Yesterday I checked out Robert Fulghum’s latest book of essays from the library (He wrote the famous All I Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten)
In one essay, he talks about the way several different cultures treat their elders. He prefers the Maasai way, but concludes: “But alas, I note that a requirement is to have killed a lion first to prove one’s worthiness…For lack of a handy lion, I am shut out of the Maasai Way and will have to find a better Way of my own.”
I love that line. I think it really sums up what we all try to do in making new rewilding cultures. We don’t want to steal from other cultures, but we do try to learn from them. We don’t want to import lions so that we can follow the Maasai way; we want to make our own way along with the other animals, plants, etc. in our own bioregion.