Lessons from the Indigenous Wisdom of Reciprocity

As we watch volunteers and tribal members work together this week on the Hopi & Navajo Nations, we’re noticing something beautiful moving through the group and the communities we serve - the spirit of reciprocity.

Lakota elder and spiritual leader Basil Brave Heart teaches: "When everything has a monetary value, the commoditization of human life begins -- society loses the Sacred and human life starts to cannibalize itself."
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What we're witnessing on this service trip - and invariably each time volunteers come together with tribal communities - is the exchange of things far more valuable than money:

• A Hopi family on First Mesa has passed out blue corn dumplings, piki bread, and Hopi iced tea to the volunteer crew working with them to replace the roof of their humble, 8ft by 12ft home.
• Another Hopi family saw our group repairing homes and invited them in for a lunchtime feast. Their home was not being repaired - and yet the gratitude they felt on behalf of other First Mesa families moved them to share, to give.
• A Diné grandmother sat with a young non-Native woman for 30 minutes to clean the roofing tar off of her shoes with kerosene.
• A struggling Diné artist and elder gave three extra bracelets to the volunteers purchasing jewelry from her, “as a thank you.”
• Our volunteer group, made up of Native and Non-Native youth, adults, and elders, cooks dinner for one another each night. Many brought homemade baked goods to share; others brought ingredients from their own cultures to make special meals for their fellow volunteers.

This is not how the global economy is run. It's not how people "get rich quick." There is no monetary profit to be gained from any of these acts. 
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And yet, there is a wealth of another kind here: richness in love, in connection, in the spirit of reciprocity that makes reconciliation possible, that alleviates poverty, that deepens understanding across cultures....and that, if we all lean into the act of giving and receiving in balance with the relatives around us, may just save our world.
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-Mackenzie and The Tipi Raisers Team