--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No event for the Koyukon - or for most…" description: "\"No event for the Koyukon - or for most other indigenous peoples - is ever entirely meaningless or accidental, but neither is any event entirely predete..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/david-abram-15943_action_no-event-for-the-koyukon-or-for-most-oth_2342379.jpg" --- # No event for the Koyukon - or for most other indigenous… ![“No event for the Koyukon - or for most other indigenous peoples - is ever entirely meaningless or accidental, but neither is any event entirely predetermined or fated. Rather like the trickster, Raven, who first gave it its current form, the sensuous world is a spontaneous, playful and dangerous…” quote by David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/david-abram-15943_action_no-event-for-the-koyukon-or-for-most-oth_2342379.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/david-abram-15943_action_no-event-for-the-koyukon-or-for-most-oth_2342379.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7cf/david-abram-15943_action_no-event-for-the-koyukon-or-for-most-oth_2342379.jpg) > “No event for the Koyukon - or for most other indigenous peoples - is ever entirely meaningless or accidental, but neither is any event entirely predetermined or fated. Rather like the trickster, Raven, who first gave it its current form, the sensuous world is a spontaneous, playful and dangerous mystery in which we participate, an articulate and improvisational field of powers ever responsive to human actions and spoken words.” [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human actions and words shape a world that is both playful and dangerous, never fully random nor fully predetermined. **In simple terms:** Our words and deeds influence a lively, unpredictable world. Key Takeaway Recognize agency in shaping reality. Themes indigenous perspectives environmental philosophy agency Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - community decision making - environmental activism - cultural storytelling Key Concepts ecology mythology improvisation Questions to Reflect On - How do you see your words affecting your environment? - What responsibilities arise from this view? A Different Perspective Assumes a universal mythic framework that may not apply everywhere. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Human actions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-actions/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Indigenous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/) [Indigenous people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous-people/) [Indigenous Peoples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous-peoples/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Ravens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ravens/) [Spoken word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoken-word/) [Spontaneous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spontaneous/) [Tricksters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tricksters/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [For the Amahuaca, the Koyukon, the Apache, and the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Australia - as for numerous other indigenous peoples - the coherence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/for-the-amahuaca-the-koyukon-the-apache-and-the-diverse-aboriginal/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [The poor wretches have convinced themselves that they are going to be immortal and live for all time, by worshipping that crucified sophist and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian/the-poor-wretches-have-convinced-themselves-that-they-are-going-to-be/) [Lucian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian/) > [He was beautiful, that was always affirmed, but his beauty was hard to fix or to see, for he was always glimmering, flickering, melting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/he-was-beautiful-that-was-always-affirmed-but-his-beauty-was-hard-to/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [Trickster, love will be the end of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-buckley/trickster-love-will-be-the-end-of-you/) [Michael Buckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-buckley/) > [Everything depends on whether we have for opponents those French tricksters or those daring rascals, the English. I prefer the English. Frequently their daring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manfred-von-richthofen/everything-depends-on-whether-we-have-for-opponents-those-french/) [Manfred von Richthofen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manfred-von-richthofen/) > [Revolt in whatever way we want, with the spontaneity of the London rioters, with the certainty and willingness to die of religious fundamentalists or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/revolt-in-whatever-way-we-want-with-the-spontaneity-of-the-london/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [The trickster's function is to break taboos, create mischief, stir things up. 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They're benign, they're malign, they are mischievous, like Eshu for instance, tricksters, rascally, fornicators,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-gods-in-yoruba-mythology-are-not-remote-at-all-they-re-benign/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [To live On means not yours--be brave in silks and laces, Gallant in steeds; splendid in banquets; all Not yours. Given, uninherited, unpaid for;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/to-live-on-means-not-yours-be-brave-in-silks-and-laces-gallant-in/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [The art of a news reporter is to learn how to lull a victim, because all good reporters are confidence tricksters in embryo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-tangye/the-art-of-a-news-reporter-is-to-learn-how-to-lull-a-victim-because/) [Derek Tangye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-tangye/) > [The white man is going to keep you integration-minded Negroes cooped up here in America, and when you discover that the white man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/the-white-man-is-going-to-keep-you-integration-minded-negroes-cooped/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [All gods are tricksters, and war gods worst of any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/all-gods-are-tricksters-and-war-gods-worst-of-any/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [“Con men and tricksters run the world. Rascals rule. And do you know why? because they are hungier than we are. because they know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/con-men-and-tricksters-run-the-world-rascals-rule-and-do-you-know-why/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [This is a gathering of Lovers. In this gathering there is no high, no low, no smart, no ignorant, no special assembly, no grand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/this-is-a-gathering-of-lovers-in-this-gathering-there-is-no-high-no/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## More by David Abram > [Does the human intellect, or "reason," really spring us free from our inherence in the depths of this wild proliferation of forms? Or on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/does-the-human-intellect-or-reason-really-spring-us-free-from-our/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [“Human language, for us moderns, has swung in on itself, turning its back on the beings around us. 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It's the experience of finding oneself alive within a world that is itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/what-is-magic-in-the-deepest-sense-magic-is-an-experience-it-s-the/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Other animals, in a constant and mostly unmediated relation with their sensory surroundings, think with the whole of their bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/other-animals-in-a-constant-and-mostly-unmediated-relation-with-their/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [The telling of stories, like singing and praying, would seem to be an almost ceremonial act, an ancient and necessary mode of speech that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/the-telling-of-stories-like-singing-and-praying-would-seem-to-be-an/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Such reciprocity is the very structure of perception. We experience the sensuous world only by rendering ourselves vulnerable to that world. Sensory perception is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/such-reciprocity-is-the-very-structure-of-perception-we-experience/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [“Ecologically considered, it is not primarily our verbal statements that are "true" or "false," but rather the kind of relations that we sustain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/ecologically-considered-it-is-not-primarily-our-verbal-statements/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [A particular place in the land is never, for an oral culture, just a passive or inert setting for the human events that occur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/a-particular-place-in-the-land-is-never-for-an-oral-culture-just-a/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [If, on the other hand, we wish to describe a particular phenomenon without repressing our direct experience, then we cannot avoid speaking of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/if-on-the-other-hand-we-wish-to-describe-a-particular-phenomenon/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [We are human only in contact, and conviviality, with what is not human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/we-are-human-only-in-contact-and-conviviality-with-what-is-not-human/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [The animate earth - this moody terrain that we experience differently in anger and in joy, in grief and in love - is both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/the-animate-earth-this-moody-terrain-that-we-experience-differently/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [To describe the animate life of particular things is simply the most precise and parsimonious way to articulate the things as we spontaneously experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/to-describe-the-animate-life-of-particular-things-is-simply-the-most/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Sensory perception is the silken web that binds our separate nervous systems into the encompassing ecosystem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/sensory-perception-is-the-silken-web-that-binds-our-separate-nervous/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) [Explore all 41 David Abram quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) ## More Action quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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