Loss of Indigenous Eden and the Fall of Spirituality

Blair Stonechild

• Publisher: U of R Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780889776999, 9780889777019
• eBook ISBN: 9780889777057
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

The follow-up to his award-winning book The Knowledge Seeker, Blair Stonechild's Loss of Indigenous Eden and the Fall of Spirituality continues to explore the Indigenous spiritual teachings passed down to the author by Elders, examining their relevance in today's world. Exploring how the rise of civilization has been antithetical to the relational philosophy of Indigenous thinking—whereby all things are interrelated and in need of care and respect—Stonechild demonstrates how the current global ideology of human dominance, economic growth, and technological progress has resulted in all-consuming and destructive appetites that are damaging relationships between humans and the natural world. Most troubling is the loss of respect for spirituality so fundamental to Indigenous stability. There must be international reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, their culture and spirituality, Stonechild insists, if humanity itself is to survive.

Chapter 1
Enchanted World

When one hears the term “enchanted world,” one is drawn to ideas of fairies, elves, and talking animals. In the enchanted world, now consigned to realm of imagination, spirits lurk in every corner—in trees, in animals, and even in rocks. In fables, one can magically communicate with such spirits. Some are mischievous, others malicious, but most of them are benign. We think such a world only belongs to un-reality and that no sane person can take it seriously. Yet, this is precisely the type of world that Indigenous Peoples perceived and learned to live in. They successfully navigated such a world for hundreds of thousands of years prior to the rise of today’s concept of civilization.

Noted Lakota Medicine Man, Fools Crow, describes communicating with a rock: “I talk to it like a person, and I let the rock talk back to me. It tells me where it comes from, what it has seen, what it has heard, and what it feels. When we are finished, I have a whole new picture of that rock. Doing this expands the way I behave towards rocks and towards other things, and my mind grows.”-1

Today, the dialogue about Original Peoples is based upon science and rationalism. Archaeologists are preoccupied by how they evolved from simians. This approach stands in contrast to Indigenous stories of how our peoples were placed on this land by the Creator. But the scientists will remonstrate, we have the proof—just look at the bones and fossils and geological strata. However, perhaps it is the scientists who are missing the point. Traditional Indigenous thinkers are not particularly interested in quibbling about the details of whether people arrived by foot or boat or otherwise. Indigenous philosophers are concerned about what they perceive to be a higher reality: that spiritual forces are and have always been afoot in the human story. The ancient accounts, derived from intense contemplation and prayer, tell us that people are late arrivals to the created world. The oldest human stories of arrival on Earth are not about God creating the world in seven days but, rather, speak about coming from the stars. Moreover, we are here for a reason—to engage in a learning experience. There is something sacred about origins that archaeologists, let alone modern intellectuals, do not take seriously.

Whatever the account, people have been on Earth for at least 200,000 years and perhaps for as long as 500,000 years according to geneticists. They may have been in the Americas for as long as 100,000 years. This period of existence before written history is generally referred to as “primitive,” “prehistoric,” and “uncivilized.” However, these prehistoric inhabitants should be more appropriately recognized as Indigenous. I bristle when I hear cultures such as those of the Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans being referred to as ancient. Having arisen a mere 6,000 years ago places their history in about the last 3 percent of human existence. At best, they should be referred to as cultures of the recent past. “Ancient” should refer only to that vast swath of experience that preceded the rise of so-called civilization.

Can we accept that “primitive peoples” were thinking beings? If so, what would their view of the world have been? I realize that the ideology and spiritual values of “prehistoric” folks is similar to the philosophy and practices of Indigenous Peoples across the world.

First Peoples across the globe value their connections to the land and see this as a sacred obligation. Rituals of welcoming and for creating strong relationships and ceremonies that recognize the power of the transcendent and promote forgiveness and healing were Indigenous tools for creating social cohesion. Protocols for entering the territory of others effectively governed relationships between groups. These were the ancient equivalents of borders and passports. The Indigenous ideology of harmony with all created things meant that the environment was respected. Despite all of this, things were not perfect and people made mistakes. However, with their spirituality, they could eventually find their way back to the “Good Path.”

