The first lecture May 7 will feature the former chairman of the northwestern band of the Shoshone Nation, Darren Parry. It’s titled “The Land is Alive: Indigenous Views on Nature.”
Parry said it’s been more than a year since he made the drive through Wasatch County on his way to the Unita Basin this week. He said he was “blown away” by the development going into the Heber Valley. It’s just one example of the differences between how indigenous people viewed nature and what is practiced today.
“The system that we live in today looks at the land as a commodity to be bought or sold for the sake of short term profits and indigenous views differ in the way that we look at land, not as a commodity, but as a relative, and something that needs to be cared for and nurtured, just as we take care of relatives,” Parry said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Thursday. “That's how we should treat the land.”
Parry said he knows capitalism isn’t going away, but he believes there are opportunities to make smarter decisions and protect resources.
“Ask the people in St. George how it's going with water,” he said. “We know that climate change is a real thing. We know we can't bank on just continued snow packs every year. And so, we've got to start stewarding our environment just a little bit different. And what I hope to bring is just the ability to look at land differently, and hopefully that will allow us to encourage our leaders to make better decisions.”
Parry has a new book coming out this year called “Tending the Sacred: How Indigenous Wisdom will Save the World.” He said it gives concrete answers to how we can inject this wisdom into today’s education, business, social sciences and even law. He also recommends the popular book by Robin Wall Kimmerer titled “Braiding Sweetgrass.”
A second lecture May 21 will cover “Preserving Utah’s Cemeteries.” Amy Barry will share her knowledge as manager of the Utah cemeteries program within the State Historic Preservation Office.
Both lectures are from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Park City Museum’s Education and Collections Center at 2790 Sidewinder Drive in Prospector. More information is online at https://parkcityhistory.org/history-speaks-lectures/
