Warrior Poet Prose

Declaration of the Rights of the Southern Resident Orcas

We, the peoples and natural communities of the Salish Sea, do DECLARE the following: Eight million people and the survival of countless species depend on a healthy Salish Sea. Yet human-induced impacts such as climate change, ocean acidification, increased shipping traffic, dams and other fish passage barriers, as well as wastewater and sewage runoff have contributed to the pollution and degradation of the Salish Sea. The Southern Resident orcas are critically endangered with only 74 remaining at the time of this declaration.

Please sign this petition: http://legalrightsforthesalishsea.org/petition/

Deep Ecology, when it appeared in my life, made immediate sense. To me it is more than a label, it’s the way our world is structured. I take it as a secular equivalent to the Buddha’s teaching of dependent co-arising–and use it that way in my work.

The term was coined by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess to contrast with environmentalism for purely human interests. Deep ecology is both a school of thought (Naess’s ecosophy and Henryk Skolimowski’s ecophilosophy) and a movement (the deep, long range ecology movement, described early on by Bill Devall and George Sessions).

It has also inspired an array of experiential practices: deep ecology work, developed by John Seed, myself, and others. This form of group work helps to decondition us from centuries from culturally induced anthropocentrism, and to heal our broken relationship with the natural world. It’s an intrinsic part of the Work That Reconnects.

My Teachers: As for all of us in deep ecology work, the natural world is our primary teacher. Among key mentors in childhood I count Spotty, a wise horse, and a particular maple tree. From http://www.joannamacy.net