Yes Ron, exactly! My vision for DQU includes a center and and outer circle for the reasons you recite.
In the center, the old ways are preserved; in the outer circles the new ways are synthesized and allowed to evolve naturally. This allows the continuance of traditions which inform and affect the ways new modes are brought into tribal practices as in indigenous permaculture - high tech solar panels and satellite internet connections - pneumatically controlled, computer targeted .50 BMG guard stations (whoops! really getting ahead of myself there). I envision these circles expanding every year so that like a tree, DQU's age can be seen by counting the rings. Part of the problem of the existing paradigm of protectionism - pinning tribal culture like a dead butterfly to an exhibition-oriented SOMish display case - is this very practical issue of aknowledging and accepting the interaction between disparate cultures without either one swallowing the other. Another problem in the existing paradigm is that before the victorian invasion, the tribes had a very healthy social competition with each other, sharing ideas and genes. I put forth DQU as a diverse place for this reason, to keep this inter-tribal competitiveness and cross-pollination alive, while fostering individual tribal identity. And yet maintain the best of what we have left of the old ways, in the protected center. This movement is at its heart not an attempt to escape the victorian worldview, but ultimately to conquer it with a synthesis of indian/victorian outer rings. And also, to invite as many as will join in this attempt, whatever their racial identity or heritage. Some pure indians want to be purely victorian and some pure victorians would rather be purely indian. Either can find a place of dwelling somewhere in the great circle, with freedom to choose and move inward or outward. I certainly wouldn't disparage any Tom Brown-like teaching within this context. Very important are the preservation of personal wilderness skills. But that's not the whole enchilada. The whole enchilada is a new community - a cohousing project with university at its core, teaching people how to create self-sustaining community and thus evolving and spreading like a tree. The most important aspect is first agriculture. The most profitable agriculture today in Northern California isn't growing corn. If you can see where this is going, then you understand why I don't think DQU needs lots of cash infusions, but this is where I digress with Rudy. He sees millions in grants and scholarships and such but to my mind, when you throw lots of money at a growing sapling or an embryo, it doesn't hasten the growth in any meaningful way. It just gives the money people an illusion of control which always comes back to bite you in the ass. Another aspect of agriculture is that every human who eats, shits. Plants convert the effluance to affluence, with a minimum square footage of photosynthetic processing needed per person. If each person is responsible for just that much gardening at least, then theoretically you can grow a city as big as you want. One very important thing to remember about the location of DQU, something to always keep in mind, is that it will attract a high number of quality-minded people simply by virtue of its nearness, geographically and spiritually, to UC Davis. Davis, as my friend Dana calls it, the home of all things right and righteous. One of the first cohousing projects in the country began at Davis. I've been meaning to tell the story of meeting Kathy McCamant at an FCE (Foundation for Community Encouragement) Community Building Workshop in Marin before that movement even began, and how she and her husband moved their architectural firm to nearby Nevada City... but stories, like housepainting and embryonic revolutions, unfold at their own pace. enthusiastically yours, John - who vows to follow Bo's dictum on addressing posts properly from now on. (except when he doesn't want to, of course) On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 6:45 AM, X Acto <[email protected]> wrote: > Fair enough John, > I think Tom's school focuses more on the philosophy of > native understanding and relationships with the land than > the majority of survival schools, tracking is treated as > a spiritual communion. Being a tracker, it's something > I can relate to. > You seem to be mostly concerned with the recovery of > native cultures which is a vast endeavor. > I fear isolation from western culture would be detramental > given the fact that even life on the res is heavily western > influenced and much of the history and culture lost. > I fear by trying to escape the west, it will forever > color the future, force, no matter how subtle begats > resistance. > Lakota nation fights for it's own soveriegnty, > and meets with much resistance, only by > knowing western ways will the red survive. > The best way is to move forward not back. > Western culture may not be escaped from, > but it may be transformed. > I think a wise vision of the future would > encorporate both. > > -Ron > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: John Carl <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Wed, December 2, 2009 5:51:53 AM > Subject: Re: [MD] Schooling the Docs > > Woke up, banked the fire, looked at the moon, checked my MD. > > Tom Brown. I remember him. My friend Grego really got into Tom Brown. > Grego went on to quit his job as grocery store stocker and offer canoe > excursions on the Green River, so it worked out for him. > > But I never was that enthusiastic, no offense to your dad. The Tom Brown > shtick always sorta struck me as that old YMCA Camp ego-mentality brand of > rugged individual survivalism which real indians never taught or > experienced. Wilderness Survival for them wasn't a honed skill, it was > just > their life. > > Really what I see as the main attainment in a degree from DQU is the > lessons > learned about community and loyalty. That's what's lacking in modern life > more than tracking or fire-making tricks. A way to perpetuate traditional > tribal culture which has important values that have been lost in mainstream > society. I've never seen