is inspired by the indigenous past, present and future.  We hope you will become a part of this by understanding your own indigenous heritage, applying these practices in the present and building a sustainable future.   We are trying to build collaboration among individuals and communities.  If you like this site or sections of it, then link (highlight, copy & paste) the website or copy the 'index' links found on the left hand side for each Section A-E or sub-sections to your own emails and website.

CONSIDERATION

'Indigenous' is used as a descriptive term from its etymology meaning 'generating from within' or 'self-generating' and thus doesn't refer to any race of peoples but to cultural practices and principles (qualities) of generating resources sustainably in harmony with earth and human resources intentionally for many generations without deteriorating the biosphere for future generations.  For example, distinction is not made between 'European' and 'other peoples', because Europeans and parts of it in particular still carry indigenous practices.  Distinction is not made to 'all-others', as some peoples worldwide were or are predominantly 'exogenous' in practices.  We realize that every people on earth today have been impacted and often compromised by 'exogenous' (Latin = 'other-generating') colonial-imperial society, institutions, monetary-capitalism, ways-of-life and economies. The goal of this website is to help define and distinguish indigenous practice so people can become aware of their own indigenous heritages.  In the process we define exogenous practices for awareness.  We hope readers will be aided to restitch-reweave indigenous whole system practice back into a usable livelihood fabric for daily use and provide a template as to cycles of sustainable economic activity for whole communities.  With this self-awareness, we can rejoin those who consider themselves or whom we can identify as indigenous.

 

QUESTION AND COMMENTS

Please add your comments to the 'Question and Comment box' at the bottom of each page, add email and send.  Add any questions you may wish to pose, links you wish to make and other information you consider relevent.  We consider Indigene Community web site a collective tool for those who are looking to reach back for indigenous tools of Whole System design.  We are looking for active participants or those with any amount of information and  energy to present.  Our worldwide indigenous heritages are a huge overlooked area of research and public discourse alienated through colonial pressures.  We will be adding  a 'Blog' section so that participants will be able to make comments, develop subjects, add content and materials which will help in this compilation.  If you are able to add sections in various languages, we hope to develop various languages to the site.

 

PREFACE

Refer to the left sidebar for an overview of Sections and subcategories.  To see attachments, pictures and drawings go to each section.  Attachments are at the bottom of each page.  Those looking for an overview of indigenous science, social, ecological-economy and governance will consult subsection A. 1) The Indigenous Circle of Life text and the attached article.  Please refer as well to the Search this site bar in the upper right hand page corner, by which you may search keywords of interest to you.

VIDEOS

LASALLE GARDENS MUTUAL AID COMMITTTEE  You Tube Douglas Jack oueeiijayii  11th Novembre, 2011 Community Building Part 1.  http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?video_id=MF3hpiuX5rI 

Part 2. String Shell Accounting Values Capital, Currency, Social Security, Communication, Collegial Production Society Specialties http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?video_id=c7A7JhkMO10 

INDIGENE PARTICIPATORY ACCOUNTING (micro) & MAPPING (macro) an AUDIO NARRATED SLIDE SHOW Power-Point guided tour of multi-stakeholder accounting practices through 54 slides:        1) Please click on the Google DOCS link above in blue and download the above Google stored Power Point compressed document at 15.9 Mb.          2) Once downloaded as a ZIP file, then open as a Microsoft Power Point File.          3) On the top tool bar following from Home, Insert, Design, Animations click on SLIDE SHOW           4) then on the left hand side click on FROM BEGINNING or FROM CURRENT SLIDE.  This will begin a 26 minute guided Audio Power Point Presentation of the 54 slides.  https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-qKn1Od5a2eZTMyMjdiMzUtODc5YS00MDMzLThhYjQtMzc0ZjU2MTY2ODk0&hl=en

Indigenous Participatory and time-based Human Resource Accounting practices across Founder,  Worker, Supplier and Consumer stakeholder Member contributions and Associations are counter-intuitive for those trained to think in only monetary capital, currency, accounting, collegial and communication terms.  For those who take the time, it is an eye-opener or world-view changer.  The PPpresentation is complementary to the indigenous economic and social concepts presented in the rest of this Indigene Community website.

 

Included in the Slide Show once the Power Point Slide Show opens up in full screen with narration over 54 slides for 25.7 minutes. The left / right arrows as well allow you to navigate by choice from slide to slide.  At the bottom of the screen is some volume control.  The PPPresentation is timed over 54 slides during 26 minutes.  Press the Escape key to exit at any time.

 

The audio Power Point document is also attached under Section C. RELATIONAL ECONOMY, Part 2.  INDIGENE PARTICIPATORY ACCOUNTING  through Viewer mode with a descriptive list of the 54 slides. Non audio & reader-paced choice of slides is available by viewing in PPP mode.

