Economic Reconciliation Puzzle

I keep using the word puzzle when referring to Economic Reconciliation.  This is because we as Indigenous People interact with world/mother earth and universe in a spiritual, holistic and non-linear way.  This is so evident in our languages, which is based in place, and how we interact and connect with it.  I have used the term spider web in previous writings, as a potential foundation of understanding the interconnectedness of Well-Being. But again, this cannot truly encompass the entire complexity of it.  You also need to it in a spiral or Fibonacci coil, and circular.

But for those with a non-Indigenous worldview, a puzzle is a starting point to see this work. To see that each piece is part of a whole, that there is many pieces, spaces and interconnectedness with all of them.  That all of the parts make the whole of Economic Reconciliation or well-being. You have many players in the puzzle (this is the depth of the puzzle) and this includes, but not limited to:

• Children
• Families
• Communities
• Nations
• Industry
• Governments
• Finance
• Education
• Economics
• Social Innovation
• Social Finance
• Social / Entrepreneurship
• Policy
• Governance

As we generally view things, these are separate things, or silos, that we work on.  Sometimes we see the overlap or connectedness of them, but for the most part, we don’t.  However, in our Indigenous world view, they are all interconnected.  That one does not work without the other and also has implications on it.  Just like a spider’s web, if you pull on one thread, the thread gets stretched, tighter and pulls or influences the other threads it is attached to.

This is how I see Economic Reconciliation, a web of interconnectedness of all of these things that influence the child at the centre of the spider’s web.  That child’s well-being is influenced by all of it and we are responsible for all it.  For example, how I raise my son, will influence not only his future and his children’s and grandchildren’s, but yours as well and everything else he connects with in his lifetime.

Absorbing this responsibility into your being shifts everything. But is your greatest gift and strength to see the world through our perspective and do things differently. So why not see your piece of the puzzle as not the only thing, but as part of the whole. Then take it a step further, and see the interconnectedness of that to the parts and how might you do things differently? Because Economic Reconciliation isn’t just Partnership, Innovation, Economics, Development, etc.  It is all of things working together for the well-being of the children, their families, place, language, culture, wealth, education, etc.

So how do we create a framework or platform to work together in Economic Reconciliation to support all efforts, not only for ourselves and the bottom line, but for everything. To save this planet, our children’s future, and leave a legacy for our grandchildren. So that don’t have to continue this work for us.  How do create equal value for our Indigenous ways, space for its creation, development and implementation, how do engage with young learners about acceptance of this, not as an alternative but as the way. Basically, how do we create space for us to lead our own way without colonial interference, domination or oppression?