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Alberta Online Encyclopedia
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Nature's Law
Spiritual Life, Governance, Culture, Traditions, Resources, Context and Background
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Natural/Supernatural

Introduction

Natural/Supernatural

Spirit Realm

Visual representation of nature's laws


Central Cairn At Sundial Hill Aboriginal worldviews encompassed what could be understood by Western culture as elements of both the natural and supernatural worlds. In Nature’s Law, the parameters of "nature" do not match Western conceptions; likewise there is no clear demarcation between the natural and the supernatural. That is, Indigenous groups resisted defining nature as just what can be seen by the eye, or felt by the body, or heard by the ear. Indeed, some notions of nature also involved the supernatural, for gifted members of society could see, feel, hear and interact with what we would call supernatural forces. Thus, forces and powers of the spirit world, including ancestors and unknown energies in the cosmos were part of the natural order, since they were accorded influence in the affairs of animals, humans and the landscape at large. When we use the term Nature’s Law, then, we are using it in the enlarged Indigenous sense.

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