 

Please note that this website is under construction, still has many incomplete sections and corrections to make.  Your feedback and contributions are most welcome!

 

TRANSLATION - TRADUCTION

1)  Pressing on GOOGLE TRANSLATE MY PAGE, ALLOWS YOU TO TAKE TEXT POSTED ON THIS WEBSITE AND TO TRANSLATE IT INTO OTHER LANGUAGES AUTOMATICALLY.  You must cut and paste those sections you are interested into the Google Translate. Please be advised, Mechanical Translation should always be verified by native bilingual speakers, however the service is useful as an assist.

1) GOOGLE TRADUCTION vous permettez de prenez les sections que vous desirez (coupez, faire copie et recopiez) traduire en Française où autre langage.  ***Traduction présentement 6% en Française et 94% sont en Anglaise des affiches.

 

INTRODUCTION (Quelques articles-clé en Française sont en affiche parmi les affiches du siteweb)

We are all originally indigenous peoples from every region and nation on earth.  During the past 7,000 years since the destruction of the indigenous 3-D three-dimensional Mesopotamian orchard-forest ecology and rivers with desertification, 'agriculture' (Latin 'ager' = 'field' or 2 dimensional production), rise of centrally dominated empires and westward colonial movement in turn destablized indigenous peoples and sustainable ecological production in Palestine-Israel, Egypt, Greece, North Africa, Rome, Europe, the americas and finally worldwide, each loosing 3-D capacity (tree-led food, material and ecological services) and becoming 'exogenous' = 'other-generated'.  Each once self-generator lost the knowledge of the long indigenous earth heritage due to epidemics, genocide and ignorant oppression to eventually become an other-dependent abuser.  Today's population has inherited destroyed livelihood ecologies, imperial worldviews, deficit-based social-economic organisation, sloppy scientific paradigms, self-destructive operating practices, generation of scarcity which are together abusive, cruel, inefficient and unsustainable.

 

How can we become indigenous to our time and place today?

The following four practices were found around the world.  We make interpretations and adaptations here of Indigenous Knowledge IK in consideration of systematic applications to today's economy employing inclusive, welcoming, participatory, experiential, nourishing, loving life-enhancing indigenous processes.

INDIGENOUS BLUEPRINT

Blueprints for sustainable development and humaine society are still held by indigenous societies and indeed our own indigenous heritages worldwide.   'Indigenous' is not a function of race but of openess, involvement and inclusion for everyone.  Around the world ethno-historical (indigenous worldview) efforts are being made to compile Indigenous Knowledge IK from thousands of First Nation societies and fragments held by all of us in order to reintegrate this into inclusive living-ecology-economy, abundance and connected cultures today for everyone.

 

WELCOME

Welcome is a key function of our program.  In everything we do, we ask ourselves whether each act is connected to building the capacity  to welcome and support the livelihood requirements of individuals and families.  Individuals interested in working / living with us will have a better idea from communication and involvement in our projects and multi-home-family ecological housing development.  We're families, individuals and business working together to establish an urban based ecological 'community' in the greater Montreal region called Tiohtiake ('place where the nations and their rivers unite and divide') in Mohawk but as well have correspondents in many communities worldwide.  We value and account-for the gifts or assets of everyone to contribute to community in diverse complementary ways.

 

MULTI-HOME LONGHOUSE and PUEBLO SOLUTION

Even though people of the east (Florida to the Canadian Maritimes) and west (Mexico to Alaska) coasts of Turtle Island (North America) were housed primarily in Longhouses, the five nation Rotinosaunee (Mohawk = People of the Longhouse) or Haudenosaunee of the Atlantic Northeast used this 'affiliative' term.  They could see among the European colonists great isolation from and fear of each other in detached 'nuclear' family homes away from being able to collaborate together between generations, among families, within community and among communities.  They understood our fear (of each other and others) leads to isolation / loneliness with enormous 'ecological-footprints' as we consume life's resources individually rather than in collaboration greatly reducing our ability to enrich or give-back to each other and the earth. Indigenous multi-home dwellings (eg apartments - Longhouse-like or townhouses - Pueblo-like) heritage provide diverse examples of inter-personal-family-community interaction and mutual aid, upon which humanity can recreate its stewardship role for the earth.

 

INTERACTIVE HERITAGE

Indigene Community is inspired by our world's universal 'indigenous' traditions based in multi-family planning, accounting recognition for all labour inputs through 'Production Societies' (Guild-like organisations involving progressive ownership from youth to elder involvement). We invite individuals, families and businesses to contribute to our web-based 'Catalogue of Human Resources' CHR.  Contributions are accounted for as credits and consumption as debits at market-rates in a 'Community Investment and Exchange System' CIES.  Our CHR facilitates participating intentional members and the larger community for contributions.  We expect to work within existing economic structures and do what we can to make them work sustainably.  We see a huge opportunity to organise individuals and families to channel their resouces (skills, rent, food, clothing, heating, health, care etc) in existing apartment and townhouse buildings so that residents develop ownership and interact locally.

