The worldview of indigenous people is profoundly different than the western worldview. Indigenous people understand the complexities and fragility of an ecological system. Each member of the system must be healthy to balance the rest of the system, therefore every member has equal importance. Even human beings are no more important than the rest of the system, whether plant, animal, mineral, water, stone, etc. This radical humility is the root of their reverence for the Earth, especially their homeland. How different our world would look if this perspective was express in a larger sense. Using Cherokee myths, we will consider our own perspective and humility. How willing are we to check our own ego for the benefit of the whole?
Required Reading: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
Class Meeting: Mondays 6:00pm EST
Class Dates: Jan 9 – Feb 5
Stacy Brooks, Ph.D., Dept. of Theology & Religious History
Professor: Stacy Brooks, Ph.D. – received her master’s and doctoral degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology with her dissertation titled “Eco-Mythology of the Cherokee in Southern Appalachian Mountains: The Bedrock of Appalachian Culture.” Her bachelor’s in Elementary and Early Childhood education was earned from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She has lived the past 20 years in Boone, NC in the high country of the Appalachia Mountains.
