A LIVING BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

A bridge built to last 500 years! Think on it. What kind of consciousness does it take to take the care and time build for that kind of future?

I believe it requires that the people believe that their descendents will be living there in 500 years, or, at least, want it to be that way. True ecological respect and commitment to place emerge from the necessities of relationship.

Nowadays, among highly mobile modern people, it is rare to find someone who fully expects to live out their whole life in a place; even rarer to find someone who thinks their children will be in the same place; and almost impossible to imagine the grandchildren doing so.

So what does it mean to "think of the seventh generation" which will arrive in less than one third of 500 years?

To truly think of our future on the planet requires thinking about our places. Planet and place cannot be separated. The challenge of modernity is to understand and act upon that relationship. We need guides and teachers.

Defending indigenous peoples is neither charitable nor romantic. They are caretakers of the wisdom of place, a wisdom so needed by all as a living bridge between past and future.