MOUNTAIN SENTINELS CORE VALUES
Graphic summary by Karina Branson of our Core Values activity (values-centered relational science exercise) at the Moving Mountains Summit in 2022.
The Mountain Sentinels Alliance Declaration of Core Values represents the deeply held ethics and beliefs of the Mountain Sentinels Alliance and partners. These Core Values serve as the foundation from which our principles and practices arise. These values were offered for community adoption in April after a four month review and comment period. You are invited to add to or symbolically adopt these Core Values in your work with the Mountain Sentinels Alliance community and to share with your own communities, as well.
The Declaration of Core Values is a living document that will evolve as the community evolves to reflect the work we do and learning we exchange together. Every six months, we commit to review the values, to examine how the work we do aligns with these ideas, and to review community comments and update as appropriate.
Likewise, the Mountain Sentinels Community Principles provide a starting point and considerations for good practices when working in intercultural spaces. These principles guide our meetings and interactions.
Co-Developing our Core Values
Dr. Dominique David-Chavez leads our values-centered relational science work in the Maroon Bells Wilderness. This exercise serves as the basis for our Alliance Core Values.
During the 2022 Moving Mountains Summit, participants provided principles and actions that will be the center of the Alliance and guide the behavior and goals of the community. After the initial list of Core Values was created, Alliance leadership team member Dr. Dominique David-Chavez asked Summit participants to think about how those values could become intentional commitments, goals, and actions.
Community input using the values-centered model template.
Close up of community input.
CSU student Nizhoni Hatch studies input from Summit participants to create a relational model.
Dr. David-Chavez then worked with Nizhoni Hatch, an Indigenous student at Colorado State University, to look for common threads and develop a relational model.We are very grateful to Dr. David-Chavez and Nizhoni for their hard work developing the thoughts and ideas from the community into language for the Alliance Core Values!
Polishing with Project Mosaic
In August 2023, the Mountain Sentinels leadership team met with Shatta Meija and Jennifer Wolf from Project Mosaic, a Denver-based Indigenous facilitation team, to gain skills in respectful communication and a deeper understanding of our collective needs, goals, and vision. Knowing that the Core Values is a foundational document that will inform our priorities and direction, the team delved into polishing the Core Values as a teambuilding activity. Dr. David-Chavez made sure that the original intentions from the community remained through the updates made to language.
Declaration of Core Values
The Mountain Sentinels Alliance Declaration of Core Values represents the deeply held ethics and beliefs of the Mountain Sentinels Alliance and partners. These Core Values serve as the foundation from which our principles and practices arise.
Our collective purpose is to sustain current and future lifeways of all our relations (plant, animal, water, air, land, and ancestors), in mountain communities. We start by acknowledging that science is based on traditions of rigorous observation practiced by Indigenous and local ancestors, informed by our natural relations for generations. We seek to address past and current appropriation and disruption of place-based knowledges and wisdoms, and to build new pathways guided by diverse ways of knowing and practices of reciprocity.
We VALUE:
RESPECT for people, place and process, including responsibilities toward our natural relations (plant, animal, water, air, land, and ancestors), as well as respecting our diverse ways of knowing, communicating with respect and transparency, honoring protocols for consent, and through supporting local governance and engagement prior to and throughout every stage of our work.
CENTERING COMMUNITIES by taking guidance from the perspectives of local and Indigenous mountain communities and the needs of our natural relations, and through supporting and investing in community partnerships at all levels of governance to support self-determined decision making.
The WISDOM of LOCAL and INDIGENOUS WORLDVIEWS, including knowledges, cultural lifeways, and practices, by caring for all our relations in all that we do, and by including the voice and life of the mountains.
EQUITY through disrupting and transforming existing power dynamics to create and strengthen pathways for communication, dialogue, co-development of research, exchange of ideas, and collective power to make change that serves community needs.
The OPEN SHARING of different knowledges, perspectives, ideas, resources, and capacities.
BUILDING TRUST and RELATIONSHIPS through understanding guidance which can govern these processes, and honoring the time and actions necessary for building trust and relationships among our communities.
RECIPROCITY and MUTUALISM through generosity, mutual benefit, self-reflection, relationship and partnership building, collective action, just compensation, and investing in systems that sustain the well-being of all our relations.
