Interview with Hweimtun
Hweimtun
Born and raised in Khowotzun in Canada. Through the elders, he received a traditional education and knowledge about their culture, traditions and wilderness. Over the last 15 years, we visited many different countries and cultures, with whom he shared his knowledge and way of life. Its aim is to support the preservation of ancient traditions of various native peoples around the world, making lectures and discussions with children and youth. Another activity is the creation of bridges of partnership ash friendship between different peoples and cultures in our country. Also he very actively pushed for the preservation of the original forest at Vancouver peninsula and his words devotes considerable attention to Canadian administration.
Note to the interview: I intentionally tried to interrupt conversation too and try rather to listen and feel. Unfortunately, quite often do not record the way everything clearly pointing and showing. And why? Read and Learn More…
You were brought up in original indian culture. Can I ask, how does such education looks like? What are its main specifics?
It is a very difficult question. So if I can shortly answer it will be… You ask me, how does the original indian culture looks like. It looks like a bunch of brown indians. (laughter) That’s short. (laughter)
Yes, maybe it’s a bad question… So I heard that you do a lot of traveling around the world. Why?
Originally it was to see other places and look into the other countries, more looking at different landscapes. I studied the Anthropology. So my studies at Anthropology was looking at other culture, so every semester I had to choose another country to travel to. So it’s started to bring me to other countries and to look at the other cultures. So what I did is just draw parallels between where we come from and what are the similarities. Than when I started my academics, was looking more in depth that cultures.
And the other thing what other people say is: „What do you looking for?“
But when I travel I don’t look for anything. I just want to be…
So I go to many places around the world and sometime I want to sit on the street all day and watching the life around. To see what is changing for that and I like to listen to different languages. So something that I enjoy is learning, because like I tell everyone when I first start many teachings is: „Really I know nothing.“
This is one of the greatest teachings I received from the elder from the Lakȟóta* territory. When I first get learning from him, he said: „I know nothing.“ And he explained it to me, he said: As a human being you born in the place, you grow up in this place… So all the information, you receive, is from that family, where you come from, in that house you living. And when someone step in the other house which has the other teacher…but in reality between these two place you’re moving, you’re find a very specific things. The way he explain it to me was: „I can tell you a lot about my culture, but I know nothing about your culture. So in the big picture of human being: If we only stay in these boxes, these two, three boxes, this is all we know.
*Lakȟóta, Lakota people: The Lakȟóta people (pronounced [laˈkˣota]; also known as Teton, Thítȟuŋwaŋ ("prairie dwellers"),[1] and Teton Sioux ("snake, or enemy") are an indigenous people of the Great Plains of North America. They are part of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ or seven council fires, and speak Lakota, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language. Dakota-Lakota-Nakota speakers lived in the upper Mississippi Region in present day Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas. (more: Wikipedie: Lakota people)
So this is one of the greatest thing who’s great teaching for me: to experience everything. Because in the way we were thought, as we was children, we learned from five senses. And most people maybe learn from one or two. For example to read something. Can’t never taste it, hear it..so you are loosing all this experience. So your whole being is than becomes, the elders should to say: become blocked.
Yes, it’s true. It seems to me that more and more we forget, that we also have other
senses than one or two ...
And so it’s the another reason why I want to travel. I want to learn, I travel a lot. When I was a child, I remember, my uncle red a book National geographic, so it became like my Bible.
But many many people finding with – I think they called – stress. So I also ask them, when you travel, you say you want to get away from it. But I don’ t understand this, because you have this little box you live in with your stress, and they say: „I want to travel here I need to get away“.
And the thing what I don’t understand, with many people in stress, is you have a suitcase and everything that reminds you a stress, you put in this bag. You say I am leaving this stress. Really what you do is, you pack your stress in this place, to have more stress: „Oh this cost me so much, oh this people is stupid! Oh this is…etc. You pack your stress again and bring it to home. And people ask you: „How was your trip? It was terrible, those Czech people, ah!, etc…“ (laughter) So you have even more stress.
So, I couldn’t understand this. Why people do this all the time? As I tried to understand many things in life, it intrigued me to travel more. To listen to people speaking, talking. What´s in struggle here. How much different….it’ll be here – different language, different food, different time zone, different location. You are, say, stressed. So, it helped me to understand that, when I got home, why head away? I don’t know this is my stress. So it helped, I don’t need it.
