Wetiko is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess, and selfish consumption (in Ojibwa it is windigo, wintiko in Powhatan). It deludes its host into believing that cannibalizing the life-force of others (others in the broad sense, including animals and other forms of Gaian life) is a logical and morally upright way to live.
Climate change aside, to survive, we would have to change the way we live…Totally. Not only would we have to shift our energy paradigm, but we’d have to share sustainable dwellings, land, electronics, transportation, everything.. or there simply wouldn’t be enough to go ‘round. People keep saying they want world peace and an end to war, but they aren’t willing to put all of humanity on the level playing field that is required in order to end the fighting. We must rid ourselves of the very concept of personal ownership. Most native peoples understood this.
A new film explores how globalization has resulted in crises of the economy, the environment and the human spirit — and points the way to a new path.