What the Land Teaches

The emerging field of conflict transformation attempts to move beyond technical approaches to conflict management that are over-ultilized in formal academia and international relations.   Rather than coercive peace agreements, compromises, and arbitrary border formations based on a “win-lose” ideology, conflict transformation invokes creativity and patience so as to arrive at a “win-win” outcome that may have never been previously envisioned by the parties involved.

In the article, We Have a Different Understanding, David McLaren writes about epistemological conflicts between Western and Aboriginal ways of knowing and doing. He also discusses the Ojibwe notion of akinoomaaugae-win, meaning “what the land teaches”.  Amidst the labyrinth of conflicts that exist worldwide, perhaps it would be a worthwhile, creative endeavor to step back and ask the land what solutions it has to offer.