Elders' Perspectives

101 VOLUME 4 Perspectives and Realities 3 Elders' Perspectives One of the things that we found out…as we talked with many different groups, is the common motif that occurs all over the place which makes reference to Turtle Island. Turtle Island encompasses the whole North American continent, Ellesmere Island in the north representing the head, Labrador representing one of the flippers, Florida another flipper, Mexico the tail, California another flipper, Alaska another flipper, and then the shell is divided into 13 areas. There is a custodian in each area — and we belong to one of them. In our language we use the word Spoo-pii to describe the Turtle, which means an area which is high. This area that you are in right now, what we have here is that the water flows off in all directions from this area, which represents the high spot. All these areas, as in the live turtle, are what represents our sacred constitution, the Constitution of Turtle Island…. This Constitution has been there for a long time. It still exists. We can still utilize it, which we do. It has its own legal system; it has its own economic system; it has its own education; it has its own philosophy; it has its own language; it has its own logic. We can utilize those things. We have been doing it for the last 500 years. It's nothing new. It is something that, if more people realized what it was and realized it's not a threat, it's who we are, it's what we are, it is something that is very real and we can use it. I use it every day. Stan Knowlton, Sik-ooh-Kotoki Friendship Society Lethbridge, Alberta, 25 May 1993 * THE LAND WE OCCUPY is known to First Nations people as Turtle Island. The relationship of Aboriginal people to Turtle Island is governed by rules and principles formed in the distant past. Aboriginal people believe the Creator preordained how that relationship should be and provided the tools and the means to live a life that expresses that relationship. The nature of that relationship with the Creator, the natural world, the animal world and other human beings is described in Aboriginal languages, which are seen as gifts from the Creator. For thousands of years, each generation learned the lessons of Turtle Island from preceding generations. The ancient wisdom, the traditions, rituals, languages and cultural values were passed on and carried forward. In this process, a primary role was played by the Elders, the Old Ones, the Grandmothers and Grandfathers. As individuals especially knowledgeable and experienced in the culture, they were seen as those most closely in touch with the philosophical teachings of life lived in harmony with the Creator and creation.

Elders' Perspectives

Documents

elders perspectives

elder law

elder rights

rights of older people

older people

older adults