Seventh Generation Foresights

The Seventh Generation concept was ingrained in the people of North America even as the takeover by Europeans began 500+ years ago. This cultural ingredient was and is a moral promise to Mother Earth and to descendants of the human communities.

Before the traditional Iroquois convened their consul meetings, 
they invoked this declaration:

“In our every deliberation we must consider 

the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”

The rights of future generations never became an issue of policy 
because it was, instead, the very context of policy. 
Conservation was, thus, the very foundation upon which 
their culture was built. The medium was the message.
Jim Nollman

It is further explained how, over time, we Westerners have become simply observers of nature instead of nurturers in a communion with nature. The lack of the true bond to the networks of the planet, which include homo sapien, blurs our view of a future. 

~ ~ ~ ~

For a time I was personally totally engrossed with genealogy. Following my family back into time was an intriguing journey in history and ancestral lineage. One of the tools I used to organize my searches was a large five generation chart for each side of the family. The lines and spaces for each generation branch into thicker and thicker blocks. Ancestral names, dates of births and deaths are recorded as research continues. Additional details for each family are recorded on separate sheets, but this one chart gives one a quick look at the extent of the lineage. It is the table of contents for the family tree.

A descendent chart, on the other hand, just doesn't work. It's hard to envision. We don't know the dates and names of folks to come. They are, seemingly, unimportant, past those grandkids and maybe great grandkids already part of the family. We may speculate about our own unborn grandchildren but, realistically, they don't get placed onto a chart. We don't think a whole lot about ongoing generations. I know we don't give much thought to descendents in relation to their own contemporary quality of life, or the state of their society. 


Shouldn't we...?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A generation is currently considered to be a period of about 30 years. Seven generations takes us out quite distance on the timeline, but three generations may be easier to grasp. If you are now 30, you might become a grandparent when you are 60. That's in 2040. 

(Yup, I'm going to bring it up...) 


In that era, climate disruptions will be in fuller swing and fossil fuels for electricity and heating and transportation will be restricted. I am hopeful that our society will have made major transitions to live with less and will have retooled daily life; the life of our descendents.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's the hindsight/foresight thing. Instead of 20:20 hindsight, we need 2020 foresight...just for starters. How do we educate for stuff like this?

Just like the human heartbeat, the seventh generation is 

singing its quiet song just about everywhere these days. 

Teach yourself how to listen. Teach a friend. An enemy.

Jim Nollman