And then there was a moment when the vastness of the landscape shifted, and we began to enter 'typical' suburban strip malls. You know the kind - where you could be anywhere.

We sighed.

Oh, "civilization."

"Freedom" is one of the most powerful and most-cherished American values.

But Freedom does not actually come from the open road.

Early european colonialists learned freedom from the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island/what is now called America.

"Free" and "dignified" and "independence" and "sovereignty" - those values and ways of living were values that my ancestors, who were amongst the first settlers in this place and played a significant role in the formation of democracy, very much learned and saw in practice from the Native people around them.

As was a particular forms of governance that inspired them and which they actively learned from. A form of governanance we now call "democracy."

But that's not the story we have told about ourselves. Despite a lot of scholarship, books, and oral storytelling.

The story we (Americans, westerners, democratic nations the world over) keep telling ourselves is totally different.

What happens if we tell a different story about the origins of democracy? Of freedom?

What becomes possible?

Would that change how we relate to land?

To one another?

To ask these questions, we invite you to join us.

July 4, 2024.

Independence Day in America.

In the midst of heated global conversations about the future of democracy.

Wherever you are: come.

Let's see if we can learn and work through some different stories. Together.