Fourth of July: The Shadow of Independence

The Dark Side of the American Dream

What July 4th Forgot

Every July 4th, we celebrate the birth of a nation while simultaneously mourning the death of countless others. Not only individual lives, but entire ways of being human. The fireworks that light our summer sky illuminate both triumph and tragedy. They commemorate the independence of one people built upon the systematic extermination of another's way of life.

I’m not trying to stir feelings of guilt or shame; I’m simply asking for a moment of recognition. Indigenous peoples of North America had developed sophisticated systems of living that sustained them for thousands of years. They had complex relationships with the land, seasonal rhythms, and one another that embodied what we now desperately need to relearn. We need to break the disrespectful notion that primitive societies were awaiting civilization and recognize what they truly were: alternative expressions of human intelligence that European colonizers, possessed by what Indigenous peoples recognize as the Wendigo (Wintiko) spirit, could not comprehend.

The Wendigo is a cannibalistic creature of insatiable hunger, but it represents more than folklore. It embodies the psychology of conquest with a cold heart, seeing fellow humans as "other" and therefore exploitable; the endless appetite that consumes everything in its path; and the spiritual emptiness that mistakes accumulation for fulfillment. When European settlers arrived, driven by gold fever, land hunger, and imperial ambition, they carried this spirit with them, transforming a potential for harmony and collaboration into systematic genocide.

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Natural vs. Unnatural Conflict

Conflict itself, however, is not evil—it's very natural. Like, fundamental to life, natural. The Wendigo spirit is not from another realm, a realm of demons and nefariousness. In our bodies, bacteria wage war against viruses to protect the whole system. In the same way, it’s possible to stop and consider whether the Wendigo spirit is from the Earth itself, sent to either guide us back to ecological equilibrium or roast us in a climate change fever of our own making.

At every level of life, from cellular to societal, friction creates the pressure that drives evolution. The tragedy of America’s founding wasn't the conflict itself. The problem was the particular kind of conflict rooted in the Wendigo's insatiable hunger rather than the wisdom that knows when enough is enough.

Nature offers us different models than the ones we currently operate from. Mycelial networks are vast underground fungal webs that connect entire forests in a symbiotic rhythm — a great example of how true intelligence operates. Rather than competing with one another, they facilitate cooperation, which only arrives after an initial confrontation. Growth requires a certain level of conflict. This eventually leads to the sharing of resources, communication across vast distances, and the fostering of resilience through interdependence with other species.

Ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer brings this lesson full circle,

"We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth, gifts we have neither earned nor paid for: air to breathe, water to drink, soil to grow the food we eat."

The Indigenous understanding of reciprocity, taking only what is needed and giving back more than one takes, stands in stark contrast to the extractive mentality that has brought us to the brink of ecological collapse. The Earth provides abundance and prosperity if we know how and where to look. That’s what the Indigenous people knew, and what our governments, under the influence of the Wendigo, cannot see.

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Duality of the 4th

This July 4th, I urge you to hold both truths close to your heart, celebrating the ideals of liberty and justice while soberly acknowledging the shadow those ideals have cast throughout history. We can honor both the courage of those who fought for independence and the resilience of those who survived attempted annihilation. Most importantly, we can choose which spirit will guide us forward — the Wendigo's endless hunger or the mycelial network's collaborative wisdom. The choice is ours.

Indigenous peoples who survived carry forward alternatives to the Wendigo way of being. Their knowledge of sustainable living, reciprocal relationships, and seeing seven generations ahead offers exactly what our species needs to evolve beyond its current trajectory. True independence may require not just political freedom, but freedom from the Wendigo spirit itself. It’s time to recognize that we are all part of one living system, and our survival depends on learning to cooperate rather than consume.

As we watch the fireworks this year, we should ask ourselves: Are we still feeding the Wendigo, and if so, what will we do about it?

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Thank you for taking the time to read this article! 🙏

Have a wonderful 4th of July, everyone, but remember what transpired for your independence. This is a day of both mourning and celebration.

—The Green Philosopher