A Quote from Anthropologist Floriberto Diaz Gomez

Im doing my homework right now and I found an amazing quote! The author is addressing the indigenous communities of Mexico, but it applies to the communities of the whole world. I think its beautiful-

"Para los pueblos indios, la matriz de todos los demas derechos es la tierra (...). La concepcion indigena de la tierra es integral y humanisita. La tierra no es solamente el suelo. La tierra lo forman los animales y las plantas, los rios, las piedras, el aire y las aves; los seres humanos. La tierra tiene vida (...), los indios le debemos la vida a nuestra Madre, de ella somos. Nos da la existencia durante el rato que pasamos por este mundo y nos abre maternalmente sus entranas para recogernos, haciendonos parte integrante de ella nuevamente, con lo cual se nutre la existencia de las generaciones venideras. (...) La tierra, como nuestra Madre, no es susceptible de convertirse en propiedad privada, pues de lo contrario no podriamos asegurar el futuro colectivo de nuestros pueblos (Declaraicon de Tlahuitoltepec, Octubre de 1993. No9)

Which means.....

"For our native communities, the womb of all other rights is the earth (...). The indigenous concept of the earth is comprehensive and humanist. The earth is not just soil. The earth is made up of the animals and the plants, the rivers, stones, the air and birds; human beings. The earth is living (...), we the indigenous communities owe our lives to the Mother earth, we come from her. She gives us our existence for the short while that we are on this earth and then maternally she opens her entrails to receive us, newly making us an integral part of her, from which future generations nurture themselves. (...). The earth, as your Mother, is not susceptible in being converted into private property, on the contrary, we would not be able to ensure the collective future of our communities (Declaration of Tlahuitoltepec, October of 1993. No9)

Some of my postings may seem repetitive, about the same thing, but I can't stress enough the importance of reestablishing a strong relationship with the earth as the only way of securing a future for everything that exists on this earth. All my classes also confirm this so its obvious that its going to be a pretty important topic that I address frequently. Hopefully you don't get too bored with it, maybe it gets you thinking about your own actions and your relationship with the earth. I'd say this is one of the principal things I am learning here in Mexico and from a much more unique and holistic perspective than what I was learning back home.

Picture: A mountainous forest in the state of Tlaxcala, it looks like a painting, but its a photograph, one of the most beautiful things I've seen yet.