ABSTRACT
The dominant ideas of Western culture have been a mix of themes derived from scientific–industrial modernism and from monotheism. Most of the obstacles from learning from indigenous peoples arise because these older ways challenge the major assumptions of scientific modernism and of monotheism. Thomas Norton-Smith argues that there is a deep gulf between indigenous and modern Western outlooks. There are some values in the dominant Western paradigm, which should be retained. All cultures have their values and can contribute to the rich tapestry of the council of all beings. One major obstacle to learning from the older ways is that indigenous peoples often have many gods. Many religious naturalists suggest that the key category to be used in thinking about religion, at least in European languages, is "the sacred" or perhaps "the divine". Some of the old ways had deities in the form of animals. The religious ways of the primary people are often rejected as basically unscientific.
