Time Eras

The first time era is: Fire. Fire was first introduced to human use many milleniums ago. First, they observed fire, then they experienced its fearful power, then they began to use it to help their lives. Eventually humans used fire to heat minerals to make metal. Metal was used for tools and weapons in the early days. Once people learned how to control and use fire it became an early survival tool in deep history.
Learning about fire lead into the early era of language development. Humans gathered around their fire for cooking, warmth, protection and everything. Language developed to further their survival abilities, and their relationships. Before language, humans used symbolic images and other ways to communicate. We still use art. Language development helped lead to the next time era which was agricultural development.
Agriculture on Turtle Island has been here for milleniums alongside the hunter-gatherer peoples. The first known agriculturalists in the northern parts of the continent were the Iroquoian peoples. They introduced the modern vegetables that we know today such as corn, beans and squash. We're just talking about the northern part here. There was a commerce developed by the Cree, the Ojibway, and the Huron with the Iroquoian speaking peoples. This trade consisted of agricultural products from the south, and raw materials from the north such as copper, canoes and other technologies such as snow shoes, etc.
It should be stated emphatically that shifting from one era to another often resulted in resistance to change thereby causing conflict within relationships with each other.
The next time era is industrialization. The roots of industrialization came from early developments of metals, and fire used to work with these metals. Agricultural communities made it possible for stable communities with less reliance on hunting and gathering to provide a base for minobimaadziwin. This was in the early beginnings of industrialization. However, as industrialization progressed it was based on control (private property) and the capitalist system. This system is based on exploitation of natural resources as well as people and communities. Under this system the good life began to disappear.
Now we are entering into the fifth time era. This is a time of developing the Green Economy. Under the Greening humans will start to give back to the earth, and the earth will begin to heal itself. So things will start to come full circle. All the time eras take a long time for the transition to be completed and the Greening is no exception. People are comfortable with the known rather than the unknown. Resisting the change as in previous time era shifts will generate conflict. Humans have to learn how to deal with the conflict in a respectful way. This time shift may not be completed for a long time, and the only question that remains is: do we have the luxury of time to complete the shift? The earth may complete the time shift for us, e.g., the melting of the ice at the poles, the climate change, etc. And finally, will humans survive this time era shift?
The Elders, my teachers, told me very bluntly that the Creator will not allow the Creation to be destroyed by a handful of fools. The essential teaching in this dialogue is learning how to live in harmony with the earth and with each other. The Earth herself has her own deep wisdom so we can learn from her how to do this Greening.