We Survived the End of the World: Lessons from Native America on Apocalypse and Hope

The world is blazing, flooded, war-torn, bullet-riddled, divided, doomed, headed for apocalypse. In “We Survived the End of the World,” Steven Charleston looks to the wisdom and history of Native Americans, who survived the ultimate apocalypse of genocide under colonialist settlers, for a guide on enduring the seemingly inevitable.

In this book, apocalypse means not only catastrophe but revelation, transformation. Charleston offers the teachings of four Native American prophets, which facilitated the transformation rather than destruction of indigenous people, so that we may avoid destruction as well. Ganiodaiio of the Seneca argued for a spiritual awakening through personal responsibility, from a communal identity (we) to an show more individual identity (me). Modern society, argues Charleston, needs to shift from individual (me) to communal (we) thinking to unite for change. Tenskwatawa, known as the “Shawnee Prophet,” built Prophetstown as a gathering place for all Native nations, to foster unity and independence and counter division and eradication. Smohalla of the Wanapams taught respect for the earth as a living entity rather than a collection of resources to be exploited, to listen to what the earth is telling us. The vision of Wovoka of the Paiute, “the prophet of the Ghost Dance,” offered people “a way out of fear into belief in the future,” through reconciliation. Common to these teachings are ideas of community, cooperation, respect and compassion, while the author’s overarching theme is hope, all of which are in short supply in today’s world. show less

Summary: For a culture facing apocalyptic times, Charleston proposes we might learn from the prophets of the Native peoples of North America, who brought messages to help their own people face the apocalypse of the colonists and their successors.

Anyone attuned to what is happening in our world may easily be inclined to believe that we are living in apocalyptic times–a rapidly warming world with extreme weather, extensive fires, droughts, and floods, an endless series of mass shootings, regional wars that threaten to engulf the world, divisive and dysfunctional politics and failing states. We can try to ignore what is around us, whether in some form of narcotized state, or sheer busyness, or in an “eat, drink, and be merry” show more hedonism. If we believe that human beings are meant for better than these responses, we face the challenge of how then are we to live in these times, sustaining both our humanity and our hope.

Steven Charleston proposes that we are not the first peoples to confront such times. In this book he reminds readers that the indigenous peoples of North America faced a similar apocalypse when Europeans came to “Turtle Island,” spread over its length and breadth, “discovered” it, and claimed it for their own. While defeated, displaced, and killed in large numbers, these indigenous people did not disappear. Charleston argues that a critical factor in their survival were the prophets whose visions offered them strategies that sustained them. He considers four prophets in particular.

Ganiodaiio of the Seneca proposed flipping the communal culture of his people upside down. Such a culture contributed to a malaise of dysfunctional behaviors. He advocated a kind of personal responsibility of the individual to the tribe’s survival that built cohesion. Likewise, Charleston proposes that we may need to flip the other way, from our toxic individualism to a communal focus that both values liberty and the common good.

Tenskwatawa of the Shawnee created a fixed place for his people to stand, Prophetstown. First in Greenville, and later in northwest Indiana, he gathered people from many tribes to live alongside each other as a kind of “City on a Hill.” Charleston believes we need to form such communities today, physical, and in his case, virtual that offer a focus of purpose and hope for diverse peoples. Just as Prophetstown went where Tenskwatawa went, Charleston proposed we can carry this city within us.

Smohalla of the Wanapams urged listening to what the earth says. He proposed that we live within a covenant triad of the Creator, the human community, and the earth, also a living entity. Smohalla points us to the truth that the ultimate answer to our environmental crisis is not science but love for the living world that sustains us as well as for each other and the Creator.

Wovoka of the Paiute taught the Ghost Dance, a circle dance without drums but only a shared chant. It was a dance that fostered hope of a better day that ended in the tragedy of Wounded Knee in which Ghost Shirts were no protection from bullets. Paradoxically, it was a dance that unified people in hope and challenged others with the long, hard work of reconciliation. Indigenous people have never ceased dancing the Dance,

Finally, he turns to the narratives of the Hopi people of the Southwest. They tell a story of a single humanity, separated by migrations, and also there is the hope of a reconciliation, not only with these people but with the Mother who sustains us.

On one hand, the question may be asked, were these visions for the indigenous peoples or for all? Certainly the focus is on indigenous peoples against the apocalypse of colonization. Yet there are the intimations of a wider humanity. It is on the basis of this that Charleston sees a word for the wider humanity facing a global humanity.

It is striking to me as a white North American that we have often discounted the teachings of those we have oppressed, whether it is a vision of loving not only the Creator but the Creation, a living world that sustains us or the Beloved Community and understanding of suffering that comes through the Black church. What an interesting irony that there might be critical messages from these peoples that might mean life for all who now call “Turtle Island” our home?

Charleston holds out the hope that if enough of us heed, we might avert apocalypse. But it seems that the messages of the prophets he cites have to do with how we might live through apocalypse. That also seems to be the focus of the apocalyptic prophets of Christianity who encourage people to suffer for righteousness without losing heart or faith or communal cohersion, and to hope in a new creation. They don’t promise that we will save the earth or avert apocalypse but rather participate with the Creator in its renewal. So while I differ at this one point from Charleston, it seems that to welcome and listen to the lessons of the indigenous prophets not only offers wisdom for our present time but may also be a first small step of coming in a good way in the work of reconciliation and coming together as a common humanity to meet the existential challenges of our time.

