Mutual Aid is part of humanity's indigenous heritage for 100s of thousands of years systematically enabling giving & receiving through whole community interaction.
SDC is a Canadian non-profit dedicated to promotion of Ecological Design, including Environmental, Elemental (integrating 1)Air, 2) Water, 3) Earth (1-3 = states of gaseous, liquid & solid matter), 4) Energy in solar, fire etc & 5) 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.
Indigenous Peoples from around the world practiced systematic structured forms of Mutual-Aid seen in circle and council processes, time-based accounting, progressive multi-stakeholder ownership, multi-home living, elemental design, orchard productivity and other worldwide modalities discussed in subsection 1) the Indigenous Circle of Life. The primary goal of Indigene Community is to inform and welcome to involvement; individuals, families, businesses, organisations and governments as to our worldwide indigenous heritage and how we can reinstate Mutual-Aid in our personal, organisational and economic lives as a systematic structured sustainable development tool for personal and collective abundance.
Helping each other, help nature's abundance. Human socio-economic organisation is particularly important to achieving mutual-aid among us. Indigenous Economy recognition and progressive ownership systems across lifetimes from young apprentice to elder-master, using the String-Shell allowed for humans to systematically organise Mutual-Aid. Clustering of housing and structuring economic inter-action in the Longhouse (apartment-like) and Pueblo (townhouse-like) multi-home buildings allowed for generations to live in proximity and to collaboratively complement each other's strengths.
There are a number of resources which can be tapped by individuals seeking a path of Mutual-Aid:
Mutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution
by Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin (1842 - 1921), 1902 is available as a download from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4341 Kropotkin as a geographer involved in field studies across Russia's Siberia makes observations of collaboration or cooperation among humans (progressive ownership Guild system of the Hanseatic League) and animals both within (intra) and among (inter) -species. Kropotkin gives definition to the concept of Anarchy or natural law as Mutual Aid based in the tradition of the Guild Systems of Europe as well as in governance and economic practices of indigenous peoples. His extensive observations of mutual aid among animals is a testimony to both the loving intelligence of life and humanity's role in stewarding life. This work written in response to tendencies in Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species for 'survival of the fittest' is a testimony of love and mutual-aid as being the strongest force in species and in human development across history.
The Great Law of Peace, (Great Law of the Longhouse) http://www.manataka.org/page135.html Kaianerekowa Hotinonsionne outlines the Constitution of the People of the Longhouse confederacy six nations Haudenosaunee (Rotinosaunee). This document is remarkable in the whole world for describing a cultural system of government based in Mutual Aid. While the religions of the world abstract peace and love because their citizens do not live these practices, the Longhouse (apartment-like) and Pueblo (townhouse-like) peoples of the world lived clustered and in constant relations of peace, mutual-aid and love. The Great Law is a universal law practiced by all indigenous peoples around the world based in two main practices of mutual-aid:
1. Living in multihome proximity within the Longhouse (apartment-like) & Pueblo (townhouse-like) buildings. By planning for individual and family privacy as well as opportunities to interact in critical mass 'economy' (Greek 'oikos' = 'home' + 'namein' = 'manage' from 'manus' = 'hand' = 'care & nurture'). Typically indigenous planners reached for 50 - 100 - 150 individuals per multihome complex. 100 people for example represents economies of scale and specialization interacting in complementation among the gifts of female, male, young, middle, old or differentially talented peoples.
2. Inclusive welcoming time-based human resource accounting on the string-shell (eg. Wampum, Esnoguay, Seewan, Kayoni) within the diverse specialized Production Societies. This accounting integrated functions of 'capital' (Latin 'cap' = 'head' or 'wisdom'), currency, 'condolence' ('social-security'), collegial education (apprentice to elder mentor), math-based communication (statistics), diplomatic-conveyance (shared resource harvesting and relations adjustments), costume (affiliation, identification) and other individual and community values. In this integrated accounting cycle all were universal owners progressively from youth to elder respecting the value of experience as well as research. The pride of all indigenous communities was the ability to welcome everyone to participate and partake of the fruits of collaboration.
These two priority mutual-aid processes are leading parts of the Indigenous Circle of Life, Section A-3.
In proximity old, young, handicapped and all ages can interact and aid each other easily. Longhouse peoples didn't need devoted single-function (often-lavish) buildings and abstract symbolism once a week to recall civility because they practiced mutual-aid throughout their lives. While religions, co-operatives, non-profits, social-economies governments, education and social-service infrastructures call for 'giving to the poor', Longhouse peoples implement systems of 'giving and receiving' and comprehensive accounting so that all contributions are valorised as complementary parts of the whole. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams used the model of the Great Law for creating the USA Constitution. However living in apartheid separate communities on stolen lands, colonial settlers never learned or understood the 'Economic' (Greek = 'care and nurture of the home and family') Democracy details of Longhouse/Pueblo clustered living and the String-Shell time-based accounting systems which gave strength and control to everyone in their daily lives. The String-Shell (Wampum, Esnoguay, Seewan, Kayoni, Quipu) employed in the Production Societies accounted for time-based contributions of members into a system of progressive lifetime ownership from young apprentice to elder-master. Time as an economic common-denominator allowed for Production Societies and the communities in which they operated to welcome everyone in inclusive economy. People were considered as assets to building livelihood and well-being. Hence the People of the Longhouse also had formal 'adoption' procedures by which individuals from outside could apply, contribute and join.
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