Designing in Right Relationship: Honoring American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month11/3/2025 November marks the observance of American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, a national tribute to the vibrant, enduring cultures, histories, and profound contributions of Indigenous communities across the country. It is a time for national celebration of Indigenous resilience and wisdom, while also providing a crucial opportunity for reflection and action on the deep repair still needed in our shared story. At Tikun Collective, this month resonates deeply with our core mission: to design in right relationship with land, water, air, and community. We believe that honoring this heritage is not just about remembrance, but about applying timeless Indigenous principles to the urgent work of restoration.  Dr. Arthur C. Parker The Roots of Remembrance: From a Day to a Month The official recognition of a month-long observance began in 1990 with a joint resolution approved by President George H. W. Bush. However, the movement to honor Indigenous peoples nationally has far deeper roots, tracing back to the early 20th century and the relentless advocacy of figures like Dr. Arthur C. Parker. A Bridge Between Worlds: Dr. Arthur C. Parker Born in 1881 on the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Reservation to a Seneca father and a mother of a Scots-English descent, Dr. Parker was a prominent Seneca archaeologist, scholar, and fierce public advocate. Living and working between two worlds, his bicultural perspective was instrumental in his life's work. Unlike many of his peers, Dr. Parker became a respected scholar largely through hands-on apprenticeship, museum mentorship, and self-directed study, rather than a conventional college path. His notable contributions include:
 Seneca Indians Timeless Wisdom for Modern Design: Indigenous Worldviews at Work Like Dr. Parker, who sought to preserve and uplift Indigenous knowledge, Tikun Collective believes that design must be an act of restoration. We acknowledge that the Indigenous worldviews fundamentally see humans as caretakers rather than owners. This shifts the very foundation of our practice away from extraction and toward reciprocity. For example, Alaska Native values serve as enduring cultural anchors: respect for nature, humility, the value of sharing, and working together. These are not merely cultural ideals; they are powerful, practical design principles for how we build, plan, and live together. At Tikun Collective, our regenerative work embodies these values through the following principles:
 National Day of Mourning Monument Reframing November: Decolonizing Thanksgiving November also brings the U.S. observance of Thanksgiving. It is crucial to acknowledge the full complexity of what this day represents. While it is often celebrated as a moment of harvest and gratitude, its origins are inextricably linked to painful histories of displacement, loss, and trauma for Indigenous peoples. This is why, since 1970, Native Americans and their allies have gathered at noon on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to commemorate this day as the National Day of Mourning. Recognizing this truth is a vital step in transforming the holiday from a simple celebration into a moment of reflection, repair, and responsibility. We approach this season with genuine gratitude for the opportunity to learn from Indigenous teachers, to practice reciprocity with the land, and to design toward healing rather than harm.  A Call to Action
Honoring, reflecting, repairing, and taking responsibility must extend far beyond a single month. One powerful step is simply to learn more to expand your knowledge of the enduring cultures and current realities of Indigenous communities. Explore Local Tribal Histories: Acknowledge the Indigenous land you occupy. Start by learning about the history of the Seneca Nation, the community Dr. Parker hailed from, or the Alaska Federal Natives to understand the diversity of Indigenous governance and culture.
This Month Tikun donated to MASS Design Group’s Bio-Based Materials Collective.
