Natural Laws for Building Sustainable and Harmonious Prosperity in the Americas and Beyond
These 16 natural laws for building a sustainable and harmonious world community emerged from a 40-year process of reflection, consultation and action within Indigenous communities across the Americas. They are rooted in the concerns of hundreds of aboriginal elders and leaders and thinkers, as well as in the best thinking of many non-aboriginal scholars, researchers and human and community development practitioners.
These natural laws constitute the foundation for the process of healing and developing ourselves (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually), our human relationships (personal, social, political, economic, and cultural) and our relationship with Mother Earth. They describe the way we must work and what we must protect and cherish.
We offer these natural laws as a gift to all who seek to build a sustainable and harmonious world community.
PREAMBLE
We speak as one, guided by the sacred teachings and spiritual traditions of the four Directions that uplift, guide, protect, warn, inspire and challenge the entire human family to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the lives of all who dwell on Mother Earth, and hereby dedicate our lives and energies to healing and developing ourselves, the web of relationships that make our world, and the way we live with Mother Earth.
THE NATURAL LAWS
Starting from within, working in a circle, in a sacred manner,
we heal and develop ourselves, our relationships and our world.
STARTING FROM WITHIN
Human Beings Can Transform Their Worlds
The web of our relationships with others and the natural world, which has given rise to the problems we face as a human family, can be changed.
Development Comes From Within
The process of human and community development unfolds from within each person, relationship, family organization, community or nation.
No Vision, No Development
A vision of whom we can become and what a sustainable world would be like, works as a powerful magnet, drawing us to our potential.
Healing Is A Necessary Part Of Development
Healing the past, closing up old wounds and learning healthy habits of thought and action to replace dysfunctional thinking and disruptive patterns of human relations is a necessary part of the process of sustainable development.
WORKING IN A CIRCLE
Interconnectedness
Everything is connected to everything else; therefore, any aspect of our healing and development is related to all the others (personal, social, cultural, political, economic, etc.). When we work on any one part, the whole circle is affected.
No Unity, No Development
Unity means oneness. Without unity, the common oneness that makes (seemingly) separate human beings into ‘community’ is impossible. Disunity is the primary disease of community.
No Participation, No Development
Participation is the active engagement of the minds, hearts and energy of the people in the process of their own healing and development.
Justice
Every person (regardless of gender, race, age, culture, religion, sexual orientation) must be accorded equal opportunity to participate in the process of healing and development, and to receive a fair share of the benefits.
IN A SACRED MANNER
Spirit
Human beings are both material and spiritual in nature. It is therefore inconceivable that human community could become whole and sustainable without bringing our lives into balance with the requirements of our spiritual nature.
Morals and Ethics
Sustainable human and community development requires a moral foundation centered in the wisdom of the heart. With the loss of this foundation, morals and ethical principles decline and development stops.
The Hurt of One Is the Hurt of All: The Honor of One Is the Honor Of All
The basic fact of our oneness as a human family means that development for some at the expense of well being for others is not acceptable or sustainable.
Authentic Development Is Culturally Based
Healing and development must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of the culture of the people.
WE HEAL AND DEVELOP OURSELVES, OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND OUR WORLD
Learning
Human beings are learning beings. We begin learning while we are still in our mother’s wombs, and unless something happens to close off our minds and paralyze our capacities, we keep learning throughout our entire lives. Learning is at the core of healing and development.
Sustainability
To sustain something means to enable it to continue for a long time. Authentic development does not use up or undermine what it needs to keep on going.
Move to the Positive
Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative that we wish to create, and by building on the strengths we already have, rather than on giving away our energy fighting the negative.
Be the Change You Want To See
The most powerful strategies for change always involve positive role modeling and the creation of living examples of the solutions we are proposing. By walking the path, we make the path visible.
A Brief History of the Natural Laws
The Sixteen Natural Laws for Building a Harmonious and Sustainable World emerged from an extensive process of consultation with Indigenous spiritual, cultural and community leaders spanning more than two decades.
