Western thought might be best summarized by the oft repeated Rene Descartes statement, “I think, therefore I am.” The focus is on the individual, and one’s own thoughts are emphasized above all else.

I recently came across a much different view. In a podcast interview, aboriginal author Dr. Tyson Yunkaporta made the claim that the analogous phrase coming from an indigenous population might be, “I am located, I am here, therefore I am.”

The aboriginal Australians had an interesting relationship with the land. Their cosmography holds that the world as we know it was created during a Dreamtime, when the Ancestors emerged onto a featureless world and then created landforms and released sleeping life through their many footfalls. These journeys can now be recounted as songlines. Each track has a corresponding song, the words of which describe landforms, populations, and other resources. In this worldview, geography and wayfaring are in many ways indistinguishable from storytelling and religious tradition.

It is interesting to consider what the world would be like if we all held such an intimate connection to the world around us.