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As October brings the harvest season, it serves as a reminder of the abundance of the earth and the responsibility we share to care for it. At Tikun Collective, regenerative design begins with acknowledgment: of the land, of sovereignty, and of the intergenerational knowledge Indigenous communities carry. Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day is more than a reflection; it is a commitment to listen, stand in solidarity, and follow Indigenous leadership as we work to build resilient and just futures together. In the United States, there are 574 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. Here in Minnesota, this includes the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe/Chippewa) and the Dakota (Sioux) peoples. This month, as we pause to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day we recognize the wisdom, stewardship, and sovereignty of the first peoples of this land.  https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/native-americans/dakota-people The Dakota is part of the broader Sioux (Oceti Ŝakowiŋ or “Seven Council Fires”) constellation that includes the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota branches which are linked through shared cultural traditions and dialects of a common language. Within this framework, the Dakota (sometimes called the Eastern Dakota or Santee) lived across what is now Minnesota, Wisconsin, and parts of the Plains. Their life followed seasonal cycles: sugaring camps in spring; farming, fishing, and gathering in summer; wild rice harvest in autumn; and winter hunting and communal gathering. At the heart of Dakota social life was kinship (tiospaye). As Dakota scholar Ella Cara Deloria wrote in Speaking of Indians (1944), being Dakota meant striving to be a “good relative” - a value that continues to guide community life today.  https://www.whiteearth.com/history The Anishinaabe, meaning “original people,” are also known as Ojibwe or Chippewa. In Minnesota, one of their most significant homelands is the White Earth Reservation, established in 1867. White Earth has become a center of resilience and cultural continuity where traditions, language, and land-based practices are actively preserved. Today, one of the most urgent and vibrant efforts from the White Earth Anishinaabe is centered on preserving manoomin (wild rice), a sacred food and treaty staple. The White Earth Nation’s Wild Rice Program works each year to protect natural wild rice beds by managing water levels on lakes such as Lower Rice Lake, seeding lakes that have seen decline, monitoring rice density, coordinating harvesting permits, and finishing rice with traditional practices. This work reflects both cultural survival and climate adaptation, as manoomin faces new pressures from warming temperatures, invasive species, and industrial water use.  https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/sports/northland-outdoors/minnesota-dnr-offers-tips-as-wild-rice-season-approaches While Minnesota’s Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples ground this story locally, Indigenous nations across the U.S. are leading powerful climate initiatives rooted in sovereignty and traditional ecological knowledge. The Yurok Tribe in California is restoring tens of thousands of acres of forest and salmon habitat through land-back initiatives and carbon offset programs, reclaiming ancestral lands and protecting watersheds. In Washington State, the Makah Tribe is advancing renewable energy projects to reduce reliance on diesel and strengthen community resilience. In Alaska, the Tanana Chiefs Conference runs a Climate Change Collaborative that integrates adaptation into housing, infrastructure, and village economies, while Alaska Native tribes through the Alaska Climate Justice Program address urgent threats such as erosion, permafrost thaw, and flooding. National and regional organizations are amplifying these efforts. The First Nations Development Institute and allied Native-led nonprofits support tribes across the country with funding and technical assistance to restore ecosystems, strengthen biodiversity, and apply traditional ecological knowledge to climate resilience. Similarly, the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) and their member nations including the Miccosukee, Choctaw, and Seneca are advancing resilience planning, hosting climate camps, and implementing projects to protect land and water systems against climate change  https://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/american-indian-education Together, these stories remind us that Indigenous nations are not only protectors of cultural heritage but also leaders in climate action. From the Dakota kinship principle of being a “good relative,” to the White Earth Anishinaabe’s stewardship of manoomin, to national efforts to restore lands, waters, and energy sovereignty, Indigenous communities continue to guide the way toward a regenerative and resilient future.  As we reflect on what it means to live and design in right relationship with a changing climate, we see that for generations people have cared for the earth in different ways. Some focus on being green, like recycling or saving energy. Others aim for sustainability, ensuring today’s choices don’t diminish tomorrow. But the journey doesn’t stop there. The bigger vision is to create regenerative systems where people and nature both grow stronger. Getting there takes steps, and each community or project might begin in a different place.  Here in Minnesota, we’re already feeling climate change: heavier rains, hotter summers, shifting seasons. These challenges call us to adapt planting more shade trees, choosing resilient native plants, or designing multipurpose spaces. From adaptation, we build resilience so communities can recover quickly from disruptions. Beyond resilience is the work of restoration healing wetlands, repairing pollution damage, and addressing environmental injustice. At the most transformative level, design becomes regenerative: creating abundance, strengthening ecosystems, and weaving cultural connection with the land.  Source - Tikun Collective Design - participants at a 2024 Pangea Biophilia Workshop) This vision is the spirit behind our upcoming FORTIFY workshops, which we’re honored to co-facilitate with longtime partner Pangea World Theater. Together, we’ll bring neighbors, artists, and community leaders into conversation about resilience and action sharing stories, exchanging solutions, and co-creating futures where both people and planet thrive. Native communities have modeled this for generations: adapting with the seasons, building resilient food and water systems, restoring balance when disrupted, and regenerating life through reciprocal care. Their wisdom reminds us that resilience is not just about surviving it’s about thriving together with the earth.  Call to Action Each of us has an entry point for meaningful impact. Every step whether supporting neighborhood preparedness, planting pollinator gardens, or investing in stormwater solutions helps weave a stronger safety net for the future. 🌱 What action will you take?