But many people will not, they hold on to it. You say to them: „Hey, you should get rid of this!” But they: „No, no, don’t touch me, this is mine!” You become like Sméagol. Have you ever seen the Lord of the Rings? „My precious! Don’t touch!”
So again, I travel to live, to learn. Just experience things.
Because that thing I find – so much humanity is so stuck in their head, they think they know everything. It’s like, when I go to Germany, and I go to Philosophy class and Science class, I go see them and I say: „What? 32 students, fourth year of studies at University?” And they say: „Tha!” (American slang, it means: Of course!)
And I explain to them: „Think, you only know, what you know.” So, what I did was, that I took feather and: „OK. Three questions. What kind of bird this come of. Is it left or right and how old is this bird.” And I gave it to everyone of those students. „Thirty two of you, very smart, thinking of everything, give me those three answers.” – And one woman: „I make a guess. It is better than nothing.“ Nobody else is doing anything. „It’s a feather.“ She said. „I see this feather, white feather, and I think maybe it is from a swan.” This woman, she is smart. „Now when you look at the curve, it is a left hand side.” Now, I said, remember you already know what people tell you. But if you never experience this, you really know nothing.
Every time I teach student…so I go to presentation, especially in other country, I always watch all the students. And tell them: „Today, you are my teacher.”
Because I always tell them: „I’ll watch everything you do, watch how you fidget, watch how you wanna talk to your friends. Because the thing that happens if I start to watch you, watch everything you do, start to see how your energy move.”
So, this is the thing. If you start understand human being, the diversity of human being is overwhelming. And again, when I start to listen yours story, it makes a bigger picture for me. When you start to make the bigger picture, you start to connect all these things. And you just go bigger and bigger. But if I never had the opportunity to meet, than there is something I’ll never learn. So, I start to learn more about the big journey I am on. I met all these people saying: „Well, when you will stop?” I’ll never think of it. Never.
I used to, I remember, when I was first in school, they talked about what they called this Six degrees of separation*. Somebody somewhere knows somebody that know you. Six degrees of separation in last five years is reduced down to two. Because so many people travel. And the biggest one – Facebook. (laughter) So, this changed everything.
*Six degrees of separation: is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. And the leadership in thinking about social networks in this way. (more Wikipedia)
Facebook, yes! (laughter)
They say, technology is great but it can be devastating at times.
Yes, because for example, you don’t meet people, only write them on Facebook – Yee, friends! (laughter)
Yes, really, really, are you my friend? – I don’t know you, I don’t see you, I don’t talk to you. Because most of the time, everywhere around the world, I see people talking to each other. And the creasing thing is – I remember watching one time, is this couple having dinner and they..both..and they´re talking to each other, but still texting.
Yes, I see it every day, for example, in school. All my friends around me, and sometimes me too of course, we only watch the mobile or another screen and just texting…
I remember, one of our elder teachers always talked about learning in direct direction…
The teacher is going to become smaller and the four directions you are learning from will become smaller. Well, I was thinking, thank you for this teaching. I don´t understand it but I have a meaning of it.
And that’s my teacher? (he is pointing to mobil) He only know what people tell him. So when you go and grandpa Google say: „I know the answer!” It is a right answer? And he made it even worse. He said: „OK, the right answer? OK, I have to send this to you and I am going to google translate to, translate to Czech. And you: „What? What is this?” (laughter)
But people in this box thinking, are thinking this is all correct. It´s just somebody who is trying to do the best they can to translate to Czech, to give the information. Great information, great teacher, but again, very reductionist ideology, very individualistic ideology. Because again, if I want to learn something from different perspective, even maybe from Lakota, I say – „Hey, come to see this, you need to see this.“
So, this is the thing I look at for traveling. You have the experience, you get to have all the five senses using. Sometimes if you get to an enhanced state, you then achieve what is called sixth sense, and go beyond this space and experience. So, when I look at this, yeah, we are not gonna get the sixth sense by sticking our face in book like this. We are gonna get sore eyes. So, that’s what´s going to happen, you are gonna get headache. It´s how much you use screen. Here, someone fifteen years old: „Oh, help mi with his headache!“ Ok, through it away! (he is showing, how he’s through the mobil)
Thank you for these answers. I heard, you met Dalajlama too… So how was it? What you talked about? And what do you think is important in life? In life or in the world…
To the question in air about His Holiness Dalajlama. And I think about one time I listened to him speaking, about negativity, and people say: ,,Wow, you really must hate Chinese people.” No. Because again, if I find negativity within me, if I find hatred within me for someone else, then I hate me. Then I destroy me. So, the thing, when listening to those things about finding what you see in humanity, and it´s very very difficult in our contemporary kind, so the destruction will go through globally. Everything of our human ability to survive, you know, they always try to beat you down. And always say, we’ve developed a very smart world. We have all the electronics, we have all the technology, we have all the things you need to make your world more difficult.
