Letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson From Navajo Nation Human Rights Commissioner Cora Maxx-Phillips

Please consider this letter as an objection and opposition to the latest maneuver of making the celestial moon a commercial enterprise to take the ashes of dead people to scatter on its surface. This will surely be an insult to the laws of nature, whose sole intention is to sustain life on earth with great contributing factors from the delicate cycle of the sun and moon to give us day and night, the four seasons, etc.

I’m respectfully calling upon the appropriate federal entities to intervene. We are in violation of the Creator’s Code, the Natural and Spiritual Laws. But, through the GREAT DISCONNECT from Nature’s laws, there will be very limited understanding of my letter and will be considered mythology or superstition. I hope that someday, common grounds will be achieved.

But, maybe, through the venue of a heating planet and the catastrophic climate change, coming to realize that boundless chosen ignorance and a presumed “superiority over nature with man-made laws” was never a choice and is no longer a viable option.

We are of two diverse mindsets, two cultures, two worldview philosophies which causes a big knowledge gap, misunderstandings, sometimes with a superiority stance, minimizing the integrity of smaller cultures and calling it savagery or hocus pocus. The two opposing philosophies are as follows:

1) Many Indigenous cultural disruptions have occurred, but the challenges always remained with the revitalization of preserving their natural and perennial worldview philosophies. We are an earth-based people with a strong astro-physical: lunar, solar culture, which reflects the universal truths of life, sustaining an ever encompassing “sacredness of life” philosophy. And if man ever loses sight of this “sacredness”, man is no longer humble! And quite frankly, we’ve reached this stage. This knowledge has been in existence for over 100 years. It’s been time and generationally tested.

2) The conventional western science with its reductionist, quantitative perspectives has always pushed out the sacredness and spiritual views of life. Under the Newtonian philosophy, the Earth was considered an inert object. These views represent the static, emotionless, perfunctory, disconnected views of the natural world under the philosophy of Newton and Descartes. This is what represents today’s scientific western minds.

Since time immemorial, Indigenous nations have lived with the natural and spiritual laws that is symbolically tied in with Nature. I’ve lived it through wisdom sharing, observations and direct daily practice from my grandmother and her preceding generations. The wisdom that stems from this is, “you don’t tamper with Nature; the delicate celestial sphere and its cycle that brings us life, day and night, the ecosystem, biodiversity, etc. Further, if this can never be acknowledged, then humanity will ultimately pay the price for the exploitation and destruction of Nature”.

To maintain our “divine-made” earthly habitats, there are the critical ingredients that connect to one’s earthly conduct, sequentially, also affecting the fateful termination of man’s journey. Mitakuye Oyasin (we are all related) emanates from the Lakota Sioux’s prophecy which means more than just human and is encompassing beyond an Earthly spiritual family. This is knowledge that we will never escape from. Therefore, it’s a part of our spirit which never ends. (Eagle Man, Creator’s Code, Planetary Survival and Beyond, 2007).

Under the United Nations Declaration Rights of the Indigenous people (UNDRIP), it commits to their individual and collective rights which have been disregarded by legal systems, globally. The right to religious freedom and through ties to culture and spiritual traditions are acknowledged in Articles 20, 25, 31, 32 and 34. Articles 25 states that “the Indigenous people have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, coastal seas and other

resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations.” This is currently being violated.

Indigenous knowledge on “Earth and it’s celestial sphere” is a part of their cultural paradigms and have strong connections to their ceremonies, prayer systems and has always reflected strong roots of truth, lessons that attempts to explain Nature and its Celestial sphere, etc. This has portrayed practical inferences and reckoning for the world to distinguish and understand.

Due to climate change, the new millennium’s growing environmentalists and their contemplation has shifted towards new “beliefs, action and judgement” with an enhanced knowledge base. Their beliefs are going beyond western science and focusing on Earth’s sacred rhythm that’s associated with life. There are the environmentalists who stand with Indigenous Nations through the knowledge of the co-existence of “Spirituality and Science” because their focus is on life and the universe. It also has many concerns with current existence and the progression of life. More challenging studies and scrutiny will surely enhance this mentality.

From every era, knowledge was incomplete as far as the laws of nature. And due to the vastness of the Universe, it may never be complete. Science still struggles with not finding accurate answers surrounding consciousness and many other issues, only to be left with science’s best idea supported by evidence of their design. Nature is precious with many sacred elements to sustain life. But with the exponential assaults of unchecked philosophies from the industrial revolution, much exploitation, degradation and destruction came, bringing great harm to the Earth.

Today, with an unchartered business acumen, with unchecked philosophies and lastly, no with no cultural boundaries nor wisdom for guidance, it’s all left to personal greed. Nothing has notably changed today; the Earth is still suffering and really nothing in place to guide the monster of Corporate America, except materialism and money and who’s to say, that tampering with the moon’s energy will someday be another dangerous alteration, bringing in more suffering and adjustments for humanity. And this will all be in the name of appeasing corporation insatiability. And why not? This country’s infrastructure (laws, processes, systems) are all there to accommodate corporations.

I, hereby, submit, this letter with hopes that humanity will someday become acutely aware of the dangerous precedent that’s been set with climate change and how it will impact the future generations. I hope that, someday changes to “honor and respect” the Earth, moon and the sun will be remembered. I appreciate you taking the time to read this important letter and hope to make some critical inroads for the sake and sustainability of life on Earth.

With Care and Concern for today’s Humanity and Unborn Generations,

Ms. Cora Maxx-Phillips, BPASP, MCSW, Commissioner Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission