Amazonian Indian Turns 120 Because of Healthy Lifestyle

Check out this story about a woman from the Kaxinawa tribe (or Huni Kuin - "true people" as they call themselves) in Brazil who just celebrated her 120th birthday a couple days ago.  Her longevity could have been a result of keeping a strong connection to the indigenous ways of her people (and maybe also not eating salt, sugar and other processed foods!).  Read about it here.

Valuing the Indigenous Way of Knowing

My search for the meaning of education especially as it applies to my seven year old son with a "learning difference" and a poor aptitude for academics, has brought me to the doorsteps of the alternative and progressive and unschooling movements.  Through the Alternative Education Resource Education newsletter I discovered this appropriate essay on the limitations of Western knowledge; "The Other Way of Knowing" by Lilian Na'ia Alessa, a descendant of the Salish tribe of British Columbia.  Her writing appears on the site of an equally amazing and appropriate movie titled "Schooling the World: The White Man's Last Burden", a film that "poses an almost heretical challenge to the long-unquestioned assumption that the western model of education and schooling improves lives wherever it goes."
Please check out the trailer for this important film here:  SD Trailer | Schooling the World

Day at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum

Last weekend we spent the day at one of our favorite museums, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center.  Housed on the South Eastern Connecticut Mashantucket tribal land next to the famed Foxwoods Casino, the museum contains a stunning collection of "multi-sensory dioramas and exhibits of eastern woodland and Mashantucket Pequot life", with detailed videos on everything from cooking traditional dishes to making dug-out canoes.

Beautiful Stills from BBC Earth's "Human Planet"

Timothy Allen, Central Highlands, Papua New Guinea

Breathtaking slide show of photographer Timothy Allen's favorite still shots from his work on the BBC Earth's show Human Planet
View the slide show with Tim's fascinating commentary here.

Free "Healthy 4 Life" Traditional Nutrition E-Book

The Weston Price Foundation is offering a free e-book of "Healthy 4 Life" - a book containing a summary of their basic nutritional philosophy, as well as many traditional recipes.
Download it here
Via the great Nourishing Gourmet site.
More about Weston Price here

Getting Away from the Culture of Consumerism in a Third-World Country

Great relevant post from the Get Rich Slowly blog about one family's positive experience moving to Papua New Guinea.
Read it here:

"Reader Story: How Moving to a Developing Nation Improved Our Financial Situation"

Desert Seed Pods Used for Delicious Healthy Flour by Southwest Indigenous Peoples

The seed pods above are from a tree called a Mesquite tree that is very commonly seen in the deserts of the Southwest.  The pods were traditionally ground up by indigenous Americans to make a sweet flour that was high in protein, gluten free and low-glycemic.  I've purchased raw mesquite powder before and used it  in smoothies and ice creams and it has a deliciously sweet and and kind of smoky flavor.  One of my favorite raw restaurants, Bonobo's, uses mesquite and dates to make these out-of-this-world ball treats.
Mike Adams at Natural News touts it as a superfood that's high in protein micronutrients.  More on their website here.
More from the Tuscon Citizen about mesquite, it's healthful qualities and other ways the Pima Indians once used it here

Medicinal and Other Uses of the Black Walnut Tree

The other day I was at my parent's house in the country and discovered these "fruits" scattered all over the ground under their black walnut tree.  They had a really interesting and strong of spicy smell and there were so many of them, I thought to myself there must be something we can do with these.
I did some research and found out that every part of the tree has been used by indigenous Americans (First Nations) for everything from dyeing the hair to treating toothaches.  And besides eating the flavorful nuts, they also used a juice they would make from it for parasite prevention and as an antiseptic salve.
Read more about it's many uses on the Virginia Tech Fact sheet here and on eHow's fact page here.

Dr. J.E. Williams on Why Indigenous People Can be Healthy on Different Diets

Great posts via Renegade Health Show on a discussion with Dr. J.E. Williams on why indigenous people in different parts of the world can be healthy eating diets that vary from region to region.  e.g. peoples in the Arctic can eat a virtually 100% meat and fat diet with little or no vegetables and have almost no incidences of diabetes and cancer.
The three main factors he points out are Exercise, Environment and Community.  Interesting stuff.
Check out the video interview here.