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Resources for Reclaiming Our
Indigenous Soul

I am frequently asked to suggest reading materials related to the topic of reclaiming our indigenous soul. Here is a partial listing of books and individuals whose work has deeply influenced my understanding of this topic over the past years.

Francis

BOOKS

Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World, Pantheon Books, 1996 (This is an extraordinary book and I highly recommend it to each of you)

Berman, Morris. Coming To Our Senses: Body and Spirit in the Hidden History of the West, Simon and Schuster, 1989

Cowan, James G. Letters From A Wild State: Rediscovering Our True Relationship With Nature, Bell Tower, 1991

Diamond, Stanley. In Search of the Primitive: A Critique of Civilization, Transaction Publishers, 1975

Glendinning, Chellis. My Name Is Chellis & I’m in Recovery from Western Civilization, Shambhala Publications, 1994

Hogan, Linda. Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World, Simon & Schuster, 1995

House, Freeman. Totem Salmon: Life Lessons From Another Species, Beacon Press, 1999

Jensen, Derrick. A Language Older Than Words, Context Books, 2000 (Derrick is a wonderful writer with much to say)

Jensen, Derrick. Listening to the Land: Conversations about Nature, Culture and Eros, Sierra Club Books, 1995 (A potent collection of interviews with many of the leading thinkers in the recovery of our deep story as humans)

Keeney, Bradford. Bushman Shaman, Destiny Books, 2005

LaChappelle, Delores. Sacred Land, Sacred Sex: Rapture of the Deep, Kivaki Press, 1988

Liedloff, Jean. The Continuum Concept, Addison Wesley, 1977

Mander, Jerry. In the Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations, Sierra Club Books, 1991

Prechtel, Martín. Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, Tarcher, 1998 (All of Martin’s books speak eloquently for the indigenous soul)

Shepard, Paul. Coming Home to the Pleistocene, Island Press, 1998

Shepard, Paul. Nature and Madness, Sierra Club Books, 1982

Shepard, Paul. Traces of an Omnivore, Island Press, 1996

Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild, The Gary Snyder Reader has bits and pieces of everything from him

Somé, Malidoma. Of Water and the Spirit, Tarcher, 1994 (All of Malidoma’s books, especially his autobiography)

Turner, Jack. The Abstract Wild, The University of Arizona Press, 1996 (A powerful rant against the loss of the wild)

Van der Post, Laurens. The Heart of the Hunter: Customs and Myths of the African Bushman, Harcourt Brace, 1961

Zerzan, John. Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections, Feral House Books, 2005 (A must read collection)

I. An experience of belonging through village life

full range of reflections from masculine and feminine
progressive level of initiation to accompany people throughout their lives
ritual life to keep the emotional terrain fluid and expressed
elders and youth in continual exposure to one another
structure for mediating conflicts
collective support for families, couples, children
communal relations with extended families, unrelated uncles and aunts
village connected to surrounding land, integrity to the system of life
celebratory acts of kinship and communal renewal, world renewal
teaching via stories, oral traditions
awareness of illness and suffering as communal, no private pain
transmission of tradition, inherited wisdom
confirmation of value and belonging
established means for peacemaking
acknowledgement of interdependency based on social model of achievement
protection, life promotion through collaborative attention to basic elements of life
rich, textured world for childhood development
council of elders to deliberate direction of village
authority based in merit and contribution to community
fulfillment of primary satisfactions: touch, friendship, support in times of pain, grief and loss, play, intimacy, etc.

II. An intimacy with Nature

exposure to the others, animals, plants, rocks, etc. through which a rich interior world is shaped
totemic identification
place as event, story, mythic presence
gifting cosmos - food, clothing, companionship
nature as regulator of the soul, rhythms learned over eons
tracking, listening, attention as crafts of inner/outer life
spirit medicine of plants and animals
sensual surround of sound, taste, texture, image, fragrance
world of cycles, seasons, inner/outer rhythms
animal teachers and guides: trickster, courage, stealth, wisdom, loyalty
the presence of the wild, the renewing quality of wildness
ecology of the spirit: mutuality, reciprocity, model of human society
place as healing/holding environment
identity remains fluid, expressive, inclusive of more-than-human world
time is rhythmic, slow, elastic

III. An abiding connection with the Sacred

participatory cosmos
mythically alive universe
presence and care of the ancestors
ongoing creation, creativity as expression of sacred dimension (no word for art)
dreamtime and deep time reality sustaining this world
ritual systems for mutuality and reciprocity with the sacred
arts as conversation with the other
non-linear, non-dual, non-rational modes of experience: trance, altered states of consciousness through dance, ritual, plant spirits, etc.
healing as component of sacred intervention
a spirituality of experience, direct relationships with numinous cosmos

IV. A Knowledgeable awareness of one's life purpose

sense of meaningfulness
gift to offer community
cosmological significance
mentoring of youth
ongoing sense of generativity/contribution to community
soulful context for gift/purpose
purpose as principle confirmation of value, dignity (everyone has a purpose and is needed in the community)
Deep Story to keep us moving towards authentic self-expression
craft-making, creativity as expression of psychic, soulful value

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