Cultural Diversity
Examples of this pattern in action:
Redwood Rabis
It was a ritual at once traditional and radical that drew 250 people to an ancient redwood grove ten miles from Northern California's Headwaters Forest on a stormy January day in 1997. Between rain squalls they were celebrating Tu B'shevat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees. But this ceremony was not just about spiritual connection with the plant kingdom, and included more than the usual ritual meal of fruits, nuts, and wine. The forestry chair of the local Sierra Club chapter gave an overview of the threat posed to the old-growth redwood forests by the Houston-based Maxxam Corporation. Another worshipper chanted the haunting Kaddish, or mourner's prayer, in memory of creatures displaced or killed by logging. Most radical of all, the ceremony set the stage for an act of civil disobedience: the planting of redwood seedlings on an eroding stream bank on Maxxam property to symbolize hope for the restoration of land already clearcut and creeks stripped of their tree cover. Maxxam had refused permission to plant, but the worshippers vowed they would break the law and trespass, seedlings and shovels in hand...
Sustainable Alternatives to the Global Economy (SAGE)
SAGE works with community-based organizations and networks primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, but also nationally and internationally, to develop greater understanding of the social, economic and environmental impacts of economic globalization on local communities and the region. SAGE also works to foster the development of sustainable alternatives to the global economy that promote multicultural community, ecological sustainability and justice. SAGE undertakes this work in three program areas: (1) Research and analysis (2) Issues articultation and education (3) Constituency building and advocacy
Organizations whose work incorporate this pattern:
Aboriginal Mapping Network
Commonway Institute
Institute of Cultural Affairs
References:
LaDuke, Winona. All Our Relations. South End Press. Cambridge, MA. 1999.
Nabhan, Gary Paul. Cultures of Habitat: On Nature, Culture, and Society. Counterpoint Press. Washington, DC. 1998.
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