“Knowledge is not wisdom. But wisdom is knowledge in action.” Richard Wagamese
Knowledge from books provides you with information. It is what you do with that information that creates wisdom. Indigenous Leaders that I have respect for are those that value the collective strength of the community. They recognize that information is meant to be shared knowledge, which the collective wisdom of the community can then make sense of.
One of the greatest gifts I have received, was when I first started working directly within the communities. The gift of generosity and patience from Elders and community members. I had a desire to implement all that book knowledge I had gained, without the lived experience to go with it and an understanding of the unintended consequences of many of the things I was proposing.
It is through the Elders and community members wisdom, and a lot of coffee and tea at kitchen tables and out at the cabins, the water and the land, that I learned to listen, to see the currents that were running underneath the surface, to see the connections between the people and the land.