Center for World Indigenous Studies

Fourth World Eye Blog

Jay Taber

• Lost Souls

  Sep 12, 2007 by Jay Taber

  In the movie Dead Man, the wandering, poetic Native American (Gary Farmer) encountered by William Blake (Johnny Depp) responds to Blake’s question ‘Who are you?’ by answering, “I am nobody.” Removed from his indigenous culture and schooled in English literature, Nobody roams 19th century Western America through a maze of traumatized tribes and individuals negotiating... more →

  Posted in Artby - Jay Taber, Arts and Culture, Daily

• Blueprint for Community

  Sep 7, 2007 by Jay Taber

  When Edward F. Edinger claimed Western society no longer has a viable, functioning myth, he wasn’t claiming we no longer have a mythology, only that the values and identity expressed in our myth no longer give us meaning and purpose—no blueprint for community. Set adrift by the exposure of these heroic, noble, and progressive notions... more →

  Posted in Artby - Jay Taber, Arts and Culture, Daily

• Tall Tales

  Sep 5, 2007 by Jay Taber

  My northwest tribe was salmon people. The Great Silver Argatmor — who leaps from the underworld as Goll the mythical salmon, metamorphosed from the red horizon of the sun that sinks off Connacht and Donegal — is emblazoned on my family flag. For thousands of years they have celebrated the late winter returns to Lough... more →

  Posted in Artby - Jay Taber, Arts and Culture, Daily

• Sailing the Arctic

  Sep 4, 2007 by Jay Taber

  In this map of the Arctic Ocean and the lands surrounding it, Le Monde diplomatique locates energy and mining resources within territories of the Arctic Council, whose participants include Inuit, Athabaskan, Gwich’in, Aleut, Saami, and Russian Indigenous Peoples of the North. Also delineated are sea routes which will come into permanent use within 10-15 years... more →

  Posted in Artby - Jay Taber, Daily, Environment

• Serious Science

  Aug 31, 2007 by Jay Taber

  In this 2003 report by CWIS associate scholar Anke Weisheit, traditional medicine in contemporary Uganda is examined as, “a complex combination of activities, order of knowledge, beliefs, and customs.” In this article announcing an award for developing herbal medicine and preserving traditional knowledge, Anke observes that these locally produced remedies are “serious science.&#... more →

  Posted in Artby - Jay Taber, Daily, Health