Exploring "Sacred Lands" (Chris Searles)

Cover image: Zuni map of sacred lands from the A:shiwi Map Art Project.

I've been wondering...
Where are your faith tradition's sacred lands?
What makes them sacred?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of having a relationship with “our lands.” Earth's biosphere is a magnificent creation. Scientifically-speaking, Earth's lands could easily be described as the most precious real estate in the known universe, hosting and defining virtually 100% of the physical aspects of our lives. Yet so many of today's problems stem from developed world citizens not recognizing the miracle of our existence or our shared dependence on Earth's ecosystems and other living creatures.

Are some places more sacred than others? For me, Mr. Vine Deloria, Jr. has the most compelling perspective on that. (See this video. Thank you, Vance Blackfox.) Just as significant: I think it is critically important that this readership, and Americans everywhere, endeavor to understand the colonization of Native Americans. This issue of AllCreation.org, Exploring “Sacred Lands”, draws largely from previous posts and adds a few new videos. Below is a compendium of selected encore posts.

There is so much to learn. This content is extremely meaningful to me. I hope you spend some time with it. You are sure to be uplifted. -Chris Searles, Editor

Exploring “Sacred Lands”

1. Homelands

   • Family Separation is Nothing New

   • Eastern USA Colonization

   • Western USA Colonization

   • Maps of Native America

   • Unlearning the Doctrine of Discovery

2. Sacred Lands

   • Standing Rock updates (2016-2017)

   • The Ecology of Baptism

   • Church of Lost Walls

   • The Quran Connects Me to Nature

   • Sounds of Landscapes

3. Belonging

   • "We Are Part of Nature"

   • The True Meaning of Sukkot

   • Replacing the Gospel

   • A Sense of Belonging

   • An Amazon Indian's View

   • An American Indian's View

4. Restoration

   • Restoring Ourselves

   • The Resurrection & Rewilding

   • Why Rewilding Matters

   • Tree of Life

   • Recovering the Sacredness of the Earth

5. Spirituality

   • Lakota Prayers

   • The U'Wa on Nature

   • Indigenous Identities

   • Spiritual Views from the Amazon

   • Native American Views: Coexistence

6. Relationships

   • Wilderness Spirituality

   • The Living Soil

   • Biblical Case for Vegan Living

   • Do Buddhists Love Creation More?

   • Hidden Life of Trees

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And here is all the “new” content featured in this month’s issue:

1. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: World’s Oldest Cave Art (Indonesia)

2. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: Cave of the Jaguar God (Mayan)

3. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: Thomas Banyacya, Sr. (Hopi)

4. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: Winona LaDuke (Jewish/Ojibwe)

5. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: Song for Katung River (Altayan)

6. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: Protecting Honokahua (Native Hawaiian)

7. Exploring “Sacred Lands”: Satish Kumar (Hindu, Jain, Buddhist)

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Chris Searles is co-founder and acting editor of AllCreation.org. See more of his writings here.