The VA NetworkStories From The Space In Between
iqonic-layouts domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/csgw8ic6a0dp/public_html/thevanetwork.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121The VA NetworkA digital campfire kept alive by stories, carried forward by kin, and guided by the old ways to remember what it means to be human.
Welcome to the fire.
Imagine yourself beneath an ancient sky, the stars not distant, but close enough to hear the stories sung on the breeze, you hear the wisdom of those who came before, the voices of the ancestors who sit around their fires in skycamp.
The fire in front of you crackles softly, its sparks rising to meet the constellations like messengers carrying tales to the world of spirit and back again. The warm sand vibrates, the earth hums beneath your feet while the smoke dances around you, moves through you, sings you in, grounds you, and welcomes you back.
This is where The VA Network began. At the fire, under this sky that holds time like a breath. It began with Andrew D Flanagan, sitting with his mentor and elder, Dig Jones, the fire light glowing as his hands moved with purpose, carving stories into the earth, patterns of creation drawn into the warm sand. They weren’t stories of the past, but maps of the way ahead, of retrieving forward the ways to guide the path for the future. Symbols drawn to guide not just our feet but our hearts and our spirits. Each mark held the weight of generations past and those yet to come, the wisdom of lives lived in deep relation with the land, and all that call it Home.
The fire doesn’t belong to you or me. It belongs to the stories. Our role is to keep it burning. To gather the people and make space for the truth to rise with the smoke, to touch as many people as we can, to bring everyone back under the lore of the land, back into our role as custodians of creation.
This is our purpose – there is nothing more important.
What was to become ‘The VA Network’ was drawn in the sand by the fire that night, breathed into this world from the land of spirit and carried back by the smoke into the constellations overhead.
A promise etched into the earth, carried by the flames and held in the space between Us.
The VA Network goes beyond what you might expect from a streaming platform or social network. This isn’t just about content. It’s about connection. It’s a relational network, a movement, a living, breathing web that spans lands, peoples, and generations. It’s a space where ancient wisdom meets modern technology, where the voices of the past help guide the decisions we make now for the sake of the ones yet to come. A future rooted in balance, reciprocity, and our shared role as custodians of creation.
This isn’t about centring Indigenous voices for decoration or diversity points. It’s about decentring the extractive gaze, and inviting everyone to sit around the same fire. To yarn. To listen. To bring your story, your truth, your piece of the pattern, and in doing so, come back into relation.
Because we’ve wandered. As a species, we forgot the old agreements. We broke the relational law that kept things in balance. But the stories are still here. They’ve been waiting.
The stories shared around this fire are more than tales, they are medicine for a world that’s lost its way. They’re maps. Not maps of land, but of spirit, of responsibility, of law. Each film, series, voice, each truth added here is another stick on the fire, another spark that lights up the ancient design, the pattern of creation, survival, resilience, and care.
These stories teach us how to live right. How to care for Country, for kin, for the animals, for spirit, for future generations. They are not just records of what was, they are blueprints for what could still be.
If you forget the story, you forget your place. If you forget your place, you forgot who you are. But we can find our way back. We all hold a piece of it, a piece, a fragment of the pattern. We just need to bring them all together. Share them around the one fire. This fire. And see the pattern that emerges from the sand.
We are living in a time when this knowledge, these ways of knowing and being are more important than ever. We see it, we feel it, we know it, deep within us. We see the threads that once tied us to the land, to each other, and to spirit are fraying. Some think its too late, but the wisdom hasn’t disappeared. It lingers in the stories, in the languages, waiting for those with ears to hear and hearts ready to act. The VA Network exists because the world cannot wait any longer. Story holds the power to heal, to inspire, and to guide us back to balance.
The VA Network is a fire Dig sparked, that he and I grew together, that we invite the world to gather around, for it takes all of us to tend, to sustain, to increase, This fire belongs to us all, and we all need its warmth. Caring for this flame is an act of remembering and reimagining, of creating a future where every voice matters, every story lives, and the fire burns brightly for those yet to come.
So come sit with us. The fire is lit, the stories are waiting to be heard, waiting to be told. Each story shared is an ember in the fire, a spark that carries the wisdom of the land, the people, and the spirit to those who need it most. So we invite you to bring your stories alongside, add your log to the flame, and keep the fire of creation burning bright. These stories will teach you to see the patterns, to feel the rhythm of the land, and to remember your place in creation. It’s in you, in all of us, we only have to remember.
The fire isn’t yours to keep. It’s yours to carry. To tend to. And if you carry it well, it will light the way for generations to come.
A relational network, not a social one. Focused on increase, not on growth.
In a world fractured by disconnection, the VA Network is a pathway Home – a journey to remembrance, to belonging, to the wisdom that still lives deep within us. In this age of noise and urgency, where the voices of tradition, of our true histories are often silenced and mocked, we hold space for the voices that matter most. These are the voices that carry stories passed through generations. They are not irrelevant relics of the past to be in museums behind glass but key compass points for navigating a modern life unmoored from the rhythms of land and spirit. These voices don’t just meet the ears; they warm the heart and awaken the spirit those ready to listen, learn, and to act.
The stories we share are more than entertainment – they are medicine for a world in crisis. They hold the keys to healing: healing our relationships with the land, with each other, and with ourselves. Within these stories lie the answers to questions we’ve forgotten to ask – how to live in harmony with the natural world, how to preserve the cultures and languages that hold the memory of the earth, and how to re-become custodians of the creation we are a part of, a part of the circle of life, not at the centre of it, for a we one node in an interconnected system, with a specific custodial role. The hubris of man has taught us to forget.
