How sacred is nature? That question was the subject of some discussion this week. The way that I see it, this earth is the closest thing we have yet to find of a physical god. Religions for all of history have included nature in religious practices. Whether that be having sacred landmarks or seeing various natural elements as deities, indigenous religions especially have revered nature. And how did colonialism affect these ideologies? Well, we carved four white men into the Black Hills of South Dakota, otherwise known as the Six Grandfathers. These mountains were sacred to the indigenous people of South Dakota, and they were destroyed to show the faces of the people who invaded and colonized their land.
The world we live on, this floating ball of rock and heat and life, it's all we know. It quite literally created the conditions for life. We were created by the earth. It gives us water and food and breathable air and everything we need, and we destroy it daily. We've caused irreversible damage. The earth also punishes us. We abuse and exploit the earths resources in the name of capital, and we are seeing the consequences. You could quite literally compare the fires on the west coast to a punishment of hell. The earth is our god and we have ignored her for too long.
As Carl Sagan emphasized, the earth is all we have for now. We don't have the capabilities to inhabit another planet, at least not anytime soon. These issues are things we have to tackle with the highest priority.
Weekly Summary
-Sep 9, commented on discussion questions
-Sep 10, this post
-Sep 10, commented on Levi's post
Eloquently stated Betty Mae
ReplyDeleteBetty Mae, it is always enjoyable reading and listening your hot takes regarding the sustaining of our planet. I found it most interesting your take on how colonialism played the sole role of the destruction of indigenous landmarks all over early day America. I thought hard after reading your article as to how I feel about colonial ignorance. As a modern day scholar I feel empathy for indigenous people all over the world that have implored colonial superpowers to leave them at peace but then met with violence and injustice. However, I would like to pose the thought that if these acts of violence did not occur then a modern day western culture would never be. Thus you, myself and this class would never have existed. Which leads me to my final question, which is more important, the nature to be preserved by indigenous people or the advancement of the human race and persecution of these people and their environment around them.
ReplyDeleteSurely it's a false dilemma, either respect nature and the indigenous people who've lived harmoniously with her OR "advancement..." Sometimes progress means staying in place, accepting and being grateful for what we have, not constantly yearning for more more more. Such an attitude might very well advance humanity towards true enlightenment and flourishing, and (so far as I can see) is not inherently incompatible with technological and scientific progress on many fronts.
DeleteI'll echo Ed and say Eloquently stated. The indigenous peoples of our country are always forgotten and minimized in history textbooks. We cannot make them whole again from what was taken from them, but we can learn how to care for the earth from their example. The Powhattan tribe near Jamestown practiced crop rotation by switching to different fields when crop yields fell, allowing trees to grow and the soil to recover. They also would burn away undergrowth in the fall to keep forests healthy. They respected nature and revered it; too bad society isolates us from nature today. Maybe if more people spent time in nature, they would actually revere it too.
ReplyDelete"Mitakuye oyasin" - we are all related (like it or not!)
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