Be as Strong as the Land that Made You: An Indigenous Philosophy of Well-Being through the Land
Be as Strong as the Land that Made You: An Indigenous Philosophy of Well-Being through the Land
Brian Yazzie Burkhart
ABSTRACT
This essay attempts to articulate an Indigenous concept of well-being as grounded in the concepts of being-from-the-land and being-in-the-land, which are attempts, in this essay, at describing a conceptualization of being in general and human being in particular that is both out in the land and at the same time arising from it. It is from this perspective of being that this essay tries to articulate a framework for understanding well-being that is both rooted in the land and in reciprocal kinship relationship with it. This essay examines Diné, Lakota, and Jalagi stories and language concepts for their rootedness in land in more than a material sense in order to provide a framework for a theory of well-being that sees land and human being as intertwining with the being of land as the generative kinship complex by which life is both generated and health and life are sustained.
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