When we have very little, we are very happy. Now we have everything. And what does it now bring you? Stress. So, to look at the things in life. Number one is – why that all, why not just find happiness? Like His Holiness say: ,,I cannot find the negativity in this because then it takes my happiness. So, if I give my happiness…“
Many people can’t find the happiness, because, the way I see, it´s because, it bring this individualistic idealism to say – it´s you, you have everything. What you only have, what you believe, you needn’t. But again you´re still holding on to all these things that cause you problems.
You only have what you believe. See problems? Why hold it? Throw it away!
Yes, many people want their sadness and suffering, I know it…
And it's getting more difficult, to throw it away, because, if you look at resource economy of everywhere, as I travel around the world, is they try to keep people under. So, are they happy? And most of them maybe not. They have everything, but what is happiness? Happiness is different for everyone. Maybe you´re happy just with this tea (pointing to my tea), right this moment. But everything changing all the time – something will change.
So this is the thing they look at even in Buddhist teachings, is what I really enjoy, is looking at impermanence, inevitable change. It´s going to happen, whether you like it or not.
One day, somebody is going to break peace off your happiness. (he shows clearly, tearing a piece of paper on the table) And you: „Oh, why you wrecked this?” Government come in and take a piece of this too. Maybe you have a trouble in your family and somebody takes some more - „Oh, what´s happening to my happiness? It´s all over now.“
They have, what they need. (Buddhists) What you do and say is: ,,Well, this is all I really need. Thank You, thank You, thank You.” (He takes the smallest piece of paper, makes it into the hands of a Namaste* gesture.)
*Namaste: links palms toward each other in front of the head, the chest. It is used as a greeting in the Asian regions. It means: I bow before me and before you.
Somebody take this, somebody take this, I still got my tea ☺. So, it depends on, how much of this you want to claim, you own. Because it seems to be the same thing everywhere I go. „Don´t touch my stuff, it´s mine!” You believe you´re hiding, but you do not realize, someone comes behind you, taking everything and how you look at this?
So think about, much of it is excepting impermanence, inevitable change – sometime very difficult, but sometime very enlightening. Find much happiness. Sometimes you find happiness just to breathe a lot of fresh air. It´s all you need.
And I see this as I travel. Everybody has this little package of happiness. They hold on to it. They say: „I got all this happiness, but I don´t enjoy this.“ But if you give it to someone, share it with someone… One day maybe someone come back and give it to you. The reciprocity.
Thanks again for your answer. So the last question is: Is it something you wanted to say to the young generation people? Like some message or recommendation…
About technology, this is definitely part of your life. Doesn’t matter what you do. Even if you live in depths of the Amazon jungle. And I travel everywhere, and it´s funny, because sometimes you even look at maybe picture of someone deep in Africa – and somebody do jumping and holding a mobile with it… (laughter)(he shows how someone wants to take selfie picture with panorama of African landscape) That’ like – What? (laughter)
So, it is always going to be part of it.
And what really helps, is to utilize all aspects of technology and again human relationship. I use technology to help students reconnect, what they want to learn, if you want to know something about culture, here is bunch of words, some songs… You´ll know this, because its on your technology. I don´t care who you talk to, but if you come and join us, you must understand. So, I always tell children – learn to find the balance. Cause again, this is going to be a part of your life.
And when I go to university to take a presentation I say: „Who has a phone like this?” – 99,99% of them has it. „And when you wake up first thing in the morning – who do you talk to?“
You are maybe married and you don´t even say good morning to your wife. Go to the Facebook and than - „Uh, who are you?” - „I am your wife!” (laughter) (he shows how frightens when he sees his wife)
So, try to find balance.
Thank you very much for answers.