Spirit of Reciprocity

Global Oneness Project

With a deadline of June 3, 2021 the Global Oneness Project is providing an opportunity for students ages 13 and up in the US and 16 and up globally to submit a photograph or illustration that reflects the spirit of reciprocity and kinship with the living world.

SPIRIT OF RECIPROCITY

You might be wondering, what is meant by the spirit of reciprocity?!

Reciprocity is an act or process of exchange where both parties mutually benefit. The origin of the word reciprocity in Latin, reciprocus, means moving backwards or forwards. The actions of giving and receiving are both included. 

For example, if you look up a diagram documenting the process of photosynthesis and respiration, you’ll see a circular motion. Plants are living and breathing systems.

According to Kimmerer, “Reciprocity is rooted in the understanding that we are not alone, that the Earth is populated by non-human persons, wise and inventive beings deserving of our respect.” As she writes in Braiding Sweetgrass, “We are surrounded by teachers and mentors who come dressed in foliage, fur, and feathers. There is comfort in their presence and guidance in their lessons.” 

“The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Original illustration by Christelle Enault

GUIDELINES

1. Contestants must be ages 13 and up in the U.S. and 16 and up globally. Check our Submission Guidelines and Rules and our Terms of Service for more details.
2. All entries must be related to the contest theme: the spirit of reciprocity. Students will submit one photograph or original illustration which is a response to at least one of the following excerpts from Kimmerer’s writing. How might the excerpt you select help to inform your photography or illustration?
   • “I hope my grandson will always know the other beings as a source of counsel and inspiration, and listen more to butterflies than to bulldozers.”
   • “Birds, bugs, and berries are spoken of with the same respectful grammar as humans are.”
   • “Do we treat the earth as if ki is our relative—as if the earth were animated by being—with reciprocity and reverence, or as stuff that we may treat with or without respect, as we choose?” (As Kimmerer writes, “Ki is a parallel spelling of chi—the word for the inherent life energy that flows through all things.”)
   • “To replenish the possibility of mutual flourishing, for birds and berries and people, we need an economy that shares the gifts of the Earth, following the lead of our oldest teachers, the plants.”
   • “Living beings are referred to as subjects, never as objects, and personhood is extended to all who breathe and some who don’t. I greet the silent boulder people with the same respect as I do the talkative chickadees.”
3. Photo entries and original illustrations must be accompanied by a short artist’s statement (a minimum of 100 words and a max of 600). Artist’s statements can also be in the form of a poem. The aim of this statement is to tell the story of what is captured in the photograph or illustration. Statements must respond to at least 2 of the following questions:
   • What informed your decision to take your photograph or illustration?
   • In what ways has the COVID-19 pandemic revealed new ways of seeing and being with the living world? Has the pandemic increased your compassion for the living world? If so, how?
   • What story does a plant (or other living element) in your life have to tell? How are you included in that story?
   • What are the names and origins of the plants that are captured in your photograph or illustration?
   • In what ways can we listen to the living world with our whole selves?
4. Images should help to express students’ human relationship to the living world. Students can include themselves and others in their photographs. Be creative! If your photograph contains a person, you will need to fill out and return the Photo Subject Release Form.
5. The photograph or illustration submitted must take into consideration the Global Oneness Project’s mission statement: Planting seeds of resilience, empathy, and a sacred relationship to our planet.
6. Each photograph or illustration and response must be original and previously unpublished. Photographs may also include photo collages, but not be heavily edited (e.g. photoshopped).
7. Eligible entries will be judged by a qualified panel consisting of professional filmmakers, photographers, and authorized personnel from the Global Oneness Project. Only one entry per contestant.
8. Prizes. Winners will be awarded $200 USD each and photographs will be published on the Global Oneness Project website. 
9. All entries must be accompanied by this signed Parental Permission Form. 

ENTER HERE

RELATED RESOURCES

• “The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• “Speaking of Nature” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• “Small Talk: Life on a Farm” by Luanne Armstrong

Around the World

Top 12 Films of 2020

I’ve posted about the Global Oneness Project in the past. They continuous are providing amazing resources, food for thought, asking challenging questions, and pushing on educators thinking. Thank you to Executive Director Cleary Vaughan-Lee recently I received an email with the following information. I’m not re-wording the message that Cleary sent since it is ‘spot on’ (as Rob Westerberg would say)!

A good story has the potential to broaden a student’s worldview, providing a foundation to foster empathy and inquiry. I love this description of storytelling from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Eudora Welty, who explored the American South. She said, “Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole.” 

We’ve created a collection of our most viewed films of the year. From an ecologist in the church forests in Ethiopia to a Native teenage basketball player in a remote community in Alaska, these stories document the vulnerability and resiliency of life around the world. 

I’ve been watching these films and they are thought provoking and they warm my heart – a good thing for the end of 2020!

Celebrating Indigenous Song

Global Oneness Project

Global Oneness Project is providing incredible resources which you will find below and linked.

We are part of an old story, and involved in it are migrations of winds, of ocean currents, of seeds, and songs of generations of nations. 

—Joy Harjo, member of the Mvskoke Nation and first Native American Poet of the United States

Songs often reflect cultural values, ethics, and beliefs. In Indigenous cultures, songs are passed down from generation to generation and contain stories that honor ancestors and the living world: rivers, the earth, and animals. Many Indigenous songs do not translate directly into another language, a reflection of how the messages are unique and specific to people and place. 

