Tag Archives: generosity

by Tia Oros Peters, co-founder of The Seventh Generation Fund

Indigenosity: Generosity, Spiritual Commerce and Cultural Assets

Through ceremony and every day life, Indigenous Peoples throughout the world engage in an ongoing process of re-balancing and interacting with highly complex spiritual, cultural, social, and familial relationships. Where these energies unite they form a synergy and create a dynamic matrix of spiritual commerce vibrantly expressing cultural continuity and building cultural assets. These are often expressed in artforms and other creativity.

In North America, generosity of person, family, clan and community through material gifting, honoring, and wealth re-distribution is actualized in a multitude of ways. Among many of the people of the Pacific Northwest, “Potlatch” is a way to express generosity, spiritual understanding, and graciousness in life. As with many tribes and communities, among the pueblo people, ancestors’ spirits are honored and nurtured each day through prayer, the offering cornmeal, or corn pollen, or other sustenance. For other Native Nations it may be through the giveaway during ceremony or social events. Continue reading →