 Acknowledgment of Land and Reciprocity
We honor the Dakhóta Oyáte, original stewards of Minneapolis, and acknowledge the legacy of displacement, genocide, and broken treaties. We commit to learning the true history of this land, building relationships with Native communities, and practicing ongoing reciprocity and restoration. This is a pledge to be good relatives and support Indigenous sovereignty. As part of this commitment, Tikun Collective Design contributes to the Honor Tax, a voluntary payment made directly to the Lower Sioux Indian Community. September is a month of balance. Across the globe, the equinox reminds us that day and night stand in equal measure. In many cultures, this balance is mirrored in how we think about work and rest, tradition and change, community and individuality. As we enter this season, several key observances invite us to pause and reflect on what inclusivity, dignity, and compassion truly mean.  The equinox The Legacy of Labor Day In the United States, the first Monday of September marks Labor Day, a holiday rooted in the 19th-century struggles of workers. At a time when factories demanded long hours under dangerous conditions, labor unions organized for fair pay, safer workplaces, and recognition of workers’ dignity. Their persistence reshaped society. Today, it is easy to see Labor Day as simply the close of summer. But at its heart, it is a reminder of the people whose work builds the foundations of our communities. From healthcare and education to technology and art, progress exists because workers refused to be invisible. Honoring Labor Day means recommitting to fair treatment, safe workplaces, and policies that reflect the value of human labor.  https://law.uct.ac.za/mineral-law/articles/2020-02-11-designing-local-content-frameworks-oil-gas-and-mining-sectors-africa-principles-and-guidelines Honoring Diversity in South AfricaOn September 24, South Africa celebrates Heritage Day, a holiday that embodies the richness of diversity. Originally known as Shaka Day, honoring the great Zulu leader, it was reimagined after apartheid as a national celebration of heritage in all its forms. Today, South Africans mark the day through music, traditional dress, storytelling, and perhaps most famously, the braai - a barbecue that brings people together across cultural lines. Braai is more than food, it is a symbol of connection, of shared spaces where differences do not divide but enrich. Heritage Day is a global lesson in inclusivity. It shows us that embracing cultural differences strengthens bonds and creates more resilient communities. In a world where identity can be weaponized to exclude, South Africa offers a powerful counter-narrative: inclusivity is not sameness, but the celebration of many voices woven together. Suicide Prevention and CharityInclusivity is not only about labor and culture. It is also about how we respond to human need and struggle.
(For readers in the U.S.: If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For global resources, visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.)  https://ocsapotch.co.za/ Tikun recognizes that from labor to heritage, from charity to mental health, September offers us lessons in balance and belonging. The dignity of work, the richness of culture, and the practice of compassion are not separate values because they are interdependent.
