Episode Details

Yuria Celidwen, a Nahua and Maya scholar and UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher, shares how Indigenous wisdom offers pathways for collective healing beyond colonial mindfulness practices that prioritize individual benefit over community wellbeing.

• Identifying as a "truth bearer" from Maya tradition, Celidwen bridges Indigenous epistemologies with academic research
• The mindfulness movement has colonial roots, extracting Eastern practices while severing them from community responsibility
• Indigenous sciences engage in "intersubjective dialogue" with subjects rather than treating them as inert objects
• The doctrine of discovery established belief systems of domination that continue to impact Indigenous peoples
• Historical distortions by missionaries and colonists undermined Haudenosaunee matrilineal systems and traditional practices
• Indigenous knowledge uses metaphor, poetry, and ceremony to express complex scientific understanding
• Young people increasingly recognize the value of Indigenous perspectives in addressing climate emergency
• Transformation requires composting old narratives of purity and domination to create new ways of being
• We're never alone in this work - we carry ancestral wisdom and plant seeds for future generations

Find Yuria Celidwen book "Flourishing Kin: Indigenous Wisdom for Collective Well-Being" to discover Indigenous-inspired practices for reconnecting with the more-than-human world.

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View the transcript and show notes at podcast.doctrineofdiscovery.org.  Learn more about the Doctrine of Discovery on our site DoctrineofDiscovery.org.