 

ECOLOGICAL DESIGN

We are planning for ecological design integrating sun & other elements (air, water, soil and life), ergonomic design with the human body, environmental design with local site specific biological and geographic strengths & economic with participant livelihood well-being. We expect to build a safe, healthy fire resistant self-sufficient passive solar (solar geometry for summer 67° degree, spring/fall 45° and winter 23° noon-time suns) building with green-roof (insulation, water-filtering, wind mitigation), snow & rain precipitation gathering, composting, urine-fecal separating green humanure toilets, grey water recycling, building mounted linear-wind turbines on wind-shear wall and roof-lines, integration with local economy etc.

 

PRODUCTION SOCIETIES

Our internal structuring involves both 'Consensus' ('reaching for common values' and respecting 'common interest') and 'Caucussing' (Iroquois = 'grouping of like interests' or 'cultivation of diversity').  We work contractually (written agreements), by accounting for contributions at agreed upon market rates each individual developing credits. Every transaction involves investment through Production Societies. Individuals develop equity ownership (charged at market rates) in condominium units as well as being given the opportunity and accounting recognition for participation in common area functions. Our multi-home target is to have approximately 100 individuals (35 households or families) living adjacent (private and independent 'partements' at market costs)with opportunities and accounting recognition to contribute to common area functions and other services. By planning, investment and accounting for domestic (food, shelter, clothing, warmth and health) economies among critical numbers of participants, we lay a stable foundation for 'economic' (Greek = 'care and nurture of the home and family') interaction among us and the larger community.

ECOLOGICAL-ECONOMIC FRACTAL DESIGN

'Self-generating' or 'indigenizing' human culture means finding & implementing the fractal mathematical components, factors, units or patterns of economic livelihood interaction, which recreate themselves at every level of relationships. Humans are collective creatures with huge commonality as individuals. Our common factors repeat at every level of human social & economic organization. As individuals we can ask ourselves as Mohandas Gandhi exemplified, "How can I become the change (through my own life, in the daily interactions which I am privy to, with that;) which I want to see in the world?"

Through this method of integrating the personal with the 'political' ('workings of the 'poly' = 'many'), humanity's worldwide indigenous peoples create balance. By operating at integrated personal, interpersonal, family, multihome-dwelling, community, city, region, nation, bio-region, confederate, continental, hemispheric & worldwide levels, the individual doesn't attempt to impose order on the rest, but to align with the natural order already at work. As we align personally & positively with: ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, psychology, sociology etc as one integrated holistic Natural-Science, then all our interactions align with the whole politic. 'Indigenous', 'indigene' & 'indigenizing' as words are simultaneously noun, descriptive & verb, hence need to be understood as integrating all three states. India & Gandhi focused energy & effort towards independence on indigenous: 1) Ahisma (Hindi 'non-violence') in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist tradition) respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others, 2) 'Satyagraha' (Hindi 'truth-search'), 3) economic livelihood Swadeshi (H. 'self-sufficiency') & finally 4) 'Swaraj' (H. 'self-rule'). Sustainable revolution is really only possible through the harmony 'ahisma' (caring non-violent culture). Through recapturing personal economy / self-sufficiency, in family, in multihome-buildings, at local-levels, then collective economies & political life is built, upon which all levels are harmonious. Indigene Community considers this harmony from a holistic perspective integrating all sciences, as humans are meant to be living.

 

THE LONG NOW FOUNDATION- STEWART BRAND

Our Indigene Community project takes inspiration as well by the LONGNOW www.longnow.org project of Stewart Brand (founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue) and fellows. Stewart shows great integrated design from the Whole Earth Catalogue. Stewart loses perspective on life's integrated energy & material system, when he advocates for nuclear power as a solution to human relations, strength-animation & needs.  Guidelines for a long-lived, long-valuable institution:

QUALITY QUESTIONS

Are we welcoming, inclusive, recognizing and oriented to the skills / assets / needs / requirements of our fellows?  Do we respect livelihood requirements for participants?  (Food, shelter, clothing, warmth, health, welbeing and inspiration and other necessities for individuals and families?)  Are we planning economically (Greek 'oikos' = 'home/family' + 'namein' = 'management' aligned with 'care and nurture')?  Are we open to everyone who comes?  Do our environmental and social objectives match with our participant subjectives (personal requirements)?  Are we helping our members become the change they want to see in the world?  Do our methods match our goals?  Can our practices be applied everywhere in respect of an inter-dependent world?