Amazon Renegade Planets Publishing MariJo Moore Trace DeMeyer Category:  Native American Publisher: renegade planets publishing ISBN-10:  1483952878 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 318 Copyright: March 26, 2013 ISBN-13: 9781483952871 A new anthology of Native American writers and poets, dedicated to the late literary genius Vine Deloria, with poems and essays on how Native Americans view the universe.     Unraveling the Spreading Cloth of Time:Indigenous Thoughts Concerning the Universe Edited by MariJo Moore and Trace A. DeMeyer Dedicated to Vine Deloria Jr Exploring Quantum physics in relation to Indigenous peoples' understanding of the spiritual universe, this anthology includes writings from 40 Native writers from various nations. "Unraveling the Spreading Cloth of Time, MariJo Moore and Trace DeMeyer's brilliant anthology, explores an uncanny tension between Indigenous understandings of a moral, interconnected universe and the edges of western science and philosophy that -in time- come to the same conclusion." ---- Dr. Phillip J. Deloria, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor of History and American Studies, University of Michigan, author of Playing Indian and coauthor of The Native Americans "Unraveling the Spreading Cloth of Time offers a very clear contrast between the Western science view of the cosmos as an object for study -- something external to the scientists -- and the Native American view of each person being a participating part of a dynamical, living web of connections. This anthology will be very useful in opening up readers to a vision and experience of the Native American worldview, which is presented expertly throughout the text as one of flux and change." --- Dr. F. David Peat, Theoretical Physicist, founder of the Pari Center for New Learning in Italy, and author of Blackfoot Physics and Science, Order and Creativity (with David Bohm)   PB, 320 pp, $22.95, ebook $6.99 USA ISBN: 1483952878 rENEGADE pLANETS pUBLISHING PO Box 2493, Candler, NC 28715 www.marijomoore.com 828-545-1365 Excerpt Introduction: 'All the tribes say the universe is just the product of mind … It fits perfectly with the Quantum. Indians believe the universe is mind, but they explore the spiritual end of it, not the physical end.” Vine Deloria Jr. This anthology does not reveal secret “how-to’s” concerning the ceremonies of Indigenous peoples, neither does it reveal the “power” of medicine people, nor reveal knowledge meant to be kept in tribal protection. There is certain sacred knowledge from all Indigenous cultures that should never be written, which should only be passed on orally to those who are capable of the responsibility. Regardless, this anthology gives credence that Indigenous peoples have put into practice (for millenniums) what most physicists and scientists have considered only as theories. Exploring Quantum physics in relation to Indigenous peoples' understanding of the spiritual universe, these writings include personal experiences, traditional stories, fictional and nonfiction ponderings, beliefs, and explorations. In no way do these cover all aspects of Indigenous thoughts, nor do they represent all Indian nations, or speak for all Indigenous peoples. The universe is complex; of this there is no doubt. However, most Indigenous people know there are natural laws that remain true, regardless of who or what applies them. We know these laws because we, as our ancestors, respect them, honor them, and return to them. This is not to say we hold all the answers to the mysteries of the world; that is not possible at this stage of the human race. But we do believe in the mysteries of the universe, even if they cannot be “proved” mathematically or scientifically. We believe because we were taught to believe. Our definition of “science” is definitely relative to cultural beliefs. As noted Anishinaabe elder storyteller Basil H. Johnston relates, “From the phenomenon they saw and heard, touched and tasted, smelled and sensed, our grandfathers and grandmothers made up stories for the understanding. Thousands of stories did they store in their memories leaving us, their descendants, with a good grasp of the natural world.” Indigenous people understand that a spiritual force that cannot be destroyed connects one and all. In other words, we do not have and have never had theories: we practice what we believe not only because we were taught to believe, but because of accepted innate wisdom. There is balance: there is light – there is darkness. There is life – there is death. There is rebirth – there is re-death. All that goes around comes around. Time is not linear; time is cyclical. There is stillness – there is movement. There is confusion. There is clarity. There is space. There is time. Lakota author Amy Krout-Horn explains, “I feel that time is the acknowledgement, the awareness of transition, transformation, and change, existing as continuous motion, unending movement, flowing around us, through us, connecting everything in a spiraling dance within another dance within another dance.” Thousands of distinct Indigenous languages have been silenced forever due to pandemics of smallpox and other diseases brought by European contact, acculturation, and total annihilation. It is estimated by some linguists that perhaps there are 50 years left before all Native languages are completely gone if they continue to dissipate at the rate they have over the past 100 years. Traditional languages are the crux of cultural perspective, a way of “viewing the world.” A system of acknowledging that everything is in constant flux, and everything that exists does so in interrelationships. Please note, in some traditional languages, there is no word for time as defined by Western science. Of course, Indigenous thoughts written in English cannot directly reveal Indigenous paradigm; nonetheless, this book is an offer to assist in a deeper explanation. From various tribal creation stories to the Maya and Hopi declarations of the emergence of new worlds, Indigenous peoples have explanations of how this universe exists and evolves. And so, this collection will end where it begins: sharing our Indigenous thoughts, questions, answers and dreams with others. We will come full circle...circular, just as time continues on its cyclical path. Dedicated to Lakota literary genius, visionary, and groundbreaking Indigenous activist, Vine Deloria Jr., this anthology assures his aspiration for the continuance of sharing Indigenous perceptions.