This consultation process began with an historic gathering that took place during the closing days of December 1982, on the high plains of Southern Alberta. This gathering of forty traditional elders and community leaders came together to find a solution to the terrible darkness of substance abuse, poverty, suffering and death that seemed to have engulfed nearly every Indigenous community in Canada and the United States, and to share Indigenous visions and prophesies of the future.
Four core natural laws emerged from this traditional council that became the foundation and guiding framework for extensive development, learning and action in hundreds of communities around the world. These four core natural laws are as follows:
1. Development From Within
Healing and development must come from within the communities of people who desire change, and must largely be directed by those people.
2. No Vision; No Development
If the people have no vision of human possibility other than the one in which they find themselves, they cannot heal themselves, they cannot develop and, ultimately, they cannot survive. Culture is the mother of vision. Developing people need to rediscover the life-preserving, life-enhancing values and insights of their own traditional experience.
3. Parallelism: Individual and Community Development are connected.
The development of individuals and the development of their families and communities go hand-in-hand. Personal and social developments are interdependent.
4. A great Learning enterprise is required.
Learning drives the process of development. People have to learn how to live in the world as individuals, families and communities in new ways that are life-preserving and life-enhancing. Learning is the fundamental dynamic of human development.
Four years after the initial gathering (in 1987) another elders’ gathering was called to review the work under way, and the original four principles were expanded to seven, adding (at the direction of elders and spiritual leaders attending the second visioning conference) such concepts as “the spiritual and moral dimensions of development are inescapable”; “development must be shaped and guided from within the culture of the people”, and the importance of integrating the “top-down and bottom-up approaches”, because both grassroots participation and strong leadership as well as effective institutions are needed. In July, 1991, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and Four Worlds International sponsored a gathering of Native American elders in Loveland, Colorado, to further discuss the Natural Laws and Indigenous visions and prophesies of the future.
Finally, for seven days, in the summers of 1993 and 1994, major conferences were held in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, attended by some five hundred Indigenous peoples each year, for reflection and dialogue on their experiences in healing and developing their communities. Based on this in-depth reflection and consultation process, Sixteen Natural Laws emerged that included past Natural Laws, but much more clearly reflected what had been learned about what works, and what is needed in the process of community transformation toward sustainable well-being and prosperity.
It is important to note that these Sixteen Natural Laws have been tested and reviewed by many Indigenous (and other) communities, and have been found to be an effective guide for positive transformational processes. A Natural Law is not a recipe, however; it is a statement of fundamental truth. It describes the nature of things as they are, what is basic or essential, what works and what doesn’t, what must be included, and what cannot be left out. These Sixteen Natural Laws reflect the experiences and distilled wisdom of hundreds of communities and Indigenous nations as they struggle to heal themselves and develop a sustainable and harmonious pattern of life.
Finally, it is important to stress that these Sixteen Natural Laws, as with all life, are in draft. They are not the last word. We have certainly not learned all that we have to learn. New Natural Laws will emerge, and new insights about the meaning of the guiding principles we already know will come to light. Consider this an invitation to dialogue.
Talking, sharing and healing circles are useful when the topic under consideration has no right or wrong answer, or when people need to share feelings. Moral or ethical issues can often be dealt with in this way without offending anyone. The purpose of talking circles is to create a safe environment for people to share their point of view and experiences with others. This process helps people gain a sense of trust in each other. They come to believe that what they say will be listened to and accepted without criticism. They also gain an appreciation for points of view other than their own. During the circle time, people are free to respond however they want as long as they follow these guidelines.
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Principles of Consultation
Purpose
• Create community commitment, trust among diverse participants
• Identify opportunities and solve problems
• Determine the best course of action
Ten Principles for Success
(These principles of consultation, steps for taking action and a collaborative governance process are increasingly being utalized by 1000's of Indigenous Communities and other Members of the Human Family around Mother Earth!)
