Shelton-Mason County Journal - Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886

When I gave presentations on permaculture last year, I mentioned that Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, the Australians who first codified what became known as "permaculture," borrowed heavily from indigenous knowledge. "Borrowing" is the most charitable term I can use.

I also stated that decolonizing permaculture is ongoing today. I understand "decolonizing" to mean that the knowledge permaculture has appropriated is being recontextualized and properly attributed. If there are profits to be made from this, the peoples who compounded the traditional, generational wisdom have first crack at...