The Nelson Institute’s Tales from Planet Earth
A philosophy of oneness
A philosophy of oneness
By Jonathan Gramling
When Nick Hockings, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe tribe, participated in the Indian
spear fishing rights fight back in the 1980s in northern Wisconsin, it was about more than the
Ojibwe being able to fish for walleye to feed their families and elders. It was about connecting to the
past and the environment around them.
For generations, non-Native people had been talking down to Native people,” said Hockings
who spoke on a panel at The Nelson Institute’s Tales from Planet Earth. “All of the things that had
happened to Native people up until that time were very, very depressing and oppressive. Those
treaty rights sort of brought people together and created an understanding that when we speak about
our ancestors, we’re speaking about a people who really did suffer, really went through tremendous
amounts of suffering. One thing they were able to reserve for us was a sense of their association
with the land. The hunting, fishing and gathering was that spiritual connection that our ancestors for
generations had made with the land. That was life sustaining that we needed, not only physically, but
spiritually. And so what I think the treaty rights fight did in the long run was it brought out in northern
Wisconsin this sense that what we have up there is much more than the material. The material is
fine and well. But it is the spiritual things that are attached to the material things that really make it what it is. I would really like to believe that
whole philosophy with the treaty rights issues that took place in northern Wisconsin infused an energy that was lacking in many people in
Wisconsin and certainly with many Native people. It was a very positive thing.”
For Hockings, this connectedness with the environment and everything in it — from the animate to the inanimate — mandates that the
individual adopt a different world view. For the past 360 years since the time of Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes, Euro-American societies have
had a Cartesian-Newtonian mechanistic view of the world where everything was bound by laws of nature.
“For generations, this society and societies in general have been brought up to believe that everything operates sort of like a big machine,”
Hockings said. “But every part of that machine is a part onto its own. When you think from a mechanistic perspective, you think of your part as
being the main part when in fact, it isn’t like that at all. Everything is interrelated to everything else.”
This interconnectedness, according to Hockings is expressed in quantum mechanics. “It proves that if you take any atom from a tree or a
stone or glass and you put it underneath the microscope and you look at those atoms and you begin to explore an atom down deeper and deeper,
what you come to ultimately is pure energy,” Hockings said. “So everything is made up of energy. This energy is in everything. And so when you
begin to understand that, then you begin to understand the relatedness of everything, our connectedness with everything else around us. We are
not like a machine. We are totally dependent on this water out here. We are totally dependent on these trees here for oxygen. We’re totally
dependent on the air. We’re totally dependent on everything.”
With this understanding, human understanding of the Earth begins to change from one where humans manipulate the laws of nature to one
where humans are in alignment with nature. “How did that energy get there,” Hockings asked about the energy that is in all objects. “Well it got
there from a great scheme that is going on. Native people often refer to that as the Great Mystery. That is a mystery that we won’t understand. But
we have to get back to that sense of spirit once again, that energy, if you will, in all of us. Once we begin to do that, then we begin to not only view
our relationship with other people totally differently, we begin to view everything differently.”
In Hockings view, this spirit is in everything from the water to the trees and it connects everything on the earth. “We are a part of the tree,”
Hockings reflected. “We are a part of the water. We’re part of everything else. And once we can understand that basic concept of this unity of life,
then we begin to view other nations and other people totally different when we can really begin to connect from that spiritual basis. And nothing
will survive unless you understand it as its most basic component. And its most basic component is spirit. And that spirit is interconnected with
everything else. We have to realize that everything has a right to exist. And we should go out of our way to make sure that we don’t cut down all of
the trees, we don’t use up all of the water, and we don’t destroy it one way or the other with pollution. We need everything out there.”
While there have been many dire predictions about climate change and other environmental disasters, Hockings remains optimistic about the
future. “I think whatever the Mystery was that got all of this started didn’t intend that we should destroy ourselves, completely wipe ourselves off
this planet,” Hockings said. “I think that humanity is in an infancy stage right now. It’s kind of like watching your son or daughter grow up. When
they are first born, they are very narcissistic. Everything is ‘Give me, give me, give me.’ It’s only when that child begins to grow up and mature
that it begins to understand that it has to reciprocate in some way. And once we begin to reciprocate without being told to do it, that is when we
really begin to get on the ball. That’s when we really make things happen. We’re not at that stage yet. We’re still in that infancy stage of evolution.
But we have to understand that everything is diverse, but everything is unified in that diversity. Once we can really understand what unity and
diversity mean, then we prosper.”
Oneness with nature may become more than an interesting American Indian philosophy. It might just become a necessary perspective if
humanity is to turn away from the brink of environmental destruction.
whole philosophy with the treaty rights issues that took place in northern Wisconsin infused an energy that was lacking in many people in
Wisconsin and certainly with many Native people. It was a very positive thing.”
For Hockings, this connectedness with the environment and everything in it — from the animate to the inanimate — mandates that the
individual adopt a different world view. For the past 360 years since the time of Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes, Euro-American societies have
had a Cartesian-Newtonian mechanistic view of the world where everything was bound by laws of nature.
“For generations, this society and societies in general have been brought up to believe that everything operates sort of like a big machine,”
Hockings said. “But every part of that machine is a part onto its own. When you think from a mechanistic perspective, you think of your part as
being the main part when in fact, it isn’t like that at all. Everything is interrelated to everything else.”
This interconnectedness, according to Hockings is expressed in quantum mechanics. “It proves that if you take any atom from a tree or a
stone or glass and you put it underneath the microscope and you look at those atoms and you begin to explore an atom down deeper and deeper,
what you come to ultimately is pure energy,” Hockings said. “So everything is made up of energy. This energy is in everything. And so when you
begin to understand that, then you begin to understand the relatedness of everything, our connectedness with everything else around us. We are
not like a machine. We are totally dependent on this water out here. We are totally dependent on these trees here for oxygen. We’re totally
dependent on the air. We’re totally dependent on everything.”
With this understanding, human understanding of the Earth begins to change from one where humans manipulate the laws of nature to one
where humans are in alignment with nature. “How did that energy get there,” Hockings asked about the energy that is in all objects. “Well it got
there from a great scheme that is going on. Native people often refer to that as the Great Mystery. That is a mystery that we won’t understand. But
we have to get back to that sense of spirit once again, that energy, if you will, in all of us. Once we begin to do that, then we begin to not only view
our relationship with other people totally differently, we begin to view everything differently.”
In Hockings view, this spirit is in everything from the water to the trees and it connects everything on the earth. “We are a part of the tree,”
Hockings reflected. “We are a part of the water. We’re part of everything else. And once we can understand that basic concept of this unity of life,
then we begin to view other nations and other people totally different when we can really begin to connect from that spiritual basis. And nothing
will survive unless you understand it as its most basic component. And its most basic component is spirit. And that spirit is interconnected with
everything else. We have to realize that everything has a right to exist. And we should go out of our way to make sure that we don’t cut down all of
the trees, we don’t use up all of the water, and we don’t destroy it one way or the other with pollution. We need everything out there.”
While there have been many dire predictions about climate change and other environmental disasters, Hockings remains optimistic about the
future. “I think whatever the Mystery was that got all of this started didn’t intend that we should destroy ourselves, completely wipe ourselves off
this planet,” Hockings said. “I think that humanity is in an infancy stage right now. It’s kind of like watching your son or daughter grow up. When
they are first born, they are very narcissistic. Everything is ‘Give me, give me, give me.’ It’s only when that child begins to grow up and mature
that it begins to understand that it has to reciprocate in some way. And once we begin to reciprocate without being told to do it, that is when we
really begin to get on the ball. That’s when we really make things happen. We’re not at that stage yet. We’re still in that infancy stage of evolution.
But we have to understand that everything is diverse, but everything is unified in that diversity. Once we can really understand what unity and
diversity mean, then we prosper.”
Oneness with nature may become more than an interesting American Indian philosophy. It might just become a necessary perspective if
humanity is to turn away from the brink of environmental destruction.
Nick Hockings is a member of the Lac du
Flambeau Ojibwe nation.
Flambeau Ojibwe nation.
