corimagua

Young white kids come to me, New Age kids, and oh god, I love them, but sometimes they are a handful. They come to me and say, “Oh, Janet, please, please, you got to help me. I’ve got to get back to nature.” I say, “Do you need a laxative, or what?” That’s crazy, how can you get back to nature? We are nature! We are a part of nature, we are part of this earth, we are a part of everything that lives. We are a part of you and me and this air that connects us all together. There is no esoteric chant or mantra or anything that’s going to give these New Agers instant spiritualization. “Give me a pill, give me a chant, I need to be spiritual, right now!” I say you have to learn to be a human being first. If you don’t know how to be a human being, you’ll never be spiritual.

-Janet McCloud

Tulalip tribe, Washington state