Land-based spirituality among the Cree of the Mushkegowuk territory. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dylan, Arielle; Smallboy, Bartholemew
• Is Part Of: Journal of religion & spirituality in social work. Volume 35:Issue 1/2(2016)
• Page Start: 108
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Indigenous sovereignty -- Indigenous spirituality -- land-based spirituality -- mindfulness -- self-determination -- spirituality; Church and social problems -- United States -- Periodicals; Church and social problems -- Catholic Church -- Periodicals; Christian sociology -- Periodicals; 261.805
• DOI: 10.1080/15426432.2015.1067589
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1542-6432

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article reports on findings from a research project investigating social, cultural, political, community, and spiritual impacts of a mining development sited in the Mushkegowuk territory of the coastal Cree people of western James Bay. When using a variety of indicators to explore how the negotiated agreement with an industrial proponent (diamond mining) was impacting community members, the threat to cultural lifeways and contingent spirituality as a result of land degradation was expressed by most participants in the study. While mindfulness, as adopted from the Buddhist tradition, denotes a very specific type of practice involving present-moment awareness, the breath, and body sensations, mindfulness in its broader definition refers more generally to a state of keen awareness. Across two phases of this research project, representing qualitative interviews with more than 50 participants, a picture of deep relationship and engagement with the land and its myriad life forms emerged, a picture suggestive of profound awareness, attunement, and reciprocity consistent with the broader definition of mindfulness. It is upon this land-based relationship that spirituality for the Mushkegowuk Cree people relies, and, as expressed by many study participants, the very core of their identity is founded on this form of spirituality.