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RoadTripTravelogues.com (RTTs ) by Stacey McReynolds
TSLGBTQ+ & Indigenous Models for Environmental Activism and Justice

why rtt's? for earth based spiritual awakening

“solitude is the deepest well I have encountered in this life” - Doug Peacok, author of Was It Worth It?: A Wilderness Warrior's Long Trail Home

Civilization has been thrust upon me… and
it has not added one whit to my love for
truth, honesty, and generosity.
- Sioux Indian Chief known as
Standing Bear more

Land Acknowledgment

On David Abram and photography...
If you want to "have an eye," read The Spell of the Sensuous and Becoming Animal by David Abram. The challenge is then to be able to photograph what you "see,' and not just photograph. Consider that a goldfinch or a chickadee is actually a blur as we note them in flight, so a blurry photograph of them might be actually "seeing them." My mother called it 'God'sEye.' She was a believer of a different cloth and color - earth based spiritual. Abram's treatise on Shadow in Becoming Animal gives a beautiful new challenge. But really, the pictures we have in "mind'sEye" when we "see." are best. It's not to interrupt that seeing with a camera. Birds and shadows are best teachers.

A'ho Mitakuye Oyasin

This informs the Experiential Lexicon that lists the topics of research on this website:

Conducting Indigenous Research
Respect, relationship, representation, relevance, responsibility, and reciprocity are the cornerstone principles in a new conceptual framework that offers a powerful guideline for those conducting research in Native communities:  Indigenous Research Methodologies
“Research by and for Indigenous Peoples, using techniques and methods drawn from the tradition and knowledges of those people” (Evans, Hole, Berg, Hutchinson & Sookraj 2008) - at University of Alberta Library

"The Six Rs of Indigenous Research " by  Ranalda L. Tsosie, Anne D. Grant, Jennifer Harrington, Ke Wu, Aaron Thomas, Stephan Chase, D’Shane Barnett, Salena Beaumont Hill, Annjeanette Belcourt, Blakely Brown, and Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills   Tribal College - Journal of American Indian Higher Education. April 25, 2022 .

This informs the Experiential Lexicon that lists the topics of research on this website:
Himdag at Tohono O'odham Community College, Arizona
What is Himdag? The Tohono O’odham Himdag consists of the culture, way of life, and values that are uniquely held and displayed by the Tohono O’odham. Himdag incorporates everything in life that makes us unique as individuals and as a people. It is a lifelong journey. The following are elements of Himdag:

Arts (basketry, contemporary and traditional music etc.)
Beliefs
Community (Tohono O’odham Community College, Tohono O’odham Nation, Family)
Games
Harvesting, traditional foods and hunting
Language (incorporates songs and ceremonies)
Land, environment, seasons (Winter, spring, summer, fall) and elements (Earth, air, fire, wind)
Medicinal plants
Mobility (Walking, running, horses, and wagons)
Past, future, a journey in life
Relatives (Ak-Chin, Akimel, and Hia Ced O’odham, Kinship)
Songs
Storytelling
Spirituality/Religion (Healing, curing and traditional songs)
Sensitivity
Values (respect)

Cultural cosmologies - Anthropologists tell us that in virtually all traditional cultures, a cosmology is what gives its members their fundamental sense of where they come from, who they are, and what their personal role in life's larger picture might be. Cosmology is whatever picture of the universe a culture agrees on.
Cosmology and Culture (Joel R. PrimackProfessor of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz)

Land Acknowledgment

from Ty Smith, who is Director of the Native American Cultural Center at Colorado State University, and is on the Board of Directors of Trees, Water, and People in Fort Collins, Colorado. Ty Smith was born and raised on the Navajo Nation. Tódích’íi’nii (Bitter Water Clan), born for Ashiihi (Salt Clan).

RTTs is my record of travels and related body of work - to revitalize my knowledge of history and current issues, to touch the Wild Ways. To decolonize myself.

Women and Nature

Mission, Vision, Values

RTTs ascribes to the Mission, Vision, Values of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at UNM
Mission - Working toward greater understandings of the fullness of human experiences in the Southwest and the world. Vision - contribute to reconciling injustices, restoring voices, realizing community. Values -
embrace these values in all they do: Uphold integrity through honesty and transparency; Act with courage and take informed risks; Lead with humility and own our mistakes; Embrace inclusivity with openness and sincerity; Embody dynamism and manifest meaningful change; Excite curiosity and the passion for learning.
https://maxwellmuseum.unm.edu/about/mission-history

In honor of my mother, Mary. Mary's Kachinas. She made them.