The Raramuri—also called Tarahumara by outsiders—are some of the last people in North America who continue to live a traditional, subsistence way of life. Corn is their primary crop, used to make everything from tortillas to tesquinada—a home brew for their festivals. One of the most remote Raramuri communities in the Sierra Madre is Choreachi. Nestled deep in the canyons, surrounded by old-growth forest, Choreachi is one of the most traditional indigenous communities in North America. It is also one of the most endangered. Logging bosses have altered maps and boundaries—going so far as to move two mountains on a fradulent official map—in order to obtain logging permits to clearcut the forests of Choreachi. The Mexican environmental agency—SEMARNAT—rubber-stamped the permits in 2006. The Raramuri decided to fight for their ancestral lands. With the help of the Sierra Madre Alliance, a nonprofit focused on defending Raramuri lands and rights, the Raramuri filed a lawsuit last year, which temporarily suspended the logging at Choreachi. They currently await trial, where they will have to contend with decades of fraudulent documents and decisions that have prevented legal recognition of Raramuri land rights. Having run away from conflict for centuries, the Raramuri now must face it head-on. To defend their lands, they must confront corrupt government officials, corporate logging operations, and murderous druglords. The odds are stacked against them. Yet one thing is clear: the Raramuri know how to endure. Their quiet determination may enable them to overcome the enormous odds. And their tight-knit sense of community may empower them to unite and become politically active. With over 60,000 people, they are the second-largest indigenous group in Mexico. Most importantly, they are deeply, intensely connected to their lands. That connection could be their source of strength—both personally and politically—in the years ahead. The canyons, rivers, and forests are not just sources of food and nourishment. They are sacred places where their people have thrived for centuries. The Raramuri’s connection to the land is as deep as the canyons themselves.

I don't know if you've noticed, but we are in a definite state of emergency. If you still aren't aware of it, you need to check yourself fool (really). We have done major damage to our planet these last 200 years. If we've managed to fuck shit up this bad in that short amount of time, what kind of world will our grandchildren and their children live in? Their futures look bleak. So I'm doing something about it. You can too.

Our natural resources (coal, oil, gas) are finite, meaning one day, after totally destroying the Earth looking for them, we're gonna realize that there aren't any more! We have the technology to come up with better ways of getting our energy. The reason they are not developed and implemented is complicated, but basically it's because the powerful corporations who own the oil, gas, and coal industries prevent it. Their main concern is maximizing profits at any cost (the destruction of our environment included). Corporations have dehumanized these people.   

Since they only seem to respond to the almighty dollar, I have vowed to reduce my energy consumption and hit them where it hurts--their profits:

The kids and I do this by getting out of the apartment. We go out and shoot hoops. That's 1-2 hours about 3 days a week of less energy used to power my laptop, the tv, stereo, playstation, etc.

I also recycle like a muhfucka now. Plastics are made from oil, so recycling means less demand. I even stopped buying products with packaging I can't recycle. I don't buy paper towels anymore. That's stupid. I have a set of cotton towels that I can wash and reuse. That means less trees to cut.

I used to buy bottled water because I thought my tap water wasn't healthy. Bullshit. The truth is that we (especially up here on the north coast) have some of the cleanest, safest, tap water in the world. Although I should mention that water in some metropolitan areas of the U.S. has been found to be contaminated with traces of pharmaceutical chemicals (What's up with that?). But compared to what some of my people down in Centro America have to drink, we have pretty clean water. That's why we get sick when we travel there. But since I live in a little sanctury blessed with some of the cleanest water in the world, I stopped buying water and got a Britta filter instead. This cutting back has led to big savings for me. It could pay off for you too in these hard times. And more importantly it sends a message to the powers that be. Remember, profits.

I also make better transportation choices now. I spend $30  a week to commute from Crescent City to Humboldt State 3 times a week on the bus. That's almost 400 miles a week! Gas isn't as expensive anymore, but the shit adds up. I walk as often as possible. I'm getting a bicycle this summer to get to and from work. Honestly, destiny has made most of my transportation decisions for me; I lost me license for a couple of years and then I wrecked the vehicle I got after getting it back...Message!   

I am also trying to be more involved in politics and current events. I think our current political system is a joke. It's a farce, a bad TV reality show that just won't end. I want to learn more about true democracy. I want to learn more about Indigenous political structure and culture. Our ancestors lived and evolved here for THOUSANDS of years. They were doing something right! We should all get better informed. Because electing Obama to office shouldn't just be symbolic. He promised us change. We need to hold him accountable.

I also try to think global now. No one is making money off the globalization of industrial agriculture except the fat cats who own the chemical companies that have somehow monopolized the industry. My family in Guatemala have been directly affected by this. And why are we getting our food shipped from so far away anyway when we could be growing fresh chemical-free food locally? You should know where your food comes, what chemicals it is sprayed with, and whether or not it comes from genetically modified seeds. Remember, you are what you eat. Cancer anyone?

But our main problem today is over-population. As the population increases, more food, land and energy is needed. Have you checked out Google Earth lately. We're spreading like a giant fungus on the surface of the Earth! Keep your family size at 2.2 children. I have a spare if anyone needs one (just kidding). The days when our grandparents raised 13-children families are over. To all the guys out there, use a condom, fool. Diapers and baby formula are way too fucken expensive these days anyway, man. Plus there are over 6 billion people on Earth already!  

These are just some of the things that I'm doing now. But I plan to get my degree, then travel the world to connect, inspire (and be inspred), share and engage others about the different ways we can bring about REAL CHANGE. If you have other ideas, disagreements, comments or suggestions hit me up. Dialogue is very important. All ideas and opinions should be heard.

Shit, I really should be finishing up my research paper and other essays, but I think this is very important. Tell me what you think!

The Toltec have long been known throughout Mesoamerica as "women and men of knowledge". Anthropologists have spoken of the Toltec as a nation or a race, but in fact, the Toltec were scientists and artists who formed a society to explore and conserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of the ancient ones. It may seem peculiar that they combined the secular with the sacred, but the Toltec considered science and spirit to be one and the same since all energy, whether material or ethereal, was derived from the one source and influenced by the same universal laws.

They came together as Toltec masters and students at Teotihuacan, the ancient city of pyramids outside Mexico City known as the place where "Man becomes God". Here, in order to realize the promise of the work to transcend the realm of ordinary human awareness and attain their personal freedom, the apprentices studied the three Toltec masteries: Awareness, Transformation (Stalking) and Intent. The students had to have the courage to face and know themselves. And, through that knowing, change their way of life. Teotihuacan remained the Toltec center of spiritual knowledge and transformation for many thousands of years and still endures as a living repository of "silent knowledge".

The ancient Toltec knew that our perception of reality was just a point of view, one that generally doesn't consider how we fit into an expanding, living, intelligent universe. As we begin to identify the "I AM," we become aware of how limited we have been conditioned to think we are and how little of our potential energy supply we use. To transcend the realm of our old dream and move into our full potential, we need to transfer the point where we "assemble" our perception from our "reason" to our "will". Shifting the source of our personal power from our mind to our spirit allows us to access "silent knowledge" and create the energy necessary to remember what we have forgotten. We can all dream a new dream and live a life of freedom--it is a matter of choice and will. Once we make that choice, it is helpful to find a guide to assist us on our progression towards freedom. 

-From Richard Hooker's The Toltec Civilizations in America, 1996.