Originally Posted by Greger
yet, do I risk being accused of cultural appropriation if I agree with them too heartily?
Yes, you do... smartass!

But seriously, I think the CA line has everything to do with attitude and intent. James Skeet, my Navajo colleague, is well-educated in the White sense, holding several degrees in philosophy and other things and has worked in the white collar world. But he's back on the Rez working to revitalize indigenous agricultural wisdom, with food security in mind - here's the website: https://covenantpathways.org

I've visited his farm and he and his wife have visited ours, and the Trollworks shop. In the course of several days of intimate talk and looking we are both surprised and gratified that we are traveling in the same direction, but with some complementary "technologies" that need sharing. It's all practical cultural appropriation, and not for conscience relief or copycat-ism. It's problem solving.

James told me straight up in the beginning that he is tired of people who want to "help", but whose real motive is to take advantage of the special consideration given to tribal efforts by funders. I'll be delivering a biochar+energy system to Spirit Farm in about a month to heat their greenhouse while making biochar.

You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.
R. Buckminster Fuller