Writings

My inspiration as a writer has come from my work in Northern communities and from the thinking and writing of other people who have helped me interpret and understand the work I’ve been doing.

In this section you’ll find some of the essays and articles I’ve written over the past decade. But first a word about those people who have influenced my thinking—people to whom I’ve very much indebted and turn to time and time again for inspiration.

First and foremost is Thomas Berry, the American cultural historian, priest and geologian. As a young theological student, I lived with Thomas in a monastery in New York. But it wasn’t until much later, when I changed careers and met him again at a conference in Seattle, Washington, that I really heard what he was saying.

Our meeting occurred at a critical time in my life. I was going through a sort of professional crisis. I’d lost confidence in most of the management gurus I’d been trying to depend on for guidance. Their advice about management techniques designed for the machine model of organizations made absolutely no sense in the aboriginal, cross-cultural world in which I was working. I was floundering professionally and spiritually--looking for a new context that would give meaning to my work. And then I heard Thomas say, “The Earth is not a collection of objects, it is a community of subjects. The universe is the only text without a context.” Those words have led me to a very different way of thinking and of understanding my work and my life. Since then, Thomas has served as my mentor and I’m indebted to him for his advice and counsel.

There are many other thinkers and writers who have influenced my own writings and to whom I’m indebted.

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What We have Learned from Our Elders, January 2003 Written as part of an developing economic strategy for the government of Nunavut, this discussion paper explores the relationship between the values of Inuit elders and the development of a modern economy.

The First Annual Report of the Inuit Qaujimajatuqanginnut (IQ) Task Force, August 2002. This essay describes what happens when a dominant institutional culture comes into contact with an aboriginal culture. It suggests that the government of Nunavut cannot incorporate Inuit Traditional Knowledge (IQ) into its institutional public government structure and delivery systems. It must incorporate itself into the Inuit Culture. The essay was tabled in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

Nunavut Literacy Development in the Context of Inuit Qaujimajatuqaanginnut (IQ), June 2002 This discussion paper came out of a workshop with the Nunavut Literacy Council. It raises the question: How can Inuit Traditional Knowledge (IQ) that emerged out of a “non-literate” culture be used to guide the development of literacy in modern Inuit society? It redefines literacy and suggests that there are there are different types of literacy within traditional Inuit society that can provide a new context for development of modern literacy skills

Thomas Berry and an Earth Jurisprudence, 2003. This essay, (published in The Trumpeter—a Deep Ecology Internet magazine) emerged out of an international conference with Thomas Berry in 2001. In additional to explaining Berry’s concept of an Earth Jurisprudence, the essay indicates how it might be used as a context for the development of Restorative Justice Programs in the North.

Developing Communities and Health Care Systems: A Shamanic Journey In Search of Common Ground, November 2001. This is a talk given to about 100 health care professionals at a primary health care conference in Yellowknife. It uses the image of a shamanic journey to link the development of communities and health care systems.

Creating Public Government in Nunavut: The Life-Place Model, Fall 1999. Written just after the Creation of Nunavut, this essay proposes that the leaders and people of Nunavut organize their government the way life organizes itself. It indicates how the concept of bioregionalism might be used as a foundation for developing a new public government.

The Changing Face of Community Development in the North: From the Power Paradigm to the Spirit Paradigm, 1999. In an era of settled land claims and emerging forms of self government, the old power-based model of CD is no longer valid. The new challenge is learning how to build upon accomplishments and move forward. The essay argues that a new Spirit model is needed. The challenge is to create healthy communities based upon a strengthening of primary relationships and a renewal of culture, traditions, language and spirituality.

Toward An Ecology of Spirit: A New Paradigm for Organizational Development, 1998. This essay describes my personal journey of Spirit as I became disillusioned with the machine model of organizational development and began searching for an alternative. The Ecology of Spirit Paradigm has emerged from the convergence of two streams of thought: the traditional teaching of the aboriginal elders and the lessons of the New Science that sees organizations as living organisms, part of a living universe.