- What is memiki?
- What does memiki mean?
- Why a Native American word?
- Why a butterfly?
- What kind of butterfly is she?
- What is a p2p (peer-to-peer) network?
- What is file-sharing?
- Is file sharing illegal?
- Why is the word "team" misspelled throughout the site?
Q: Why a Native American word?
A: Native Americans did not share our concept of property. They puzzled at the white man's notions of owning the land, for in their view men are owned by the Earth, not the other way around. We believe that in this perspective there is ancient wisdom.
We, European occidentals, in our great rush to rule and dominate, destroyed their cultures and committed unspeakable atrocities against them. We robbed these Native Americans of their dignity, murdering them in dastardly ways and relegating them to the perpetual incarceration where they survive to date.
And driven by the same obssessions, today we pursue a course with the potential of destroying all life on the planet.
We have something important to learn from these elder kin, something which in this nascent millenium will determine our collective fate. The lesson we missed and failed to heed two centuries ago is still there, hanging onto the bones and blood of those whose grievances we have not even begun to redress.
| :: | "Walk lightly in the spring; Mother Earth is pregnant." -- Kiowa tribe saying |
The lesson is: love our Earth. We must let go of our ownership of her and we must love her because she is our mother and because we are as much a part of her as she is of us.
Today, especially in light of the tremendous efforts of a small elite to propertise everything - our very thoughts, hopes and beliefs - it is imperative that we understand the wisdom of the Native American. Therefore project me'mi-ki will seek to bring Native American values to the forefront, begining with its choice of name.
Q: Why a butterfly?
A: We have always closely associated the butterfly with two concepts inherent in the memiki philosophy: 1) freedom, and 2) metamorphosis.
Just as a butterfly will not survive in captivity, we believe - as did the original creators of the Internet - that for information to exist, it must be free. We also believe that human creativity, specifically in the arts, is a transformative force of the soul, and of our world.
The butterfly embodies both freedom and tranformation and thus serves as the perfect symbol for our project.
Q: What kind of butterfly is she?
A: Postage-stamp sized, she is a Karner Blue, of the family of Lycaeides melissa samuelis.
Like our Native American Potawatomi brothers, she struggles for her life amongst other endangered species in the Great Lakes area, tenuously covering the states of New York, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota.
Q: What is a p2p (peer-to-peer) network?
A: While originally the term was deemed to mean that computers on a network could communicate directly with each other, the term p2p has become confused and today is used to mean something different from its literal interpretation. A p2p network today signifies a set of computers organised to interconnect in an environment of unstable connections with unreliable sources of authority.
For a fuller explanation of the term, please see Clark Shirkey's Nov. 2000 article published on openp2p.com
Q: What is file-sharing?
A: The term typically refers to a p2p network (for a description of p2p see above) capable of transfering files between its nodes.
Q: Is file sharing illegal?
A: No. File sharing happens every time you send or receive an e-mail or surf the web since the term is broad enough to indicate the transference of any collection of bits.
Q: Why is the word "team" misspelled throughout the site?
A: Wolves travel in packs, elephants in troupes, sheep in herds, fish in schools... and butterflies in teems!