Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Rewilding America Now has the utmost respect and regard for
Indigenous Nations and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).
Rewilding America Now is actively seeking partnerships with native communities to create rewilding projects with TEK and wild horses.
Together we can create sustainable environmental systems through wild horse grazing.
What is Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Why it Matters
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is the on-going accumulation of knowledge, practice, and belief about relationships between living beings in a specific ecosystem that is acquired by indigenous people over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment, handed down through generations, and used for life-sustaining ways. This knowledge includes the relationships between people, plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes, and timing of events for activities such as hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry. It encompasses the world view of a people, which includes ecology, spirituality, human and animal relationships, and more.
The Medicine Wheel
The sacred symbol is used by the indigenous Plains tribes to represent all knowledge of the universe. It represents hope — a movement toward healing for those who seek it.
Center of the Earth
Sun’s and man’s sacred paths
Sacred outer boundary of the Earth, circularity and continuous pattern of life and death, the path of the sun and moon, the shape of a family home (the tipi), the shape of the drum, and other cultural values
Four cardinal directions, four seasons, four elements (water, air, earth and fire), four life stages (birth, childhood, adulthood and elder), four dimensions (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical), animals and ceremonial plants
Adapted from Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neidhardt, St. Joseph’s Indian School