Ingrid Washinawatok el-Issa Reflects on Working Toward
Peace
The
roots of war and violence go deep, into the earth herself.
As an indigenous woman, I wish to simply state that until
we make peace with earth, there will be no peace in the
human community. Please allow me to explain.
As native peoples of the hemisphere, we have historically
been the victims of violence and continue to be plagued
by injustice and inequality. In our history we have had
to go to war to protect our lands, as peace would simply
mean our enslavement and extermination. And every course
of action we sought-whether accommodation or resistance-had
only one outcome, the theft of our lands. All this is well
known.
What is not clearly understood is that all this was ostensibly
done for our good, and the good of humanity. The underlying
justification for the theft of our lands has always been
that we were not making proper use of them, and that these
lands could be put to better use. The wilderness that we
cultivated and maintained was simply going to waste. It
was selfish of us to padlock our vast forests and plains
and deprive millions of hungry and millions of landless
from their enjoyment. It was argued that stealing our land
would provide for the common good of the world and all would
become better off as a result.
And of course during this process, we would be lifted
from our less-than-civilized state and would eventually
recognize the goodwill that had been lavished upon us.
Today, most of our lands and most of the wilderness are
gone and yet there are more poor people than ever, more
misery, more landlessness. And today there are those who
still argue that tearing down the remaining stretches of
lands benefits humanity, or in today's jargon, "creates
jobs."
As we look upon the increasingly despoiled planet, we
can only ask the question: "Has our land indeed been
put to better use?" Could there have been another way?
Not only could there have been another way, there must
be another way. Destroying natural resources, destroying
the planet's ability to provide sustenance, only aggravates
the world's misery and poverty, the injustice and discontent.
This is because, like everything, ultimately, the wealth
of the world comes from the earth. We may fashion this wealth
and remake it to perform marvelous things, but a barren
planet does not create jobs, and wars for food and water
could become a terrible epitaph for the human species. As
we destroy the ability of the earth to sustain us, we lose
our ability to address the chronic needs of the poor, the
hungry, and the landless.
The current economic order-based upon an ideology that
does not recognize the wealth of the natural order, that
cannot place value on anything unless it is sold in the
marketplace, that enshrines greed and avarice as the engines
of development-is destroying the real wealth of the planet.
While it pretends to create jobs and products, in reality,
it is similar to burning furniture to provide heat: every
bit of flame, like many of our jobs, is actually impoverishing
humanity, not enriching it. For the longest time, only Indians
and other natural peoples cried out against the war against
nature. Today, we are allied with many environmental groups.
Yet, still, the understanding of how we must fundamentally
change the way we think about the planet is only now beginning
to become a subject of discussion.
There are many definitions of sustainable development,
and the word has become overused and almost meaningless.
Moreover, it rings hollow unless the efforts of humankind
are centered toward rebuilding the planet.
Indigenous peoples have long understood sustainable development.
The wilderness that we inhabit is wilderness only to those
who cannot grasp the complexity of our agricultural systems,
which regenerate and produce in ways that work in accordance
to natural laws-not against them. For this reason, our agriculture
has existed with only little impact on the earth, for hundreds,
if not thousands, of years-all the while producing for the
needs of our people.
Among the technologies we use to produce in harmony with
this earth are products such as corn developed and cultivated
in this hemisphere. Corn is truly a product of our technology:
it cannot live without people, just like our people could
not live without corn. For this reason it was central in
our spiritual and cultural existence. It was also developed
in infinite varieties that were each adapted to the particular
environment where it would have to exist, so that they would
best fit in with the other life. And so it was designed
to feed the maximum number of people with the minimum impact
on the environment, and people lived close to their corn,
their way of life.
Compare this to the new, genetically engineered varieties
of corn, which require the habitat to be similarly engineered,
and thus require tremendous inputs of pesticides, chemical
fertilizers, and other agents that so change the environment
and are so mechanized that people no longer live on the
land and are forced to the cities. If one measures the yield,
yes, it produces more corn per acre than Indian corn, but
it is not sustainable and the chemicals eventually poison
the land.
The true cost of working against nature is never factored
into this equation, only how much money a bushel of corn
brings. But the true environmental and social costs of this
process far exceed the benefits for humanity, and in the
end impoverish the planet further.
Yet, so often the world believes that some technological
marvel will prevail and make things right. There is little
consideration that maybe it is these technical marvels that
are part of the problem. Development must take the path
not of mitigating its impact on the environment but of enhancing
the natural environment.
Instead of environmental impact statements for development,
we need environmental enhancement statements. Rather than
destroying the means of sustenance that this planet brings
us, we need to increase it; the poverty and hunger of much
of the world demand it.
We need a peace with earth. We must have it. We cannot
pretend to have long-term sustainable development without
it, for the very foundation of this development is a peace
with earth. Our philosophy of development must be guided
by the natural laws that have guided all living things,
not some arbitrary, man-made illusion.
We indigenous people believe that development with a different
focus would enrich the planet and, in so doing, alleviate
some of the discontent and anger that surfaces as war and
violence.
Yet for so long, indigenous peoples from across the globe
have been unable to speak, to contribute to the solutions
of the problems facing humanity. Many of us are ancient
peoples; indeed many of our cultures are your elders, and
yet you never turn to us for our opinion, even when the
issues affect us directly.
As our cultures disappear with the wilderness that sustained
us, we are a vast library, a repository of knowledge, intelligence,
and an understanding of the earth that is being lost to
the world. But we continue to be victimized and ignored.
If we seek to embark on the elusive search for peace, we
must first unlock the silence of our peoples, and other
peoples like us. Ultimate peace lies in all of us working
together, to make things better for future generations.
Unlock the silence, let us speak to the world.
A Note From Photographer Michael Collopy
Ingrid Washinawatok (Flying Eagle Woman) had a contagious
laugh and was full of life. The last time I saw her, she
was telling me about how proud she was of her son. Within
a few months, she was kidnapped and later murdered in the
mountains of Colombia by leftist guerillas while on a mission
to help the indigenous U'wa people.
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