Please, quote use and share as you need to. Chris On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 4:06 PM, Suzanne Daigle <sdaig...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Chris, Yours was a story that touches the soul at an almost cellular > level. In it's simplicity it inspires as if we become part of this small > hopeful community. I cut and paste some words that struct me so and how > amazed I was to see that they were the same exact ones that Robyn had cut > and pasted.. What a gift you gave us: > May I quote you on these words in the future? I imagine already all the > times I will use them. . > > We have a choice. We can meet in ways that get nothing done in the > name of “information sharing” and “accountability” or we can > meet in ways which allow our hearts to set the agenda, and our hands > and feet to see it through to action. We didn't begin massive amounts > of work last night, but we cracked open something – a possibility > that it could be different. > > > On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Robyn Stratton-Berkessel < > ro...@positivematrix.com> wrote: > >> Chris, a powerful story, beautifully told. I found especially powerful: >> "We have a choice. We can meet in ways that get nothing done in the name >> of “information sharing” and “accountability” or we can meet in ways which >> allow our hearts to set the agenda, and our hands and feet to see it through >> to action. We didn't begin massive amounts of work last night, but we >> cracked open something – a possibility that it could be different. >> Hopefully we opened a jar out of which choice flowed." >> Thank you, >> Robyn >> +1 732 291 0462 >> www.positivematrix.com >> >> >> >> On Sep 13, 2009, at 1:16 PM, Chris Corrigan wrote: >> >> A story from some work I did last week: >>> >>> “My grandmother was the one that inspired me,” said my friend Liz over >>> lunch at the Valley Inn in Bella Coola. “She said that the world was once >>> all together, and then it came apart and one day it will be all together >>> again. So I just try to bring things together.” >>> >>> Liz is a pretty remarkable woman. She worked for years in family >>> reunification in Vancouver, bringing together First Nations kids with their >>> birth families, reconnecting them to their culture and communities. She is >>> at home now in Bella Coola on council, working for the Ministry as a social >>> worker, but always about bringing people together. The reason I am here, >>> for these two days of community conversations, is simply to be a part of >>> designing and hosting community meetings that do that. >>> >>> The Nuxalk Nation reserves sit in this stunning valley, at the mouth of >>> the Bella Coola River, where it meets the ocean at North Bentinck Arm, still >>> nearly 150 kilometres inland from the open Pacific coast. At the Bella >>> Coola town site is an old cannery, an icehouse and a wharf. There are a >>> couple of hotels and restaurants, a Coop store, some repair shops and and >>> RCMP station. Across the street from that is one of the Nuxalk communities, >>> an old part of the reserve called “Downtown.” It mostly consists of old >>> Department of Indian Affairs Housing, never designed for the wet climate of >>> the Pacific coast, some trailers that house the band office and a couple of >>> community buildings and a playground. Yards are full of mullein, plantain >>> and blackberry bushes and the occasional carved headstone can be seen in a >>> yard. A small creek winds through the reserve and joins the river on the >>> north side of the community. At this time of year there are people out on >>> the river, drift netting their food fish, gathering coho for canning and >>> smoking. The Nuxalk fisheries personnel are trying to find some sockeye to >>> take eggs from so they can stock some of the streams and lakes around the >>> territory. Like everywhere the fish are dwindling. In the past, oolichans >>> ran through here in the millions, but now only a handful return in the early >>> spring and the once rich Nuxalk grease, one of the healthiest human produced >>> foods in the world, is now gone. >>> >>> Up the river from here is the newer community of Four Mile, a subdivision >>> of larger lots and larger houses. Kids roam around on their bikes and young >>> families are out walking. The houses look like any rural subdivision but >>> there are telltale signs you are still on Nuxalk lands. Poles dote the >>> neighbourhood, carving studios take up garage space, and the occasional lawn >>> has a fish boat parked on it. >>> >>> As the Bella Coola valley winds eastward, a few more communities dot the >>> landscape – Hagensborg is the biggest, another 10 kilometres along highway >>> 20. It is an old Norwegian settlement, and here the houses look bigger, >>> more durable, and on large lots featuring manicured lawns and gardens. No >>> one is outside, the kids get dropped off from the school bus and head right >>> inside in contrast to the reserves, where the kids scatter in all directions >>> after school. As highway 20 heads up towards Williams Lake, it climbs the >>> “hill” a steep grade of narrow switch backs with no guard rail, that is said >>> by some to be the most terrifying drive in Canada. If you don't fly out, or >>> leave for Vancouver Island far to the south by ferry, this is the only way >>> to go. >>> >>> This is the valley in which I have been working this week. A place of >>> stunning natural beauty and deep social alienation. Liz and the Nuxalk >>> elected chief, Spencer, were both fed up with the kinds of community >>> meetings that have been going on for years, where people come and yell at >>> one another, where anger becomes unbottled rage and questions are asked that >>> have no answers that will ever satisfy. Both realized that how we talk to >>> one another is important, so we agreed to try an experiment, and see what >>> might happen if we ran meetings using participatory methodologies. >>> >>> The first day was a World Cafe, which I wrote about earlier, and >>> yesterday we tried an Open Space meeting for a general community meeting. >>> As is not uncommon, we started very late, once people had arrived, and a >>> pot of moose stew appeared and everyone was settled, it was 5:00 – 90 >>> minutes past the posted opening. We had about 20 people sitting in a circle >>> wondering what would happen, and I was wondering the same. Most folks were >>> Band employees, present to give information and participate in conversations >>> as best they could. A number had been reluctant to come because they had no >>> idea what would happen, and feared community members being out of control. >>> “How are you going to stop people from getting on their high horses?” one >>> man had asked me. “I'm not,” I replied. “But the way we do this will >>> lessen the chance of that happening.” He wasn't convinced. It was as if I >>> had just described the concept of magic to him. I clearly knew my stuff, >>> but that didn't