In this session, Kariwentha Lee Scott and Karonhiaktatie David McComber led a discussion on the challenges which arise from the conflicts between the Western colonial materialist world view and the Indigenous land-based relational world view. Whatever we are doing, we ought to ask ourselves: At what cost?

They highlighted the importance of rethinking how we interact with nature and remind us that contemplation can only help us foster new thoughts about this relationship – it can’t hurt. More specifically, contemplation in nature is healing when we allow ourselves to be healed by the earth – to sit in contemplation and appreciation. Spending time in nature can help alleviate many of our troubles because it is a space where we can feel our emotions and we are reminded that if we need to cry, we can cry; if we need to yell, we can yell.

We all need the earth to survive – everything relies on the natural systems of the world – and so it is crucial to change our worldview away from materialism. However, there is no expectation that this will be easy. Teach in a “success through failure” way, which is far more communal than the individualist, city-life way. Parents for children, and educators for students, need to be role models. If you do it first, they will follow. If a child, or student, tells you a story about how they spent time with nature and if you don’t have a base line, all you can do is listen – you can’t understand. It is also important to accept certain realities: If you’re in the city, there is no hack or trick to getting to be in nature, you have to travel for it and go to it, because it isn’t here.

Contemplation, relationship-building between ourselves, others, and the earth, and the necessary changing of systems like education (along with institutions like the university) are best as grassroots activities. Change is made by those who see a problem, and come together to develop a solution without waiting to ask for permission.

They posed the following questions for deeper reflection: