#mark nepo

“The Native American notion of All My Relations views all of reality and life as related and interconnected. Every aspect of life is seen as part of one intrinsic family. In the Blackfoot tribe, when people meet, they don’t say ‘How are you’ but 'Tza Nee Da Bee Wah?’ which means, 'How are the connections?’ If the connections are in place, we must be all right. If the connections are not in place, then we need to tend them first. Inherent in the Native American view is that our well-being is based on how everything goes together. There can be no lasting individual health unless there is a working harmony among all living things. The practice that grows from this worldview is the need to discover, name, and repair the connections that exist between all things. This is considered sacred and necessary work.”

—Mark Nepo on eight traditional ways to wholeheartedness and authenticity from our Winter Issue: HOPE.

Read it here.

Pictured: Arthur Rafton-Canning (1864-1952), Blackfoot Teepees, Glacier National Park, 1933