What do the ancestors and elders say about how Indian people should understand and engage the U.S. citizens that surround our communities? We need to look for indigenous perspectives that provide the wisdom of our ancestors and elders about how to make our way in our relations with non-Indians.

Why seek such a point of view? Because many current viewpoints originate and carry the values and worldviews of Western society rather than the culture and views of indigenous communities. Most Western perspectives focus on subordination, colonization, marginalization and racial conflict between Indians and non-Indians.

While it is always helpful to take into account a variety of different perspectives, it seems that indigenous perspectives are given less attention and should be taken into account more regularly and more seriously. This is not to say that indigenous perspectives will solve all the problems confronting contemporary tribal communities. However, strategic and long term planning for a tribal government, tribal community, and indigenous persons should consider and draw upon the wisdom of our own traditions and philosophies.

One way to remain an indigenous person within a rapidly changing world is to uphold the philosophy, or spirit, of the teachings of our elders and ancestors. The ancestors provided a moral code, a way of living, and ways of interpreting and relating to the rest of the universe. This philosophy was not just about human relations, but teachings were offered about spiritual relations, which were seen as similar and interrelated with human groups.

The teachings emphasized that humans are not the center of the universe, as in the Western tradition, and the sacred extends beyond heaven and human souls, to include all animate forces in the universe. The objective of humans is not to dominate and control the powers of the universe, since if they are disturbed, they will retaliate against humans and cause sickness, death, accidents, defeat in war and other harmful actions. The best policy is to maintain respectful relations with the spirits of the universe.

Traditional ceremonies like the Sun Dances, Green Corn Ceremonies, and most New Year’s ceremonies are sacred rituals intended to heal relations between humans and other forces in the universe. By renewing respectful relations, the world is healed, and human as well as cosmic relations are restored to balance and harmony. Harmony is the spiritual ideal for all relations. As the trickster stories tell us, however, humans have flawed characters and will break rules and cause harm. Humans and spiritual powers expect respectful relations, and when disrespect is shown, then imbalanced relations will result in retaliation until balance is restored through ceremony and offers of restoration.

The elders are still with us and provide wisdom and counsel. Once a tribal leader from a Canadian band directly and heatedly criticized Canadian officials for their policies. Later, a tribal elder apologized to the Canadian officials, saying the tribal leader was a young man and did not properly present the band’s position. During the fishing rights controversies of Wisconsin and Minnesota, many unsavory racial incidents occurred, but the tribal elders counseled restraint and suggested to the communities and leaders that they should not retaliate. Despite a long history of mistreatment to Mexican Indians, some traditional elders do not reject relations with the Mexican government. They do not want to “self-determine” themselves into marginalization. Rather they suggest tribal communities create respectful relations with the Mexican government, and become part of the Mexican administration and government. The Mexican elder wanted to retain tribal community and culture, and believed that creating dialogue, greater mutual understanding, and respectful and consensual relations was a pathway to long term solutions to the political and economic issues confronting indigenous people.

The philosophy of respectful relations is similar to the views of Gandhi, Tolstoy, Martin Luther King, and the nonviolent tradition of change. A globalized world needs respectful and peaceful relations, and indigenous philosophies can contribute to peace among nations and peoples.