Over the past three days I’ve been working with 15 Aboriginal youth from around British Columbia who gathered in Vancouver to work on a couple of projects.

What is amazing about these youth is that today we started working on a foundation that will be the basis of support for emerging Aboriginal youth leadership in perpetuity. Ranging in age from 15-29, these young people are undaunted by the minutiae of setting up a foundation. “What we don’t know we can learn; what we can do, we will do.” That pretty much describes the energy.

What gives me so much hope is the way these guys constantly work at solidifying their self-worth and understanding what it is that they are bringing to the world. There is less a sense of entitlement among them than a sense that anything is possible if we take the time to understand who we truly are, what our traditions are, what our Elders have to say to us, and what it is we were born to do. As a group they seem to me to be taking on the predominant culture in many ways, crafting a series of powerful decolonization tools and methodologies as they go. The most important of these maybe the rejection of the corporate world’s modus operandi of stripping people clean of their culture and replacing their inherent self-worth with a need to consume. Instead of consuming endlessly to mount their identity these youth are exploring the opposite of consumption: giving. They are evaluating what they have to offer and trying to find practical ways to give that to the world.

I have been writing for a long time that the process of decolonization is ultimately not and external battle with systems and behaviours, but rather an internal fight to reclaim authentic intention and culture. The battle ground for the souls of Aboriginal people in the world has been on the inside, emptying the core and replacing it with a hole designed to be filled with Western spiritual values, economic values and social norms. Reclaiming this space is a practical act of decolonization, and when you do that you discover that there is only one thing to do with that energy: spread it.

So if there is anyone out there with experience or contacts in setting up foundations for emerging youth leadership, or who can help by donating advice or contacts to these guys to get their project rolling, let me know.

From the daily little Buddhist email I get from Beliefnet

There is something afoot at the moment all over the world. Emails and phone calls are coming in from all over North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. It’s hard to pin down but it has to do with a sea change in the way we work with each other, relate to each other and refuse to be pushed around anymore. It is a living in truth that is springing from a generosity of spirit and resources. I refuse to admit that I’m wrong about this. I’m prepared to sit on a leading edge for the rest of my life in the knowledge and belief that this moon will be reflected in every body of water on earth.

In April we have an amazing event happening here in Vancouver. The Dalai Lama, Vaclav Havel, Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi are all coming here to talk about educating the heart and the mind. I’m attending one of the Dalai Lama’s teachings, being held appropriately enough in a hockey arena. With that and the emerging work on the Giving for Civil Society Open Space conference it feels like something wide is opening up.

As they say in the antipodes, “it’s all good.”

Back home from New Zealand with a head full of memories. Lots will be unfolding there in the next little while, and I’ll keep you abreast of developments there.

In the meantime, I’d like to draw your attention to two things happening in North America in the next few months. First, John Engle, who is back in the States from Haiti, is convening a conference in Washington DC on April 30 and June 1 called The Do-Gooder’s Exchange. From the invitation:

And on a related note, Michael Herman, Jon Husband, Phil Cubeta and I are cooking something up which promises to be very interesting.

Nelson, New Zealand

Just completed a 1.5 day OST training workshop here in Nelson with 9 folks from this region and Tauranga, The Bay of Plenty, on the north island.

One of the outcomes from the gathering, and following on from the Te TauIhu economic summit, has been the establishment of a local network of indigenous practitioners here in Aotearoa. We have already set up a web page at OpenSpaceWorld.NET where projects can unfold.

Nelson, New Zealand

Blogging on a sunny fall afternoon from Te Tau Ihu, or the Top of the South Island region of New Zealand. The beautiful weather here – including a brisk warm wind off the Tasman Sea coming over the light blue waters of Nelson Bay – kind of nicely reflects my mood at the moment.

I was invited here to facilitate a day of Open Space for an Maori economic summit which brought together entrepreneurs, iwi trusts, government folks and Pakehea (or non-Maori) businesses for the tourism, and resource sectors. Our day in Open Space was yesterday and it was a blast. People connected like crazy, including one woman whose topic was “I need a job.” in her session, four people joined her and created a business plan to get her into a viable self-employment situation. That experience wasn’t at all unique with other business plans drafted up around Te Reo (language) funding opportunities, and the creation of a Maori economic development forum in this region to support enterprise.

Like the use of Open Space in other indigenous communities, people in the closing circle claimed it as Maori, and in order to leave it here and support that idea, we are just now finalizing the logistics for a two training workshop that starts tomorrow to train folks in community agencies and government in the process.

More reports if I get a chance or when I get home. In the meantime have a look at the work being done by Wakatu Incoirporation, one of the sponsors of the Summit which is a trust that acts on behalf of five iwi (tribes) in this region.