The Doctrine of Recovery

The Doctrine of Recovery

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Since the arrival of Europeans in North America, the so-called “doctrine of discovery” has upended life for Indigenous people and the landscape. This film presents a new story, a “Doctrine of Recovery” for a planet pushed to the breaking point.

The doctrine calls for a radical rebalancing of our relationship with nature, beginning with the restoration of our respect for the sacred feminine. It’s now or never, because: Global warming, rising seas, acidifying oceans, catastrophic wildfires, intensifying hurricanes, mass extinctions, and worldwide pandemics reflect the disruption of natural systems that have nurtured the conditions for life for eons. This is a threat to all of us.

Not all people share the dominant culture’s view that nature is simply a stockpile of resources for our use. Some understand that the Earth is an astonishing, life-giving system we must care for, just as She cares for us. Indigenous people throughout the world understand that the fate of natural systems and human beings are inextricably connected; the fate of one is tied to the other. As our film’s writer/director Rain says:

At no time in human history has the fragility of life been so exposed. Unless there is a rapid and mass embrace of the interconnectedness of life on Earth, our history will cease. We are in a life-or-death moment. What will we choose?