Responses to my conversations about place yielded comments from friends about home being where you find your heart.

When I read Native scholars like Vine Deloria Jr. I am struck by his thoughts that culture—“behavior, beliefs, values and symbols” quite literally emerge from place.

Dig deeper and Deloria says that unique to indigenous knowledge systems is the notion that all things are related—and that those relationships arise from place.

This holistic approach—the interconnectedness of life forms—is rooted at the base of American Indian ontologies. And I think at a gut level each of us recognizes that interconnectedness, regardless of our belief systems.

Interesting how the studies about the science of health demonstrate that being connected arms us against poor health. Spending time with loving friends or walking in nature boosts our spirits.

Deloria might say such activities reaffirm that we are all connected.