All About Love: New Visions

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“In Another Turn of the Crank, Berry exposes the extent to which the interests of big business lead to the destruction of rural communities, reminding us that destruction is fast becoming the norm in all types of communities. He encourages us to learn from the lives of folks who live in communities governed by a spirit of love and communalism. Sharing some of the values held by citizens of these communities he writes: “They are people who take and hold a generous and neighborly view of self-preservation; they do not believe that they can survive and flourish by the rule of dog eat dog;” (Hooks, 2000, pp. 100–101)

Land acknowledgement is not a way to rectify what happened in the past or glorifying our wrongdoings as an accomplishment. It is also shedding light on a way of life, a way of living in a community where we remember their history. That idea of self-preservation for not oneself but instead for a community that thinks about the implications they have on the land they reside on.

They do not believe that they can succeed by defeating or destroying or selling or using up everything but themselves. They doubt that good solutions can be produced by violence. They want to preserve the precious things of nature of human culture and pass them on to their children. .. . They see that no commonwealth or community of interest can be defined by greed.. .. They know that work ought to be necessary; it ought to be good; it ought to be satisfying and dignifying to the people who do it; and genuinely useful and pleasing to the people for whom it is done.”I like living in small towns precisely because they are most often the places in our nation where basic principles underlying a love ethic exist and are the standards by which most people try to live their lives. In the small town where I live (now only some of the time) there is a spirit of neighborliness-of fellowship, care, and respect.” (Hooks, 2000, pp. 100–101)

Some things I believe that are important to consider here:

What are the benefits of living this way? Knowing more about the sustainable practices of indigenous people could not only inform people of the land they are on but also improve the overall positive impact visitors have on the park.

What would it do for anybody? I would hope one of the things accomplished from the land acknowledgment is the building of a genuine relationship between Americans and Native Americans. I would like to see how this could encourage collaboration and a mutual respect between Native American and Americans who have recognized their wrongdoings and are willing to finds ways to reconcile.

Source: Hooks, B. (2000). All About Love: New Visions. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA52796948