________________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program. show less

Steven Charleston, a member of the Choctaw Nation, has written a call for each of us to claim our role as prophets if we are to avoid an apocalypse. Charleston shows us how we may fulfill the prophetic role by explaining the mindsets and actions of four Native American prophets who helped their people endure through the apocalypse Native Americans have lived through. The indigenous people of America have experienced the end of their world but continue to survive and thrive. Charleston conveys a sense of urgency within a message of hope. The future of the planet is in our hands. We must change our thinking. We must overcome our fears and unite with each other and Mother Earth to create a future where all life can thrive. This is a book show more written for our time and for those who have the courage to choose a life-affirming path. show less

A powerful call to not resign but to participate - in reconciliation and in the apocalyptic process the author asserts we are all living through right now. He illustrates this through four chapters each devoted to a Native American prophet. The book is tied together in the chapter on the Hopi People. From the book, "The Hopi can look back to see the human story from its first steps on the evolutionary journey to its current condition in an age of technology. The reason they resist conversion from their faith is because without the Hopi we would, as the human race, lose our memory. We would become victims of spiritual amnesia and fail to remember why we are here."

I found his call to participate as a prophet because we are each a keeper show more of revelation eye-opening and powerful. The chapter on the Hopi riveted me. I can see parallels between what I understand (to a very small degree) to be their worldview and other religions - such as my own, Buddhism, and Hinduism. I have started to look for other books by Mr. Charleston. This book will go onto the shelf with other books that I have been recommending as required reading such as "So You Want to Talk About Race" and "Rising Out of Hatred." show less

We Survived the End of the World, by Steven Charleston, is written as a lesson for us, both Native American and non-Native, on how to live in apocalyptic times. His definition of "apocalyptic," given in the first chapter, includes both the large-scale and the personal, both disaster and a vision of the future that can follow disaster. His method is to use four Native American prophets, as well as the Hopi religion's vision of evolution and the future world, to prescribe treatments for our modern dangers. In each of the four "prophet" sections, he gives a history of each prophet's life, with a lesson that we can use as modern people to move on from our own apocalyptic times.

The emphasis is not on the history itself, but on what these show more prophets taught their own people, and, by extension what they can teach us. In reading the book, at times, I would have liked to see more specificity about the the historical personages, but that was not the primary goal. Each prophet is the deliverer of a specific message: more personal responsibility, or in our own individualistic era, more communal responsibility; the need for a "city on the hill," where like-minded people can gather and draw strength; respect for the earth as a living entity; and a vision into a shared peaceful future.

The learning from peoples who were persecuted and nearly destroyed by the dominant culture is a welcome reminder that benefits and wisdom can arise our of despair and apocalypse. Overall, I felt that the book was worth reading, but attempted to fit the complexities of history into a neat package of lessons. I liked the fact that it ended with hope in the face of all that European culture has done to destroy Native America. show less

The title of this book grabbed me immediately - as a white American concerned about climate change and the rise of fascism, it was an immediate and brutal reminder that there are people whose ancestors have lived through apocalyptic devastation. I was immediately interested in what we could learn from the perspective of the people who made it through to the other side - how do we survive, how does our culture survive, how do we rebuild?

Unfortunately, for me the book did not live up to the promise of the title. Charleston defines "apocalypse" much more loosely than I would, with any major live upheaval constituting a personal apocalypse in his definition - he proposes that all of us have lived through multiple. With this much broader show more definition, the strategies for survival are perhaps more achievable, but less helpful for those of us primarily concerned with the planet-wide apocalypse we all face.

Charleston profiles the lives of four prophets from different Native American nations, describing their experience with apocalypse threatening their people and their responses (generally an exhortation to return to more traditional living experiences and reject the European colonial influence). Some of these are familiar in their influence if not by name, such as Wokova of the Paiute who originated the Ghost Dance (most familiar to many in its Lakota version, where they believed the dance would bring back the bison and eliminate Europeans), while others may be less so to many, such as Ganiodaiio of the Seneca, but there are strong parallels between all of them.

Finally, Charleston outlines a portion of Hopi spiritual beliefs (while emphasizing that this is only the portion shared with outsiders) - their teaching of progressive migrations between different worlds destroyed in various ways may be the most relevant to those of us fearing a truly global apocalypse. He then ends with an exhortation for all of us to live as "prophets" to avert disaster, embracing a communal outlook on life incorporating concerns for all of humanity and for the Earth itself.

The book remains worth reading, but with the understanding that the title may over-promise. show less

Steven Charleston’s “We Survived the End of the World” attempts to draw parallels between the current looming specter of apocalypse brought on by climate crisis, war, greed, and social unrest with the near annihilation Native Americans faced at the hands of European colonists. The historical accounts of Indigenous resistance and prophetic leaders in the book are engaging and present a point of view not often explored in mainstream U.S. history. However, making the comparable leap to the current crisis we find our world in, falls somewhat short. Yes, there is and will be resistance. Cooperative communities will form and likely will survive catastrophe. It seems meager hope, but nevertheless it is hope.