1. Respect each participant and appreciate each other’s diversity. This is the prime requisite for consultation.
2. Value and consider all contributions. Belittle none. Withhold evaluation until sufficient information has been gathered.
3. Contribute and express opinions with complete freedom.
4. Carefully consider the views of others --- if a valid point of view has been offered, accept it as your own.
5. Keep to the mission at hand. Extraneous conversation may be important to team building, but it is not consultation, which is solution driven.
6. Share in the group’s unified purpose --- desire for success of the mission.
7. Expect the truth to emerge from the clash of differing opinions. Optimum solutions emerge from diversity of opinion.
8. Once stated, let go of opinions. Don’t try to ‘‘defend’’ your position, but, rather let it go. Ownership causes disharmony among the team and almost always gets in the way of finding the truth.
9. Contribute to maintaining a friendly atmosphere by speaking with
courtesy, dignity, care, and moderation. This will promote unity and
openness.
10. Seek consensus. But if consensus is impossible, let the majority rule. Remember, though, that decisions, once made, become the decision of every participant. After the group has decided, dissenting opinions are destructive to the success of the mission. When decisions are undertaken with total group support, wrong decisions can be more fully observed and corrected.
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Taking Action
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ELEMENTS OF AN EVOLVING COLLABORATIVE
GOVERNANCE MODEL
Step One – Prayer
Each, in their own way, asks the Creator (or however we designate a higher power or source of inspiration), for guidance and direction so that Her will can guide everyone involved in the election process. Pray enough so everyone at the election meeting is truly connected heart and mind with the Creator.
Step Two – Consultation
Discuss the qualities of good leaders, and particularly those qualities needed in leadership for this time and situation. Do not discuss individual names – only the qualities a leader should have.
Step Three – Reflection, Prayer and Meditation
Reflect (think deeply) about the qualities needed in those chosen for leaders in the situation. Then think about whom best combines those qualities from among the circle and community; consider everyone. Without the least trace of prejudice and with an open and loving heart, ask the Creator to guide you to make the best choice.
Step Four – Vote
Write down the names of the people for whom you have been guided to vote. Do not discuss your choices with anyone before or after the vote. Your choice is between you and the Creator. The number of names you vote for should equal the number of positions on the council. If your ballot has less or more names it will not be counted.
Step Five – Count the Vote
A special committee of four scrutineers (vote counters) is chosen by those at the election meeting. The scrutineers count the number of votes each person receives. The people with the most votes are chosen. This is called a “plurality vote”.
For example, if the election is to choose seven council members, then the seven people with the highest number of votes are selected. The person with the most votes has the responsibility to call the first meeting of the council. Beyond that, it is not important how many votes each council member received.
If there is a tie in the voting for the last position on the council, then a vote is held to break the tie. The vote is between only the people who tied. For example, if the election is to choose seven council members and there is a tie between the seventh and eighth number of votes, then a vote is held to break the tie. If there is a tie between the second and third, or fourth and fifth number of votes, no vote is necessary since it is clear they have been selected.
Step Six – Acceptance and Support
Everyone in the community must now give their whole-hearted and unreserved support to the chosen. No one should speak secretly against those elected. Rather, everyone should now rally behind the council, pray for them, share their best ideas and insights with them
and cooperate to insure the success of everyone in promoting the healing and development of the people.
Step Seven – Servant Leadership
The newly chosen council members should show the utmost humility at all times and should approach their work in the attitude of loving service to the community. They should actively solicit (ask for) the views and opinions of community members, and work very hard to insure that the real leaders are the people and the council their servants.
Comment
Phil , this is a meaningful project you have laid out ... It is easy to see that a lot of work , a lot of thought and not only a lot of Prayer but a bond has been formed with the worthy Spirit of the Ancestors , during the creation of this proclamation. I am proud to call you Brother and Friend. Namaste
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