Maine Local Living School
nurturing the human-earth relationship
On Justice & Equity
Maine Local Living School understands that the exploitation of the earth and the exploitation of people come from the same causes. We cannot disentangle the climate crisis from other forms of oppression and injustice. For this reason, we believe that all education for living wisely and equitably is activism for the road ahead. Our focus is on anchoring into our unique places and beginning the powerful work of decolonization and re-inhabitation. Re-inhabitation means rebuilding local knowledge and skills, acknowledging ways of knowing that have been marginalized through colonization, and rebuilding cultures that recognize the earth and each other as sacred gifts.
We are committed to continuously learning, as an organization and as individuals, about justice and equity, privilege and oppression. We are striving to create a welcoming and accessible MLLS community for people across the spectrum of identities including but not limited to race and ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of origin, and religion. We understand that historical and current systems of oppression have led to many barriers and exclusion for people who hold marginalized identities from accessing land, and knowledge and skills for living well on the land.
Maine Local Living School recognizes that we operate on the unceded lands of the Nanrantsouak (Norridgewock), part of the Eastern Abenaki. We understand that our presence and privilege come at the expense of First Peoples. We welcome all Wabanaki people to contact us regarding harvesting medicines, wild food, firewood, basket materials, saplings and deer from this land.
We welcome your questions and feedback: Info(at)mainelocalliving.org or 207.778.0318
On Cultural Appropriation
Maine Local Living School practices and shares skills for wise living that originate from all over the world. The Austrian scythe, the Norwegian broad axe, Korean kimchi, Swiss cooperage, the English drawknife, the crooked knife from the Penobscot Nation, among others, and the polyculture of corn, beans, and squash from the Wabanaki Confederacy, among others.
When engaging in skills that were and are practiced by First Peoples, we give recognition and gratitude for the gifts of traditional ecological knowledge. We strive to recognize particular peoples and at the same time understand that many skills and philosophies originate from Indigenous communities in multiple places.
We never practice ceremony or spiritual traditions from other cultures, instead striving to engage with practices of gratitude and sacredness that come from our own ancestors' traditions, and our own intuition.
We believe that ancestral skills are a gift and birthright for all human beings, as we all have ancestors who lived in deep relationship with place. Learning and practicing these lifeways is the critical work of rebuilding a culture that recognizes the earth as a sacred gift.
An Apology
Dear Reader,
I would like to apologize for words and actions that I misunderstood the impact of years ago. As young people my wife Ashirah and I were gifted both physical skills and a world-view shift by our teacher Ray Reitze. As a young boy through his late teens Ray was apprenticed to Joseph Muse, an elder and healer from the Mi’Kmaq Nation. From Ray we learned so much, from practical skills such as how to make snowshoes and live outdoors all winter, to the spiritual skills of listening to and communicating with the more-than-human world. What Ashirah and I learned from Ray changed our lives, and, as he had done with us, we began sharing.
For many years at the Common Ground Fair I sang a song that was shared with us by an Abenaki man who we taught alongside on a 5-month semester program. Brian gave us permission to sing the song with our students. Later, I sang the song in conjunction with teaching acorn processing, both at Common Ground and with youth. I did not know the importance or meaning of the song and I did not properly honor its origins either. I also did not understand that it would hurt others to hear me singing it. I am very sorry for the pain this caused.
Regretfully,
Chris Knapp