Some time ago it became clear to me that the Western world needs to listen to the indigenous voice in all areas of knowledge. Western thought perceives a dead Universe, a Universe without spirit, while indigenous peoples long for a return to wholeness. This website is a vehicle toward that end. I have begun to document what I have learned from authentic sources over the past several years. I have also collected and edited existing material in order to make it available on this site, though not all of it relates directly to my primary purpose.

We live in a fragmented society that is full of dichotomies, conflicts, and polarized politics. It was not meant to be this way, and there was a time in human history when knowledge was united; science, religion, and philosophy were not treated as separate entities. A split occurred in the fifth century B.C., when Greek philosophers became divided over the unity of matter and spirit. For the next two thousand years, philosophers were occupied with questions about the spiritual world, paying little attention to the material world. Aristotle was the exception. His work became the basis for the Western view of the material universe, which we refer to today as Western science.

Western thought has now categorized knowledge, including material science, into separate and specialized areas, causing the valuable relationships between disciplines to be neglected. Because American culture is rooted in Western culture, we can expect to see various dichotomies and splits in American society, and I believe these are evident. It is my desire to bring the spirit back into all areas of knowledge and experience.

Indigenous worldviews have traditionally perceived the Universe as a unified whole. The sacred and the secular are not separate. Likewise, my website is neither Christian, secular, or political. To me, science is not secular; spirituality is an essential part of our reciprocal relationship to all things. As well, Christianity is not a purely "religious" activity; faith, like science, seeks to understand empirical data and the mysteries that lie deeper than what is manifested to the naked eye or the physical senses.

Spirituality is essential and integral to the traditional life of a tribe. The disruption that has occurred from actions by church and government, regardless of intent, is difficult to imagine. The facts are well documented but little known due to lack of interest and incomplete public education.

Like many others in Indian country, I have faced the same questions, except that I have already eliminated the second option. As to the first option, the possibilities are limited. My life differs from Martiniano in that I did not have the privilege of being taught in the kiva. I had already learned to be a good "American citizen" and the values of Western culture when I discovered my Pueblo heritage. But like Martiniano before the end of his story, I am somewhere in the middle. My story is still unfolding and today, because of a federal rule, I cannot be an enrolled member of my own tribe.

Most Indians today have had church experiences. When I went on leave from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1971 with my wife Norma and our three children to work on my Ph.D., we had long been active members of a Baptist church there in El Paso. I was a deacon in two churches for over thirty-year period. During my last year of undergraduate work at the UTEP, I was also very active in the Baptist Student Union. During my earlier years, I attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Ysleta. In the Pacific Northwest, our family was also active in a Baptist church for more than twenty years. Today, I no longer carry a label, Catholic or evangelical; I simply follow Jesus and also walk the Red Road. I don't think of this as religion but reality.

I respect all churches and tribal traditions; when I visit, I pray in my own way. Norma and I lived on the Lummi Indian Reservation for more than five years and participated in their frequent community gatherings where a spiritual atmosphere was always present. Before Lummi, we participated in Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Lakota communities. In late fall of 2005 we moved to Rio Rancho, New Mexico to join an organization of Pueblo families called White Dawn House whose vision is to build an indigenous learning model and restoration/retreat center on 320 acres of land (read my article on Hamaatsa from my home page).

Spirituality does not derive from church dogma but through relationships. We relate to Creator as the only Sovereign, and respect for all of creation is a reciprocal relationship. Stewardship is both a science and a sacred responsibility. Since my initial encounter in 1958, I have maintained a relationship with Yeshua (Jesus), the ancient Lion from the tribe of Judah, the incarnated Logos, the son of the Great Spirit, the word who became flesh. The word "logos" was used by the ancient Greeks with reference to the unity of the Universe.

I began to identify as an Indian after learning that I have blood relatives among the Tigua Indians. It was like finding a lost family late in life. My Christian experience is now greatly enriched, because of many new discoveries. My wife and I began to visit Indian reservations and developed close friendships, including several tribal elders. When we lived in Pullman, Washington, the tribal communities were a short distance from us but we had never noticed them. As I learned about tribal life, history, and perspectives, from direct experience and from study, my new quest for knowledge eventually had an unexpected impact on my effectiveness as a church member.

I went through some changes deep within my soul: a deeper compassion and a renewal of spirit, both stemming from newly discovered knowledge and experience in a context that is different from the church and professional life I knew. The spiritual, scientific, philosophical, and social dimensions are now uniting within me. It has not been an easy process but it is right. The Western world can offer only a fragmented view of reality, not the fullness of life as one great, unified flow. 

During the time that I directed an environmental studies degree program at Northwest Indian College, chartered by the Lummi Nation, my interest in physics was re-kindled from an Indigenous viewpoint and I began to discover relevant concepts in science, including quantum physics, that connect with ancient tribal wisdom. I am not referring to esoteric knowledge, gnosticism, or new age. The knowledge possessed by indigenous peoples, the earth's First Nations, is enormous.

European values are deeply engrained in the Church in America, and it is by those standards that Indians have been judged. Indians have been viewed largely as the objects of missions or hindrances to progress, while the sovereign status of tribal governments and the value of tribal knowledge and spiritual perspectives to sustainable science have gone unnoticed. It is time for First Nations people to be heard, but this is not as easy as it may sound.

My focus is on moving our fragmented society toward wholeness by providing evidence from different sources. Native peoples define wholeness and health in terms of balance. Jesus defined salvation in terms health and wholeness. Wholeness is also suggested by quantum theory and (Einstein's) relativity theory. Wholeness can also help restore what individuals and communities have lost, including dignity and much more. Time is short for me compared to the challenge. I continue doing what has kept me busy as a professional, and I listen to elders whenever I can. I have also collaborated and continue to collaborate with Native scholars and elders who practice their traditions.

I write with a sense of urgency, as you will see from my articles and my book, Bringing Back the Spirit: Indian Ways of Wholeness for Church and Society in Crisis (published in 2005).

For all my relations. Blessings to all,

phil duran