In this episode, I speak with Indigenous elder, author, and teacher Stan Rushworth. We discuss Traditional Ecological Knowledge and his upcoming book project ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island,’ made in collaboration with journalist and author Dahr Jamail. Stan is featured in Ian MacKenzie's recently released short film ‘Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times.’
Our planet is undergoing massive ecological, climatological, and cultural shifts, with the consequences of these crises playing out in the near and distant future. In our attempt to reattain a harmonious balance with the life systems of the planet, certain traditions of knowledge and wisdom come to the forefront, namely Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But what is attached to these traditional forms of knowledge is something that is often overlooked, whether on purpose or not: the hundreds of years of genocide that nearly erased Indigenous peoples from Turtle Island. This erasure is just as much physical and is it cultural and spiritual. For those that carry the values and perspectives of the dominant culture, to respectfully and humbly embrace traditional Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and perspectives requires taking a hard look at the what has brought us collectively to this moment. This includes listening and full acknowledging Indigenous people and their history, including all the pain, sorrow, and beauty that comes with it.
Stan Rushworth was born in 1944 and raised on the banks of the Stanislaus River in the East San Joaquin Valley in California by his grandfather, who was of Cherokee descent. He has taught Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, in Aptos, California for the last twenty-eight years, including similar work at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a lecturer, and worked for eighteen years at Cabrillo’s Watsonville Center teaching basic skills and critical thinking surrounding Indigenous peoples’ issues, including six years as Director/Instructor of the Puente Program, centered in the Chicano community. He authored 'Sam Woods: American Healing' (Station Hill Press, New York) in 1992, and 'Going to Water: The Journal of Beginning Rain' (Talking Leaves Press, Freedom, CA) in 2014. As a tenured faculty emeritus, he currently teaches Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, and works as an activist and advocate for Indigenous people as a teacher, writer and speaker. He is an enrolled citizen of the Chiricahua Apache Nation, and is also a member of the Santa Cruz Indian Council, where he is an Advising Cultural Elder. He is currently the Attending Elder (school year 19-20) for the American Indian Resource Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is married, with two sons and one grandson.
Episode Notes:
- Learn more about Stan and Dahr Jamail’s upcoming book ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island’: https://www.thechangingearth.net
- Support Stan and Dahr through their GoFundMe campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-changing-earth
- Watch Ian MacKenzie’s short film ‘Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times’: https://uplift.tv/2020/prayer-for-the-earth
- Learn more about Stan and his work: http://stanrushworth.com
- The title card features a photo taken by Dahr Jamail, used with his permission. The sampled audio featured in this episode is from Ian MacKenzie’s short film, used with his permission. Learn more about Dahr and Ian’s work: http://www.dahrjamail.net / https://www.ianmack.com
