07/16/2025
Natural law isnât something written down in books or handed to us by courts. Itâs older than that. Wiser. Itâs the original lawâthe one our ancestors followed not because they were told, but because they listened. To the winds. To the water. To the way the geese fly before winter, or how the bear moves when itâs time to rest.
Our people have always understood: everything is connected. And in that connection, there are responsibilities. Not power overâbut relationship with. The land isnât property. Itâs kin. The rivers are not obstacles. Theyâre veins of life. And when we treat them with respect, when we live in balance, the land provides. The circle remains whole.
Natural law governs how we speak to one another, how we resolve conflict, how we raise our children and bury our dead. It teaches us humility. It reminds us that every beingâfour-legged, winged, rooted, or crawlingâhas a place, a purpose, and a right to exist. And weâre not above any of it.
This is why we donât take more than we need. Why we gather in circles instead of lines. Why leadership, in our way, means serving the people, not ruling over them. Thatâs the teaching. Thatâs the law. Itâs not enforced by threatsâitâs upheld by honour.
When the world feels off-balance, when thereâs too much noise, too much greed, too much divisionânatural law brings us back. To truth. To harmony. To our original instructions.
We were never meant to conquer this world. We were meant to care for it. And each other.
And when we remember that, when we live that wayâthat is what makes us strong. Not just as Indigenous people. But as human beings. As relatives in the great web of life.
MĂźkwĂȘc. KinanĂąskomitin.
âKanipawit Maskwa
John Gonzalez
Standing Bear Network