Teachers, is there much difference in our perceptions?

Bird Droppings August 1, 2026
Teachers, is there much difference in our perceptions?

“The delineation of the difference between modern (secular) society and traditional (Sacred) societies and their competing views of land and nature helps to explain the persistence of severe conflict between such societies. Unlike secular societies – where land signifies property, property signifies capital, and capital signifies wealth, status, and power – land in sacred societies signifies connection to family, tribe, and ancestors. Land is furthermore thought of in connection to sacred sites, burial grounds, and medicinal plants.” Sandy Grande, Red Pedagogy

Sometime during each semester, I would get out the toilet tissue tubes and go about demonstrating how perception changes in how we look at things. I once did a poster and took a picture through a toilet tissue tube and then the same picture with a wide-angle lens. It was amazing to see the difference. We each come into the world of our school with previous experiences and understandings. These tend to provide us with the information that we form our perceptions with. Sadly, many are very limited in their views. I often wonder how some people walk around seeing so little of the world. Many people simply choose not to open their eyes and repeat what someone else has said.

Having grown up in a secular society and spending most of my life following along the pathway that is so narrow within this point of view, it is often hard to step off the trail and to see that even another perspective is out there. It has been many years since I walked along trails in North Georgia alone and listened to nothing but the sounds of nature. Today, as I left my home this morning and walked to my car, the silence was amazing as most air conditioners and other human contrivances were quiet. We had a cloudy, cool night, and above my head I could imagine, through the clouds looking to the east, the constellation Orion just in front of me, a nearly full moon, and silence. I listened for several minutes before driving to see a sunrise.

Nearly ten years ago I volunteered to stay after school one day a week for a journalism club which turned out to be an electronic school newspaper. I would go into my office and room early to get ready for first block and then have a second block planning, getting ready for third and fourth blocks. By evening, after being awake for nearly eighteen hours, I was weary. Earlier this morning I released a small ground scorpion that had been trapped under a trash can in the yard. I took it to a safe place and let the little critter scamper into the grass.

“Western civilization, unfortunately, does not link knowledge and morality but rather; it connects knowledge and power and makes them equivalent.” Vine Deloria Jr.

I wondered when I first read this statement by author Deloria. Looking back in history, it has always been those in the know who held control or power up until literally the dawn of the printing press. As more information and understanding became available, more people were able to ponder the wonders of reality. In my readings of various indigenous peoples, a man of knowledge is always held in high regard and honor. In our society, as we merge knowledge and power, men of knowledge are often construed as bad men. Far too often, those who unravel the wonders of the world get greedy and use their knowledge to their own gain rather than for mankind’s.

“Who will find peace with the lands? The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibilities to all living things. Who will listen to the trees, the animals and birds, the voices of the places of the land? As the long forgotten peoples of the respective continents rise and begin to reclaim their ancient heritage, they will discover the meaning of the lands of their ancestors. That is when the invaders of the North American continent will finally discover that for this land, God is red.” Vine Deloria, Jr

So often we get tangled in the day-to-day and lose track of and perhaps sight of where and how we are in the world. As I sit listening to the sounds of running water and cedar flute music sometimes, it is easy to drift away in thought. For me, it is tiring from being up long before most normal folks even consider getting out of bed, trying to get ready for the day. Although today, perhaps it was a bit too much to stand and look at the sky above me in the darkness lit with stars. I was listening to the quiet of a cool morning. Crickets and tree frogs; I tend to like it a bit warmer, although a few secluded sounds could be heard. Each day I wonder: have I done what I could to better this world?

“But the old Lakota was wise. He knew that a man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans, too. So he kept his children close to nature’s softening influence.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux

I have always listened to each student as they talk and ask questions. I try to be understanding rather than look down upon often childish questions. I try to hold the words of the young ones as they seek to know. How simple is life if we allow the natural flow to travel through us and with us? While at an elementary school showing some animals, a child came up to me; she was talking to each of the animals and checking if everybody is ok. I recall another who would talk to a rug made from the pelt of a timber wolf my father gave me many years ago. I always am amazed at how close small children are to nature. They have not grown weary of listening and ask questions unhesitatingly one after another until somewhere an adult forces them to stop. Then what was an open zeal for learning becomes in some cases a hatred of school and even reading. Today is a cloudy day, a cooler day than it has been, and most of all the first day to walk a new road if I choose. For over twenty-five years, I have closed with please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and your hearts, please give thanks for all, namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird