The Seventh Generation Principle

Indigenous Wisdom, Indigenous Poetry, and Sustainability

Mar 29, 2024

Series: 🇵🇭 Tanagà • poetry form of pre-colonial Philippines

Ikalawang Tanagà

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Diwa ng katutubò,
Mula pa sa ninunò,
Lahat ng gagawin mo,
Para sa mga apô.

Translation below will not follow the strict seven-syllable quatrain of AAAA rhyme pattern.

Second Tanagà

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Indigenous wisdom,
Hailing from the ancestors,
Everything you do today,
Gifts for your grandchildren.

The Ifugao Tribe of Northern Philippines. Photo from KatutuboProject.Org

The latest curiosities of my waking life include the topic of sustainability. Apart from trying to consciously reduce my personal carbon footprint, I am also trying to raise awareness about the threats that AI (artificial intelligence) poses to our environment. With all of the excitements that majority of folks are experiencing about AI, I am bothered by the drought of open and wide discourse on its ethics, responsible implementation, sustainability, and other impacts it has on our societies that are already flawed as it is. Whenever there are conversations on these aspects, they usually happen within echo-chambers where similar folks who are already aware increase each other’s awareness. What is lacking is the wider conversation and information drive for the general public’s education of the technology’s impacts on their own livelihood, environment, and future.

T’boli Tribal Women Weavers of Southern Philippines. Source: Fameplus.com

During my research, I stumbled upon “The Seventh Generation Principle”. According to what is written on the Indigenous Corporate Training, Inc. website, this principle is based on an ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy.

The Seventh Generation Principle states that, “the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.”

What a beautiful way to remind us that we are responsible today and also for our future generations! I love the way that the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy also specified how long into the future (seven generations).

Lakota Native American Man at Pow Wow. Photo by Andrew James on Unsplash.

The United Nations’ Brundtland Commission (1987) had somewhat similar definition for sustainability. It defined sustainability as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

These two definitions are clear and consistent in terms of telling us that our responsibility is not just for ourselves or our immediate offsprings but to several generations down the line.

I thought it would be beautiful if I leave you, dear readers, with this thoughtful piece of knowledge as many people around the world are taking a pause for the Holy Week while another large portion of our world population are observing the Holy Month of Ramadan. Even if you do not subscribe to the same faiths, I hope you spend a moment to reflect on the following prompts too.

Prompts:

🌳 Excluding wealth (money), what differences can you make today to ensure success of the next seven generations of your family?

🌳 Consider engaging in more systems-wide thinking about your consumption this weekend. Pick one consumer item that you recently purchased and consider its journey from its raw materials form all the way to AFTER you get tired of using it. What impacts does it have to our environment?

🌳 If you could commit to adapting a tiny behavior that will help ensure a sustainable world seven generations into the future, what would that behavior be?