As the seasons shift, we are reminded that regeneration begins with inclusivity. To build stronger, more resilient communities, we must honor the contributions of workers, embrace the diversity of cultures, and stand with those navigating struggle. This September, may we strive not just for balance in nature, but for balance in how we live together as human beings August is a month of remembrance and renewal. In South Africa, Women’s Day honors the courageous women who stood against apartheid’s pass laws, reminding us that collective resistance can transform systems of oppression. In the United States, Women’s Equality Day commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, a milestone in the long struggle for voting rights, though one that excluded women of color and required decades more of activism to make equality real. Across these continents and histories, one truth echoes: women have always been at the center of movements for justice, dignity, and regeneration. Today, we stand in that lineage as we uplift women leaders, both past and present, who are shaping regenerative futures. From the stage to the soil, from construction sites to global thought leadership, their work reminds us that transformation is not only possible, but already unfolding.  South African Women’s Day: You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock On August 9, 1956, women from across South Africa gathered in Pretoria, delivering petitions to the Union Buildings in defiance of the apartheid government’s extension of pass laws to Black women. Their rallying cry “Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo” (You strike a woman, you strike a rock) has since become a symbol of strength and endurance. This day is more than historical commemoration. It is a living reminder that women are often the ones who hold communities together in the face of violence, displacement, and systemic injustice. Their labor, visible and invisible, regenerates life against the odds. Women’s Equality Day: Expanding the Circle of Justice In the U.S. Women’s Equality Day is celebrated on August 26, the anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Yet history reminds us that suffrage was incomplete, Native, Black, Asian, and immigrant women were still denied voting rights for decades. The lesson is clear: progress is always partial, and the fight for equality continues. Today, Women’s Equality Day calls us to ask not only who has gained rights but also who remains excluded, and how we can expand the circle of equity.  Women Leading Regeneration Today As we honor these historic days, we also shine a light on women today who embody the regenerative spirit leaders who resist extractive systems while creating life-affirming alternatives.  Pangea World Theater reimagines the role of art in society. Through performances, civic dialogues, and cultural interventions, Pangea creates spaces where stories heal, communities gather, and systems shift. Co-founder Meena Natarajan has been central to this vision. As Executive and Literary Director, she leads with deep conviction that theater can be a tool for justice and transformation. Meena’s work demonstrates that storytelling is not just reflection but it’s rehearsal for the future.  In Mankato, Minnesota, Living Earth Center (LEC) continues the legacy of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, offering education, community gardens, and land-based programs rooted in food sovereignty and ecological justice. Executive Director Laura Peterson has brought new energy and vision to LEC, weaving together partnerships and programs that strengthen local resilience. Her leadership reminds us that regeneration begins with relationships and goes deeper to land, to one another, and to future generations.  Since 1994, Flannery Construction has been setting a standard for building with integrity, equity, and sustainability. As a woman-owned company based in St. Paul, Flannery has led projects that strengthen communities while keeping environmental and social responsibility at the core. At the helm is Jamey Flannery, whose leadership has ensured that construction is not just about structures, but about people and place. Under her direction, Flannery has delivered award-winning affordable housing, community spaces, and sustainable developments. Her vision proves that women’s leadership can transform even the most traditional industries into engines of regeneration.  Globally, Jenine Benyus has reshaped how we think about design and problem-solving. As the founder of the Biomimicry Institute, Jenine teaches that the answers to our most complex challenges already exist in the natural world if only we learn to listen.Her work has inspired architects, engineers, and designers to look to ecosystems as models, mentors, and measures.  Few voices in the regenerative movement are as foundational as Carol Sandford. Author, educator, and consultant, Carol has spent decades helping organizations and individuals rethink success, leadership, and value creation through a regenerative lens. Her books, The Regenerative Business and The Regenerative Life, are guiding texts for anyone interested in shifting from extractive to life-centered systems. Carol’s talks and lectures, available widely on youtube, continue to inspire new generations of leaders. Call to Action  From South Africa to Minneapolis, from Mankato to global stages, these women embody a truth: regeneration is not a theory, it’s a practice. It’s in how we build, how we lead, how we teach, and how we tell stories. Their leadership reminds us that the future is not waiting to be invented because it is already being tended by women around the world. This August, let’s honor them not only in words but in action:
 https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/career-development-important-how-to-create-plan As we celebrate the Fourth of July, we’re reminded that freedom is more than a historic declaration, it’s a dailpractice. True freedom invites us to act with purpose, to pursue justice, and to co-create systems that serve all people and the planet. Freedom in Action means showing up for our communities, making choices rooted in care, and designing a future where everyone belongs. Liberation with a Purpose calls us to align our freedoms with responsibility working not just for independence, but for interdependence. The Works of Freedom are found in the everyday: in movements for equity, in regenerative design, in spaces where culture, land, and imagination meet. This July, may we recommit to the ongoing work of liberation and to building the world we long for, one action at a time. At Tikun, we see 'Freedom in Action' as collective agency, the power to imagine and shape just, equitable systems. It looks like food sovereignty, creative expression, accessible design, and the liberation of land and people. It’s found in the daily, imperfect, and courageous work of those building communities rooted in dignity, care, and interconnection.  https://www.newsweek.com/free-america-protests-nationwide-july-4-2092433 Liberation with a Purpose means choosing not only to break free from unjust systems, but to build something better in their place. It invites us to move beyond reaction and into transformation all while honoring those who came before us and being accountable to those who come next. Liberation is not just a past event or a distant hope. It’s a practice. A direction. A commitment. The Works of Freedom are often quiet: a garden planted on formerly vacant land, a gathering space designed for joy and belonging, a policy reshaped by community voices. They are also bold: movements for reparations, the fight for climate justice, the reclaiming of culture and story. This 4th of July, may we reflect not only on the freedoms we enjoy, but on the ones still out of reach. And may we dedicate ourselves to the ongoing, necessary, and collective labor of liberation with purpose, creativity, and resolve.  Allan Tannenbaum/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images On July 18, people across South Africa and around the world observe Nelson Mandela International Day as a call to remember, reflect, and take action. Declared by the United Nations in 2009, the day honors Mandela’s life and his legacy by inviting individuals to dedicate 67 minutes of service, one minute for every year he spent fighting for human rights and justice. At Tikun, we understand Mandela Day to be more than symbolic but as an active, ongoing invitation on how to live out our values daily. His vision of freedom was never individualistic. It was rooted in relationship, accountability, and collective healing. That’s why the quote above remains so powerful because it shifts freedom from a destination into a shared responsibility. This idea connects to the concept of Ubuntu, a Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity." Ubuntu emphasizes that a person is only a person through other people, highlighting the interdependence of human beings and the importance of community. Mandela Day challenges us to ask: What does it mean to live in a way that enhances the freedom of others? In our work, it means designing with care, centering voices that have been excluded, and restoring systems that have long been broken. It means offering our time, resources, and skills in ways that create meaningful change.  https://www.un.org/en/events/mandeladay/events_2022.shtml Though rooted in South Africa’s history, Mandela Day is a global call to responsible freedom. Whether you’re in Johannesburg or New York, Cape Town or the Twin Cities, you can respond. Volunteer. Repair. Mentor. Listen. Contribute. Reflect. Every act matters.
And perhaps most importantly, Mandela Day reminds us that justice is not a one-time act of generosity. It is a rhythm of living. A way of showing up. A practice of choosing service and solidarity, not just on July 18, but throughout the year. As the days grow longer and the air thickens with summer heat, we step into a season that has long carried the weight of reckoning and the promise of renewal. June, in particular, holds layers of memory and meaning Juneteenth, Stonewall, World Environment Day. These are not isolated commemorations, but moments that pulse with shared struggle, resistance, and the demand for justice. At Tikun Collective, we believe architecture and design are not just tools of aesthetics or function they are languages of history, truth, and transformation. As we reflect on these milestones, we ask: How can design help hold the pain of the past while opening paths to healing? What does it mean to create spaces where justice is not only named but lived?  https://yesandlipmanhearne.com/insights/news/the-intersection-of-pride-and-juneteenth/ Memory as Catalyst: Juneteenth and Stonewall Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved Black Americans in Texas were finally informed of their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had legally ended slavery. It’s a day of joy, reflection, and mourning. A celebration, yes but one laced with the painful truth that justice was delayed, not freely given. Four years after Juneteenth was first celebrated, another transformative moment occurred: the Stonewall uprising in 1969. It began in the early hours of a hot June morning, when queer and trans people many of them Black and Brown stood their ground against police brutality and said, “No more.” These events remind us that liberation is never abstract. It happens in specific places: a plantation, a bar, a city street. These spaces become stages of resistance and, later, of memory. They are not backdrops; they are active participants in our collective story. Design has always been part of this story either as the silent architecture of oppression or the framework for imagining freedom.  https://www.robertharding.com/preview/832-400227/lbgtq-flag-blue-sky-city-rio-de-janeiro/ During Pride Month, we also honor the brilliance of the LGBTQIA+ community not just through celebration but through acknowledgment of creative legacy. Queer people have long imagined and created what did not yet exist. This visionary spirit bold, expansive, boundary-breaking is alive in Tikun’s design work. We are inspired by queerness as a way of seeing: fluid, relational, unbound by binaries. It reminds us to ask better questions, challenge assumptions and biases, and embrace complexity. Whether through spatial arrangements, narrative storytelling, or material choices, queer creativity teaches us to design for multiplicity and joy, not conformity. In this, we see design as a form of both protest and possibility a canvas for futures not yet born. Design is not a neutral act. It’s a choice: to remember or erase, to oppress or uplift, to dominate or heal. At Tikun, we choose to design for liberation. This means designing spaces that tell the truth, honor histories, and create conditions for collective thriving.  https://massdesigngroup.org/index.php/work/design/national-memorial-peace-and-justice Designing for Dignity: National Memorial for Peace and Justice A profound example where design is used as a vessel for justice is the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Designed by the MASS Design Group and the Equal Justice Initiative, this memorial honors over 4,400 victims of racial terror lynching. The site does not shy away from grief it invites it. But it also does something more: it transforms pain into dignity. Rather than reinforcing despair, the memorial offers space to feel, witness, and transform. It makes visible what America has long tried to forget. And in doing so, it provides a model for how design can foster truth-telling and healing. This is the kind of work that shapes our practice at Tikun. We believe architecture must hold more than structure it must hold memory, responsibility, and the courage to imagine something different.  https://www.mcknight.org/pt/news-ideas/rebuilding-reimagining-5-years-after-george-floyd/#vc_images-carousel-1-1748970681 We’re honored to support Pangea World Theater, an organization that carries the torch of liberation through storytelling and performance. Pangea’s work serves as a living archive of culture, resistance, and reimagination amplifying voices across identities, geographies, and generations. Their performances retell silenced histories, celebrate overlooked cultural wisdoms, and create spaces where all bodies and truths belong. A client, partner, and friend since the spring of 2020, Pangea is a founding member of Longfellow Rising, a community-led response to the uprising following the murder of George Floyd. For nearly 30 years, this visionary theater company has rented space to bring its work to life. That’s about to change.Efforts are now underway for Pangea to purchase and expand into a permanent home The Center for Peace and Justice a space that honors both place and people. Registered under the ILFI Core Green Building Certification, the new center will embody regenerative and restorative practice. As Pangea prepares to inhabit a space of their own, their capacity for creative freedom expands. A dedicated home means more than just walls it means sovereignty over how stories are told, how art is shaped, and how community is nurtured.Much more to come about this incredible organization, their story and our work in honoring the efforts to bring their vision to life - stay tuned! In the meantime learn a little more here.  https://www.nature-museum.org/nature-notes-blog/2020/6/29/our-racial-justice-statement Deepening Regeneration: What Change Demands of Us In a world ever so changing socially, politically, ecologically design cannot remain neutral. At Tikun, we ask ourselves regularly: How are these shifts informing our work? And the answer is clear they require us to deepen our regenerative practice. To us, regeneration isn’t just a technical framework. It’s a moral and relational one. It asks us to move beyond sustaining the present toward repairing the past and co-creating a just future. It means listening deeply to land and community. It means understanding land not as property but as a relationship. It means designing in dialogue with those most impacted by harm. We draw strength from the communities we serve, and from the wisdom embedded in the Earth itself. This is especially clear as we approach World Environment Day. The fight for environmental justice is inseparable from social justice. The same communities that carry the burden of historical oppression often bear the brunt of climate change and environmental degradation. To be regenerative is to honor these entanglements, these interdependancies. It is to understand that liberation of people, of land, of ecosystems must happen together, or not at all.  