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| The most important thing to understand about Tapestry's projects is that everything we do is carried out within Indigenous worldview. You can better understand what that means by comparing our projects with those of other organizations, and by reading the guidelines we've posted for people planning to attend one of our events. In addition to being structured within Indigenous worldview, our current and past projects are of three general, interwoven, types.
1. Events, resources, and publications.
 Events give people the opportunity to experience a reconnected "life from within nature" for themselves. An example is The Voice of the Horse gathering. A new type of event under development is a limited series of workshops for leaders in environmental professions.
Resources give people access to the gathered pieces of human-nature relationship that surround us all, but that many people no longer value or understand. An example is the Digital Library of Indigenous Science Resources.
Publications (in print and other media) share what we learn as a community with everyone. They are repositories of gathered information, communities' stories of experience, and analysis and reflection on the meaning that emerges from community process. We are currently in the process of putting together a book on wildfire for publication.
2. Research on the relationship between humans and the earth, now and in the past, in many cultures and places.
This research produces information and insight that is shared through print and other media. It includes, for example, the stories we gather of peoples' personal experiences of nature, and research surveys. All of our current projects -- The Voice of the Horse Project, Forestry, and DLISR -- explore and document the human-nature relationship.
3. Research and scholarly study into the ways people learn intellectually, experientially, spiritually, and mythically.
This research helps us understand how to integrate the mythic responses of other peoples -- art, poetry, and story of different times and cultures, for example -- into our understanding of how humans relate to the Earth. It also helps us understand the ways that contemporary myths in books, film, and television (among other things) influence the relationships people have with nature. Finally, and equally importantly, it also helps us develop better educational media and events.
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Current Projects.
 Mythic Ways of Knowing About Catastrophic Loss -- a resource for the public based on some of the things we learned from our experience with wildfire and its consequences. This material was online from December 2007 to January 2008. Status: Has been included in the Wildfire manuscript in preparation (see below).
Ways of Knowing Wildfire -- a resource for the public, but especially for those who live in or near wildfire-prone areas, or whose lives have been touched by wildfire. It explores the subject using the different ways of knowing, learning about, and responding to the natural world and includes original art and poetry as well as photographs, narrative essays of personal experience, and analytical science. Some of this material was online for public access from fall 2006 to January 2008. Status: A book manuscript is in preparation. To receive notification when the book is in print, please email us your contact information. Put "wildfire" in the email subject line.
The Voice of the Horse Project -- original research on the horse-human relationship and the factors that influence how people understand it, webcast meetings exploring the nature of the relationship, and a book and other materials that share the information with the public. Status: The Mustang Freedom project, which has been combined into this larger project, was carried out from fall 2005 - fall 2007. It is being reported on in the book that summarizes the entire work. A meeting was held and webcast in summer 2007. A research survey was conducted on the ways that people relate to horses, and that horses relate to people, as well as how these relationships are impacted by the different ways of knowing. The initial (baselevel) analysis has been completed and published online. A small portion of the secondary level analysis was reported on at the Voice of the Horse 2007 meeting. Additional work at this level of analysis continues. Also, a review of historical records that detail the horse-human relationship is in progress. Two magazine articles are in preparation for publication early this year. A book manuscript will be produced at the end of the project.
Forestry Projects - research whose initial purpose was to benefit our own understanding, that also serves as a resource for people who live in forested areas and want to better understand how it can be practically applied in "land management" of privately-owned forest land. The emphasis is on integrating knowledge and information of many kinds (not intellectual only) in the decision-making process. Status: Work we began at Sowbelly Canyon, post-fire, is online. We will continue this work with our new land partner once it has been secured, and will publish that material online as well.
The Digital Library of Indigenous Science Resources -- a digital library of resources by Indigenous authors and/or that are published in journals and other sources edited by Indigenous peoples. Status: The planning and pilot programs were completed with funding from two National Science Foundation granst and assistance from the Digital Library for Earth System Resources. The library is online and functional, with a limited number of entries. We have begun a new search for funding so that the project can continue and expand.
The Indigenous EarthCenter -- The Center will a place where Indigenous people can hold meetings, workshops, and talks, and do so within Indigenous worldview. It will be located on our land partner in Northern New Mexico. Status: early concept stage.
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