Overall, I am unimpressed by the execution of this book. I loved the idea of learning about a marginalized community and culture, unfortunately I was confused by the formatting of the text.

The stories themselves and information were interesting and informative giving the book a lot of potential. I do not believe this was written for the average reader. It read more like a college text book, which may be the goal that I am just unaware of.

I feel fortunate to have received an advanced reader copy of this forthcoming book, Restoring the Kinship World View.

This book is precisely what we need right now. This information, graciously shared from the wisdom of Indigenous people, is too important not to be in everyone's hands.

This quote is from the publisher's description of this book:

"Indigenous worldviews, and the knowledge they confer, are critical for human survival and the wellbeing of future generations. Editors Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez present 28 powerful excerpted passages from Indigenous leaders, including Mourning Dove, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Winona LaDuke, and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez."

Each chapter of this book reflects the wisdom of the Indigenous worldview. Topics covered in the essays include: trusting the universe versus living in a fear-based culture, the laws of nature as a rule for living, learning to honor the earth as sacred, focusing on more than just self-gain, and recognizing the importance of generosity and the greater good and several more beneficial and critically important world views.

The essays underscore the importance of shifting away from living without a strong social purpose, and in a world that feels very "me-centric," this is refreshing. As a society, we need to recognize the interconnection between all living things and that it is all sacred. This shift in worldview requires us to use more than just our brain for processing information; we need to also listen to our hearts.

This is an important book that includes many important voices. This book would make a fantastic gift!

While there are so many important messages in this book, the format would not appeal to many. I would absolutely love to see this in podcast form. There were a lot of ideas that resonated with me, and I have a lot to learn from the wisdom of Indigenous people and history.

A good introduction into the foundational principles of the indigenous worldview. If you have no prior knowledge of Indigenous spirituality, legends, or general culture, you may need to do some work before reading this as their are quite a few concepts that will be unfamiliar to you. I enjoyed the back and forth between the two authors and found that the language and format of the book lent itself to traditional storytelling and oral traditions which I greatly enjoyed. I felt as though I was in conversation with the authors rather than an observer of their wisdom. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it for anyone looking to explore Indigenity or wanting to reconnect with the worldview of their ancestors and elders.

I learned quite a bit from this, knowing next to nothing about Indian culture. I agree with another reviewer that basically said the book unbalanced in that there's no mention of any positive Western views. At the same time, for someone like me, it was pretty well done overall.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!!

I guess I'm a little confused as to the purpose of this text. Each chapter starts with an excerpt or the full transcript of a speech or text from an Indigenous individual. What follows then is a quick biography of the individual using the above excerpt/text as a guiding point for what's important to understand. The next part is what confuses me the most: it is essentially the transcript of a podcast where the two writers Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez discuss their thoughts and feelings regarding the piece.

My confusion lies in both the order (personally I found it more helpful to read the biographies before reading the excerpt or pieces) and also the commentary. I really enjoyed being introduced to a number of Indigenous individuals I had never heard of before and look forward to doing more research and reading the full texts/watching the full speeches. I just didn't get much value for the commentary or see the purpose/value of it. Perhaps this is my own misunderstanding of the purpose of this text. As an individual who doesn't know much about Indigenous individuals or worldviews this didn't seem like the best introductory text; more it seemed to be for those who have already done considerable study and are wanting to further their research and use scholars' commentary to further their own studies and writing.

Lastly, the inclusion of photos was excellent but it wasn't really explained the purpose. They were just there. And, for me, their inclusion didn't make sense.

I just cannot recommend this text.

Have you ever read a book with which you found yourself completely in alignment and yet, somehow, the book ended up leaving you feeling "meh" by book's end?

