To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [permaculture] The dominant paradigm, evangelism and knowing when to shut up and listen
Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 13:03:22 +0930
You can tell/urge/beg a 'whitefella' (white person) to "shut up and listen"
and they still just can't/don't/won't bloody hear.
I am a non-Indigenous Australian woman. I have spent the last 20+ years
living, working and socialising with Indigenous Australians in remote
communities and towns.
What I have learnt is a lot about my own culture and cultural conditioning.
The freakiest thing about the dominant paradigm that we live in, in this
country (and is probably pretty similar throughout English speaking world)
is the overwhelming urge to proselytise, evangelise, lecture and hold claim
to an exclusive knowledge of the 'truth' or 'knowledge'. It is what has
driven colonisation and wars. It can be presented as a religion, a political
'ism', and even dear old permaculture has it's share of zealots. We have the
truth and everyone else is just too dumb or ill-informed to 'get it'.
I have been in many, many situations in many places and have yet to
encounter an Indigenous Australian hectoring or aggressively telling me
about the truth of their world view. I have been privileged to be told
creation stories, visited sites, learn of ancestral beings. I have been told
stories (by living survivors) of massacres, forced displacement, loss of
homes, country, and control by government over movement and living
arrangements. However, my knowledge of such things is barely at a pre-school
(equivalent) level even after all these years.
What has impressed me time and time again is the generosity of Indigenous
people keen to share their knowledge and understandings and cultures
(because there are many Indigenous cultures - they differ all over
Australia) with anyone who will take the time to stop and listen. There has
never been a hint of superiority, arrogance, or intolerance. There has been
no suggestion that I must believe them or to not believe implies I am
inferior or misguided. It has been a SHARING, something offered
unconditionally and with metta (although that's not a word that translates
in to any Aboriginal languages that I'm aware of). As a friend of mine says
"it just is".
And my view of such things is not just romanticised notions of noble
savages. I've seen all sorts of stuff and some is pretty traumatic. Much is
the legacy of post-colonialism and is similar to what is experienced by
Indigenous/colonised peoples all over the world.
A lot of my work is in capacity building with Indigenous organisations and
people (particularly artists) to encourage them to have the skills/tools to
be assertive and find their way through or in spite of the dominant
paradigm. To express themselves, their identity and their culture. At the
same time I educate non-Indigenous Australians about alternative ways of
conceiving the world and encouraging respect for Indigenous expression and
culture - that's a big job! Some people have real trouble opening their ears
and recognising their own limitations and that they operate within an
invisible but incredibly pervasive paradigm. And it can be highly
'alternative' thinkers who can be just as stuck in their particular dogma as
the George Bushs of the world.
I'm very sensitive to racism. I wrestle with my own, uncomfortable issues
about racism, sometimes having feelings that I am ashamed of. Perhaps that
is why I responded so strongly to the post. I work on my own 'stuff' daily.
I also daily feel blessed that I have had my heart and mind opened and have
been so lucky to have experiences with Indigenous Australians. We
whitefellas could all do with more shutting up and listening - which is why
I hesitated about doing a long-ish post.
Thanks to everyone on the list for being part of the community.