In partnership with Google Earth’s Voyager story, Celebrating Indigenous Languages, we produced an in-depth discussion guide, Exploring Indigenous Language Vitality, which provides ways for students to explore the linguistic diversity and vitality of Indigenous languages from speakers around the world. Students discover how Indigenous languages are interconnected through identity, cultural heritage, traditional ecological knowledge, and how Indigenous peoples and communities are a vital part of the fabric and story of humanity.

Use the following four question sheets we developed to further explore the Google Earth Voyager story, which contains eighty-four Indigenous peoples who share their favorite phrases and songs. Students are encouraged to make their own observations and connections. 

• Identity, family, and community 
• Language and landscape
• Language revitalization
• Songs

Margaret Noodin—American poet, linguist, and Anishinaabemowin language teacher—briefly joined us during our recent webinar, “Enhancing Our Understanding: Learning and Teaching About Indigenous Cultures,” with Christine McRae from Native Land Digital. She said that one of the things she learned from her father and paternal grandmother was “the ability to listen to the world singing” around her. And, with that, she said, “there is a desire to sing back to it.” Listen to Noodin sing a beautiful poem, “Chickadee Song” (at the 1:09:55 mark) in her Native language, Anishinaabemowin. There is so much joy in this song.  

If you use any of these resources in your classes Cleary Vaughan-Lee, Executive Director of the Global Oneness Project would love to hear from you by emailing info@globalonenessproject.org.

Learning and Teaching about Indigenous Cultures, Languages, and Territories

Global Oneness Project Webinar

If you’re not familiar with the Global Oneness Project now is a good time to learn more. Cleary Vaughan-Lee is an amazing person and serves as the Executive Director of the Global Oneness Project. Recently they provided a webinar entitled Learning and Teaching about Indigenous Cultures, Languages, and Territories. The webinar was hosted by Christine McRae from Native Land Digital. This is a timely resource since today is Indigenous People Day in Maine. The webinar was attended by close to 900 people and fortunately the webinar was archived so you can access it and also use the many resources that have been gathered to help support your work as educators.

The recording is available to view on the Global Oneness Project website and the resources are in this Google Doc. I’m looking forward to viewing the recording and taking a close look at the resources that are filled with  quotes, websites, books, articles, films, curricula, and podcasts, all of which provide ways to learn from Indigenous voices around the world.

Christine shared ways to engage with the mapping tool Native Land and communicated that there are complexities when mapping Indigenous territories. She said, “When we think of maps in the modern context, they often represent colonial boundaries or colonial understandings of the world. It’s a balance to communicate Indigenous relationships to land, which are so much deeper than shapes.”  

In addition, at the last minute, Margaret Noodin, Obijwe poet and linguist, joined the webinar and read one of her poems that was included in the slides. It is called “Babejianjisemigad/Gradual Transformation,” which she read in Anishinaabemowin and in English. She said, “I think one of the things I got from my dad and his mother was the ability to listen to the world singing around me and the desire to sing back to it.”

Thanks to Cleary Vaughan-Lee and the Global Oneness Project for their dedication and thoughtfulness about education. Most of the blog post was from a recent email from Cleary.  

New Student Photo Contest

Global Oneness Project

Photo by Unni Raveendranathen

Global Oneness Project is sponsoring their second student photo contest, “The Artifacts in Our Lives,” . The deadline is October 15, 2020. The contest challenges students to photograph an artifact and tell its story. For more information and to enter. 

 

Webinar Today

Global Oneness Project

I’ve blogged about Earthrise before – it is such a moving film. In recognition of 50 years of Earth day I suggest that you pause and view the film for the first time or once again. It is so appropriate at this time in history.

In recognition of Earth Day the Global Oneness Project is providing a student photography contest for teenagers. Learn the details TODAY at 11:00AM Pacific Time, 2:00PM Eastern Time. Photo contest: Document Your Place on the Planet. 

Inspired by our Emmy-nominated film Earthrise, by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, this contest challenges students to turn their cameras on themselves and their place on the planet, documenting their perspectives of the living world.

Watch the film Earthrise for inspiration and access our in-depth Earthrise Discussion/Curriculum guide which includes background information depicting the year 1968 environmentally and historically. Also included is an Earthrise image analysis activity to introduce students to the Earthrise photograph and the concept of perspective. Our Earthrise conversation cards are also a good source of inspiration; they include quotes from thought leaders, conservationists, authors, and poets such as Wendell Berry, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Joseph Campbell, and Gary Snyder.

WEBINAR DETAILS

In the webinar we will discuss the Global Oneness Project’s new student photography contest, Document Your Place on the Planet. Inspired by our film Earthrise, we challenge and encourage teens to enter a student photography contest to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Earth Day. The Earthrise photograph was an impetus behind the environmental movement and the founding of Earth Day, which was created 50 years ago on April 22, 1970.

We are all sheltering in place as we experience the coronavirus pandemic taking place around the world. How might we consider this moment in time and history? How might we reimagine and redefine the meaning of home?

Joining us is Executive Director of the Global Oneness Project Cleary Vaughan-Lee, Mary Ellen Newport, high school ecology teacher at Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Shelly Grandell, middle school science teacher and Space Foundation Teacher Liaison from Colorado. The inspiration behind the project and the project details will be shared along with how the contest is being implemented in the classroom. Student work will be shared throughout this hour and an in-depth Q&A will also take place.

REGISTER HERE FOR TODAY’S WEBINAR