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Domestication and the Concurrent Loss of Responsibility

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Domestication and the Concurrent Loss of Responsibility

If people were to examine the lives of wild animals, they would clearly see that these organisms are responsible for every aspect of their lives—acquiring nutrition, keeping warm, avoiding predators, rearing young, and so on.  If we contrast this with farm animals, we see a completely different existence.

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Muted Consumer Awareness

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Muted Consumer Awareness

Indigenous people relied on their awareness for everyday survival.  They needed to open their senses up—all of them—extending them as far out into their environment as they could in order to find resources they needed and keep distance between those animals (or other people) that could harm them.

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Venison, By Any Name, Is A Real Food

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Venison, By Any Name, Is A Real Food

Venison, called otuhkey (pronounced uh-doo-KAY) by one indigenous group of Maine, is a red meat that presents a different flavor than beef.  Some describe it as “gamey”, though I would politely argue it simply tastes different.

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Why I’m Learning an Indigenous Language

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Why I’m Learning an Indigenous Language

Many people who have read any of my posts recently have seen occasional use of a local indigenous language.  This language, Peskotomuhkati-latuwewakon (Passamaquoddy Language), was historically spoken by 20,000 people in eastern Maine and western New Brunswick prior to European contact.

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Walking the (Medicine) Talk

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Walking the (Medicine) Talk

I found the black-legged tick on my body two days ago.  The problem with all of this, of course, is that this species of tick carries a spirochete (a kind of bacterium) called Borrelia burgdorferi that is responsible for Lyme Disease.

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Why Do The Powerful Healing Plants Always Hail From Distant Lands?

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Why Do The Powerful Healing Plants Always Hail From Distant Lands?

Briefly, eight people travel to the Amazon rain forest and spend one month with curanderos (similar in many respects to a shaman) to be healed of their ailments (ranging from depression to cancer).

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Why I Don’t Support Cancer Charities

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Why I Don’t Support Cancer Charities

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  There is an abundance of requests for donations and pink ribbons everywhere you turn.  One of the things I like about this month is people across the country come together (as a big community) to try to help those who are suffering from breast cancer.