Jon Young, Seven Generations, and Beyond

Posted on March 22, 2007, by kiliii.
Filed Under Community, Speakers, Portland Region, 7 Generations |

jonyoungfire.jpgJon Young gave a great lecture on Friday, speaking to the group about the importance of cultural mentoring, the system that he has evolved over time side by side with native elders from the Akamba of Kenya, San of the Kalahari, Haudenosaunee of the Northeast and Polynesians of Hawa’i'i.

So what is this cultural mentoring thing all about? Cultural mentoring is about, it would seem, a way to build a community; a way to relate to one another in a fashion that has worked for other cultures for long periods of time; a way to pass on important modes of connecting deeply to the land. I would venture to say to say that it’s about permaculture, community structure, consensus, good communication, aboriginal lifeways, birdwatching, and more.

There was a wonderful moment when workshop leader Tony Deis asked Jon a question about what’s happening in our communities across the world.

“So Jon, does that mean this is a movement?“, asked Tony.
“Well, yes, I guess this is a movement,” responded Jon.
“I ask because if this is a movement, then I want to know what defines the movement.”
Jon hesitated a brief moment and then said, “Well, the nature awareness people are all about getting back to how indigenous peoples did it, and permaculture’s principles are borrowed from indigenous peoples. I guess it’s a movement in re-indigenizing.”

At that moment I nearly jumped out of my seat. What Jon said resonated deeply with me, knowing that all these different communities and organizations in Portland are together on this one– a greater community that believes in the seven generations before and beyond.

Comments

2 Responses to “Jon Young, Seven Generations, and Beyond”

  1. Test on March 28th, 2008 8:47 am

    fladsjfds

  2. Colin Leath on March 28th, 2008 9:00 am

    Hey! I found your site from a wildroots mailing. I used a quote from here on the main page of our group ( follow website link ) because it has to do with the naming. We didn’t get to have much of a conversation in coming up with the name for our group so I was happy to see that you were talking about ideas behind what we’re doing!

    Here’s a great continuation of the conversation from Warren at Quail Springs (near Santa Barbara): (see website link)

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