1. Native American Environmental Philosophy

Readings

1. Brian Yazzie - Burkhart Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land: On the Nature of the Concept

2. Gregory Cajete, Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence (pp. 57-83)

Our summary of the readings is in straight text, and Bold are the points of our discussion.

During this first day of the reading group, we discussed the readings of Brian Yazzie Burkhart Indigenizing Philosophy through the Land: On the Nature of the Concept; and Gregory Cajete, Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence (pp. 57-83). The first reading focuses on Native Americans’ definition of the Land and human beings’ relationship to it, compared to the “colonisers’” definitions. The second reading focused on what “Native Science” is and how it could/should be used in order to better understand how to preserve the environment.

The first reading states: “The act of Indigenizing philosophy through the land is not simply a matter of philosophical diversity, of diversifying the philosophical canon or philosophical methodology”, it’s a matter of seeing through different lenses the current geographical and political context or “western way of life”. Brian Yazzie Burkhart also says: “the understanding of human kinship with the land through Western frameworks of materiality will be insufficient.” That is because “colonisers” see the Land as an object which humans – the subjects – “float free from”. In contrast, Native Americans see the Land as being in kinship with all beings and intertwined with human life, rendering it part of the “bigger whole” of Life – which includes humans. In other words, we are part of the Land and the Land is a part of us, hence to preserve ourselves as a species we must preserve the Land as well.

For Native Americans, philosophy is more than an academic subject, it is an everyday mindset and “way to see the world”, which is essential to their decision process. Navajo Nation’s (1996) chief Robert Yazzie explains that philosophy is an everyday practice and state of mind/consciousness: connectivity of the worlds of the spirits of nature, humans, animals, plants, minerals, and other natural phenomena. “I have a duty towards them as they have a duty as a relative towards me.” For the Native Americans, there is “the always-already-being-in-motion relational ground of kinship that exists within the particularity of land and the human intertwining with this land”. “I walk upon the land or Earth. I drink water that comes from the land or Earth […]”.

How can we conceptualise humans floating free from the Land? We have to see land and humans from a spatial point of view. The spatial point of view sees time, history, and human beings as functions of land in locality, or specific relational kinship sites.

“Knowledge, meaning, history, and culture come to be and continue to exist within the particularity of land and land-based relationships to mountains, rivers, valleys, forests, animals, and so on. These relationships do not laminate onto prior states of being apart from the land. Land as the relational ground of kinship has a being that can only be obscured through notions of land as object.”

Apart from changing their perspective on Land, the West also has to make a huge effort in “giving back” the Land to natives. Not because Native Americans own this Land – this would go against their entire philosophy – but rather to reunite them with their sacred ground of kinship.

The idea of giving back land to indigenous populations is a common theme in the idea of reparations: “The act or process of making amends for a wrong.” specifically here in the context of slavery, institutionalised racism and colonialism and imperialism. The seizure of land from native populations has historically been a method of subjugation and invasion by incoming settlers. For example, in the period of the deposition of the Kingdom of Queen Lili’uokalani by “a small group of sugar and pineapple-growing businessmen, aided by the American minister to Hawaii and backed by heavily armed U.S. soldiers and marines,” the use of land-laws was weaponized against the native people in order to annex the land of Hawai’i to the United States. This is particularly relevant due to the recent protests against the construction of a TMT telescope on Mauna Kea, a burial site of sacred ancestors to the native people. [1] [2]

This sovereignty over them would “entail the capacity of Indigenous peoples to rebuild and continue complex moral relationships that can promote economic, cultural, and social resilience for the sake of future generations’ well-being”, as Kyle Whyte in “Critical Investigations of Resilience: A Brief Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Studies & Sciences” puts it. Sacredness is tied to the particularity of land (“a river, a mountain, …) that enables people to “relate all historical events within the confines of this particular land, and to accept responsibility for it”. These particular localities “are permanent fixtures in [Native] cultural or religious understanding” because the sacredness exists in the locality itself rather than as places, as in “Holy Lands,” that are “appreciated primarily for their historical significance.” In other words, important because of what beings, human or otherwise, did upon the essentially blank and meaningless canvas of land. Settler colonialism, because of its ultimate desire to acquire and maintain possession of Indigenous land, operates through “structural genocide” or “the logic of elimination,” in Wolfe’s words (388, 403). In order to resolve the climate crisis, we (“colonisers”) need to urgently address this issue, as both climate crisis and restitution of the Land to people that have the Science to preserve it, go hand in hand.

