By Neenah Payne 10 Cultural Heritage Questions You Should Ask Your Relatives points out: “Many people don’t really think of themselves or their family as having a particular culture. For most people, it’s “just how things were done”. People rarely question their culture and therefore…
By Neenah Payne In 1621, colonists and the Wampanoag shared a ‘feast’, viewed as the first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is now one of the most popular holidays in America. More people travel to be with family for Thanksgiving than for any other holiday. Many Americans look forward…
Op-Ed by Neenah Payne We don’t live in the physical world as much as we live in our mental map of the world. Our worldview is shaped by our Foundational Stories that tell us who we are and our relationship to the Earth. The radically…
By Neenah Payne The concept of “keystone species” was introduced by ecologist Robert Paine in 1969. A keystone species has a large effect on the community it supports. Keystone species increase the species biodiversity of a community and enhance stability of the environment. Without them,…
Op-Ed by Neenah Payne November is Native American Heritage Month — a good time to take a look at these ancient cultures that have given us so much and have so much more to share now. For many Americans, the 500 Native Nations are like…
By Neenah Payne How African Rice Growers Enriched America! describes how the knowledge and skills of enslaved African rice agronomists created the legendary “Carolina Gold” which made South Carolina so wealthy. Film — High on The Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America explains that…
By Neenah Payne “Living high on the hog” refers to eating the best and costliest cuts of a pig such as the loin rather than lower parts such as the feet, knuckles, hocks, belly, and jowls which were given to Blacks during slavery. So, “living…
By Neenah Payne Native American Day: Learning The Way of Earth explains that Dr. Zach Bush warns we are in the Sixth Great Extinction and human survival depends on the urgent restoration of our soils (earth). So, the world — led by the West —…
By Neenah Payne Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in America. More people travel to be with family for Thanksgiving than at any other holiday. We look forward to the terrific foods — especially the turkey. It’s a “feel good” holiday because we…
By Neenah Payne Americans are taught that the Boston Tea Party ignited the American Revolutionary War because the colonists found the British tea tax tea intolerable. That’s part of the story, but it misses the pivotal turning point of our history — one we need…
By Neenah Payne Tobacco is sacred to traditional Native American cultures. Yet, Americans turned it into a carcinogen. The coca plant is sacred to the indigenous cultures of the Andes. Yet, Americans turned it into cocaine. Why have Americans turned these sacred healers into deadly…
By Neenah Payne November is Native American Heritage Month, an opportunity to learn from the many rich traditions of Native Americans. Native American Day: Learning The Way of Earth explains that Dr. Zach Bush warns we are in the Sixth Great Extinction and human survival…
By Neenah Payne Halloween is a celebration almost everyone likes — especially kids. Getting dressed up in costumes is exciting. As a child, I enjoyed going door to door “Trick or Treating” to get candies. Carving pumpkins (Jack O’Lanterns) and bobbing for apples was fun…
By Neenah Payne Some calendars still call this holiday “Columbus Day” which teaches us to celebrate conquest. It does not teach us how to collaborate with other cultures or to survive on this planet. Fortunately, over 50 cities and states have adopted “Indigenous Peoples Day”. That encourages us…
By Neenah Payne Americans flock to the Amazon to drink ayahuasca with shamans. However, for most Americans, Native America is the ignored Big Pink Elephant in the living room. Although many of our states, cities, and rivers carry Native names, most Americans ignore the existence…
Op-Ed by Neenah Payne Most people recognize that the world is in very serious trouble in multiple ways — the global economy is increasingly at risk, the world’s rainforests are being destroyed as are our soils which undermines the health of our plants and animals…
By Neenah Payne America is a Christian nation. Christmas – which commemorates the birth of Christ – is one of the most important celebrations of the Christian religion. However, few Americans stop to think that almost all of the ways in which we celebrate this…
By Peter Tocci Today’s world looks quite chaotic, threatened and stressed. But could the players and motives commonly cited by investigative journalists be symptomatic first, causal second? Issues come ‘fast and furious,’ such as ever-increasing threats to health, freedom, self-determination, and most critically to the…
Op-Ed by Patricia Burke This article is for entertainment purposes only. No medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment is provided. When I began an in-depth study of chi gong, one of the first things my teacher did was give me guidance on the season of the…
By Neenah Payne “The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” — Thomas Jefferson. Beans and rice are a daily staple in all Caribbean as well as Central and South American countries – for breakfast,…
