“By fencing me out, you box yourselves in”, (Joe & Kay Peterson, founders of the Escapees).

The Law of the Land

Modern culture places a huge, vested interest on  people remaining stationary, dutifully reporting to jobs, filing taxes, shopping locally and other routines that fuel the “Matrix”.  This is the main reason why, home ownership is emphasized and supported, but to be “homeless”, is looked down upon.  The homeless cannot be counted on to reliably perform their “duty”.  The main reason that jobs are mandated, and permanent housing is encouraged, is that under the burden of mortgage debt and the regular job income to pay its relentless appetite, the occupants are scrambling to their own detriment, to stave off the specter of homelessness.

Indeed, though the homeless are “free”, their plight, most often takes a dark turn down a dead end cul de sac, as survival under the conditions of a city, becomes nearly impossible, as the sources of Life that make survival possible, are notably absent.  On the other hand, this system for those who “willingly” participate has major drawbacks, as it comes to resemble a prison without walls.  Take note of the signage in your locale, the “neighborhood watch” signs, no-trespassing, private property, no parking, no camping and so on with the omni-presence of  law enforcement agencies to keep the agitated, confined masses in check.

Have we made a fundamental wrong turn in our thinking and actions somewhere down the line?  We believe so, and it was in the not so distant past, yet the core misconception has spiraled into a no-win situation for those who follow, as well as for those who don’t.

Why Native Americans Didn’t Understand Land Ownership

The landscape has become sliced and diced by the white euro concept of private ownership and land subdivision.  It is interesting to note that most of the American Indian cultures had NO concept of private land ownership, prior to the invasion of white euro ego-centric values (“I” based thinking).  Owning the fluid ever-changing landscape made no sense to them.  They built routes that emphasized movement with the seasons, spending their Lives around the naturally occurring “power spots” of the Earth, mountains, bodies of water and so on, sharing the bounty with each other, contrary to contemporary property “owners”.

To the Native Americans, the  land was a living, breathing entity, being formed and fed by ALL the cosmos,  thus it belonged to the universe, and thus ALL the people.  The Native Americans could not fathom individual land ownership and this view was fed and nurtured, primarily through their tight relationship towards nature.  To the Natives, land was held communally.  Unfortunately, most of us have grown up under this core mistruth, the concept of private land ownership, having been raised all our lives under the smokescreen of this primary “American dream”.  Subsequently, under private ownership, the space within the “property boundaries” is subjected to the will and whims of the “owners”, most often without any regard for the greater whole as each piece of land is viewed in isolation to all the other privately owned land.

Here’s a clue from the Veda’s:

The Brahiminist theology called Vedanta believes that the root of ownership is the feeling that one is separate from the rest of the universe. Given this understanding, one disconnects oneself from the universe, and then attempts to reconnect with objects through a relationship which is called ownership. Vedanta believes that the feeling of ownership is an illusion, which remains with oneself as long as one considers oneself as separate from the Universe. When one understands the fundamental reality that there is only one entity called the Universe, there is no need for ownership and one gets rid of this illusion.

Property Ownership Regarded As Virtuous…

Once the flawed concept of land ownership is propagated, all manner of selfishness ensues.  Fences are put up to mark one’s territory.  The surrounding plant, animals, minerals, indeed everything in the circumference of influence, becomes subjected to the debilitating influences of that gradual weakening process, known as “domestication”.   Domestication, is the systematic altering of a lifeform, so thoroughly, it cannot exist in the “wild”-derness any longer.  Anything wild is a direct threat, to all that has been domesticated.

Each piece privately consumed, is taken away from the communal collective, until slowly and methodically, all that remains is a small disparate patchwork of land that is deemed public, still further privately “owned” by governments and large private interest groups.  Large sums of money are demanded to “visit” these last remaining isolated wild places, places that were once ALL of OURS.

What suffers in that process, are the natural life forms that operate in a different consciousness than artificial grids and property lines, which only make sense to human minds.  They migrate on greater currents, of cosmic inspired forces, far beyond our linear understanding.  They trespass as best they can, dodging untold miles of barbwire, trying to swim freely in damned rivers, and burrowing under fencing.  The Nu-Nomad knows that ultimately what suffers the most, is ourselves.  To not be connected to the cosmos at large, which is an impossibility living in the Matrix, is the greatest weight, a man can bear in his lifetime.

Voluntary Dis-Ownership

Taking a cue from the above, we too, voluntary give up “ownership” of land, air, and water, so that in time, the landscape once again becomes ALL of ours.  There is only one Lake Tahoe, only so much oceanfront “property”; new rivers and lakes are not being manufactured.   This is ALL of OURS by birthright.  The first step in re-establishing our divine  inheritance, is to become nomadic, and LET GO of the clinging to that which we cannot truly OWN.  The relief we feel from doing so is beyond measure.

A campground  is a symbol of a shared space, though most are still privately “owned”.  We may occupy it for a time, but never would we “own” it, and take it away from the rest.  We will enhance it, with the help of other Nu-Nomads in our area, by planting permaculture food forests, by enhancing the growth of naturally occurring wild foods, and further propagating them to broaden the wild food supply.  We will clean up the land and water with mutual respect for our mutual home.  Our campgrounds naturally and ideally, will occupy the great spaces of the Earth again, with the emphasis of hovering around the great natural power spots that so energize us like mountains, vast meadows, lakes, the invigorating stretches of oceanfront, as we once did.

We slowly reduce our footprint, to some 1/10 of what it now is, giving up nothing and receiving everything.  To start off, we release the occupants of that human zoo, we call “civilization”.  The untold miles of fencing come down, so the wildlife can freely migrate and cross towards natural forces of power to which they are drawn.  We un-dam the rivers as much as possible and let the fish run free again.  We concentrate on wild and wild planted species of plants and animals, that which can, once established, take care of themselves, reinvigorating and re-wilding our surroundings.  We have the courage to let our highly hybridized and overly-domesticated creations go, both plant and animal, and ultimately ourselves.  We know that in exchange we will receive wild foods of unequal quality, that we could never grow with the best agriculture of any kind, that propel us on to unimagined levels of health, well-being and connectedness.  The landscape being freed of our constipating influence, finally, can once more BREATHE again…

Tags: Campground, homeless, land ownership, Native American