"Even elements of the environmental movement approach the earth as an object to be preserved, rather than as a spiritual reality to be respected. This misconception may prove to be fateful, for, as Tony Gonnela Frichner of the Onondoga Nation has pointed out, 'How can you "save the Earth" if you have no spiritual relationship with the Earth? There is an intellectual abstraction about the environment but no visceral participation with the Earth. Non-Indians can't change the current course of destruction without this connection.' "



"Incluso los elementos del movimiento ambiental se acercan a la tierra como un objeto para ser preservado, y no como una realidad espiritual que hay que respetar. Este error puede llegar a ser fatal, porque, como Tony Gonnela Frichner de la Nación Onondoga ha señalado, '¿Cómo se puede "salvar la tierra" si usted no tiene ninguna relación espiritual con la Tierra? Hay una abstracción intelectual sobre el medio ambiente, pero sin la participación visceral con la Tierra. los no indios no pueden cambiar el curso actual de destrucción sin esta conexión. '"

—Joseph Epes Brown, "Teaching Spirits: Understanding Native American Religious Traditions," (Oxford University Press, New York, 2001).

Joseph Epes Brown was a consulting editor and longtime contributor to Parabola. He passed away on September 19, 2000.

Photography Credit: Roland W. Reed, "Alone With the Past, The Life and Photographic Art of Roland W. Reed," Afton, MN: Afton Press.