This is not a blog about me, or just about my thoughts. It is about shared ideas and mutual explorations. But I thought I should begin with a very brief introduction of myself. I was born in 1951 and am descended from indigenous peoples of America (Wampanoag, Massachuset, and Choctaw), Africa (tribes unknown), Scotland, England, and France. At various points in the human past, my ancestors (and yours, too) knew ways of living that were sustainable and harmonious with Earth and the laws of nature. Unfortunately, most of that knowledge was taken away from our ancestors, due to the creation of unsustainable megasocieties, empires, colonialism, slavery and the brainwashing that is used to perpetuate unjust, oppressive societies.

My life experiences and knowledge of the current multiple crises facing all life on Earth have led me to want to learn how to live in the former ways that were more harmonious with the Life of Earth, to the extent which it is possible at this point in history, with the circumstances of Earth being so different than what our ancestors had, and knowing all that we now know about what can go wrong. (One of the questions that I hope to explore in the blog is, “how wrong are we [as a society]?”)

In the late 1960s I dropped out of mainstream society, and lived in communes, from 1969 to 1973. I began organic gardening and learning about natural wild foods and medicines in 1970. Barb and I got married in 1973, had four kids between 1974 and 1980, and now have seven grandchildren. We live on five acres on the Flathead Indian Reservation, north of Missoula, Montana, where we have been since 1985. By profession, I was a teacher, historian and lecturer for 33 years–at a tribally run alternative high school for ten years, a tribal community college for three years, then at the local university for twenty years, until I retired in 2018. Although, we have been growing organic foods all of this time and involved in various “green” activities, it has only been with our deepening awareness of how dire the circumstances of Earth have become in the last decade or so that we have begun to go “deep green.” A specific description of the Earth’s dire situation and my reasons for going deep and seeking alternatives to continuing to live within an anti-Earth, anti-Life society, are found in the article on the blog titled, “Thinking about the ‘Unthinkable’.”

It is my hope that this blog will become a vehicle for finding ways to live in harmony with Earth and create alternative, sustainable societies. I use the plural (societies) because I don’t think that these large mega-nations are sustainable or manageable. There are probably a multitude of sustainable, small-scale society lifeways that match specific ecosystems and are feasible within the laws of nature. We will probably need much exploration, experimentation, and trial and error in this learning process, because there is so much knowledge that we have lost. The other thing that we need to discuss is how to have societies without currency (money). Please see my essay, “The End of Money,” for more on that.

Comments are very welcome on all of the articles. The comment function appears at the very end of each entry. Scroll down to the box that says, “Leave a Reply.”

This is all I have to say for this “About” section right now. It will be interesting to see how and where this blog goes and where we all go.

Learning Earthways blog launched December 27, 2013

(This “About” page was last updated and revised on July 6, 2020.)