Monday, March 30, 2009
Native Culture and the Environment
It is my opinion that one of the most interesting things that Alex spoke about was how the Natives viewed the land as being a part of themselves, and how this was something that he could not personally understand. Their understanding is something that I can both understand and support, despite the fact that my feelings were not quite as strong. It made me begin to consider what exactly my beliefs could be so different from his while he obviously tried so hard to embrace this mentality. The only thing that I could think of was that it comes from the environments we were raised in. I am not sure of Alex’s background but I am positive that my own experiences are very a-typical. I grew up in a very remote town with a population of less than 1000 people. The nearest neighboring town is a 15-20 minute plane ride away, and we were constantly surrounded by nature. As a child we had no fear of playing in nature and we were constantly outside, there was no need to encourage us to go outside as this was natural. We also spent a great deal of time at cottages or cabins where we had no access to television or radio so that the only source of entertainment was to go outside. I think that being raised so close to nature defiantly affected the ways in which I relate too and view nature. The idea that nature is disappearing and that children do not have to ability to grow up as I did, with the world at their feet, is a sad notion. We can learn a respect for nature as we grow, but without living it in that love and dependence of nature will never be as engrained in our psyche.
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I agree that the idea of nature is disappearing in today's children. I also grew up in a very small town, although not as remote as yours! where fences were uncommon and you could play outside and bike around town without any fears. A big problem with today's society is that there has become an embedded fear that we should not let our children run around or they could be kidnapped. Children are being contained in fenced yards where they do not have the freedom to experience nature. It is becoming more uncommon to hear children talk about going down to the local river to look for crayfish, or hanging around the farm. An example is that when I was young my family did a lot of camping that allowed us to get out of the house and experience a different natural setting. To me it seems that camping has been disappearing and less families are going. It is very true that we can learn a respect for nature but the respect is not the same if you have not grown up living within the environment and fully experiencing it.
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