Uploaded May 2008 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this complete interview Chris Peters, director of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, talks about indigenous perspectives on the current ecological and cultural crises, noting how indigenous cosmologies and ceremonial lifeways provide both self-knowledge and a needed balance to the destructive, mechanistic worldview of the dominant cultures. At the same time, he notes, the history of exploitation and basic struggle for cultural survival make sharing these perspectives a risky endeavor. With no desire to "mend" nonnative cultures, indigenous people are nonetheless implicated in the current spiritual and ecological crisis of the world, and thus look on with both a particular set of concerns and a profound sense of purpose in an era requiring unprecedented levels of change.
In this complete interview Chris Peters, director of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, talks about indigenous perspectives on the current ecological and cultural crises, noting how indigenous cosmologies and ceremonial lifeways provide both self-knowledge and a needed balance to the destructive, mechanistic worldview of the dominant cultures. At the same time, he notes, the history of exploitation and basic struggle for cultural survival make sharing these perspectives a risky endeavor. With no desire to "mend" nonnative cultures, indigenous people are nonetheless implicated in the current spiritual and ecological crisis of the world, and thus look on with both a particular set of concerns and a profound sense of purpose in an era requiring unprecedented levels of change.