We Came from the Stars

My mentor, distinguished Saulteaux Elder Danny Musqua, who was employed at First Nations University of Canada for over twenty-five years, shared his deep understandings of spirituality. Musqua is of a unique breed of individuals who have received the ancient teachings of the Saulteaux people directly from their Elders; teachings that have been transmitted through generations over millennia. According to Mosôm Danny, our people are beings who came to Earth “from the Stars to be men.”-1 Mosôm elaborated on the motives for and process of human arrival on Earth.

The old people say that a question was asked by the spirits after they were created: “I wonder what it would be like to be physical?” And thus Kise-Manitow, the Creator, responded: “You have asked that question, therefore you shall experience that. If that is what you want to know, then those of you that want that conscious knowledge of the physical universe must go down there, must go down into the essence of my being.” The Creator then dreamed the universe into existence to answer the spirits’ question.

The Creator, which is the woman within God, came out and became the physical essence. By giving life to the four corners of the universe of time, the heavens, the stars, and everything else were born. The Creator brought order to the universe, and we have to learn to live within that order. The spirits were created within the mind of God and everything in the universe that God created has spirit essence. After the physical world was created, time began. The universe continues to give birth: rebirth to the stars and to the star systems within our world and our universe. And it continues for all of the spirits who participated in that question.

The Creator is both spiritual and physical, the physical being a manifestation of its creativity. It is male and female, father and mother. It was with the female mother aspect of his being that he created the physical world. She gave birth to the world and everything in the universe and will continue to give birth until those spirits who have come into the physical world have obtained all the knowledge that they originally sought.-1

According to Native American scientist, Gregory Cajete: “After myths about animals, the second largest group of Native myths are those about the stars. In all of these stories, there is the deeply felt sense that humans do have a direct and ancient relationship with the heavens. Humans are also seen to benefit in terms of moral understanding and ethical behaviors through their interaction with the heavens.”-1

Tribal peoples all over the globe have stories of coming from the stars. Lakota writer Dr. A.C. Ross provides some examples.

The Dakota people also have an origin story connected with the stars. The story is that we came from seven stars and that we were put in the Black Hills. Research identified the stars as the Pleiades. . . . The Osage have an origin story telling that, at one time, they lived in the stars. ‘We were pure and noble people. Then we came onto the earth and became flesh and blood.’ In a similar way, an Iroquois origin story relates that they lived in the heavens. Then they, too, came to earth and became flesh and blood. A Navajo origin story tells that at the beginning of this age when they emerged, they discovered a god already here. They called him Dark God. They asked him where he came from and he said, ‘I came from Delyehe, the Seven Stars.’ . . . The Aztecs also believe they came from the Pleiades.-1

Cree science educator William Buck echoes Mosôm Danny’s words: “We originate from the stars, we are star people. The genesis mythologies say this is where we come from. We come from those stars, we are related to those stars. Once we finish doing what we come here to do, we get back up to those stars. The Pleiades are a constellation known in Anishinaabe as ‘Hole in the Sky,’ the place of opening between the star world and Earth.”-1

Star origin stories, among the oldest accounts of human emergence, all agree on one basic theme: that people need to be grateful for and respect the gifts of th...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Chapter 1 Enchanted World
• Chapter 2Indigenous Garden of Eden
• Chapter 3Betraying Indigenous Eden
• Chapter 4Final Conquestof Eden
• Chapter 5Religion Overtakes the World
• Chapter 6Knowledge, Sacred and Profane
• Chapter 7 The Big Rush
• Chapter 8 Harming Our Relatives
• Chapter 9Searching for Healing
• Chapter 10Need for Reconciliation
• Appendix 1Comparing Ecolizations and Civilizations
• Appendix 2United Nations Declaration oN the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• About the Author