PATIENCE and FLEXIBILITY, “flowing where the river takes us,” being open to new perspectives, and supporting processes that allow us to engage all our voices in our collective development, while also supporting each other during challenging times.
HUMILITY, through open listening, open-mindedness, curiosity, holding gratitude for all our different abilities, and being comfortable being uncomfortable as we grow and learn.
INTERGENERATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY through sustainable practices, repairing our communities and all our relations through engaging elders and youth, education, responsible decision-making, and by being good relatives and future ancestors.
Valores fundamentales de Mountain Sentinels
Modificado abril 2024
Nuestros valores fundamentales representan la ética y las creencias más arraigadas de Mountain Sentinels y socios. Sirven de base de la que surgen nuestros principios y prácticas.
Nuestro propósito colectivo es sostener el modo de vida actual y futuro de todas nuestras relaciones (plantas, animales, agua, aire, tierra y antepasados), en las comunidades de montañas. Empezamos reconociendo que la ciencia se basa en tradiciones de observación rigurosa practicadas por los antepasados tantos indígenas comoe locales que han aprendido de nuestras relaciones naturales a tráves de generaciones. Bajo esto contexto, buscamos abordar las apropiaciónes y las interrupciónes pasadas y presentes de conocimientos y sabidurías locales derivadas de nuestras relaciones naturals para así construir nuevos caminors guiados por diversas maneras delsaber y con prácticas de reciprocidad.
VALORAMOS lo siguiente:
El RESPETO por la gente, por los lugares y los procesos, incluyendo responsabilidades hacia nuestras relaciones naturales (plantas, animales, agua, aire, tierra y antepasados), así como también respetando nuestras diversas maneras de saber, comunicándonos con respeto y transparencia, honrando los protocolos de consentimiento, apoyando la gobernanza y participación local antes y durante cada etapa de nuestro trabajo.
EL CENTRARSE EN LAS COMUNIDADES guiándose tanto de las perspectivas locales como de las comunidades indígenas de montaña y de las necesidades de nuestras relaciones naturales, también apoyando e invirtiendo en las asociaciones comunitarias en todos los niveles de gobernanza para apoyar la autodeterminación en tomas de decisiones.
LA SABIDURÍA DE LAS COSMOVISIONES LOCALES E INDÍGENAS, incluyendo los conocimientos, las prácticas y formas de vida culturales, cuidando por todas nuestras relaciones en todo lo que hacemos incluyendo la voz y vida de las montañas.
LA EQUIDAD mediante la disrupción y la transformación de las dinámicas de poder existentes para crear y fortalecer las vías de comunicación, el diálogo, el desarrollo conjunto de investigación, el intercambio de ideas y el poder colectivo para lograr cambios que satisfagan las necesidades de la comunidad.
CONSTRUIR LA CONFIANZA y RELACIONES mediante la comprensión de los principios que pueden regir estos procesos, así como el respeto al tiempo y a las acciones que son necesarias para construir confianza y relaciones entre nuestras comunidades.
EL COMPARTIR diferentes conocimientos, perspectivas, ideas, recursos y capacidades.
LOS PROCESOS QUE GENERAN CONFIANZA Y RELACIONES entre nuestras comunidades.
LA RECIPROCIDAD Y MUTUALISMO a través de la generosidad, el beneficio mutuo, la autorreflexión, construyendo relaciones y asociaciones, acción colectiva, compensación justa e invirtiendo en sistemas que sustenten el bienestar de todas nuestras relaciones.
LA PACIENCIA y FLEXIBILIDAD, “dejándose guiar donde el río nos lleve”, estar abiertos a nuevas perspectivas, apoyando procesos que nos permitan comprometer todas las voces en nuestro desarrollo colectivo, a la vez que nos apoyamos mutuamente en los momentos difíciles.
LA HUMILDAD, a través de la escucha abierta, mentalidad abierta, curiosidad, manteniendo gratitud por todas nuestras diferentes habilidades dones y sentirnos confortables estando no-confortables mientras crecemos y aprendemos.
LA RESPONSABILIDAD INTERGENERACIONAL a través de prácticas sostenibles, reparando nuestras comunidades y todas nuestras relaciones mediante la participación de ancianos y jóvenes, educación, toma de decisiones responsables y ser buenos parientes y ancestros que inspiren estos valores a futuras generaciones.