Welcome!
You will find a place here where you can peruse old stories and new thoughts that together highlight our ancient belonging to the land–and the challenges currently facing us.
I have been blessed to share stories with native American elders and pioneer family members throughout Oregon, Washington and Northern California. I also joined an international faculty team to teach philosophy in a Palestinian university (BirZeit) half an hour from Jerusalem.
My mother’s Czech ancestors kept alive vital oral traditions including that of my grandfather’s grandmother, a healer who obtained her power from “speaking with the earth”. I thus had the grace to be nurtured within an eco-spiritual tradition. It was from my grandfather that I first learned how the map of a man’s mind reflects the map of a particular landscape. It was through my parents that I met Lower Chehalis elder Henry Cultee, whose words appear in a number of blogs and pages on this site.
I was honored indeed when over three decades ago a Chehalis great grand-mother referred to collecting stories as my “work”.
In a different framework, there is my scholarly background. I earned my Ph. D. at the New University for Social Research and currently teach at Oregon State University. What I hope to do here is combine scholarly care and scientific perspective with the ancient wisdoms of oral traditions.
Please note that much of the material on this cite is copyright in my name. But I encourage you to pass on this information. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to do so. I do ask that you treat the ancient words here with respect, for the knowledge of their elders reflects the enduring heart of a people. You can easily separate such knowledge from my own opinions and speculations.
My best to each of you in following your path on this earth we share. Thank you for your presence. I hope something here will be of use to you.
