Earth Ethics; Native Voices

This blog is written by LWVDC’s Climate Team.

Modern culture, since the industrial revolution and the dawn of human-caused climate change, can be described as man against nature; tamer of nature; triumphant over nature; and to the victor go the spoils. The waste generated is an afterthought, and with respect to climate change, it’s a catastrophic failure to understand the impact of the release of greenhouse gases.

Now, against the backdrop of our warming planet, a steady stream of unsettling stories is emerging—plants and animals made vulnerable from shifting growing zones, day length no longer correlating with expected weather patterns and habitats lost to fires and floods.

So maybe it’s finally time for a collective rethink about our relationship with the natural world. Maybe connect with a different world view, one suggested by Native American cultural philosophy and traditions.

Peter Whiteley, social anthropologist and curator of North American Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, advocates learning from persistent Native American cultural perspectives and practices that favor harmony over dominance. His 2013 essay on this topic is more relevant than ever and well worth a read.

Former broadcast journalist and Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe member Patty Loew, in her book Seventh Generation: Earth Ethics, recounts twelve stories (one from each of the twelve Wisconsin Native tribes) of individuals nurturing traditional ecological values and cultural sensitivities within the context of their chosen professions. Loew introduces us to anti-mining activists, treaty rights advocates, artists, educators, tribal genealogists, land stewards and preservers of language and culture. You can watch a video interview with her here.

Potawatomi Nation storyteller and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer combines Native American stories of our natural world with scientific methodology in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass. Kimmerer views plants and animals as our oldest teachers and “listening to their stories” provides a wider knowledge and understanding of the reciprocal relationship between humans and every other living thing inhabiting this earth. You can listen to her read an excerpt from the story “Sky Woman Falling” here.

Lake Superior Ojibwe artist, Rabbett Before Horses Strickland, creates large, color-rich paintings depicting mankind’s stumbles and triumphs, the tug-of-war between selfish desires and the need for a healthy coexistence within the natural world. He places the mythic shapeshifter Nanabozho, always with rabbit ears, in every painting, representing collective consciousness. (Nanabozho’s allegorical role is of a flawed but powerful guide using his powers for collective good, while wrestling with his individual foibles). In this short video, Rabbett describes his artistic influences and intentions.

Climate change is already hitting those who live closest to the land, relying on regular weather patterns and predictable seasons for food, be they human, animal, marine or forest system. Perhaps Nanabozho is standing with us, telling us to listen to the stories of the land and her inhabitants, urging decision makers to consider how their actions will affect seven generations in the future.

We hope you will join us for our Lively Issues Luncheon on Saturday, January 18. Our featured speaker will be Dee (Denise) Sweet, poet, environmental activist, and First Nations organizer. Ms. Sweet is an Anishinaabe poet and Professor Emerita at UW-Green Bay, where she taught Humanistic Studies, Creative Writing, and First Nations Studies for UW-System. She served as the second Poet Laureate for the state of Wisconsin from 2005 to 2008. Learn more about her literary achievements here. She currently works with Wisconsin Conservation Voices in the Native Vote project, which seeks to encourage Native American participation in voting. Reservations will be available beginning in mid-December; visit our website for details.

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This blog is written by LWVDC’s Climate Team. If you receive blog posts by email, our system automatically inserts “by Brook Soltvedt.” Brook is the webmaster, not the author of the blog.

Splash photo of the bald eagle with its catch is by Thomas Lipke on Unsplash.