This month Tikun has taken action on the following - Become a signatory to the Design Justice Network's Principles And gone beyond our land acknowledgment to donate to the MN Honor Tax What does liberation look like in your community? Where do you find spaces of healing, memory, and beauty? We would love to hear from you. Send us your thoughts, images, or favorite places of transformation. Together, we are building more than spaces—we are building movements, we’re building a paradigm shift. Culture is the meeting point between the individual and the collective a web of stories, rituals, cosmologies, and shared meaning that connects people to place and to one another. In regenerative design, honoring this cultural dimension is not optional it is essential. Without cultural sensitivity, efforts to heal ecosystems and communities risk repeating the extractive logic of the very systems we seek to move beyond. As Hip Hop Scholar KRS-One reminds us, “Rap is something you do, Hip Hop is something you live.” In this distinction between product and lived experience lies a profound insight for designers. Culture is not a decorative layer we apply it is the living context that shapes how space is created, used, and remembered. Regenerative design must therefore begin with deep listening: to the people, to the land, to the stories that bind them together. Architect David Adjaye has demonstrated how architecture can be a vessel of memory and identity. His work, such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., reveals how buildings can hold ancestral wisdom, resistance, and celebration in their form. For Adjaye, cultural sensitivity is not just about aesthetics it’s about justice, dignity, and belonging.  www.britannica.com/topic/National-Museum-of-African-American-History-and-Culture This lens must expand to include the wisdom of Indigenous communities, whose ways of knowing are deeply relational, ecological, and place-based. Indigenous cultures across the globe have long practiced regenerative living not as a strategy, but as a way of life. Indigenous design traditions embody reciprocity, responsibility, and resilience. Biologist and writer Janine Benyus’ work in biomimicry reinforces this point: the more we learn from nature, the more we see that Indigenous knowledge has always understood what modern science is only beginning to grasp. And yet, far too often, modern design systems extract knowledge from Indigenous cultures without giving credit or worse, erasing these cultures entirely through displacement or disregard.  www.power-technology.com/features/biomimicry-wind-turbine-tubercle-heliotrope-power-technology-research-design/  Daniel Quinn, author of books including Ishmael, challenges us to see the dominant culture as just one story among many and one that is often misaligned with the flourishing of life. Cultural erasure is not a neutral act; it is a form of harm. It violates the principle of do no harm, a core ethic of regenerative practice. To strip away a people’s relationship to place, or to design without recognizing those who came before, is to sever the deep roots that nourish healing. In contrast, culturally rooted regenerative projects point the way forward.. The Owe’neh Bupingeh Preservation Project in New Mexico restored historic adobe homes and ceremonial spaces to maintain the living culture of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. This and many more are not just “green” projects they are cultural acts of repair. In a regenerative framework, architecture and design are not merely functional they are expressive, connective, and reciprocal. Culture informs not just what we build, but how we build, for whom, and with what intention. When we ignore culture, we design in a vacuum. When we embrace it, we open up the possibility for buildings and places to become living embodiments of care, resilience, and renewal. Regeneration, then, is not only technical. It is cultural. And sensitivity to culture is not a constraint it is the doorway to design that is alive, grounded, and truly transformative. Call to Action This week, take 15 minutes to reflect on the culture(s) that shape your life your family’s stories, your neighborhood’s rhythms, your community’s rituals. What values are embedded in them? How do they show up in the spaces you live and work in? What wisdom do they hold for how we design regeneratively? Better yet, talk to someone in your community an elder, a neighbor, a culture bearer and ask: What do you think this place remembers? Then listen with your whole self. Regeneration begins with relationships.  This blog is an ongoing exploration (and hopefully conversation) on the nature of design. This is best begun by asking a series of questions. I ask myself these and more on a regular basis, especially when I begin a new product or project. I encourage anyone interested to respond.
What is design? What is essential for good design? What is design’s role in culture? How can it improve our quality of life, our environment and our search for meaning? It's my belief that our culture is in need of deep repair. The industrial revolution propelled us forward into amazing new territory but the energy we used to get here and the psychology we manifest to keep us here has devastating flaws. The things we were willing to give up and the choices we made to achieve technological and economic goals were not without problems. More and more the effects of industrialism encroach on all our back yards. A core questions here at Tikun Collective: What is consumption? What is it to you? Is it good, bad, indifferent? We need to ask these and many more questions of ourselves, each other and society if we are ever going to repair, heal, evolve past our present conditions. As energy, food and water problems escalate we should be asking ourselves, how can we help things? How can we change? What does it mean to repair? The act of repairing happens on many different levels; personal, familial, societal, global. We repair infrastructure, computers, marriages, neighborhoods, economic bubbles, damaged genetics. Every day we have the choice to repair a relationship, a machine; to repair some connection in our lives and in our culture. We are at a privileged time, some of us more than others to make new choices and innovate why, how and what we make our world. |
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