Avatar: An Eye-Opener About Indigenous Peoples

Thank you to Linda Neale for sharing this article. We have so much to learn from indigenous peoples - about ourselves, our Earth Mother, and indigenous earth-based spirituality which is rooted in honoring the interconnection we share with one another and all life. As more and more of us are recognizing, there has been a profound cost to indigenous peoples and to us all that has resulted from a belief system permeated by violence, righteousness, bigotry, and ignorance of indigenous people and the great gifts they hold. Gratefully, more of us are continuing to awaken. Please consider passing this on. Thank you. All my relations.... Molly

* * * *******************

By Steven Newcomb

Ever since its release this past December, James Cameron’s blockbuster 3D movie “Avatar” has generated a tremendous amount of discussion. Even the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, stepped into the fray, criticizing “Avatar” because of concerns the movie promoted “nature worship” and “neo-paganism.”

Some have been critical of the movie’s plot, saying it’s a not-so-subtle rehash of Kevin Costner’s film “Dances with Wolves,” or Disney’s “Pocahontas.” Still others were turned off by the usual and accustomed story of the white guy as “hero.” In this case, the character Jake Sully, a gung ho paraplegic marine, goes Na’vi and turns against his fellow earthlings who support the corporate razing of the Na’vi’s gigantic, sacred Hometree and forest homeland in their quest for unobtanium, an elusive mineral.

Recently, a number of Indian people from the rainforests of South America went to see “Avatar” in Quito, Ecuador. Afterwards, they said they could relate to the theme of the movie because patterns and elements of the story were analogous to the real life stories of their own peoples. Here’s how I would characterize those real life stories: Indigenous peoples attempting to protect their traditional homelands and territories from being overrun and destroyed by a dominant world society that has an insatiable appetite for more and more “obtanium,” anything and everything that’s obtainable. (In the movie, the hyper-intelligent earthlings have outsmarted themselves by squandering Earth’s bounty to such an extent that they needed the mineral “unobtanium” to prevent Earth and all her inhabitants from dying).

The rainforest Indians’ experience and interpretation of “Avatar” tells us why the movie is important. A fictional and overblown Hollywood story provides a holistic framework and analogy for discussing the real life stories of indigenous peoples. From an indigenous perspective, the figure Greed is a main antagonist or bad guy in all those real life stories.

More: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/84222662.html

* * * ************

"Let’s hope “Avatar” can assist the world community to begin to call that conquering worldview and tradition into question, so we may shift out of a lifestyle that squanders ecological health, with no regard for the well-being of future generations. Let us further hope the movie makes people more receptive to the idea that traditional knowledge systems of indigenous peoples contain thousands of years of accumulated wisdom about how to care for and preserve the Earth, and its precious life-giving resources." ~ Steven Newcomb