We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For
The final and most urgent teaching from Native American wisdom traditions: the age of waiting for outside salvation has passed. The people who will heal the earth, restore right relationship, and carry humanity through this crisis are the ones who are alive right now — us.
This teaching, associated with Hopi elders, speaks directly to this moment in history. The prophecies do not describe a passive catastrophe but a choice — and the choosers are us. The Hopi Teaching says: 'You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that This is the Hour. And there are things to be considered... Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader. This could be a good time!' The Indigenous vision for the future is not apocalyptic passivity but engaged, joyful, ceremonial participation in the healing of the world. The wisdom of Native American traditions — the care for all relations, the seven-generation thinking, the reciprocity with the living earth, the circle of community — is not a relic of the past but a prescription for the future.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Joanna Macy's The Work That Reconnects synthesizes Indigenous wisdom traditions, systems theory, and modern depth psychology into a practice of engaged ecological healing — confirming that the Indigenous teaching 'We are the ones we have been waiting for' is not only spiritually true but practically necessary.
Hopi oral tradition