Current power structures (especially the current capitalist economic, production, and trade structures) support colonial-based perspectives on our relationship to the Land. In remedy of this, we need to change the current mindsets on the environment through education – using Native Science, as Kyle Whyte explains. For example, they came up with “sustainable social norms (such as the potlatch ceremony), scientific research on fish habitats (such as sturgeon recovery science), or the social dimensions of environmental health (such as the decline of fishing at Akwesasne and diabetes)”. The Science exists: now we need to apply it. (Critical Investigations of Resilience: A Brief Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Studies & Sciences)

Another way to change the current power structures would be to demand more from politicians, through educating the public. Nowadays we face a lot of greenwashing, and “education” such as the infamous personal carbon footprint. Such a concept was introduced into the public vernacular by BP. Businesses should not be the ones educating on the environment as they have too much personal stake. We also need to demand better laws and regulations for preservation of Land and the Environment. This last point should however be turned towards the Western world’s trade and economic system, rather than the global one as we are not in the position to decide for other countries/regions where to find the right balance between preservation and development. It is likely that efficient sustainable policies will differ from country to country in the specifics and the execution: particularly for “less economically developed” countries.

Natural Laws of Interdependence by Gregory Cajete explains that “Intervention in a natural process is taken only with great care and much consideration”. In other words, their philosophy is to work with the natural flow of nature. Traditional Yupiaq people based their philosophy and lifeways on maintaining and sustaining relationships among human, natural, and spiritual worlds. Kyle Whyte explains that Menoni life is about “respect for the land, water, and air; partnership with other creatures of earth; and a way of living and working that achieves a balance between use and replenishment of all resources.”

For the author, Native Science is understanding a list of things, and applying it on a day-to-day basis:

• “Humanity has an important role in the perpetuation or the natural processes of the world.

• Every ‘thing’ is animate and has a spirit.

• There is significance to each natural place because each place reflects the whole order of nature.

• The history of relationship must be respected with regard to places, plants, animals, and natural phenomena

• Technology should be appropriate and reflect balanced relationships to the natural world.”

This list of precise practical examples can be used as a starting point in the West to change our behaviour and relationship to the environment. We also learn from Native Science that consciousness is fundamental as it connects all objects of the Universe with each other. In other words, consciousness allows us to realise that we are living one way or another in symbiosis with all other animate and inanimate things in the Universe. “The maintenance of dynamic balance and harmony with all relationships to nature is the foundational paradigm of Native Science.” We can use this knowledge in order to understand the mechanisms of nature, in order to live in better harmony with it.

A Native American principle is that if you depend on a place, you must take care of it or suffer the consequences. “In addition to responsibility, there is also celebration of life, a key element in seeking to understand how to live a good life.”

An ongoing trend in Western countries is the gentrification of eco-friendly and sustainable living. Lower classes cannot afford the current “eco-friendly” market focused on zero-waste and electric cars. The current economic system is set up so that it is difficult to take care of the environment even if you want to. A localised small-scale economic reform in the West is more than overdue in order to address how greener should mean cheaper. Most lower to middle income families have to buy plastic wrapped food and fast fashion, and drive a car to work. Another change long overdue is including everyone in the fight for preservation, as businesses make it easy to portray environmentalism as a personal choice. The way the phrase ‘there is no ethical consumption under capitalism’ is currently being used both has merit, and ignores the larger systemic issues that currently exist. Lately we feel there is a barrier between “crazy” environmentalists/activists, and other members of the public “that should be able to use their money as they wish”.

In conclusion, a start to an answer would be to (1) start changing our western views on the environment in order to act on the long term, and (2) creating new laws to protect the environment and hold states and corporations accountable. This is the time for economists, lawyers, politicians, and scientists to all get together to reform our system.