*8.1. Be Clear about Your Resources and Premise*

People, community, culture, and land are foundational resources of Indigenous community building. It begins with Ecological Integrity. Start from the premise that what you do has integrity and honors "life-giving" relationship. A Sustainable Orientation must be the guiding ethic throughout the process. In other words, take the time necessary to consciously build in a process which sustains community, culture, and place. A Vision and Sense of Purpose must guide activities. This means envisioning that is done with an intimate relationship to revitalization and renewal of community. Apply the Indigenous precept of thinking and acting with a vision of seven generations and beyond.

#### *8.2. Community Building Has a Spiritual Purpose*

In Indigenous thought, communal action is integrated with spiritual purpose. Human life and Indigenous communal life stem from spiritual agency. Therefore, integration of the cultural interpretations of the guiding spirit of an activity becomes an essential component of Indigenous sustainable development. In an Indigenous context, actions stem from respect for and celebration of the *Spirit of the Land, People, and Community.* There is respect for all in the community and all that defines a community and the land that nourishes the community. This emphasis requires engaging participation of community at all levels through the acknowledgment of spiritual purpose. In this sense, the spirit of community now and in the future is both the medium and beneficiary of community-building activities [8].
