95CHAPTER FIVE
Stories from Indigenous
Cultures
We close our insearch with a return to the wisdom of ancient and
indigenous traditions of living. These traditions are the taproot of
our work. Taproots are anchor roots from which lateral roots spring.
The central taproot descends deep into the earth providing stability
and allowing smaller feeder roots to gain nutrients from the topsoil.
The intertwining rootlets of nature-based expressive arts draw
from the taproot of old ways of knowing.
In this chapter we share stories from indigenous cultures about
the Earth and our place within it. We offer a definition of the term
indigenous and review some general commonalities among indigenous
cultures, along with cautions about making generalizations about
these many diverse cultures. We (the authors) have been privileged
to learn firsthand from several indigenous teachers. In this chapter
we review our own personal experiences with the Quecha people in
Bolivia and Peru, with the Pueblo and Navajo people in the American
Southwest and with the Cherokee people of the Qualla Boundary in
North Carolina.
Our intention is not to undertake an analysis of particular
indigenous cultures, but to share personal experiences and related
research that have a significant impact on our own thinking. We
believe these stories offer some important lessons that inspire us and
resonate with our ideas about a nature-based approach to expressive
arts practice. We elaborate how beliefs and practices witnessed in