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G u a r d i a n s h i p o f F u t u r e G e n e r a t i o n s |
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What is Future Generation Guardianship?
People who live today have the sacred right and obligation to protect the commonwealth of the Earth and the common health of people and all our relations for many generations to come.
Future Generation Guardianship is one way to do that. It is a new twist on an ancient idea.
It's the Seventh Generation Principle of the Iroquois linked to the active role of guardianship. Read the The Bemidji Statement on Seventh Generation Guardianship to see how this idea was expressed in 2006, based on a collaboration with Indigenous people.
Guardians of future generations take specific responsibility for our common future.
Future Generation Guardianship can become law and personal practice. Communities, religious groups, and organizations can take specific responsibilities for the wellbeing of future generations. We can all become guardians in our own backyards.
Developing this idea calls for everyone's help, wisdom, and experience.
Click Here to access the Guardians of the Future website.
Introduction to the Bemidji Statement by the Indigenous Environmental Network:
During the winter months of 2005-2006, several handfuls of people from numerous places throughout North America came together at two different locations to create The Bemidji Statement on Seventh Generation Guardianship (Bemidji Statement). While much has been written in the past about the Seventh Generation Principle, the Bemidji Statement is different in a couple of ways. First, it accommodates some elements from the protection of the Commons and the Precautionary Principle. Second, it goes beyond most other principles by explicitly assigning guardianship and responsibility for protecting the Seventh Generation of humanity that is yet to be born. But equally important, it assigns the same guardianship and responsibility to the current generations to protect and restore the intricate web of life that sustains us all, for the Seventh Generation to come.
The Statement is written with the intent of being able to adopt it at all levels of our society. It is also written to change the way we think about our future. From the family unit, through community, and institutions on community, the Statement can be adopted and applied. It is intended for individuals or small groups of individuals to take guardianship responsibility for one piece of the web of life and protect or restore that one piece for this and future generations. Examples of these web pieces could be as broad as the water or the birds or as specific as a certain pond or a certain type of fish. A family may choose to assume guardianship for the area immediately their home, a community may watch over a much larger area, a government or institution may stand guard over all within their jurisdiction. The important thing is that guardians who assume this responsibility learn everything they can about that which they have chosen, they assess and monitor the chosen piece of the web of life, restore it when necessary, and report the status of their responsibilities to other guardians.
From the smallest unit of society to the largest unit of government, we can protect, enhance, and restore the inheritance of the Seventh Generation to come. Consider becoming a Guardian in your community.
THE BEMIDJI STATEMENT ON SEVENTH GENERATION GUARDIANSHIP
"The first mandate.... is to ensure that our decision-making is guided by consideration of the welfare and well being of the seventh generation to come."
Indigenous Peoples have learned over thousands of years to live in harmony with the land and the waters. It is our intent to survive and thrive on this planet for this and many generations to come. This survival depends on a living web of relationships in our communities and lands, among humans, and others. The many Indigenous Peoples and cultures from throughout the world are threatened by the disruption of these relationships.
The exploitation and industrialization of the land and water have altered the relationships that have sustained our Indigenous communities. These changes have accelerated in recent years. We are now experiencing the consequences of these actions with increased cancer and asthma rates, suicides, and reproductive disorders in humans, as well as increased hardships of hunting and of whaling. Places that we hold to be sacred have been repeatedly disturbed and destroyed. In animals and in nature we see changing migratory patterns, diseased fish, climate change, extinction of species, and much more.
Government agencies and others in charge of protecting the relationships between our people, the land, air, and water have repeatedly broken treaties and promises. In doing so, they have failed in their duty to uphold the tribal and the public trust. The many changes in these relationships have been well documented, but science remains inadequate for fully understanding their origins and essence. This scientific uncertainty has been misused to carry out economic, cultural, and political exploitation of the land and resources. Failure to recognize the complexity of these relationships will further impair the future health of our people and function of the environment.
We value our culture, knowledge, and skills. They are valuable and irreplaceable assets to all of humanity, and help to safe guard the world. The health and well being of our grandchildren are worth more than all the wealth that can be taken from these lands.
By returning to the collective empowerment and decision making that is part of our history, we are able to envision a future that will restore and protect the inheritance of this, and future generations. Therefore, we will designate Guardians for the Seventh Generation.
Who guards this web of life that nurtures and sustains us all?
Who watches out for the land, the sky, the fire, and the water?
Who watches out for our relatives that swim, fly, walk, or crawl?
Who watches out for the plants that are rooted in our Mother Earth?
Who watches out for the life-giving spirits that reside in the underworld?
Who tends the languages of the people and the land?
Who tends the children and the families?
Who tends the peacekeepers in our communities?
We tend the relationships.
We work to prevent harm.
We create the conditions for health and wholeness.
We teach the culture and we tell the stories.
We have the sacred right and obligation to protect the common wealth of our lands and the common health of our people and all our relations for this generation and seven generations to come. We are the Guardians for the Seventh Generation.
"As guardians of the wards over which they were appointed, the manitous [spirits] could withhold from hunters permission or opportunity to kill." --Basil Johnston, The Manitous
Contacts:
Shawna Larson, Environmental Justice Coordinator, IEN/Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Anchorage, AK 99503 USA, Tel: 907.222.1714, Email: shawna@akaction.org, Web: www.akaction.org and www.ienearth.org/toxins_enviro_health.html
Bob Shimek, Mining Campaign Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network, PO Box 485, Bemidji, Minnesota 56619 USA, Tel: 218.751.4867, Email: ienmining@igc.org Web: www.ienearth.org
Source and Reference: precaution.org.
Supplemental Reading
Law and policy ensuring a healthy world for future generations
Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice
February 15, 2008
A paper by University of Vermont/University of Iowa legal scholar Burns Weston.
Guardian Job Description
October 4, 2007
How a government body can structure a legal guardianship for future generations
Legal Guardians of Future Generations
April 21, 2008 - 1:39pm
This presentation by Carolyn Raffensperger to the University of Iowa Law School outlines the basis for a new role in government bodies from city councils to the US Attorney General's office: the legal guardian of future generations.
Model state NEPA for the 21st Century
October 4, 2007 - 10:31am
States can begin now to rewrite their comprehensive environmental protection acts in ways that will protect future generations. This issue of the SEHN Networker tells how.
Managing the Commonwealth: The Precautionary Principle and the Public Trust Doctrine
February 22, 2008 - 11:58am
This article is a Word attachment. Click "Smith precaution and public trust" below.
A how-to book for Guardians
On Becoming a Guardian and Creating a Council of Guardians
February 7, 2008 - 1:29pm — Carolyn Raffensperger
Where to begin, you wonder. How do we become guardians? How do we serve as guardians? Here are some possibilities, a set of steps on the path to identifying what you want to protect, creating a council of guardians, and taking actions as a guardian and council.
Six Guardian Dreams: A Study Guide
September 24, 2007 - 2:04pm — Nancy Myers
In this page and its subchapters we present Rhiannon Hanson’s Guardianship dreams as the core of a study guide for Guardians of Future Generations. They combine spirit, culture, policy, and activism; hope and despair; as well as warning, instruction, and promise--without the separations and contradictions we assume in waking life. The dreams are in chronological order. The first two occurred within a week and the final four came several months later on four consecutive nights.
We encourage you to use the study guide in three to six group sessions, keeping your own dream journals during that time. You may also use the guide individually. Dreams as coherent and lucid as Rhiannon’s are rare, but your own dreams may add insights, encouragement, and instruction. Set aside some group time to tell your dreams.
Dreamer and writer: Rhiannon Hanson
Study questions: Nancy Myers
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