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Brian began to work toward the conclusion of his series of hypothetical constructions. "Everything that has been touched upon in this story concerning you is a reflection of what has confronted tens of thousands of Native peoples in many localities in North America. The major difference is this: in place of the intense love for, and connection to, the land of specific locations  Native peoples have, I have substituted your love for your wife and children. Native peoples have an abiding love for their families, but their attachment to the land goes even deeper.

"Nonetheless, the parallel remains true. You, in the story, and Native peoples, in reality, have been separated from that which is deeply loved and from which the whole fabric of one's existence is woven."

For a short time, Brian watched me reflecting on what had been said. Eventually, he said: "David, you previously wondered, as long as new land was given in exchange for the old land, whether or not Native people couldn't make the adjustment.

"Alright, having heard everything to this point, let me ask you one more question. If a government agent showed up one day and introduced you to a woman and several children and said: 'This is your new family', do you feel you would be able to adjust to the situation?"

This time Brian didn't wait for me to respond to his question. He continued to develop the idea.

"After all, could one not argue that since you started off with one wife and two children, and you ended up with one wife and two children, no real damage had been done? Moreover, couldn't we extend the logic of this position and contend that just as you seem to be assuming one piece of land is pretty much the same as any other piece of land, so too, any combination of wife and children ought to be capable of being substituted for any other such combination, and, presumably, therefore, you really ought not to have any grounds for objecting to this arrangement?"

The question being asked by Brian was somewhat rhetorical in nature. Not really looking for a response from me, Brian continued to talk.

"We all derive unique benefits from the complex intricacies of our relationships with the specific people in our lives with whom we are in love. In addition, Native peoples derive unique benefits from the complex intricacies of the relationships that are established with specific geographical localities.

"Indeed, these localities are like living beings to us. They have a spirit, character, potential and power all of their own. No place else on Earth can duplicate this set of properties. Other localities have their own set of living properties and possibilities."

Brian paused, as if not quite certain of the direction in which he wanted to go at this juncture. He bowed his head and rubbed his neck.

He started speaking again as he raised his head. "Let's go back to the fictional account concerning you that I developed earlier. If we assume your wife is a very spiritually gifted individual, there are a few more points which can be made.

"For example, if you depended on spiritual counsel from your wife to get you through life, and if she were suddenly wrenched from your life, as we have supposed previously, then you would have lost a, or 'the', fundamental source of spiritual guidance in your life. The ship with which you have been sailing through life is now without compass, charts, sextant, sails or rudder.

"Similarly, when Native peoples are forced from our lands, we lose one of the most fundamental sources of spiritual guidance available to us. Although we have a reverence for all of Mother Earth, a large portion of our spiritual sustenance and direction comes from our relationship to specific geographical locations.

"Even our languages are heavily shaped and colored by this relationship. Sounds and expressions   that have relevance in one locality, lose some, or all, of their validity and applicability in other localities.

"The ecology of one locality is not the ecology of another location. This is not only true in relation to the way land, water, climate, atmospheric conditions and different species of life combine together to form the ecological dynamics of a particular geographical area of Mother Earth. Certain aspects of the dynamics of spiritual ecology also change from place to place.

"Places of power manifest themselves differently as one travels across the land. What one may obtain or experience or learn at one place of power may be quite different from what one might receive or from which one may benefit at some other place of power.

"The spirits that are given expression through various kinds of plant and animal life do not all offer the same manner of spiritual guidance. Moreover, as the flora and fauna change, so, too, do the processes of spiritual alignment and etiquette change which are necessary to access such wisdom."

Throughout his account, Brian was watching me for signs of boredom, saturation and/or puzzlement. Whatever he may have seen in this respect apparently was not sufficiently intrusive to cause him to stop.

I didn't have to accept the spiritual paradigm he was outlining in order to appreciate it as a worldview and want to treat it with respect. My training in clinical psychology had taught me the importance of trying, as much as possible, to come to see, and understand, the world through the perspective of the client.

Brian wasn't a client, but he was helping me to gain some insight into certain aspects of a Native worldview. This understanding might prove to be helpful in some way later on.

We both had become preoccupied with our private thoughts and feelings for a few moments. Brian broke the silence with: "David, if you will just bear with me for a few more moments, we are near the end of our conceptual journey."

I guess my eyes had not yet glazed over with preoccupation in relation to all that Brian had been saying, because when I indicated for him to go on, he did so without hesitation,   seemingly convinced of my capacity to still focus on what he was telling me. "Unfortunately," he continued, "the fact that many, although by no means all, facets of indigenous sciences are tied to specific localities has led to a number of problems. More specifically, as Native peoples have been pushed from the land or as the multi-dimensional ecologies of those places are being intruded upon, if not destroyed, by various governments and corporations, the learning and practice of Native spirituality has become increasingly difficult.

"In its own way, the situation among many Native peoples is like non-Natives trying to do modern physical science either with faulty equipment or without properly equipped laboratories. The environmental laboratories, on which so much of indigenous sciences depends, are being destroyed, and this reality is interfering, more and more, with the pursuit and mastery of our traditional sciences.

"In addition, many of our elders are dying. In all too many cases, they are passing away without being able to transmit their wisdom to subsequent generations.

"There are many reasons for this problem of transmission. For instance, through the influence of compulsory public education, many of our younger people have lost touch with, and interest in, most of our traditional teachings. Furthermore, for a variety of reasons, fewer and fewer of our younger generations have acquired the language skills necessary to receive the oral teachings of the elders.

"Finally, a wide variety of economic, social, technological and political forces have disrupted and undermined the family and community lives of many Native peoples in very profound ways. The continuous assault of these forces has led to a tragic number of dysfunctional individuals, families and communities among Native peoples.

"These people are in great need of the spiritual help elders have been able to offer traditionally. However, not only are there not enough elders to handle the problems, the people in need often have been forced to leave the places where the few elders, who do exist, reside.

"Native peoples are caught in a horrific negative feedback cycle. The greater the number of spiritual casualties in our community, the fewer candidates there are to be recipients of transmitted wisdom. The fewer the number of accomplished teachers and healers there are who are available to the community, the greater will be the number of people who will not be in an emotional, linguistic or spiritual position to seek out, and benefit from, traditional teachings.

"There are some people within different Native communities who are valiantly struggling to preserve, restore, reconstruct, revive and transmit various aspects of indigenous sciences and languages. They are doing so with varying degrees of success."

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