The concept Sumaq causay, referring to the nurturing of life and the regulation of all exchanges between people and their environment, human values, intercultural practice and their vision of the future felt very important and resonated with me. I’ve always felt quite frustrated with the ways of capitalism and how it’s created such divisions, and inequalities. Therefore, I loved reading about how the basic economic value of Sumaq causay is solidarity, and sacred reciprocity. (I think this is really important, especially now during a pandemic!).

What I liked most about this perspective was the description of how to treat others and Mother nature, because this reciprocity is more often than not lost in the workings of capitalism. I think that the interconnectedness, solidarity and community described is really beautiful, especially in the face of the harm, competition and exploitation that capitalism has created. This concept of ensuring that the needs of people and the land are met in culturally unique ways, seems much more productive, inclusive and ideal – in comparison to the capitalist economic system. The barter markets are a great example of this – it is extremely empowering to see the efforts of Indigenous peoples to conserve their sacred knowledge and utilize what they can in the face of globalization and capitalism.

Also! This is not about the reading or this week’s material – but coincidently a video popped up on my TikTok of a father and son cooking a meal together. The two of them are both Cree (‘Nehiyawak’) and the caption to this video was “Indigenous cooking – Reclaim your culture with traditional foods”. Although this is not directly related, it still made me think about what we’ve been learning about in this class and how it’s so applicable across Indigenous communities/families. I thought it was a sweet video – so I just thought I’d share 🙂

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nIosqN8dBmz8-NJa5XzswY7jVsDKWPRu/view?usp=sharing