Just announced the summer programs at the ALIA Leadership Institute in Columbus, Ohio this summer.  I’m thrilled to be back on the faculty at the Institute teaching with Luana Busby-Neff from Hawaii, Pawa Haiyupis from Ahousaht and Tim Merry from Nova Scotia.  We’ll be continuing our collective inquiry about applying indigenous world views to systemic challenges together. We;ll be drawing heavily on the work of the Berkana Institute,  the Art of Hosting community of practice and traditional perspectives including Malama Ole from Hawaii and Tsawalk from Nuuchanulth.

Please consider joining us…richness will abound.

::: wood s lot ::: was one of the first blogs I read waaaaay back in the day.  This week Mark Woods celebrates 10 years of bringing the finest in 20th century art, poetry abd ideas.

How many of you were around when Euan Semple raised the money to save the s lot in 2002, when Mark needed a new computer to keep posting?  That was the first example for my of the kindness of the blogosphere.

Congrats Mark, for handrolling a stunning resource, week after week.  Thanks for all your work.

Our meeting ended well today.  The hunters continued to deliberate this morning and true to their pattern they drafted a couple of resolutions and presented them to government.  The meeting was considered a success in that it was the first time polar bear hunters came from Nunasiavut, Nunavik and Nunavut to connect and share stories and work together on their issues.  A unified statement came from the gathering which was the result of their deliberations together.  As it went yesterday, I did very little “facilitation” today except to simply hold space and observe the dynamics.

I’ll have a little more to write as a result of this meeting, especially with thoughts on the preparation and planning and design that went into making this meeting work on one level, while at the same time I was able to completely let go of the plan and the process.

In the meantime, here is a song I wrote out on the tundra as I was picking berries:

Chorus:

Blackberry crowberry growing low down
Blackberry crowberry growing on the ground
Blackberry crowberry growing low down
Growing low down on the tundra

Land all covered in pinks and green
Low bushes, low bushes picking them clean
And high in the sky on a clear northern night
Pinks and greens in the northern lights.

Chorus

Koksoak River flows both ways
Tide flowing in from Ungava Bay
Rocks on the ridge and little larch trees
Crawling around on my hands and knees

Chorus

Bugs in the north ain’t like bugs in the south
Blackflies crawling in the corner of your mouth
Swarming your face, getting stuck in your hair,
Breathing in more bugs than air.

Chorus

You’ve been sneaking some berries I can see it on your face
Crowberry juice all over the place.
Purple stain all around your chin
Now get back down we gotta fill this bin

Chorus

Getting late in the day and our picking’s done
Sweating like a bog in the midsummer sun
Settling down to some bannock and tea
And a little bit of muktuk for you and me.

Some morsels:

• Bernie DeKoven explains that fun and funny are different beasts. (And see his pointless games page for more!)
• Think Global School is the new gig for my friend Brad Ovenell-Carter.  The world’s first global trabelling high school.

Feasting on the weeks feed:

• Jordon Cooper on losing his religion and re-discovering community.
• Geoff Brown finds a great video showing how improv exercises improve communication