STORIES FROM INDIGENOUS CULTURES 111
Summary
Stories from indigenous cultures tell us that the arts belong to
everyone in the service of life and healing and that we belong to the
Earth. These premises of nature-based expressive arts work are
nowhere more present than in the lives of the native people we have
encountered. In tribal settings everyone has a part in the rituals of
daily life, and these rituals involve gratitude for the gifts of the Earth
and acknowledgment that everything is alive and sacred. Ceremonies
mark the turning of the days, the seasons and human lives. Drum,
song and dance call for rain and a bountiful harvest. Sacred symbols
mark objects for daily and ceremonial use. Made in conversation with
nature, these objects have agency, creations that can speak back to us
about our lives. As in native cultures, in nature-based expressive arts
everyone participates in the shaping of creative forms. Ritual activities
mark the time and space and the objects of creation as special.