10/14/2026
In honor of Indigenous People's Day, we're sharing this reminder with you:
True wisdom isn't something you can sell, or separate from the whole. As we recognize and honor the original peoples of these lands, it's crucial to also reflect--not just on what all you have gained from the First cultures and traditions--but also, how those elements of the Peoples' ways of life have been butchered, partitioned, and sold to the highest bidders by a system intent on literally making a quick buck.
The sage cleansing kits, Palo Santo body sprays, “tribal-patterned” journals, or TikTok-ready “shamanic manifesting bundles" type shih and more. These things may look spiritual, or even transformative, but behind it all sits the unsettling truth about how American capitalism functions.
The teachings that once aimed to transform communities and society by challenging unjust authority, promoting reciprocity, restoring balance, etc. are now smashed into shards of the sacred that soothe individuals while leaving structural injustices untouched. The wisdom meant to heal entire nations is being used as coping mechanisms for surviving capitalism.
Indigenous knowledge is underpinned by _relationship_: to people, land, ancestors, and to each other. When it's pulled out of those relationships, divorced from the people who carry it, and repackaged as a thing you can buy, it just becomes information. There's no reciprocity here.
So while we continue to stand with our Indigenous siblings in their fight for land, language, and basic rights, let's remember the many unsung ways they're keeping humanity and progress alive here, the value of their wisdom-keeping, and the fulfillment of their struggle to keeping the wisdom intact.
