![\"In](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/saucamac\/files\/2016\/12\/DSC_9016.jpg\")
In the background, sage stick smoke during the Stop Kinder Morgan March Sep. 19th 2016. By Victor Sauca<\/p><\/div>\n
A model of development proposed by some Indigenous nations is the most viable if we take into account all the environmental and social failure that western science has turned to be. The Indigenous model encloses a collective and holistic shift guided by principles of respect for diversity and the singular contributions that each nation can make to heal us and Mother Earth and, to construct a better present and future. This model is called the Fourth Way and is opened to all the useful knowledge that the development of western science can contribute, it is a collective approach in all senses.<\/p>\n
Put in a simplistic way for comparison purposes, whereas Indigenous knowledge and wisdom comes from nature and flows in harmony with it, western science comes from objective rationalization, is limited to observable phenomena and void of any spiritual sense. Moreover, since sexist western perception of nature has always put Mother Earth as a source of resources to serve white men\u2014the pinnacle of civilization\u2014and this view has taken over worldwide, there is a need to \u2018insufflate life\u2019 to the general population\u2019s understanding of the relations between humans and earth; and Indigenous knowledge has this breath of life. This paper just focuses on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, but the Fourth Way process encompasses Indigenous and non-Indigenous from all over the world.<\/p>\n
![\"Ayahuasca](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/saucamac\/files\/2016\/12\/Ayahuasca_and_chacruna_cocinando.jpg\")
Ayahuasca y chacruna – cooking I. By Awkipuma. Source: Wikimedia commons, via Creatice commons.<\/p><\/div>\n
Because of the close relationship between Aboriginals and sacred plants, they know how nature speaks<\/em><\/strong><\/span> and the ways through which it manifests. However, across history, any use of sacred plants has been discredit by the ruling ideologies of the orthodox scientific community. The reasons might be the superficial or only physical knowledge that those scientists have about these plants or the pressure to conform Western social standards that punish their consumption. In that regard, Kenneth W. Tupper & Beatriz C. Labate (2014) of the University of British Columbia and Center for Research and Post Graduate Studies in Social Anthropology, Guadalajara, respectively, propose a shift in the perception of some psychedelic master plants within the scientific circle<\/strong><\/em>.<\/span> They pose a comparison between the usage of psychedelic plants and scientists\u2019 tools, such as a microscope, as a means to sharpen human limited senses and perceptions. They suggest that empirical Indigenous traditions might \u201cfoster new kinds of intellectual and cultural creativity within Western societies\u201d and that the convergence of western technologies and knowledge obtained from sacred plants \u201cmay represent the cross-cultural interchange of a powerful kind of cognitive tool\u201d (Tupper & Lavate, 2014, p. 76). Although quite new and perhaps challenging to the modern dominant colonial status quo, that proposition, or at least the idea underlying it, is not new for Indigenous leaders because they are conscious of what it is that Western science lacks.<\/p>\n The commodification of some sacred plants such as tobacco and coca resulted in products destructive for society. Those plants have been desecrated, repudiated and at the same time so appreciated and demanded after they were taken out of their traditional context of use. These plants became sources of addiction and social degradation through western manipulation. However, these plants continue to heal and to be sources of knowledge among Indigenous elders\u2014in the Americas at least\u2014and they play key roles in the gatherings of Indigenous nations because each people brings its knowledge and share ceremonies using these plants. Moreover, a master plant called Ayahuasca has become the target of western scientific studies and pharmaceutical industries because of the boom of its usage in the last decades and its recognized benefits. Although knowledge keepers of Ayahuasca have been cautious and protected it from the hands of capitalism and industrialization, the plant is in danger already due to its increased demand and the industrial sector’s economic interest in that plant.<\/p>\n All the ideas presented above will support my argument on the need to understand the relation between sacred plants and Indigenous peoples in a contemporary context. I hope I will be able to state clearly what these plants have for us and who\/what they have to be protected from. I also hope help raise awareness among the readers about the complexity of the Indian movement and not to look only through western lenses, but instead to start thinking in a holistic way when they hear something about Indigenous knowledge<\/em><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n Bibliography:<\/p>\n Balick, J. & Cox, P. (1997). Plants, people, and culture. <\/em>New York: Scientific American Library.<\/p>\n Beck, P. V., & Walters, A. L. (1977).\u00a0The sacred: Ways of knowledge, sources of life<\/em>. Tsaile, Ariz: Navajo Community College.<\/p>\n Consejo Interamericano Sobre Espiritualidad Ind\u00edgena. (2016). Declarations<\/em>. Retrieved from \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 https:\/\/ciseiweb.wordpress.com\/declarations\/<\/a><\/p>\n
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