Wisdom in Our Bones
The wisdom of our ancestors,
the Indigenous peoples of the world,
is an intangible organic legacy
destined to bear fruit in perpetuity
from the first to live and thrive
in mindful existence
with The One and creation.
Witnessing, enduring and surviving
ineffable and unimaginable trauma,
they observed what was most often
unseen and indiscernible through
the privilege of the oppressor’s lens.
Limited by the hubris of their paradigm,
whether colonizers, enslavers or settlers,
they taught their young to disconnect
hearts and minds from our shared humanity.
Learning to survive required trusting
one’s gut instinct and using the senses
for discreet but vigilant observations
revealing nuanced tells in the environs,
including but not limited to another's
expression, temperament and intonation,
as well as smell, taste and touch.
Like the quiet observation learned
as children living free with creation
on this or another land,
it helped them unobtrusively notice
and read the signs of the times.
Bearing the grave injustices of
celebrated profiteering systems,
they suffered those dismissive
of all regard for or interest in
the human dignity of others.
Not comprehending the love
we heard, our elders' words
were planted deep where safe
and dormant until the time was ripe
for our unanswerable questions
to be catalysts for germination.
Knowing the true truth of our identity,
we are affirmed interiorly, as we learn
to see with greater clarity and depth
the facade of nonsensical untruths and lies,
and the incessant patterns of toxic hypocrisy
that appear to remain resistant to logic,
sound reasoning and the common good.
Available and present to us
when the time is ripe,
this awakened insight manifests
as embodied and in mystery
beneath and beyond systems
of dominance and oppression.
Epistemic knowledge is
the wisdom not to be found
on a procurement list
nor can it be quantified,
commodified or monetized
by anyone, not even the majority.
Arising over time in epiphanies
across cultures and generations
as holistic and sacred gifts
of the cosmos,
it is the wisdom in our bones.
The receiver is duty bound
to hold it in discernment
until the time is ripe
and the wisdom integrates
into mind, heart and soul
that it may be shared as love
to sustain the next generation.
August 9 is commemorated by the United Nations as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. A variety of resources are available.