Indigenous ecologists

[KayTheCurler]

Pilgrim's Progress posted this elsewhere online. I think she is pretty busy right now and decided to share it with the people here who may find it interesting.

Native Knowledge: What Ecologists Are Learning from Indigenous People

 

[Seeler]

Very intereesting article!
I sometimes wonder what America would be like if Europeans had respeected the original inhabitants of the land, learned from them, and adapted to their culture rather than trying to impose European practices and culture (which were failing in Europe - plague, wars, poverty and polution) on native peoples.
We might have learned to respeect the land that God (Manitou, Great Spirit) provides for us.

 

[KayTheCurler]

Much of the indigenous mind set is
very appealing to me. It just seems to make sense.

 

[Delightful Life]

Very intereesting article!
I sometimes wonder what America would be like if Europeans had respeected the original inhabitants of the land, learned from them, and adapted to their culture rather than trying to impose European practices and culture (which were failing in Europe - plague, wars, poverty and polution) on native peoples.
We might have learned to respeect the land that God (Manitou, Great Spirit) provides for us.

I wonder as well
we'd prolly have belief in spirits everywhere
animism
willfully practice magic
say thank you as well as sorry
and we'd all have Native names*
(which would have meant that our Christianity wouldn't be afraid of "paganism". oh jeeze, then there wouldn't have been a WC or even UCoC)
Biblical literalism wouldn't have been invented in the US
we wouldn't have the current problems with gendered bathrooms (which apparently came into being thanks to industrial revolution and Victorian social norms and still persists because of old building codes that get copied and copied mindlessly)

i am concerned, however, at the lack of really important figures in Native pops who changed vast swathes of humanity a la Aristotle or Buddha or Christ or Hammurabi or etc that makes me think that Native civs aren't something for me 2 wish w be but rather something for me to appreciate as anothet example of true human diversity; the more different ways humans have of adapting to their environment the better off humanity as a whole is...

*or rather we wouldn't have this encouraged ignorance of things like spirits and magic by the very influential and powerful

 

[Delightful Life]

Or another What If that couldve happened is that since it is part of being human to appropriate culture (we edit mix remix copy what we encounter; common things like arabic numerals we use today) is in this European and Aboriginal mix would b a stronger mix of both: the Aboriginals would get the European analytics and focus while the Europeans would get the holistic and interconnexions...

 

[Delightful Life]

How Canada’s Cult of the Noble Savage Harms Its Indigenous Peoples - Quillette