Deborah Bowles
Fantastic! After reading this book I want to find a place where I can sit and listen to all of these authors while they tell all their stories. This anthology opened the universe and all that I have missed growing up this far without these stories, poems, essays, etc. Past present and future do meld in the universe to teach us from one generation to another, and I must admit I had/have a world of knowledge to learn, share and create. I recently learned that my Great, Great, Great Grandmother was Native American and I missed out on sitting with her learning such wonderful wisdom and stories. Please read this book, you will never regret it and I am certain that anyone who reads this anthology will be blessed through generations and open some long-closed eyes. Marvelous!

Prarie Mary Blog
The people represented here write out of love. This anthology is assembled from memories, essays, poetry, and unclassifiable writing to form a knotted shawl for the universe. Don't make it into something it is not and does not need to be. The epigraph declares: "All the tribes say the universe is just the product of mind ... It fits perfectly with the Quantum. Indians believe the universe is mind, but they explore the spiritual end of it, not the physical end." Vine Deloria Jr.

The editors say, "This anthology does not reveal secret `how-to's'concerning the ceremonies of Indigenous peoples, neither does it reveal the `power' of medicine people, nor reveal knowledge meant to be kept in tribal protection." Well, actually it comes awfully close to providing a lot of material for wanna-be shamans, but one of the shifts in this massive, universal, essentially autochthonous understanding of life, is that things cannot be confined in boxes, trademarked for commercial profit, or hoarded to benefit only one's small group.
A principle of the quantum is that things cannot be nailed to the floor or "owned" but that the more explored, the more given away, the more stars and galaxies named, the more there are. The problem is not acquiring "enough," but rather to find space to shape one's small corner from the plenty of the planet. These writers have done this work and the editors have performed the service of spooning the ceremonial soup into bowls for you to sup from. Some of this work has appeared other places and much of it will be quoted again, the pdf escaping into the googley world. In the European paradigm which depended on things brought home and measured out of ships' holds for profit, this would be bad. In the cosmic Vine Deloria Jr. paradigm, things fly on their own and find new mates, creating in their polyamorous way an even Newer World.
We must honor this anthology and these writers.

Janice Loper
What a lovely collection of beliefs, traditions, customs, stories, and awareness. It touched me somewhere deep inside with a sense of being familiar yet new. As if I had forgotten something and it reminded me that yes, that is correct. I've always known. It is not just one story but many in various creative forms. It made me realize how many shared beliefs there are worldwide. This is a very enriching book that is also entertaining. It is well written and the different stories are put together in a way that flows so well. At the last page I yearned for more yet didn't feel the book was lacking anything.