This fire is not ours to own; it is ours to tend.
Let it burn brightly – for the land, for the people, and for all those yet to walk this world.
Now is the time to reconnect with the land, our ancestors, & each other, because the world cannot afford to wait.
The threads that once tethered us to the land, to each other, and to spirit are unraveling under the weight of the current economic marketplace; urgency, consumption, and disconnection. We have drifted far from the rhythms that once guided us, yet the wisdom – the ancient, living knowledge that has carried generations through both hardship and harmony – has not vanished. It waits, patient and enduring, held in the stories, the land, and in the sacred spaces in between. But this wisdom will not wait forever. The time to remember is now.
The VA Network is not merely a platform; it is a call to action, a spark to reignite the fires of connection, reciprocity, and care. It is the digital campfire where stories rise like embers into the night, carrying the voices of the land and the wisdom of generations to those ready to listen. This is not passive work – it is active remembering, the deliberate reweaving of frayed threads that connect us to the great web of life. This is not about preserving the past – it is about equipping the present and the future with tools forged in ancient wisdom, tools designed to guide us back into balance.
Dig said, ‘The fire doesn’t burn for you alone. It burns for the land, for the people, for your ancestors and descendants. It’s your job to keep the firing burning. If you let it go cold, you’ve broken something sacred. That’s what the world is doing – we have to start tending fires again, before its too late.’
In this critical moment, we cannot let the fire fade. This work is not simply about remembering – it is about amplifying. It is about braiding ancient knowledge into the fabric of the choices we make today and planting it as seeds for those yet to come. The stories we share, the knowledge we carry, and the actions we take are not for us alone – they are for the future of the earth, for every being we share it with, and for the balance we are entrusted to protect.
The fire burns brightly so the stories live on, so the wisdom of the land continues to guide us into a future rooted in care, balance, and belonging.
This is not just about what we carry – it’s about how we carry it forward. All of us.
Stories are the breath of the land, the heartbeat of the people, and the sacred thread that ties us to the past while binding a future rooted in respect and balance. Stories are medicine. They have the power to heal, to guide, and to transform. They don’t merely remind us of who we are; they invite us to become who we’re meant to be. Each story is a seed, carrying lessons that grow stronger as they pass through the hands, hearts, and minds of each generation.
The VA Network was born from this understanding. Which is why we call it a digital campfire. A place where the embers of ancient wisdom meet the possibilities of modern technology, where the past and future braid themselves into something strong, enduring, and of purpose and importance. It’s not about archiving wisdom; it’s about bringing it to life, about providing space where knowledge breathes, increases, and expands not only what is known, but what can be known – a fire that sparks new ways of thinking, new ways of being, and new ways of relating to the land, to each other, and to the great web of existence.
This is your invitation to sit by the fire, to listen deeply, and to see the world through the lens of native peoples around the world, sharing their ways as passed through many hands with care around campfires since time begun. It’s not about looking at indigenous knowledge from a ‘global’ perspective, but global problems from an indigenous perspective, with fresh eyes and sciences that have tested over deep time. This is where stories become medicine again, where knowledge grows into wisdom, and where the sacred threads of creation are strengthened for all those yet to come.
temporary holders, custodians on ways, keepers of the fire
We are the keepers of the stories, the tenders of the flame, the ones who sit at the edge of the fire, listening to the land, to the people, and to the wisdom carried in the spaces between. This digital campfire is a place where voices rise, stories live, and connections are restored and nurtured.
We are not CEOs or executives, creative directors or chief financial officers, titles of a marketplace don’t matter here, for we are all one people, one fire, one community – we are custodians, each tending to a different part of the fire we all share. We do not own the stories shared here – they belong to the land, the communities, the generations that held them safely, and the generations reaching out to grasp them.
We are the fire keepers. The storytellers. The custodians of connection. And we are here to help you remember that you are, too.
We invite you to join us around this fire. To sit, to listen, to share, and to remember your place in the pattern of creation. Together we can carry these stories forward, honoring the wisdom they hold and sharing them with a world that desperately needs them.
As part of the One Fire Festival, we invite you to gather around a virtual campfire like no other. Our Campfire Sounds are more than just crackling embers and gentle winds; they are the harmonious rhythms of Indigenous artists’ worlds. These captivating audio landscapes are created by the artists themselves, who share their sacred fires burning on their ancestral lands. As you immerse yourself in these evocative sounds, you’ll be enveloped in the warmth of their stories and culture, forging a deep connection to the heart of Indigenous artistry. Join us for this unique fireside experience, where the flames dance to the beat of Indigenous wisdom, and the stories of their lands come alive
The VA Network acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country
throughout the world, & their connections to land, sea, & sky.
We pay our respects to Elders past & present, & extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples on whose land we live, connect, travel, create, & love.
We celebrate the diversity of all First Nations Peoples
& their stories reflected in their unique artistic practices.
Please join us in respecting the ongoing legacy of the first artists of this country, & all countries.
⏲ 1hr 15min
Environmentalism / Culture Change
Finding our way back to our role as custodians of creation.
At its core, The VA Network is about connections and celebrating the stories in the spaces in-between.
The VA Network is built on foundations of relation to one another, the more-than-human world, and
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