Presentation given at the 2013 Literacy Essentials Conference in New Britain, CT at Central Connecticut State University

1. NATIVE AMERICAN
TRICKSTERS, MARTIANS &
MYTHS
(Re)Imagining Sustainable Communities
Through Mythology & Science Fiction
Joss French, Ph.D.
Kurt Love, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
Literacy Essentials Conference
New Britain, Connecticut
April 6, 2013

3. “Expansion”
From the moment we are born,
the world tends to have a
container already built for us
to fit inside: A social security
number, a gender, a race,
a profession or an I.Q. I ponder
if we are more defined by the
container we are in, rather than
what we are inside. Would we
recognize ourselves if we could
expand beyond our bodies?
Would we still be able to exist
if we were authentically
'un-contained'?
Paige Bradley

4. Ecojustice Theory
The roots of our domination over each other come from
the same root of domination we feel over the earth.
When biodiversity is threatened so is cultural diversity
Dominant elites exploit the earth and subordinated peoples
for their own benefit.
Social justice, critical social theories, and multiculturalism
are often anthropocentric

5. European Colonizers &
American Indians
Clash of two peoples with two
different “ecological selves”
European Colonizers: Nature for
profit, land ownership, enclosure,
capitalist mindset/values
American Indians: Nurturance,
reciprocity, sustainable mindset/
values
Genocide: From up to 18 million in
1490’s to 190,000 in 1890, up to 200
million Indians died in the Americas
Land Domination

6. European Colonizers &
West Africans
Clash of two peoples with two
different “ecological selves”
European Colonizers: Nature for
profit, land ownership, enclosure,
capitalist mindset/values
West Africans: Nurturance, reciprocity,
sustainable mindset/values
Slavery: About 12 million captured
and shipped to the Americas, 645,000
brought to the U.S., nearly 4 million
slaves in the 1860 census
Domination for profit via capitalism

7. Christians &
Earth-Based Spiritualities
Movement out of nature and into
“Human” as separate from nature
Nature is where Satan resides
Technology is Godly & righteous
Christian missionaries with indigenous
peoples globally, views on nudity
Killing of at least tens of thousands of
“witches” from 1400s-1600s
Continued persecution of paganism,
neopaganism, and Wicca

8. Summary Points of Ecojustice Theory
1. Eliminating eco-racism
2. Revitalizing the commons to create a balance between market
and non-market aspects of community life
3. Ending the industrialized nations’ exploitation and cultural
colonization of third-world nations
4. Ensure that the hubris and ideology of Western industrial
culture does not diminish future generations’ ways of living and
quality of life
5. Support an “Earth Democracy”--the right of nature to flourish
rather than be contingent upon the demands of humans
From ecojusticeeducation.org

9. “Thick Description”
Superficial
Mainstream
Message These two might
set up a binary
Null
Message
Relationships These two generally
show a complexity
Tensions not binary
“packaged” info
Deep

10. Art as Myth
Myths are oral art, as opposed to visual art
“A myth is, in a sense, the very truest of stories, a
story that reveals universal qualities of that human
condition, of the world, and the deeper meanings and
possibilities of our lives.” (Plotkin, 2003, p. 204)
Myths contain “layers upon layers of significance,
like bands of rock in a canyon wall, each stratum
holding and hiding untold treasures and mysteries.
We become aware of the different layers only as we
develop spiritually.” (Plotkin, 2003, p. 205)

11. Art as Myth
Myths are “stories”
acting as banks that store
cultural values, origins
of thinking, rituals, and
traditions that might
otherwise be lost.
Connection to ecojustice
pedagogy because of
how myths can help to
question dominant and
privileged mindsets.
http://prezi.com/lsncossgvb3c/nine-worlds/

13. Hula
“Hula is an important part of our Hawaiian culture.
It leads us to who we are as people today.”

14. Aloha & Haole

15. Aloha & Haole
Aloha
“Together, we breathe the sacred breath”
A consciousness that we are inescapably interwoven with
each other and the earth.
What we do to each other and the earth, we do to ourselves.

16. Aloha & Haole
Haole
“One who is without sacred breath”
A consciousness that does not include an awareness that we are
inescapably interwoven with each other and the earth.
A consciousness only of self and an ignorance of one’s energetic and
spiritual impact. Often comes with little or no understanding of
spirituality or the purpose of one’s soul (soul loss).

17. A Vision

18. Vision Becomes Reality

19. Reference
Bowers, C. A. (2006). Revitalizing the commons: Cultural and
educational sites of resistance and affirmation. New York, NY:
Lexington Books.
Martusewicz, R., Edmundson, J., & Lupinacci, J. (2011). Ecojustice
education: Toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable
communities. New York, NY: Routledge.
Plotkin, B. (2003). Soulcraft: Crossing into the mysteries of nature
and psyche. Novato, CA: New World Library.