ABSTRACT
This chapter shifts our perspective, looking instead at what the conqueror mentality sought to destroy: the more eco-centered worldviews that many Indigenous Peoples are currently seeking to protect or revitalize in their communities as a means of addressing what some refer to as the "bio-cide" of the last 500 years. We begin from the assumption that Indigenous cultures should have a right to exist as they see fit, like any other culture, without foreign cultures being imposed on them. In the sections that follow, we try to show how education is an integral part of all aspects of Indigenous cultural practices and communities, including and especially their spiritual beliefs and traditions. And here, we've been emphasizing the ways that Indigenous cultures organize knowledge and use oral traditions as a means of educating each other about and protecting the diverse communities of life around them.
