On The Land

For me, being on the land means being Home in Nature – away from the synthetic world of make believe. It is a place of belonging, a place we all connect to at some level, a place all the human race once began, and a few remaining, still choose to live in connection with Nature, to all life. It is their Home and a place where their ancestors remain, and the spirits reside.

I heard this phrase, “on the land” from an Australian Aboriginal man on a television program I was watching. And it stuck with me, because it described so much of what Nature is. It’s meaning does not mean one thing or one place, but many meanings and places.

My canine companions, Takota and Nanook (Native American Indian Dogs) and I have been on a journey in Nature since the end of October 30, 2017. Our travels began in Northern California, heading North to Oregon and Washington. We then took a detour right into Idaho. Our original destination was Alaska.

For our stay in the first three states, we camped in a tent in State Parks for the most part because they were the only camping areas open in the winter with the exception of KOA’s . When we reached Idaho, we continued our stay in some State Parks and some National Forest campgrounds while planning our summer months in the Wilderness and backcountry for the maximum stay allowed in each area. Then in the winter of 2018, we stayed in Kamiah, Idaho and set up camp at a persons property for the full winter and again, in a tent.

On The Land can envision many things to many people. It can conjure up feelings of beauty, peacefulness, or tranquility to those Nature lovers, a place for spiritual connection and revitalization with Nature, or a place for recreation for the outdoors minded. It can mean a place to grow food or viewed as a natural resource for progress and profit.

For indigenous cultures it means the sacred, a place of where they were created, a resting place of the ancestors.

The disrespect and destruction of the sacred lands and sacred sites of the Native peoples of the world that has been part of their cultures for thousands of years – a place of dance, song, ceremony and story telling, is constantly being threatened by those who have no connection to land.

An Australian aboriginal man who taught in the city of Melbourne left the city life to return to the land, to his family, to his ancestors.

This is what he said about his decision to leave the city and move back into the bush.

“This is home, this is reality. In the city they believe in the modern endings, in materialistic things, cars, houses, money. There is the land, back on the land, its not materialistic, its been there since the beginning of time. It will always provide for you. The towns and cities are make believe. That is why I come back, this is why I come back.”

This is how most traditional indigenous cultures see the land and the modern world. The difference is like night and day. Not long ago a man from Australia told me that the aborigines were stupid. No it is not the aborigines that are stupid, it is the modern world who believes it is okay to trash the land and show her disrespect.

Indigenous cultures are rapidly losing their cultures, their traditions, their way of life because of the greed of modern day man. And most do not care because we are so caught up in our destructive materialistic lives we can’t see the damage we are creating for all life. What is sad is that only indigenous people would understand what this aboriginal man is saying. For the modern day man, not so much, because he is living a life of make believe.