This was my experience with "Restoring the Kinship View," a book co-edited by Four Arrows (Wahinkpe Topa) and Darcia Narvaez presenting 28 powerful excerpted passages by leading global Indigenous voices along with analyses by Topa and Narvaez that reflects the wisdom of Indigenous worldview precepts such as:

1) Egalitarian rule vs. hierarchical governance

2) A fearless trust in the universe rather than a fear-based culture

3) The life-sustaining role of ceremony

4) The laws of nature as the highest rules of living

5) Emphasizing generosity and the greater good vs. self-driven goals and personal gain

"Restoring the Kinship Worldview" at times feels like a trip through my own desired life journey despite the challenges of living in an often conflicting western culture as a descendant of Choctaw relatives including my beloved full-blooded great-grandmother who lived to the wild age of 104-years-old in fierce and wondrous ways.

In other words, for the most part I completely clicked with "Restoring the Kinship Worldview."

So, why the "meh?"

Throughout the 28 Indigenous worldviews presented in "Restoring the Kinship View," it is readily apparent that the editors are encouraging a move away from the more dominance-based Western paradigm that emphasizes, per the editors, a life without strong social purpose and that de-emphasizes the earth's sacredness. In theory, I'm not necessarily troubled by this broad generalization based upon centuries of evidence of a dominance emphasizing Western culture. In fact, it would be nearly impossible to accept this assertion even if it is overly broad as presented.

However, over the course of these 28 precepts it's equally undeniable that the complexity of this discussion is avoided in favor of a more generalized "Indigenous culture good. Western culture bad." approach that fails to recognize the complexities at play here and also falls woefully short of embracing a discussion of actual "worldview."

In other words, Western civilization does not represent the world and never has represented the world.

If "Restoring the Kinship Worldview" had been content to simply present its 28 Indigenous worldview precepts, there would have been no obligation to expand its discussion. However, quite literally, nearly every chapter, or precept, includes a discussion of the flaws of Western worldviews. In fact, I can't remember a single positive statement made regarding Western worldview.

These broad generalizations seldom, if ever, address such questions as "What role does politics play in the development of this culture of dominance?", "Where did the dominance actually originate?", and "Is the issue with regional identity or with the act of dominance itself?" "Restoring the Kinship Worldview" seldom looks at Indigenous cultures before Western influence, a lacking that is important considering prior to the arrival of non-Indigenous cultures to what is now known as the Americas the Indigenous culture was the dominant culture. How was this acted out?

There's a lack of historicity acknowledged here that is vital in understanding the development of dominant cultures. What about Eastern cultures? In a world where China, at least currently, is widely acknowledged as yet another superpower nation why is there no discussion of Eastern culture dominance in a land that has so many religious influences that ascribe to many of the basic precepts presented here?

In short, I felt like "Restoring the Kinship Worldview" diluted its argument by spending so much time emphasizing Western culture and instead should have been content to simply present what is, in fact, an incredibly valuable discussion regarding these precepts that are vital for the survival of humanity and the wellness of future generations.

I suppose I would say I don't at all reject the assertions being made here. I simply object to how they're being presented and would argue that this approach comes awfully close to a desire for dominance that the book actually is arguing against.

While I appreciated much of "Restoring the Kinship Worldview," it is important to acknowledge that this is largely a book for academics equipped to understand complex cultural terminology and social concepts. Those seeking a more inspirational read will likely be disappointed, though I personally found myself often swept up in the back-and-forth dialogue between Topa and Narvaez. These two wise Indigenous elders clearly have a broad understanding of Indigenous worldviews and how these worldviews play out in the world. These dialogues are immersive and intentional, thoughtful and so thought-provoking that what I expected to be a relatively short reading experience became a book that demanded reflection and introspection.

While I undeniably had some framework concerns with "Restoring the Kinship Worldview" that I felt like could have been easily avoided, there's still much of value here and it practically goes without saying that those from Indigenous cultures and those who have grown concerned with Western worldviews will find much to appreciate here and much upon which to reflect.

"Restoring the Kinship Worldview" is more a book I appreciated than enjoyed, though it presents valuable and necessary discussions at a crucial time in our earth's history. These are discussions to have now as later may, in fact, simply be too late.