What an interesting novel! In the spirit of reconciliation, the environment, and Climate Change, it is important to listen to the stories and wisdom from Indigenous culture and traditions. This novel illustrates the differences and the rich aspects of spirituality.
It is a novel of nature, humanity, weather and how we are all connected. To quote Deena Metzger in the acknowledgement:
"The devastation we call Climate Change and the barbaric ruins of the Anthropocene began in North America in 1492 with the brutal Conquest and Colonization."It is a beautifully written book, full of images and experiences. I would heartily recommend it.
Sandra Birdswell is a student of climatology with an uncanny ability to sense weather events. Her mother, who died in childbirth, is a mystery to her. Her father, John, is a Reservation doctor who afterwards raises her despite his limitations and obligations. When the UN report on climate change is released in 2007, the reality of the effects of the Anthropocene era sends a shockwave through both their lives. Their relationship to each other and to the elementals they are so intimate with—lightning, thunder, rain, mountain—brings them deeply and violently into a quest to live their lives in ways that disengage from colonial mind, the same mind that brought devastation to the Native peoples, and now brings all of humanity to the brink of extinction. Through their love of and deeply felt intuitive connection to the Earth, they each go to the brink of death to find their truth, to gain strength and wisdom.
Forest bathing with Daisy
3 comments:
Sounds interesting. I tend to agree with the idea that the same mind (the colonial mind) that has brought oppression(and progress which was not asked for) to natives everywhere in the world, now brings all humanity to its end. There are different angles to view that. My angle is a spiritual-religious view which says to colonialists: you shouldn't have played God violating the rules of Creation,migrating from your given place to a place that belongs to others ,and imposing your culture on them.
I WILL PUT THIS ONE ON MY LIST. DID YOU EVER READ THE kINGS oF iRELAND?
It sounds interesting!
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