Kurenn (Sisler) Hisamoto: “Signs of an Earth Democracy in Lucasville Ohio”

In 2008, Kurenn (Sisler) Hisamoto, former Lucasville resident and Valley High School graduate, penned a paper for the California Institute of Integral Studies titled “Signs of an Earth Democracy in Lucasville Ohio.” Her study is a fascinating view of the land in the Scioto River Valley and how it impacted the lives and the economy of its inhabitants from the beginnings of human settlement.

In her work, Hisamoto cites the work of Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva who suggests that many of today's religious and ethnic conflicts are rooted in the dominance of the market economy. Shiva has spent much of her life in the defense and celebration of biodiversity and indigenous knowledge.

Shiva proposes that a market economy is the natural opposite of a sustenance economy, for a sustenance economy is “rooted in its ability to sustainably produce, distribute, and consume the the resources necessary to support human life.”

While sustenance economies are usually local efforts, Shiva proposes that they are at the heart of a new type of global system that would “sustainably connect the world.” She calls this system – which (1) promotes sustainable and equitable use of the earth's resources, (2) mandates pervasive respect for all beings, and (3) pledges a united effort to ensure peace and compassion across the globe – an Earth Democracy.

The Earth Democracy of the Shawnee

In her work, Hisamoto explains how the locale of present-day Lucasville, Ohio, was once the home of the Shawnee, a group who practiced a Native American Earth Democracy in the thriving heartland of the native nation. She explains ...

“If change can occur here it could prove to be prodigiously cataclysmic, for what resides in the heart of America can influence the rest of America's body.

“The notion that the Ohio country is the heartland of the country was shared by indigenous inhabitants in the area. Prior to the time the European American settlers named the Midwest the heartland, the Shawnees of southern Ohio viewed their land as the heart of the earth.

“According to the Shawnee prophet, the Great Spirit told the Shawnee told the people that 'the earth had not yet a heart as all men and animals and that he would put them, the Shawnees, at the Shawnee River for the heart of the Earth.'

“The area of the heartland as a case for supporting an Earth Democracy's existence in America is the small Ohio town of Lucasville. The Ohio country where the Shawnee once practiced a sustenance economy is a pivotal place. Many of the dominant cultural beliefs in America today had their beginnings there, and it was there that the two very different economies – the sustenance economy and the market economy – clashed. Whoever won the heart of America here, determined the future body of America. In the short term, it was the market culture that won, and the market culture removed the Shawnee from the Ohio Valley. However, the question that remains is whether the heartland of America can ever return to pumping a culture of sustenance or if it must forever beat to the rhythms of the now-dominant market culture anthem.”

What comprised this system so reliant on natural resources to provide for basic needs through hunting, gathering, and subsistence agriculture? The word “reciprocity” – the exchange between social equals – certainly applies.

The Iroquois and the Shawnee shared many parallels including a gift economy – a reciprocal giving away of belongings that generates an egalitarian community. This is strongly evidenced by the popular trails used for trade that facilitated the gifting network. The Shawnee may have also practiced Iroquoian environmental conservation techniques such as crop rotation and forest management.

Both Iroquois and Shawnee myths speak of a female Creator who leaves the sky in order to place the earth and its land and seas on the back of a turtle. Called “Grandmother” or “Sky Mother,” the Creator brought with her the Three Sisters – corn, beans, and squash. Originating in Mexico, these three crops were carried northward, up the river valleys over generations of time, far afield to the Mandan and Iroquois who, among others, used them as trade goods.

The three crops benefit from each other: corn provides external support to beans (a climbing plant), and beans in turn are nitrogen fixing from the atmosphere into the soil, while squash, which grows by spreading on the ground, suppresses weeds by blocking them from receiving sunlight.

Both Iroquois and Shawnee cultures practiced distinct gender roles – women planted the seeds, weeded, harvested the crops, and also gathered fruits, berries, and nuts. Men cleared the forests for planting, hunted, and fished. In this manner, the females were “Keepers of the Fields” and the males were “Keepers of the Forest.”

Farm plots in both cultures were on common yet divided land. Shawnee families had rights to fields, but the fields were grouped together and planted collectively. There is also evidence of a common plot for ceremonial purposes. Many important Shawnee ceremonies were tied to the agricultural cycle: the spring bread dance at planting time; the green corn dance when crops ripened; and the autumn bread dance to celebrate the harvest.

A well-documented migration pattern supports that the natives practiced a crop rotation route. The Shawnee were a very far-ranging tribe, so they interacted with many different nations. To the north, the Shawnees were allies of the Delaware. Further to the south, the most important neighbors of the Shawnee tribe were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Creek people.

As Kurenn Hisamoto proposes, it is important to understand the Earth Democracy of Native American Lucasville. This early cultural history provides important lessons for modern residents. Our stewardship of the land today requires us to be environmentally conscious, communally integrated, and practical in the face of a challenging market economy. We truly have a heritage of necessary reciprocity in the face of economic challenge.

The “ghosts of a sustenance economy” linger, not to haunt but instead to provide. Kurenn reminds us that there is great potential for Lucasville, a place in the heartland where traces of both a sustenance economy and an Earth Democracy still exist. Earth democracy recognizes that we share the earth and remain its caretakers. Perhaps in doing so, we can better understand how to create and empower ever-greater networks for change.

(Kurenn Sisler. “Signs of Earth Democracy in Lucasville, Ohio: Looking at the History of a Small Midwestern Appalachian Town to Determine the Future Potential of an Earth Democracy.” California Institute of Integral Studies. 2008.)

A note from Kuenn (Sisler) Hisamoto:

“I have a B.A. in English with an emphasis in High School Education, and I have an M.A. in Women's Spirituality with an emphasis in Feminist Philosophy and Eco-feminism. I am pretty much a Jill of all trades with several interests. I am a certified Doula/Midwifery Assistant, an amateur herbalist and permaculturalist, a yoga instructor, an educator, and administrator.”

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

“When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."

– Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation