The Human Face of Climate Change: Pat McCabe and Indigenous Knowledge
Pat McCabe (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining) is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, and her paintings are created as tools for individual, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human.
I’m sharing this interview with Pat McCabe, a Navajo teacher and healer, because her talk is a profound analysis of the deep-rooted cause of catastrophic climate change, which she frames as a crisis of relationship. She offers the long-term solution of reclaiming old ways of knowing and building harmonious relationships with all our earth relatives. Pat talks about the sovereignty of every species, how each one is perfectly designed for its role in the Hoop of Life, that they are the Elders. She talks about the process of colonization that occurred in the 16th century and its contribution to climate change (see previous post). Toward the end of the interview Pat talks about consent, how she will only consent to the Supreme Law of Mother Earth which governs life and death.
This interview is part of the Power of Community Summit: Climate Change and Consciousness. https://summit.ecovillage.org
References:
Book by Cajete, Gregory and Leroy Little Bear – Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence. Clear Light Books, 2000. ISBN 1-57416-041-9
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