make me any more in touch with reality. >>> >>> After a prayer and a quiet opening welcome, I stepped into the circle, >>> with really nothing but an invitation to talk differently. We had not been >>> able to do very much planning, and the notices for the meeting had only gone >>> out to the community a couple of days before. Still, the invitation was to >>> move from some visioning that the community had been doing for an Indian >>> Affairs mandated planning process, to something more based in what the >>> people wanted. I walked the circle, explained the process, reminded them >>> that they had the power to set the agenda, and waited for what might happen. >>> >>> Always in Open Space meetings, there is this moment of being on the edge >>> of the complete unknown. All of the preparation and time spent building the >>> invitation and the theme and the question usually pay off in that moment. >>> If we have done all of that right and produced a strong social field, the >>> ideas flood into the centre. But there are times when the conditions don't >>> tap the passion of the community, when people just remain confused about why >>> they are there and what they are supposed to do. When they haven't seen >>> through their cynicism far enough to even listen to the instructions. Those >>> times only happen if there has been little preparation in the community or >>> organization. Open Space is not a magic wand – it does not automatically >>> generate participation. Invitation is the magic wand and Open Space is the >>> place where the magic can happen. Yesterday, I feared that the wand had not >>> been well used. That we would be staring at the floor between our feet for >>> a while. >>> >>> But sometimes passion trumps preparation. It turns out that in Nuxalk, >>> there are plenty of things to talk about. Life is hard for most people. >>> There is 90% unemployment, the fish are disappearing, huge scale land >>> rights issues loom over the heads of 1600 people, the language and culture >>> is hanging by a thread, youth are drinking and drugging and getting >>> pregnant. It's no wonder really that people shout at community meetings. >>> It's the last place to rail against the morass of conditions that keeps >>> these communities poor and out of the loop. The last place where people can >>> feel their power, even if it comes at the expense of others. >>> >>> So last night, as I sat down, four people rose up and we were off. One >>> Elder who had been a vocal critic of how bad the Council was at >>> communicating with the people convened a session on how she wanted to see it >>> done It felt at some level like there was some forgiveness buried in her >>> question. Let's move on, she seemed to be saying. Let's figure out how to >>> do this better. >>> >>> There were similar sentiments around jobs and youth and culture and >>> language. Ten small groups were formed, and there was lots of visiting over >>> the next hour as we did all the sessions in one time slot. Laughter broke >>> out all around the room. More community members, who had been hanging >>> around the outside of the hall, joined us. Liz picked up a conversation >>> that she had started two years ago when I had been here before working with >>> her. She introduced people to her idea of a community house – an >>> intergenerational space where people could gather and be with one another. >>> >>> As we gathered in the circle at the end, we talked about what it felt >>> like to be working like this. People had a good feeling towards one >>> another. I asked when was the last time people had left a community meeting >>> feeling good. There was hearty laughter. “Never!” said one Elder, her eyes >>> wide with the absurdity of the question. “Feels good now though,” she said. >>> >>> We have a choice. We can meet in ways that get nothing done in the name >>> of “information sharing” and “accountability” or we can meet in ways which >>> allow our hearts to set the agenda, and our hands and feet to see it through >>> to action. We didn't begin massive amounts of work last night, but we >>> cracked open something – a possibility that it could be different. >>> Hopefully we opened a jar out of which choice flowed. As Thomas King once >>> said, you can't pretend not to have heard the story If you were there last >>> night, you would have seen and felt something different. You can spin it to >>> say some guy came up from the south and ran this kooky meeting and we talked >>> in small groups. But no one who was there can deny that it DID feel good at >>> the end. We felt like something was accomplished. >>> >>> What do we dare choose now? >>> >>> Liz reminded me that when we worked together two years ago, a young woman >>> uttered a phrase that is stark in it's power and implication for communities >>> like Nuxalk: Leadership is seeing the beauty in others. It's to draw >>> together the world again, as Liz's grandmother says. To heal by making >>> whole, which is not to say fixing everything, but rather to bring things >>> closer together. >>> >>> As we left the hall last night, Spencer, the chief, waved at a man coming >>> across the playground. He was a “trooper” one of the small number of >>> chronic alcoholics in the community who have the hardest time of all. >>> “What's happening Spence?” the trooper cried out. “Community meeting,” >>> replied the young chief getting into his truck. “We were just talking.” >>> >>> “Oh, mmmhmm,” said the trooper. “That's good.” >>> >>> ----- >>> CHRIS CORRIGAN >>> http://www.chriscorrigan.com >>> >>> Sent from an iPod, typed with thumbs... >>> >>> * >>> * >>> ========================================================== >>> osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu >>> ------------------------------ >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, >>> view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: >>> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html >>> >>> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: >>> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist >>> >> >> * >> * >> ========================================================== >> osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu >> ------------------------------ >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, >> view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: >> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html >> >> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: >> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist >> > > > > -- > Suzanne Daigle > NuFocus Strategic Group > 7159 Victoria Circle > University Park, FL 34201 > FL 941-359-8877; CT 203-722-2009 > www.nufocusgroup.com > s.dai...@nufocusgroup.com > * * ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To > subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist -- CHRIS CORRIGAN Facilitation - Training - Process Design Open Space Technology Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