that survivor program on tv, but from what I've > read about it they're trying to illustrate the issues of interpersonal > relationship in small group bonding... so think survivor without the > cameras > - is closer to what I have in mind > > I haven't actually discussed this with Rudy yet. My process seems to be > this: I think about stuff in my head, then put it down in words here, and > then if it looks good to me on "paper" after consideration I suggest it to > him and Victorio. > > Dang its cold tonight. I think I need to split some more logs for the > morning. Great, go out on my porch, wake up the dogs and split wood in my > bare feet with nothing on but a bathrobe. > > Tom Brown would have been better prepared. > > > > > > On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 9:51 AM, X Acto <[email protected]> wrote: > > > John, > > Here in the east we have a DQU of sorts, Tom Browns "tracker school" > > perhaps Rudy or you could pattern DQU from their example. > > > > http://www.trackerschool.com/ > > > > My father follows Toms doins since the 70's. > > > > I think they have some accredited courses > > > > -Ron > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > From: John Carl <[email protected]> > > To: [email protected] > > Sent: Tue, December 1, 2009 12:44:38 PM > > Subject: [MD] Schooling the Docs > > > > So here's probably the first debate we'll have on DQU, wherein I bring > > Pirsigian insight into the situation: Loss of accreditation -how to get > it > > back. > > > > My argument is that we don't want it back. Ironic, isn't it. I thought > of > > suggesting a midnight raid to steal it, and then posting guards to keep > it, > > but I doubt anybody who hasn't read ZAMM would get my point. > > > > Thank goodness for you guys! > > > > My point is that we don't want accreditation because that confers > obeisance > > to the dominant paradigm and what we want to accomplish is freedom from > the > > dominant paradigm. Let's compare two different doctoral programs - > Oxford > > and DQU. > > > > Now a degree from Oxford has a lot of status and power conferred. Well, > > maybe not a "lot". It depends probably, I'd have to ask Dr. Ant. But > > does > > it teach you how to survive? Build a fire from scratch? Kill a deer and > > preserve the meat and hide? > > > > A graduate degree from DQ does all that and more, besides conferring > tribal > > identity and an eternal dwelling place. Here's how it works: > > > > DQU is to be set up as a medicine wheel of healing - a circle. The > circles > > are divided into twelve equal sections, with a center carved out of the > > middle. Each section of the center consists of 12 acres which is > carefully > > guarded from any european-SOMish influences. It is holy ground. No > > pictures. No cameras. No objective anthros examining the quaint rites > of > > native peoples. It's a circle with nothing but hands, hearts and minds > > trained to honor the land and each other in sacred relationships learned > > from tribal elders. To successfully graduate a person must first live > and > > learn for at least a year in the inner circle surrounding the center, as > > part of a tribe- one of the twelve At the end of that year, those in the > > inner circle may enter the center where they dwell for another year's > time > > where they survive without any interaction with the outside world. They > > survive communally, according to the old ways to the best of their > ability. > > It's a tough program. If you get sick, you die. Well it probably > wouldn't > > be that extreme. You can leave, but If you leave you fail and your > tribe > > loses status and is ashamed. > > > > Since we don't have the teeming game or freedom of hunter gatherers > > anymore, > > the subsistance of the center is dependent upon the support and care of > the > > tribal circle. That is, the inner circle preparing for the next year > > supports the center with gifts of appropriate food and fuel. No more > than > > 12 people enter the center in any year, so that ideally, 144 people > inhabit > > 144 acres with a well thought communal structure of proper proportions of > > healers, workers, herders, planters, builders. This is aided by the fact > > that each of the twelve tribes surrounding the center have their > > specialties. > > > > This stems from the overall structure of DQU, which consists of tribal > > colleges. Certain tribes have certain specialties - some in agriculture, > > some in communications, some in healing and health care, some in > > construction. To enter the center (the doctoral program) you must first > > have a degree conferred from a tribal college which will theoretically > > grant > > you one specialty and a broad range of skills guaranteed to to make you > > self-sufficient as possible. The mix of these tribal skills is the chief > > value of DQU - the diversity in unity. > > > > In subsequent years, the only ones able to enter and leave the center at > > will are the successful graduates of the center. > > > > There's more, but that's the rough outline of what I envision so far. > Now > > back to my point. > > > > Dr. Carl with a degree from Oxford can probably find a job teaching > > somewhere, but will always be dependent upon the good wishes of a certain > > social matrix of power and prestige - a matrix of faulty composition > since > > it has a genetic defect in it's metaphysical underpinnings. > > > > Dr. Carl with a degree conferred from DQU obtains eternal tribal > > affiliation > > and connection to the land and the planet which is a form of biological > and > > social security which cannot be obviated by mere circumstance of > world-wide > > economic collapse. > > > > Dr. Carl from Oxford perpetuates the paradigm. > > > > Dr. Carl from DQU begins a new paradigm without needing to overthrow the > > old. > > > > I was gonna explain this to squonk, before he went off and dissolved into > a > > pool of tears, but nevermind now. > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > Archives: > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > > > > > > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > Archives: > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
