Challenge to Civilization: Indigenous Wisdom and the Future

Synopsis:

Rediscovering, valuing, and embracing Indigenous spirituality and wisdom is critical for humanity to survive in the future.

Civilization is a western, Eurocentric construct borne from a distrust of nature, a desire to endlessly exploit it and profit from it. Despite being a relatively recent development, civilization’s inherent logic has resulted in over-population, inequality, poverty, misery, war, and climate change and now threatens humanity’s very survival. How can humanity expect to survive if it continues to look for solutions from the very structures and ideologies that have brought it to the brink of extinction?

In this final book of his trilogy, Dr. Blair Stonechild deftly illustrates how Indigenous spirituality, wisdom, and land-based knowledge is critical to human survival in the face of environmental destruction and human-induced climate change. Reinterpreting world history from an Indigenous perspective, Stonechild’s solution to this unfolding catastrophe is “ecolization,” a state in which humans recognize they are not the central purpose of creation and a way of existing harmoniously with the natural and spiritual worlds.

Beautifully written, urgent, and critical, Challenge to Civilization reminds us that it is not Earth that is in danger of extinction, but ourselves, and Indigenous spiritual wisdom can be the guiding light through what will otherwise be humanity’s final, ever-darkening days.

Reviews
"Stonechild examines the history of Eurocentric knowledge and how it does not comport with Indigenous wisdom. The narrow, individualistic definitions of “civilized” imposed by Western philosophy, academia, and ontology have shaped our world, with lasting consequences. By undervaluing Indigenous wisdom, inextricably tied to the Land, humans have developed a fear of nature, creating a potentially irreparable rift that can only be bridged by recognizing how disconnected humans have become from their place in the natural world. Stonechild warns this is a time of reckoning where our survival on this planet and the balance of nature cannot be restored unless humans redefine knowledge and what it means to be civilized." - Stacey M., High School Teacher, Indigenous Books for Schools

Educator Information
This book is included in the Indigenous Books for Schools database from the Association of Book Publishers of BC. It is recommended for Grades 10 to 12 for English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Technology. 

Additional Information
184 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback